Military wife to speak at Democratic National Convention

And I'm not Anti-American. And Obama is not a terrorist.

I don't understand why people would think I'm a "mooch." Dealing with chronic pain is a daily battle. I have reactive arthritis (seronegative Rheumatoid Arthtitis) and was formerly an extremely high-functioning management executive. I would love to work again but can't and I'm not stupid -- I'm Mensa and definitely not a shrinking violet and am more than capable of making an informed decision about this election.

McCain graduated at the BOTTOM of his class and voted against the GI Bill which is paying our bills right now and saved us from bankruptcy. It is extremely difficult for a family to live in San Diego on $2000 per month especially with a rare medical condition. McCain voted AGAINST funding the VA which helps support our troops medically and emotionally recover from their service. I have seen countless disabled veterans who are FORCED to work because of disabiity or suffering from lack of treatment for alcoholism and PTSD. Is this how we should treat our "heroes"?

My way of giving back is to advocate for others who have suffered like I have and hopefully in educating and giving back prevent some of their

you stay at home, you obviously get disability for your "M.S." and your husband hasn't been deployed for "long periods" of time! Uhm. What's the problem here exactly? You don't have to work a job, your daughter is fairly young so you haven't been a stay at home mom for a "long period of time" How can you complain about a system that is obviously helping you out financially in a way that many other Americans who are not military leeches ... I mean spouses have to work one sometimes two jobs in order to take care of their family. I would feel ashamed. I think the phrase is don't bite the hand that feeds you.

to you, Beth. I hope you hit a home run with your speech. Keep your spirits high & ignore the naysayers. You have a right to your opinions as much as they have to theirs. Some of my fellow posters must have some spectacular achievements under their belts. How else could they have the gall, to go the extreme, in trying to belittle the achievements of the Obamas? Or McCain, for that matter? One can totally disagree with others, without resorting to distortions. If one can't challenge the records of others using facts, one shouldn't resort to insults, misinformation & lies.

It takes a lot of guts to do what Beth has chosen to do. Until you've heard what she has to say, it doesn't make much sense to skip to conclusions. Beth is speaking as a Democrat who is a military wife, and who also happens to deal with a disability. But when you see Beth, you will not see a disabled woman, you will not see a woman who's been told what to say. You will see an eloquent, beautiful woman speaking on behalf of many Americans. We all need better healthcare, those who don't realize that have never suffered with chronic or debilitating illnesses. Adequate health care should not be a status symbol; it should be a basic human right. Moreso, those who put their lives and bodies on the line deserve the very best healthcare available today. Beth & Matt, we love you!

My only comment, as the military half of our family, is to ask whether being portrayed as a "military wife" in headlines sums up Beth Robinson satisfactorily to her and to her friends/family. Sounds like she could also be called "voice for the disabled" and/or "advocate for military families" (if she is indeed helping them get into the Tricare system and get their questions answered about long-term disability). I know "military wife" has always been regarded as a career of its own, but I just don't want to sell anyone short by not emphasizing that they have accomplishments of their own, aside from those of the spouse.

Also, those who say that Ms. Robinson is an officer's wife and a former QM's wife, must know her and/or her husband, I guess, as the article didn't seem to specify the career path that was followed by her husband. Cheers, MGM

"Why do you continue to insult certain military spouses?" Umm... What? What in the world are you talking about? You act as if I have a history of attacking military spouses. Where have I done so? My wife is one, who, incidentally, will be voting for Obama. My intent was not to insult this woman, although in retrospect I should have chosen my words more carefully. My intent was to highlight the artificiality of these kinds of stunts, and I even pointed out that I expected nothing better from the GOP. Sorry if my referring to the Republican Convention as "Minneapolis" was too cryptic.

I also agree wholeheartedly with mikedlong about the military health care system. I have and, believe me, you don't want it. I have yet to see a program the gov't runs efficiently. Most civilians wouldn't put up the crap service members do when we have to see a doctor.

Make a commnet without calling someone a name? Not very often!

Well, I'm a Navy Husband. I've had my issues with TRI-CARE and yes, I had to learn to be my own advocate. Especially when they thought I had Cancer and I had numerous Appointments that had to be met. But remember, the system that Obama has is supposedly the same system that the Military has, and if she's having a problem then why would you want them to pawn that off on you? She doesn't speak for me, a Spouse of an Enlisted QM. She never could. If you take a QM3 and a Captain, put them both at Portsmouth for the same issue, if the Captain has to wait you bet he'll complain and get seen, even if you were supposed to be next. During my stints at the hospital I saw it happen at Portsmouth, Quantico, Jacksonville. And it's the same of Obama's type. Kennady got to go to a specialized hospital for his Stroke, this would not be the same place you would get to go if you had the same problem. Class warfare, yeap... the political elite versus the rest of us, that's what you'll be voting for...

"Maybe her message is the same as the Obama campaign, maybe not.".

You are back in JohnL land with that one. So if she doesnt share the same positions, then - to state the obvious - she has differing positions than those of BO... even conflicting positions. So according to your argument, she may very well have differing/conflicting positions to those of BO, but because she is so obviously IGNORANT and easily MISLEAD, she has abandoned her own positions and "accepted" BOs positions. Man, when you insult somebody, at least realize it when you do it. Why do you continue to insult certain military spouses?

The last couple of days must have been very exciting over at your campaign headquarters.

"She made sure her biography for the convention clearly states that her husband Matt has been assigned to Afghanistan once and Iraq twice. He has not been deployed there for long periods. That's an important distinction for military families, she said."

