Meredith's Husband is at Harvard

[Palimpsest]

He started this fall.

Thank you, BTW, for linking to your excellent synopsis! 

 

Thanks.  He's been planning it for ages then because I remember discussion about it last year.  I see Meredith's FB says they are in Cambridge.  Apartments big enough for a family of 5 in Cambridge are $$$$$.

Ah, the memories.  Meredith was one of my favorite Godly Maidens Pining For Prince Charming and the wedding was snark heaven.  I hope she is happy, but I really don't like S. Hammer.

I see Margaret is wearing a pink choir robe in the pictures.  Didn't Meredith learn anything from poor little Sheridan's flower girl dress?

[punkiepie]

I'm sure the day is fast approaching when Stephen and his GOP lawyer minions attempt to have FJ scrubbed of any mention of him or his family.  

[hoipolloi]

I'm sure the day is fast approaching when Stephen and his GOP lawyer minions attempt to have FJ scrubbed of any mention of him or his family.  

Just let them try.

[chaotic life]

Perhaps he should ask Santorum how that works to try to scrub the Internet of his bizarre behaviors.

The girls are wearing smocked bishop dresses. I would say they look like Strasburg but iirc Meredith had an Etsy shop doing custom smocking at one point so she likely made them herself. The boy is in a smocked Jon-Jon suit.

While it's all very southern couture, it's painfully clear Meredith has not stayed up on southern style. Girls don't wear smocked bishop dresses nearly as much anymore. Matilda Jane is ALL the rage now.

And, I know from personal experience, no matter how much you and your daughters like those big hair bows, NE ain't got time for that! We did two years as NE transplants and all the little girls drooled over my daughters bows and flowers and all the adults looked at me like I had three heads for it--like I was going to buy new hair accessories or something, and we NEVER did it big like Meredith is succumbing to.

[LurkerOverThePond]

I always thought Meredith would have been a lot happier if she just married a local farmboy. Stephen creeps the fuck out of me.

[chaotic life]

I think what creeps me out the very most is that the poor woman is in such awe of him and clearly believes she does not deserve him. I'm sure he laps the hero worship with up, and I'm certain he plotted that a woman in that position would be highly unlikely to ever feel empowered to leave him. But the level of inequality and subservience that betrays is creepy gross.

[DamnPrecious]

He has that smug douchebag side part. 

Hopefully, the info of stuff here is backed up into a safe place in case. 

[Cannelle]

Okay, so let's say Stephen makes it to the White House. Will Meredith even have a platform of any kind? Laura Bush pushed literacy, Michelle Obama pushes healthy eating and exercise...Meredith isn't really about anything, is she? Which is sad.

[JillyO]

It's so infuriating. 

And frankly, short sighted. Nowadays prominent Republican male politicians have wives who are educated, sometimes more educated than they are. Even Jeri Thompson, Fred Thompson's wife and someone who is commonly labeled as a trophy wife, has a college degree and had a considerable career in politics before meeting her husband. Ann Romney went to an elite private high school and got a degree in French (including studying abroad in Paris). Laura Bush has a master's degree from UT at Austin and worked as a librarian. 

Meredith, who I think is nice enough on top of being a really hard worker, will most likely feel and be out of place at political schmoozy events. And trust me, people will ask where she went to school. I live just outside DC and people can be education snobs. People look at me as if I'm functionally illiterate when I tell them I don't have a master's degree, just a B.A. And if Stephen likes to keep his little miss out of his affairs, she will also most likely put her foot in her mouth in conversations. Political wives function as campaign ambassadors. 

If Stephen has his sights set on a prominent position, this freaky courting story will come out, and it will totally turn off centrist voters and a lot of conservatives as well. The internet is forever. He definitely ain't from around these parts. 

 

Honestly, that is the only thing that keeps me from being too worried about his political ambitions. A few decades ago, Meredith would have been a great politician's wife. Good-looking, WASP-y, beautiful children, friendly. These days, fortunately, that is just not enough anymore. So yes, I agree, it is very short sighted of Stephen to have sought out an uneducated wife if he has political aspirations. And thank the FSM for that shortsightedness.

[sparkles]

Given that Donald Trump is still atop the polls, I will NEVER underestimate what voters will fall for. And I actually think that while some factions will give the courtship story and Meredith's lack of education the stink eye, they're probably not people who would consider voting for Stephen anyway. There's another, probably larger faction—the Tea Party types—who would consider the Hammers and their wildly divergent backgrounds to be just what god ordered. Here you have a handsome (not my type), highly intelligent young man who had the best education, served his country, devoted himself to the lord yet was still humble enough to search for the most godly helpmeet he could, without regard to her simple background. Come on, people! He found her online because that's what he was led to do, right? Jebus, people will be falling all over themselves to vote for him. Meredith would be exactly the type of First Lady they dreamed of. One who shuts up, walks behind her husband and does nothing more than host teas on the White House lawn and devotes herself to safe causes, staying well out of the spotlight and politics. 

[punkiepie]

Unfortunately, these days, it seems that the only liability for a potential first lady is her being too outspoken or too ambitious.  Also, while it's possible that Stephen has aspirations for the White House – I think his ultimate goal is to sit on the Supreme Court and one day be chief justice.  That way, there's no election process to deal with and he can just rely on his conservative crony cabal to ensure him a nomination to the bench.  

