Holy Cow. What a crazy busy couple of days it’s been. I’m in Vegas for the Nevada caucuses, and as per usual, this work trip is like vacation, since I only have to wear one hat. Which is why I’m just now writing up a post on how it went on The Mark Davis Show yesterday morning.

On Wednesday, I wrote an article for The Stir in support of Susan G. Komen for the Cure pulling their funding from Planned Parenthood. I expected some nasty comments, but was unprepared for the level of hate I received over it.

I got called a whole host of nasty things, but the general theme was, “Jenny is a f*cking liar spreading hate speech with her disgusting anti-choice lies.”

Whoa. What did I say that could induce such vitriol?

Besides, Planned Parenthood doesn’t even offer mammograms, which are the surest way to detect early signs of cancer. How much money do they need to be able to tell a patient, “Yup, that feels like a lump — here’s the number for a place that can actually help you”?

Meanwhile, Planned Parenthood pushes abortions, lies about fetal development, and gives advice to pimps on how to set up brothels full of underage sex slaves. Think abortion accounts for only 3 percent of their services provided? Think again.

All backed up with links. But of course, those links don’t count, because they take you to sights like LifeNews.com, or even my own blog, to a guest post from a friend about her personal experience with post-abortion syndrome.

So apparently that friend is lying about her personal experience and emotions. Um, ok.

These are people that probably think Media Matters for America is a credible news source. I could link them to a list of articles on Big Journalism detailing what a shady organization MMFA is, but since it’s Big Journalism, I’d probably just be spreading more vicious lies.

After the first 200 (there are currently 300+) comments, I started mentioning it on Twitter, and some of my friends jumped to my defense. Ben Howe went to town in the comments, politely and firmly defending me, the truth, and life. Jason Whitman wrote an article featuring the piece. Susan Cloud rallied the troops on Twitter, and booked me on The Mark Davis Show to talk about it.

So Mark and I chatted about it, and of course it was totally fun doing a radio hit, even if the subject matter wasn’t so pleasant. Click here to listen: Jenny on The Mark Davis Show 2/3/2012

While I was on the air, news broke that Komen reversed their decision, and would continue to fund Planned Parenthood. That made me so mad, I could spit nails. Did they bow to the nasty pressure exerted by the far liberal left, or was it their intention all along to get a boost in donations?

Later, Komen board member John Raffaelli told Greg Sargent from the Washington Post that nothing is set in stone:

“It would be highly unfair to ask us to commit to any organization that doesn’t go through a grant process that shows that the money we raise is used to carry out our mission,” Raffaelli said. “We’re a humanitarian organization. We have a mission. Tell me you can help carry out our mission and we will sit down at the table.”

So now maybe Komen won’t continue funding in the future? What side of the fence are you on, Komen? Stop yanking us around. You guys can spend your funds as you see fit, and we can choose whether or not to donate to you based on the organizations you support. You’re not making anyone happy trying to straddle both sides of the fence.

I got to spend Friday afternoon hanging out in Hugh Hewitt’s office. His radio office, that is, not his law office, which I have no desire to visit as I hope to never need a trial attorney. But if I did, I’d try to get Hugh Hewitt to represent me, because dang that dude is smart.

But I’d rather not need a trial lawyer.

Anyway. I got to bum around the recording studio for the Hugh Hewitt Show, which was being guest-hosted that day by my friend Larry O’Connor. Friday morning, when I was in the middle of doing Top 7 with Ashley, Larry pinged me to ask if I wanted to do a segment on the show. Um, hello, yes please.

So I said something along the lines of, “YEESSSSS!!!” and then told him that next time he hosted to give me some notice because I wouldn’t mind driving up to LA to go in-studio. Larry told me that it was Irvine, not LA, and I had an invitation. Irvine is way closer to San Diego than LA. It just so happened that Leif was working from home, so I didn’t have to worry about the kids, and I asked him if he minded if I went, and he said, “Go! Be smart. Be funny. Be cute. Be you.”

Side note – I love that man.

Wrapped up Top 7, hopped in the shower, did some quick hair and make-up, then hit the road. When I got there, it was 2:55, and the show started at 3. I called Larry to find out where exactly I was going, and he came out to get me, and then we RAN back to the studio, where he fell into the chair behind the mic just in time to start hosting a nationally syndicated talk radio show.

Sometimes my timing is impeccable.

Hugh wasn’t there, but his crew was, and it was lovely to meet them. I’ve been following his producer Duane Patterson for a while on Twitter, but I didn’t think he’d have any clue who I was, because really, why would he?

