My Mother's Day Wish List

I began this blog last Fall by paying tribute to all the mothers including my own who participated in Women’s Strike for Peace. I did this by sharing their recipes from Peace de Resistance that were quick to prepare allowing them time to work for peace and social change. This Mothers Day, in their honor, I’m sharing my Mother’s Day wish list that I'm sending to President Obama.       

Dear Mr. President,

1. The world is definitely a better place without Osama Bin Laden in it. Now that he’s dead and Al- Qaeda is weakened, I hope that you will bring a swift end to the War in Afghanistan. It has lasted 10 years already and as guests in their country, we long ago wore out our welcome. I'm not naive enough to believe that Al-Qaeda is no longer a threat. Rather, I believe they are everywhere and this war can best be fought by the CIA and FBI, not by destroying the Middle East one country at a time. The best Mothers’ Day present we could give the mothers of our soldiers in Afghanistan would be to get them home safely in one piece.

2. As talks continue in Congress about balancing the budget, cutting the expense for the War in Afghanistan would be a good place to start. An estimated 14 million children in the United States are living in poverty and the money could be better spent on education and jobs programs. America's top 1% of the population now own 50% of the wealth and this should not be.

3. Shortly after you were elected, I attended a conference on the Convention of the Rights of the Child. At that time, the United States and Sudan were the only countries in the world that had failed to ratify it. As we finished lunch, the chairman of the conference announced that Sudan had agreed to ratify it leaving the USA alone as the only country to fail to do so. As an American citizen, I felt ashamed and humiliated. I know that there are a host of other issues that demand your attention, but what can be more important on Mothers Day than insuring the security and rights of the world’s children. My third wish is for the USA to ratify this treaty.

I have many more wishes, but even a genie only grants three and it has been unfair of us to expect you to wave a magic wand over all the complex problems that beset our nation. I feel these three wishes would be a good starting point.

Thank you and may you and your family enjoy a blessed Mothers’ Day.

Sincerely,

Lisa Sachs   

Well that's my letter. Have a blessed Mothers' Day everyone. I'd share a recipe for the day, but I think it's someone else's turn to cook. It's our turn to kick back.

To link to other Mothers' Day thoughts, you can check out http://www.therolesofwriting.blogspot.com/.