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Welcome to a New Editor: Bethany Mandel
Before I start posting here at Ricochet, I wanted to take the time to introduce myself to readers, members, and listeners. You may already be familiar with me because of my role on LadyBrains and the newly launched podcast with my husband Seth, called That Sethany Show.
I’ll be editing here part-time, cleaning up member posts and helping podcasts and other posts get on the site. In addition to that editing, I’ll be writing a few posts a week, on politics and cultural trends.
A bit about me: I’m a full-time mother, home with my three kids. I don’t use their names online because the Internet is a dark and scary place, and we want them to develop their online identities separate from us. My oldest is four, and her online nickname is Cookie; you may have heard unexpected guest appearances from her on LadyBrains over the last year. My middle son is nicknamed Pat because he was born on St. Patrick’s Day; he’s almost three. You may be familiar with my youngest’s birth story; his nickname is Altima, because that’s where he was born, in Seth’s Nissan Altima on the side of the highway. (You can listen to that whole story on this episode of LadyBrains).
In addition to my Ricochet duties editing, writing and podcasting, I am also a Senior Contributor at the Federalist and a columnist at the Jewish Daily Forward.
Before my daughter was born, Seth and I both worked at Commentary Magazine. After she was born I started freelancing from home, and plan to homeschool our children. Seth has since moved on to become the op-ed editor at the New York Post. We live in New Jersey with our kids and have no spare time; though if I had that, I would continue trying to teach myself how to crochet and be far more crafty and put together than I am.
I look forward to getting to know all of you; please introduce yourselves in the comments!
Published in General
Welcome Bethany. As a fellow believer in natural parenting ( “I don’t know honey, what do you think will happen when you stick the scissors in the outlet”) I am glad to have you here. My kids are 28, 25, 19 and 17. Tell the sock story.
Welcome.
Welcome, glad to know I can write sloppy posts since I have you to clean them up ;>) We somehow found Richochet pretty early on and have been blessed by it ever since.
We retired from Oklahoma to rural KY several years ago after Mrs. OS, she’s the smart one, homeschooled our kids there. I just had to get out of the city, away from the incessant wind, and since our kids had moved hither and yon we (I) figured we might as well move to where ever we wanted to be. We love it here, it’s like being on vacation for us, the scenery that is.
We’ll celebrate 50 years of marriage in August and plan to do an Alaskan cruise this summer.
We like to take country drives, are fascinated by the stages of farming and so on and partly moved 800 miles east to be closer to places we haven’t seen much of so far.
We preferred any of the other Republican candidates during the primary as President but I have been mostly pleasantly surprised by Mr. Trump’s actions while still being disappointed by what I take to be his entertainers style of communication. I’d like a President who is a better communicator but if I have to choose I’ll take substance over style every time.
Mrs. OS still can’t stand to hear him talk but then she has higher standards than I do. Glad that didn’t apply when she was choosing a mate.
…’hi’.
Bethany;
As a devoted follower (a more polite way of saying stalker) of you on twitter, I’m delighted to have you here at Ricochet!
3 kids and the oldest is 4! Great and good thing to do — for all of the country and the world at large. God bless you and I hope you like it here. Did anyone warn you about @arahant? Well, if not then take note, please.
Here’s my first little bon mot for you and it’s from Michael Medved:
The four Ms that make a woman a conservative:
Welcome! Looking forward to seeing your posts here. Been a fan of Ladybrains and your Twitter for a long time now.
The word “but” is not required in the middle of this sentence. change it to “and”. Don’t let ’em get to you. ;-)
Sexist.
Larry, it was Bill Clinton that made my wife a conservative. naya naya naya!
Bethany, just sit right back, and you’ll hear a tale…
Hi, I’m Stad. Oh wait, you can read the name by my icon . . .
Welcome aboard! I still laugh when I think about the “Altima” Ladybrains podcast. What a classic!
Welcome! I’m Dean. Father of 2 great kids, 21 and 16, girl and boy. Husband of a wonderful wife who doesn’t come here, but has to listen to me about it.
I’m conservative since Clinton. I was raised by an Air Force non-com, and Mr. Clinton’s treatment of the military was the wake up call.
Mr. Trump was my last choice, but in hindsight, I’m not sure any other Republican could have stopped the Clintons. I’m delighted by his accomplishments and look forward, warily, to more.
Just fixing typos, basically, before they go up on the recommended feed.
We need to be better about reintroducing ourselves throughout the show, thank you for the reminder!
Give me time, John. I only just started.
Ha, no that’s Kelly. Though I did once have a chinchilla, but I accidentally killed him.
I have to say I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how not awful Trump has been. I’m glad he’s exceeding my expectations, which were quite low.
Soft bigotry of low expectations? I expected better from you.
Welcome, Bethany.
You know, I actually didn’t tell you anything about myself – so I will unpack my Bio – just for you Bethany. My bio is actually my Twitter Bio that I cut and pasted here.
I attended the USAF Academy and graduated with a BS in Military History as well as a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant. I became a pilot and then was posted to fly B-52s. 1st Lieutenant found me in the first Gulf War. My oldest (Tom) was born just after my promotion to Captain. Did a tour as a T-37 instructor pilot and then back to the B-52 (and a quick upgrade to Instructor Pilot). 9/11 meant I got to fight in both Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom practically back to back. Then I married JoALT. Became an Air Force Strategist and welcomed my second child (WeiEn). Retirement came quick, followed by my MBA and then my youngest (Charlotte – and let me say she is a lot of Carlotta). Now I work as an Operations Research Analyst and I am currently deployed in support of Operation Inherent Resolve (Although that hasn’t made the Bio yet- maybe when I re-deploy).
It is nice to meet you.
Well, I’ve found that when one of my posts has been promoted, a good editor can take my decent enough writing and make it look brilliant. In fact, I’ve a couple of writers as friends and they’ll agree that a good editor is essential to the finished product.
Welcome to Ricochet. Don’t worry most of us don’t bite. And of those of us that do, most of us don’t bite too hard. Except that one guy.
Welcome, and nice to meet you!
You’ve never been invited onto Rob Long’s yacht?
Welcome, Bethany
Bethany,
More cute children photos, please. Such nachas.
Regards,
Jim
It was only that once.
We’re watching you. Don’t make us put you on double-secret-probation again.
You posted a picture of SS Ricochet’s LIFEBOAT??
Nothing ‘made’ Mrs. OS conservative, she’s always been more conservative than me. I always described myself as a Constitutionalist until about a year ago when I decided I’m Conservatarian.
Come to think of it, Mrs. OS was married too young, became a Mother after a bit of time, signed a Mortgage about that time and eventually acquired some Mutual funds. But she was conservative before any of that. I really think it’s because she’s so brilliantly smart.
Welcome aboard!
My wife and I had three kids with the oldest at 4 years old until the fourth child came along; then we had four kids with the oldest at 6 years old! Great times. Enjoy it; it does not last long.
I have not listened to your podcast yet, but with all the rave reviews, I’ll have to check it out!