My wife has been deployed three times. The first was for 6 months, the second was 12 months and the third has been 13 months... so far. I don't really understand how someone can speak on behalf of people in the military when she admits in the statement above that her husband has not been deployed for long periods. It really makes me sad for her and her family to have this highlighted. I'm a single parent for years at a time not weeks. Try having your spouse gone for a year and then come back to us with your sad story. Until then, this specific speaker will be falling on deaf ears.

Sorry, but I know Beth. I also know that *she* wrote her speech. And if any Obama staffers had a hand in it, I certainly couldn't tell. It was clearly Beth's voice and Beth's opinions.

Why exactly is it that military spouses aren't allowed to have political opinions and voice them? We don't give up our right to do that when our spouses join the military. In fact, the best advocates for military families ARE military families, not men, women (or commenters) who seem to think they know best.

I admire Beth tremendously.

"Or maybe she has her own opinions and wants to voice them." Sorry, TR. The sentence in the story "Writers from Obama’s staff are helping her craft her message" kinda blows a hole in your statement. She is allowing herself to be a pawn. Maybe her message is the same as the Obama campaign, maybe not. Regardless, the alleged point of the "common person' speaking at a convention is to show something genuine. Having the campaign write your speech for you hardly qualifies. And before anyone says that was a partisan attack... I fully expect the same shenanigans in Minneapolis.

First, military spouses are perfectly free to speak out - as a military spouse and a veteran, I feel a responsibility to. Second, why not take a look at McCain's voting record on vet's issues? He voted for the war and then voted against increasing VA funding 4 years in a row. He voted against the GI Bill too.

That's the reason deployed troops give 6 times more money to Obama than McCain (even Ron Paul gets more than McCain).

It's interesting that someone brought up Ayers - at least with Obama you have to go to the people around him - with McCain there's publicly cheating on and leaving his disabled wife, Keating 5, lying about his voting record on vets issues, not bothering to vote, putting wind turbines in his commercials when he refused to vote to extend tax credits for them 8 times (he was in his office in the Senate and refused to go vote on one occasion).

McCain has totally abandoned what he stood for

doesn't think the upper eschelon's requests are applicable to spouses. The military members were asked not to be politically active. Who knows, maybe it is not considered that they would be included in the request. I bet she abides by whatever rules she has to keep the military benefits though. And...I wouldn't think it was appropriate for a Republican military wife to speak at the RNC either. Retirees would be a different story.

She doesn't represent "military wives" -- she only represents herself. However, the Obama campaign will parade her out as a "military wife" to try to make it look like her opinion is that of all military spouses. It isn't.

" Writers from Obama’s staff are helping her craft her message, Robinson said."

They will make it sound like her ideas but of course they will make it say something else. Let her write her own speech and let her say what she wants to say and how she wants to say it. Political writers could make a spin and you never even get dizzy.

I'll bet they don't know he was (many say he still his, since he was pictured standing on the American flag just after 9-11) an anti-military, anti-America TERRORIST who tried to kill Army officers with a bomb. And he's a friend, sponsor and mentor of Barack Obama. If she does know that and she's sticking by Obama that says it all about her self-choice. The people trying to put women in burqas in America are the likes of Ayers and his wife Bernadine Dorhn. You'd think a military spouse would be wiser than that, but perhaps not. This is certainly her choice. Her husband is risking his life serving our country for her to be able to make that choice. You'd expect an intelligent and informed person to choose more wisely.

Liberal Life of a Navy Wife is probably in the fetal position now because she wasn't chosen as the sounding board for NObama. This never ending media coverage of a man without a plan is really getting amusing. November can't come any sooner. Oh, news flash, NObama just hired Billy Mayes to offer his health plan for $19.95 and it even cleans those nasty stains out of the carpet. Call now and you get a second order for "free".

I just hope she doesn't embarrass the military...not a very wise decision to accept that invitation.

Please ask the staffers helping write your speech, how Obama's government health care is going to be better than the government health care you already have, and isn't working for you. Please ask them how the government is going to get physicians to sign up for an even bigger government program when they can't get enough to accept the Tricare pay cut now. Please ask them how Obama's government health care will be better than the VA(government)health care system. If military people and veterans are complaining about their government health care, why do people think Obama (or anybody else) will be able to provide better care to millions more?

"Military spouse allowing herself to be exploited"
"This spouse probably doesn't know any of that"

Or maybe she has her own opinions and wants to voice them. Why disparage military wives by insinuating that they're incapable of arriving at a position on their own, and that they are not informed. Quit bashing military wives. Let them voice their opinion, even when it differs from you own. I say no to Burkas for women! And your Ayers rant indicates that this military spouse knows more than you do.

By Barack Obama--the candidate whose close personal friend, fellow board member and the person who helped launch his political career--Bill Ayers. Bill Ayers, the person who was trying to BLOW UP American military officers. This spouse probably doesn't know any of that and is being exploited by Obama.

Hey Fred. I was wondering why the earlier comment was struck? No biggee, just curious. I thought it parlayed my point in a humorous fashion. When are you guys going to give me my own blog?

Congratulations Beth! I think it's an honor for you to be asked to speak at the convention. Way to go!

An Obamite citing Mr. T.

Not only is it darling, but revealing. No one sells McCain better than the Obamites on this web site.

I pity you poor fools.

Hmmm imagine that...an officer's wife & she's disabled (according to news reports)....really pulls the heart strings...

Funny, Ira! And probably spot on.

Go figure...how about getting the PFC's wife trying to make ends meet......