“Hi, I’m Jenny! Nice to meet you!”

“Duane,” he said, shaking my hand, and then added with a wink and a smile, “This is Salem. You can’t say dipsh!t on air.”

In case you didn’t know (and I didn’t until last summer), Salem is the Christian broadcasting network that runs The Hugh Hewitt Show. And on Thursday night, Duane had been on Larry’s regular Internet radio show. And Thursday is when I do my weekly Quickie with Jenny on The Larry O’Connor Show. And I had said that particular cuss word on that particular show, which is actually pretty unusual for me. I rarely cuss on air or in print, saving those words for the most impact when the situation calls for it. It totally called for it on Thursday.

So now I’m apparently the girl that says dipsh!t on the radio. But I do know better than to do that on a Salem drive time show. Give me some credit, Duane!

It was all kinds of awesome watching the behind the scenes stuff … Adam with the hand signals from the room with all kinds of technical-looking equipment, Duane with the 30-second warnings in the headphones, Larry forgetting to push the button to bring a caller on, because he’s used to his producer Meredith Dake doing that for him … it was very cool.

During the second hour, a real-live congressman came in for a live interview, and I got to sit right next to him. Representative John Campbell was a peach, and it makes me happy that there are people like him in Congress. When he came in, Larry introduced me as a Mom Blogger, which is basically what I am, which also means that while I was listening to the show in Hugh Hewitt’s office, I was on my laptop tweeting, chatting in the Hughniverse chat room, and taking notes for an article I have due Monday morning on the whole Newt vs. Mitt thing since that’s what they were talking about.

When we cut to break, Congressman Campbell looked over at me and asked, “I don’t mean to be nosey, but what are you doing over there?”

‘This? This is what I do. Talk to people on Twitter and in chat rooms. Write stuff. I’m going to be on the radio in the next hour, I do that too. I. Love. My. Job.”

Then we talked about Twitter a little bit more, and I told him he should use it more to communicate, and also warned him against ever sending DMs, because as Anthony Weiner knows, sometimes you mess up and send pictures of your junk out to the world instead of as a DM. It’s better to just avoid it if you’re a public figure.

Then again, John Campbell doesn’t seem like the type to do that anyway.

So I finally got to go on the radio with Larry, and what did I end up saying?

“I’ve been lobbying my husband for a sister wife.”

“Newt makes my eye twitch.”

“She insists on looking like a dude, and I don’t understand it.” 

Clearly, I am a ridiculous person. But y’all already knew that, right?

Happy listening!

Jenny on Hugh

I was on The Mark Davis Show on WBAP this morning, and it was fabulous. Mark and I got connected a few weeks ago on Twitter through his producer Susan and my bff Ashley who are friends. Since we’re both in Iowa right now, Mark graciously invited me on his show, live in (a makeshift) studio.

We talked about how I got started in blogging and the beauty of the free market on the internet, moms in politics, and guns.

And since I’ve been asked a zillion times, yes, Mark Davis is one of Rush’s Marks.

Also I have the same birthday as Rush – January 7.

That should count for something.

I’m not sure what though.

Happy listening!

20120103_Mark Davis with Jenny Erikson

I’m currently freezing my hiney off in Des Moines, chasing down candidates and talking to Iowans about the balmy weather, which candidate they’ll vote for tomorrow night, and life in general. Despite the cold, I’ve got to say that my biggest impression of Iowa so far is the people.

Simply put, the people I’ve met here are some of the nicest, most genuine people I’ve met in my entire life.  I’m so fortunate to get to travel semi-regularly for my job, so I’ve been to a lot of places over the past couple of years. Every city has its perks, and it’s the friendly people that win Des Moines over for me.

Silly example, but it paints a picture: I went to Target this morning to pick up a new pair of shades, and when I checked out, the salesgirl took out a small pair of scissors and handed them to me to cut the tag off. I didn’t even have to ask! What a sweetheart.

Later I was out at a Michele Bachmann meet-and-greet, and got to chat with some of the locals. I asked them how they felt about the hullaballoo surrounding the caucuses, and they all said that they loved it. The excitement, the boon to the economy, the opportunity to be first in the nation … the reasons varied from person to person, but they were all happy to have the candidates, the media and (in my case) media wannabes there.

Even the Democrats are sweet. On the plane on the way in, I got to chatting with a sweet lady probably old enough to be my grandmother. She mentioned that she was hosting a caucus, and I asked her where abouts. “Oh, it will just be a small one; it’s for the Democrats,” she told me.

