WASHINGTON - On May 8, the White House hosted a Mother's Day luncheon in the Rose Garden. Photos show smiling officials, flowers, performative warmth. The message, as delivered: Happy Mother's Day.

Republicans and Democrats both posted tributes. Both sides. Conservative senators and progressive representatives. The White House official account and right-wing firebrands. Everyone had something to say about motherhood.

Here's what the same government - both parties, both administrations - was doing to mothers while the cameras clicked.

A mother in Gaza holds her starving young boy

In Gaza, Em Rami Dawwas sat in a tent in Gaza City.

She kept photos of her three sons under her pillow, looking at them every day, "as if holding on will keep their memory alive." All three were killed in Israeli attacks. Two of their bodies are still being withheld. Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 72,000 people since October 2023. UNICEF estimates 64,000 children have been killed or wounded.

The Biden administration approved the weapons transfers. So did the Trump administration before it. The death toll climbs while Congress approves more funding, both parties voting yes. The White House hosts brunch under Democrats. Republicans scream about border security while ignoring the border of Gaza where children are slaughtered.

Both sides fund it. Both sides enable it.

The family of Rosa González gathers around her casket. Ms. González, 80, died from her injuries after U.S. airstrikes hit a three-story apartment complex in the raid to "arrest" Maduro.

In Caracas, Rosa Gonzalez was 80 years old.

A grandmother. She died from injuries after U.S. airstrikes hit a three-story apartment building in January 2026 during Operation Southern Spear. At least 40 civilians were reported killed. The Pentagon claimed every kill was an enemy kill. Rosa Gonzalez's family buried her and knew the truth.

This was Trump's operation. Hegseth's raid. But where was the Democratic opposition? Where were the progressive senators demanding an accounting? They were silent. They went along with the regime change logic they pretended to oppose. They tweeted about democracy in Venezuela while mothers burned alive in U.S. airstrikes.

The same administration sent condolences and Mother's Day wishes to grandmothers across America. Rosa Gonzalez's grandchildren learned that American bombs do not distinguish - and that opposition is just theater.

Reene Good moments before being shot by ICE agent johnathan ross

In Minneapolis, Renee Good was 37.

A mother of three. A poet. She had recently moved to Minnesota. On January 7, 2026, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed her. Within days, Trump administration official Kristi Noem alleged that Good's actions amounted to "an act of domestic terrorism." Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison disagreed.

But where was the Democratic outrage? Where was the progressive media storm? The party that claims to defend women, mothers, Black lives went quiet. They posted #JusticeForRenee for two days and moved on. They did not hold hearings. They did not demand ICE reform. They did not block funding. They accepted a mother shot dead as collateral damage of immigration enforcement both parties support.

The government that calls itself the protector of mothers shot one dead and then smeared her as a terrorist for political convenience - and the opposition party barely blinked.

Our bodies, our abortions protest banner with large crowd behind it.

Across multiple states, women face criminal charges for miscarriages.

In South Carolina, Georgia, Ohio, Arkansas, Texas, Mississippi, Oklahoma and beyond, prosecutors have brought cases against women who lost pregnancies. Some have gone to jail. In Alabama, a 28-year-old Black woman was arrested after being shot in the stomach - prosecutors argued she could be charged under accomplice liability because she "started it."

Conservative legislators wrote these laws. GOP governors signed them. But Democrats did not fight hard enough. They held hearings. They issued statements. They voted against the bills in some states. But they did not mobilize the way they mobilize for midterms. They did not make this the defining issue of their opposition. They treated women's bodies as political bargaining chips rather than non-negotiable rights.

The same politicians who post Mother's Day tributes also vote for laws that treat women's bodies as crime scenes - or do not fight hard enough to stop them.

The SAVE America Act, passed by the House in February 2026, requires documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote.

Birth certificates. Citizenship papers. For millions of married women whose current names do not match their birth certificates, this is a barrier. Women who changed their names after marriage now face additional documentation requirements that men typically do not.

Republicans introduced it. Republicans voted for it. But Democratic leadership has not made this a front-burner fight. They have issued warnings. They have tweeted about voting rights. They have not made this the red line they claim it is. They treat voter suppression as a fundraising issue, not an emergency demanding the shutdown of government operations.

The administration that celebrates mothers is stripping away their political power - and the opposition party is treating it as just another issue in the rotation.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche declared the Epstein investigation "over" in February 2026.

