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In the 1970s, Lily Tomlin developed an iconic comic character she named Ernestine--a telephone clerk who took perverse pleasure from hectoring customers. Her character was a perfect portrayal of the arrogance of AT&T, the monopolistic telephone giant of that day. In one skit on on the TV show, Laugh-In, Tomlin had Ernestine delivering a TV pitch for the corporation:

"A gracious hello," she cheerfully began, speaking directly into the camera. "Here at the Phone Company, we handle 84 billion calls a year. So, we realize that every so often, you can't get an operator, or for no apparent reason your phone goes out of order, or perhaps you get charged for a call you didn't make. We don't care!"

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THE REAL MOTHER'S DAY

By Jim Hightower - Wed., 6/1/05

Mother's Day is a time when all moms should get breakfast in bed and some flowers, right?

But Mother's Day was not meant to be a crassly commercialized, rose-scented tribute to sweet, docile mom. Rather, it began as a bold cry by mothers for all mothers to rise up against war. In the 1860s, thousands of mothers were devastated by the brutal slaughter of the Civil War, and many dared to stand up (at a time when women could not even vote) to decry war in the name of motherhood—and to urge that all mothers become a force for peace.

The original Mother's Day proclamation was penned in 1870 by Julia Ward Howe, the renowned author of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." Far from the sing-song sweetness of a Hallmark card, this was a stark and ringing call for action: "Arise then, women of this day!" it began. "Our husbands shall not come to us reeking of carnage for caresses and applause. Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy, and patience."

In the spirit of this proclamation, a nationwide group called CodePink:Women for Peace held a 24-hour vigil in front of the White House on Mother's Day weekend, with concerts, organizing sessions, and readings from hundreds of poignant letters that mothers have written to Laura Bush, urging the First Mother to help stop the war in Iraq.

Over the long haul, CodePink is working for a world without war. To join the effort, go to www.codepink4peace.org.

Filed Under: History, Peace

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