Blogger News Network

Because Wife Swap had a local (Tulsa) family on last night, I decided to watch it. I'd never seen more than clips before, and hadn't liked them, but last night's episode was really fascinating. Here are the bio's of the two wives from the ABC web site...

King Family

Amy King (34) and her husband, Kevin (34), live with their three children, Lauren (10), Keegan (7) and Grant (4), in an austere and immaculate home in suburban Oklahoma.

Amy is an ardent saver and considers it her mission in life to help others learn how to save money. She limits family showers to two songs' worth of water from a special music CD, and routinely patrols the house in whirlwind fashion, turning off lights, picking up stray laundry and economizing with her every step. Amy and Kevin are goal-oriented and plan every minute of the day. The children have lots of chores and only receive allowance if they do extra work. Amy insists that the kids pay for their own treats and makes them contribute money toward all family vacations.

The Kings' penny-pinching lifestyle has allowed them to pay off their home mortgage and save enough money for 34-year-old Kevin to retire now, though he keeps working. Amy is proud of her fiscal conservatism, but less so of her relationship with her children, especially Lauren. She focuses on the kids' flaws and shortcomings, and gets extremely frustrated when they do not live up to her enormous expectations. Amy and Kevin always put their relationship as a couple before their relationship with their children.

Reeves Family

Lori Reeves (39) and her husband, Sean (40) live in a kitsch-filled, country-style home in Mississippi. The Reeves' entire world revolves around their only son, Clark Richard, and the dream of turning him into a child star.

Nothing is too good for Lori's baby -- she spoils Clark Richard daily with presents and attention, exempts him from chores, and ignores husband Sean in the process. The couple have been together for 19 years, but have never slept in the same bedroom. Lori complains that her husband is like a second child whom she must constantly nag to get things done.

Sean works as a pharmaceutical sales rep, trying to keep the family's finances afloat while they go further into debt funding Lori's business -- a children's stage show, starring herself as "Miss Lori." Lori performs for pre-schoolers and is joined by Clark Richard and Sean, who dons a giant pig suit and acts as her assistant.

Sean admits that he gets less respect than the family dog, which is pampered by Lori with endless toys and tiny clothes. Lori and Clark Richard side against Sean during arguments and dismiss his opinions outright. Mom and Dad have sacrificed their relationship as a couple and are united only in their adoration of Clark Richard.

Here are some further salient details. While Amy gets up early and makes sure her family is taken care of, Lori sleeps late (very late) is served breakfast in bed by her husband, who has to eat alone in the kitchen while Amy and Clark Richard (is it me or does that sound like a name that's guaranteed to get you beat up on the playground) eat in her bed.

Does any of this sound familiar to you?

Imagine the husband as the middle class, the children as the lower class and the wife as the two political parties. Amy King epitomized the GOP while Lori Reeves epitomizes the DNC.

The GOP stresses financial responsibility and the need for everyone to be responsible for their own needs as much as they're capable. While the middle class thrives on this, the lower class typically complains because many (not all) would prefer doing less and getting more (thus the reason they're in the lower class).

The DNC, on the other hand dotes on the lower class to the point of leaving them virtually crippled and unable to function, all the while treating the middle class as slaves, there to provide for them and their pets (the poor) and eat their own stale bread and tepid water in the kitchen.

The follow-up questions asked to the women are very telling.

Amy King...

Q: Do you relate to your family differently?
A: Yes, the biggest change is that I now ask Lauren (11, in 6th grade), "Have you done your homework?" Hopefully she has and if she hasn't she has to pay the consequences with bad grades. Once in a while I take the kids out for a "Happy Treat," although I still firmly believe that the best things in life are free!

Everyone loves the dog. We are crazy about him and he goes everywhere with us.

Q: Would you do it again?
A: Absolutely!! Risks must be taken, because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.

Lori Reeves...

Q: Do you relate to your family differently?
A: No not really! We are still the same as before the swap!

Q: Would you do it again?
A: No.

Lori's husband repeatedly said that their marriage would either have to change or it would fail. Apparently Lori naively thinks things can just keep going the way they are. Her husband makes $70,000 a year, $30,000 of which she blew in the past year playing at a "business" entertaining children. My guess is that before long Sean Reeves will be filing two things, bankruptcy and divorce, shattering Lori's self-created utopia.

On a national scale we go back and forth between the GOP and the DNC in charge over these past decades, allowing the DNC to play, then letting the GOP clean up the mess, so once again the DNC can swoop in and make another mess being the "fun" party. We're at a serious crossroads where the GOP under GWB's guidance and in spite of 9/11 has cleaned up the economic mess Bill Clinton left. The voters, unfortunately, may want to go back to a "fun" yet fiscally irresponsible DNC again, moving us back into dangerous waters.

This particular episode should be shown as a political lesson so more people can understand the true difference between Republicans and Democrats, and which are the better choice for a more secure future.