Millions of documents remained withheld. A journalist sued over the continued obstruction. Blanche had previously interviewed Ghislaine Maxwell in prison; she received a cushy transfer shortly after. His former client Paul Manafort was Epstein's cellmate.

This is Trump's DOJ. This is conservative corruption laid bare. But Democrats in Congress have not launched a sustained investigation. They have held a hearing or two. They have issued statements. They have not made this the scandal it is. They have not demanded Blanche's recusal. They have not subpoenaed the documents. They are letting the cover-up happen with performative objection rather than real resistance.

The same officials posting Mother's Day photos are actively protecting the powerful men who trafficked women and girls - and the opposition party is letting it slide.

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Here is the truth: Conservatives are twice as guilty.

They write the laws. They authorize the raids. They sign the weapons transfers. They attack reproductive freedom. They suppress the vote. They protect the pedophiles. They are the active destroyers.

But liberals are not innocent.

They voted for the weapons transfers too. They stayed silent on Venezuela. They accepted the ICE raids as necessary. They did not fight the SAVE America Act like their lives depended on it. They treated the Epstein cover-up as scandal theater rather than emergency obstruction.

They are the performative opposition. The "we tried, but" party. The group that issues statements while women die.

Both parties fund the weapons that kill mothers in Gaza. Both parties enable the ICE raids that kill mothers at home. Both parties accept a system where miscarriage is criminalized and voting is suppressed. Both parties accept the Epstein cover-up as political reality.

Both sides post the Mother's Day tributes.

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This is not new. The first Mother's Day in the United States, in 1870, was a protest. Abolitionist and suffragist Julia Ward Howe called for an international movement of mothers to protest war. She wrote the Mother's Day Proclamation: "Arise, all women who have hearts, whether your baptism be that of water or of tears."

The proclamation called for mothers to say: "We will not have our questions answered by the cannon."

In 2026, the cannon answers louder than ever.

The numbers.

• 72,000+ killed in Gaza since October 2023, including 64,000 children killed or wounded - funded by both parties
• At least 40 civilians reported killed in Venezuela raid - Trump's operation, Democrats silent
• Women across 7+ states charged with crimes for miscarriages or stillbirths - conservative laws, weak Democratic opposition
• Millions of married women face new voting barriers under SAVE America Act - Republican bill, Democratic insufficient resistance
• Epstein investigation declared "over" despite millions of withheld documents - conservative corruption, Democratic performative oversight

The pattern is not subtle. The hypocrisy is not subtle. The brutality is not subtle.

What is subtle is the way both parties transform this reality into greeting card sentimentality. "Happy Mother's Day to all the incredible mothers out there!" posted from accounts connected to departments that approve weapons transfers, authorize raids, defend criminalization of miscarriage, and suppress the vote.

Conservatives kill the mothers. Liberals watch it happen and send thoughts and prayers.

Both sides are complicit.

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Mothers know the difference. The mother who lost a son in Gaza knows. The grandmother who survived the Caracas airstrike knows. The children who watched their mother die in Minneapolis know. The women fighting for reproductive freedom and voting access know.

They are not reading the Mother's Day tweets from Republicans or Democrats. They are organizing. They are mourning. They are surviving.

The mothers who are still alive - and still fighting - deserve honesty from both parties that claim to honor them.

They deserve an accounting of the weapons sent - and the opposition party that voted against them consistently and loudly. They deserve justice for mothers killed by federal agents - and the party that makes ICE reform a non-negotiable demand. They deserve reproductive freedom without fear of prosecution - and the party that treats it as an emergency requiring political capital. They deserve voting access without bureaucratic traps - and the opposition that fights like losing it would end democracy. They deserve to know who benefited from Epstein's crimes - and the Democrats who subpoena the documents and demand real investigations.

They deserve a government that does not kill mothers in one timezone and post "Happy Mother's Day" in another - regardless of which party holds power.

Until that day arrives, tweets from both parties are propaganda. The brunches are theater. The body count continues.

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Call it what it is: The United States government - conservative and liberal alike - is actively harming mothers while performing reverence for them.

Conservatives are twice as guilty. But liberals are not innocent.

Mothers do not need your Instagram posts. They need you to stop killing them - both of you.

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Mothers Day was founded as a protest against war. In 2026, the war continues. The mothers continue mourning. And both parties continue posting.

The dissonance would be funny if it were not lethal.