“Oh yeah, definitely a quiet year for that … I’m on the other side of the aisle, myself,” I (awkwardly) responded. She just patted my hand and said, “That’s ok, Dear.”

Perhaps the best story of all comes from my friends Larry and Meredith, who were driving from Chicago to Des Moines on Saturday when they stopped for gas in Davenport, which I assume is somewhere between Point A and Point B, but I was never very good at geography. Somehow, Meredith’s suitcase got left at the gas station, and it wasn’t missed until they made it all the way to Des Moines.

They called the local police, and they actually sent a car out to look for it. On New Year’s Eve. Super nice, but unfortunately the bag wasn’t there. However, someone had picked it up, and called the number on the tag. They made arrangements to make arrangements the next day to go get the bag (several hours away), but one of the security guys working the convention center overheard their plight.

It turns out that wonderful Jim, security guy extraordinaire and knight with a shiny badge, had a daughter visiting her boyfriend in Davenport that was driving home the next day, and did they want her to pick up the bag and bring it home with her? It is now Sunday evening, and I’m happy to report that Meredith and her luggage have been reunited thanks to the kindness of Iowans.

Iowa, you may be colder than a penguin’s toes, but your warm-hearted people more than make up for it.

Supporters of the Millionaires Tax of 2012 have put out a new video vilifying Kim Kardashian* for making too much money and not paying enough of it back in taxes. She made a cool $12 million in 2010, but only paid only 10.3% in California state taxes. That’s only one percent more than the average Californian.

So. Totally. Unfair.

“Don’t you think she could pay a little bit more?” The ad boldly asks in a chivalrous effort to stick it to the (wo)man and make a stand for the middle calss. The only problem is that the logic this ad uses isn’t based in reality. Kim Kardashian didn’t pay only a leetle bit more in taxes than the average Golden State resident, she paid a yacht-load more.

The average Californian paid $4,371. Kim K paid $1,236,000. She paid over 280 times what the commoners paid.

Now who’s not paying their fair share?

*Let me be clear, there are plenty of reasons to vilify this whiney prima donna, but the amount of money she makes isn’t one of them.

I’m frantically trying to get ready for my trip to Florida tomorrow. I don’t travel a TON (maybe a few days every month or two?), but I swear these trips sneak up on me and kick my hiney into a frenzied gear that would make a one-armed wallpaper hanger stand back in awe and say, “Dayum, Girl!”

Clearly, my disabled wallpaper hanger is also gay.

Anyway. Between 18 zillion loads of laundry, tossing out anything in the fridge that has started to grow legs in a futile escape attempt (lest Leif try to feed it to the children while I’m gone), confirming with sitters and grandparents, and booking Thing 1’s birthday party because-oh-yeah-I-get-back-Sunday-and-she-turns-eight-on-Monday-and-we-were-going-to-get-her-a-bike-and-I-don’t-think-we-did-but-I-better-ask-Leif-before-I-buy-one, I thought I’d take a sec to talk about the GOP debate in Orlando tomorrow.

See? High. Gear.

Anyway. There’s another GOP presidential debate tomorrow (Thursday), this time sponsored by Fox News and Google. A cool aspect of this debate is that Fox News let viewers ask their own questions via their YouTube channel. I formulated my own question, but by the time Planet Quiet Kids aligned with Planet Clean and Presentable Mommy, the deadline had come and gone.

So you won’t be seeing this on Fox News on Thursday, but if I hadn’t missed the deadline, you might have:

Pretty much all the candidates are going to be into accessing our vast natural resources. Say hello to a million or more new jobs for America! Also say hello to lower energy costs and tighter national security. Who knows what the Saudis do with the money we give them in exchange for their oil?

I’m pretty sure energy will be discussed at the debate, because it’s such a key component to getting the cost of living down, and creating real jobs. With abut 75% of Americans believing that the economy is getting worse, not better, job creation is going to be the major issue facing the GOP candidates. Whoever is best able to convince voters that he or she can turn this economic train wreck around will win the nomination.

And if you believe the polls, that person will beat Obama in 2012.

Tune into the debate this Thursday, September 22, from 9-11p.m. Eastern on Fox News.

I hate calling people on the phone. I do it when I need to. This will be important later, so store it somewhere in your brain to save yourself the trouble of scrolling up later.

I had this US History and Government teacher in high school that I loved. Seriously. He was awesome. Everyone else hated him, because he did things like kick kids out of class for misbehaving or slam his fist on a desk to get a daydreaming student to pay attention. He taught the first amendment by walking into the center of the classroom (all desks pointed to the center) and shouting the F-bomb at the top of his lungs.

I loved it.

Anyway, there was this one time when we had to do this worksheet in class that had something to do with the gross domestic product and barrels of imported oil or something like that. Due to some sort of typo on the sheet, some key piece of information was missing. I heard him messing with some of the other kids who asked about it, telling them to figure it out.

See why I liked him?

Never one to back down from a challenge I’m sure I can win, I asked if I could use the phone. It was 1999 and pagers, not iPhones, were all the rage. Heck, most Internet was still line-by-line dial-up at that point. So the phone was by far the best and fastest way to get information.

I told you the phone thing would come into play. I hate it and avoid it at all costs, until it becomes absolutely necessary to get what I want.

So I called information and got the number for the Department of Energy. And then I called that number and told them I was doing a school project, and could they please tell me the bit of information I needed to know?

So I turned in my completed worksheet, and my favorite teacher, who seemed to greatly enjoy messing with his students, told me I couldn’t be done, and asked what I had gotten for an answer on that missing-info question. I told him and he looked right at me and asked whom I’d called.

“The Department of Energy.”

He stared at me.

“It’s, uh, in DC. I probably should’ve asked if I could call long distance.”

And then he laughed and gave me a metaphorical slap on the back and basically declared me his favorite student of the year.

That phone call was so worth it.

This post actually has nothing to do with high school or history teachers; it was only a story to illustrate how much I will only pick up the phone and dial someone I don’t know to get something that I really, really want. From the approval of a favorite teacher to getting Thing 2 enrolled in preschool to getting press passes to events I really want to go to.

Like the GOP presidential debate next week at the Reagan Library. Um, yes please, I’ll drive three hours to see the thing in person. Because GOP debate! Reagan Library! Rick Perry (we are like totally buds, you know)! I wanted to go so much that I picked up the phone and called the library to find out who to contact about press passes.

I was given an email address. Yes! I’m good at email! I love email! I did a little happy dance and put together a request and sent it off. A few hours later, I got this response:

Jenny,

Thanks for reaching out.  Due to the security level of the debate, only credentialed media with law enforcement credentials are able to cover the event.  I’m assuming you don’t have these?  I’m sorry if you don’t.

What the heck are law enforcement credentials?? Off to Google! Apparently they are a certain kind of ‘pass’ awarded by law enforcement agents so that reporters can go behind the yellow tape and to presidential debates at the Reagan Library.

Well heck! How do I get me one of those? My fingerprints are clean, I tell you, clean! I’ve never even done drugs! I go to church! Then I read: “Not usually granted to bloggers or opinion writers.”

I knew I should have married this dude.

Well what’s wrong with being opinionated? Freedom of the press! I may have ranted to Leif about it. He may have told me that I needed to make a connection with someone in the FBI. I may have glared accusingly at him and said, “This wouldn’t be a problem if only I’d married an FBI agent.”

He may have responded with, “This wouldn’t be a problem if those pesky presidential candidates weren’t worried about security and assassins.”

I may have won the argument with, “This wouldn’t be a problem if everyone were packing heat.”

As far as the phone is concerned … you win some, you lose some. I will face it another day.

Probably.

After a brief one-week hiatus due to the Red State Gathering last week, Ashley and I are back tomorrow to give you guys the highlights of the top 7 news stories of the week. We want you to sound super smart at this weekend’s get togethers, and we’re here to help.

Only there’s a change this week. We’re going live.

That’s right. Live internet radio, people. The kind that you can’t edit. The kind that makes me nervous that I’ll mess up. The kind that is super fun and makes me work harder to do a good job for you guys, because there is no safety net rewind button.

Check out Top 7 with Jenny & Ashley every Friday at 3pm Eastern/12pm Pacific on Blog Talk Radio!

(And try not to laugh too hard if we totally mess up tomorrow on our first live show.)

(Actually, go ahead and laugh. I know we will.)

So yesterday I was sitting and chatting with a fellow blogger, and since we both traveled to the Red State Gathering in Charleston, we started talking about airplanes. Yeah, traveling these days is a pain in the hiney, but once I’m sitting on the plane, I can get my laptop out and work my fingers off until the battery dies.

“Really?” My (single male) blogger friend asked me. “I just can’t work on planes. How do you do it?”

I laughed. Just like any work-at-home-mom would. Because the idea that we can sit somewhere for a few hours and just work, without getting up every few minutes to pour juice or wipe noses or break up sibling squabbles or make pbj’s for lunch and then telling your children they can choose to starve if they don’t want sandwiches … well it’s kinda amazing.

Working from home is a both a blessing and a curse. I get the best of both worlds. I’m home with my kids, to play with them, care for them, kiss their boo-boos, and make sure they practice the piano for twenty minutes a day. Yet I still have a job that I love, interesting and engaging people I get to interact with, and maybe the best part: A paycheck.

Of course the flipside to that is that I also have the downfalls of both worlds. Are my kids getting enough attention? Is my work good, or is it disjointed because I literally had to jump up 47 times in the course of writing a single 500-word article? Am I going to lose my ever lovin’ mind?

One of my favorite parts of my work is traveling. I really, really love business trips. Here are some of the reasons why:

1. The Peace I know it sounds crazy, since conferences and various meetings always seem to go a mile a minute, but to us moms, this pace is nothing compared to our everyday lives.

2. The Cool Factor What am I doing this week? Oh, just jetting off to South Carolina to chat with Governors Nikki Haley and Rick Perry. Did you hear Rick Perry might be our next president? Yup, I’ve met him before. We’re buds. Probably.

3. The Legitimization I have a real job, even though I don’t have a real office. I do not just sit and play on the internet all day. Ok, maybe I do, but that’s my actual job, people.

4. Maid Service That is all.

5. Face Time When you freelance, it’s important for people to remember your face, and more importantly, what you can do. Conversely, it’s good to connect with people that can help you grow professionally. I have contact info for dozens of experts in different fields that have saved me huge amounts of time in research by rattling off some resources for me just because I asked.

6. Eating Whatever I Want At home, I have to watch myself. And the bag of chips in the cupboard. And the ice cream in the freezer. And the block of pepper jack in the deli drawer. When I’m on a trip, opportunities for eating are few and far between, so when I finally do sit down to eat something; I don’t have to worry about the calories so much. You can eat a lot if you use your day’s worth in one shot.

7. Room Service See #4 and #6.

8. My Friends Due to the nature of my work, I have fabulous friends that live all over the nation. I don’t get to call up Ashley in Texas and see if she’s free next weekend for a girls’ night. But we got to lay out by the pool yesterday before the conference started in the evening. It was lovely.

9. Airports Where else can you have a beer and people-watch at 10am without any judgment?

10. Coming Home As much as I love traveling, there is something so sweet about coming home, with two little blond heads running full force toward me screaming, “MOMMY!!!!” And then there’s that guy I kinda like, the one I share my life with, the one that always picks up the house before I come home, the one that kisses me right there next to the baggage claim because he missed me so much that the regular PDA rules don’t apply.

So thanks, Red State, for hosting this annual gathering. I’m thrilled to be here.

Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Conservative new media personalities Jenny Erikson and Ashley Sewell have teamed up with From the Right Radio to bring you a new show: Top 7 with Jenny & Ashley. The show will premiere Friday, August 5^th, at 3p.m. Eastern/12p.m. Pacific on www.FTRradio.com.

Every Friday afternoon, Jenny and Ashley will bring you the Top 7 news stories of the week in an informative and fun fashion, so that you’ll know what you’re talking about at this weekend’s cocktail parties and barbeques. After an hour with the girls, you’ll be intellectually equipped with talking points, snarky one-liners, and potential solutions to sticky situations.

“Since its inception, From the Right Radio has been debunking the myth that conservatives are just a bunch of stuffy, old, white men,” says Ashley Sewell. “Top 7 with Jenny & Ashley is one more piece of evidence that conservatism can be sassy, relevant, and cute.”

Jenny has been blogging since 2008, and currently contributes to CafeMom.com’s The Stir, MomThink.org, and Andrew Breitbart’s ‘Big’ sites. She also hosts The Jenny Erikson Show, Tuesday nights on FTR. She has appeared as a guest on The Roger Hedgecock Show, The Rick Amato Show, and is a regular on The Stage Right Show with Larry O’Connor. You can find her and her antics at www.JennyErikson.com.

Ashley became involved in online activism in 2009 when she went up a tax bracket. She currently serves as the Director of Training for Smart Girl Politics, leading SGP101, a weekly online seminar designed to give activists the tools needed to get involved in the conservative movement. She also hosts The Texas Trendy Chick, Tuesday nights on FTR. She has contributed to Andrew Breitbart’s ‘Big’ sites, and can be found online at www.txtrendychick.com.

“My hope for Top 7,” says Jenny, “is that everyone has as much fun listening to it as we’re going to have bringing it to you. Because if no one is having any fun … what’s the point?”

Tune into Top 7 with Jenny & Ashley this Friday at 3p.m. Eastern/12p.m. Pacific, only on www.FTRradio.com.