[Palimpsest]

I also think the Mallet has his eye on the Supreme Court.

I find it sad that Meredith hasn't been allowed to get any further education that we can see.  I used to think she had a lot of potential.

[MissBitters]

I remember she posted some of her journal entries from her courtship on her blog after the engagement announcement. They made me so sad because she kept going on and on about how unworthy she was to have a man like Stephen. Now, some of this could be a fundie humble brag, but It seemed like she genuinely thought she didn't deserve him. Nevermind, she was a very smart, capable, hardworking woman who managed her family's multiple businesses, had her own real estate license, and was constantly devising new ways to earn money. It makes me angry her parents raised her to think that she didn't have more to offer the world than a fertile womb.

[nickelodeon]

Okay, so let's say Stephen makes it to the White House. Will Meredith even have a platform of any kind? Laura Bush pushed literacy, Michelle Obama pushes healthy eating and exercise...Meredith isn't really about anything, is she? Which is sad.

Jam. Homemade jam for every US citizen!!!!

[Rosie]

My very tongue in cheek synopsis of the great romance from SOTDRT. http://www.freejinger.org/topic/13695-the-alexandersmeredith-steven-hammer/

Yes, Steven J. definitely has political aspirations.  He scares me deeply.

Hasn't he been at Harvard Law for over a year now?  I wonder where he's parked the family for the duration.  I can't see Meredith fitting in with other grad students and their wives.  It can be brutal.

No - he started this fall.  He will finish in May 2018.

Thanks.  He's been planning it for ages then because I remember discussion about it last year.  I see Meredith's FB says they are in Cambridge.  Apartments big enough for a family of 5 in Cambridge are $$$$$.

Ah, the memories.  Meredith was one of my favorite Godly Maidens Pining For Prince Charming and the wedding was snark heaven.  I hope she is happy, but I really don't like S. Hammer.

I see Margaret is wearing a pink choir robe in the pictures.  Didn't Meredith learn anything from poor little Sheridan's flower girl dress?

She has a Pinterest board called "Cambridge Townhome."

https://www.pinterest.com/meredithhammer/

[desertvixen]

Oh, and as a very shallow aside: Any "hotness" he may have had at one time is GONE. 

I'll second that.  He just looks like a political ad in that picture (which I'm sure is his intent).

[browngrl]

Stephen creeps me out. Frankly, I want to know what he's hiding. His entire life from his faith conversion to his wife to his career choices, they are all meticulous plotting for politics. He has to be a lawyer and start getting in front of audiences. He wants to be in political office before he is 40 and I would be shocked if he doesn't have his sights set on 1600 Pennsylvania as his ultimate goal.

I agree. I think this whole Harvard with three children in tow is just one more step on the road he has mapped out for himself. The Harvard credentials will look good on his CV and the story of how he and his wife survived this financially restricted time will make good press. 

Of all the fundies we discuss on FJ - this one frightens me. He is very smart and he has an agenda.He gives me a very bad vibe. 

[teachergirl]

I was in law school for a semester and was married, no children. It is so intense academically and I wasn't at Harvard...

(Disclaimer, I basically "flunked" out, and it wasnt from a lack of hard work)I think the poster who said she does her thing and he does his is probably accurate...what better way for her to keep out of his business than to have three under three with the expectation there will be more...It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

[sawasdee]

Thank you,@Palimpsest! Truly terrifying - and very sad.

[violynn]

Thank you,@Palimpsest! Truly terrifying - and very sad.

 

This couple is a little terrifying, especially Meredith's own remark that she hopes they will become this millenium's Sarah and Jonathan Edwards.

Bonus though:  now I am rereading Marriage to a Difficult Man.

I am oddly ashamed I cannot italicize the title of the above book.

[treemom]

It's so infuriating. 

And frankly, short sighted. Nowadays prominent Republican male politicians have wives who are educated, sometimes more educated than they are. Even Jeri Thompson, Fred Thompson's wife and someone who is commonly labeled as a trophy wife, has a college degree and had a considerable career in politics before meeting her husband. Ann Romney went to an elite private high school and got a degree in French (including studying abroad in Paris). Laura Bush has a master's degree from UT at Austin and worked as a librarian. 

Meredith, who I think is nice enough on top of being a really hard worker, will most likely feel and be out of place at political schmoozy events. And trust me, people will ask where she went to school. I live just outside DC and people can be education snobs. People look at me as if I'm functionally illiterate when I tell them I don't have a master's degree, just a B.A. And if Stephen likes to keep his little miss out of his affairs, she will also most likely put her foot in her mouth in conversations. Political wives function as campaign ambassadors. 

If Stephen has his sights set on a prominent position, this freaky courting story will come out, and it will totally turn off centrist voters and a lot of conservatives as well. The internet is forever. He definitely ain't from around these parts. 

 

Having met Jeri Thomspon it is hard for me to see her as a trophy wife. As you point out, she was a distinct human being before her husband entered it.

[desertvixen]

As far as the financials: assuming Stephen is recieving the new GI Bill (paid to the school rather than the student), he gets a living stipend for an E5 (SGT) with dependent.  In Boston, MA, that would be 2,631. (For comparison, an E7 with dependents where I am gets half that.)

There's also the 1,000 per year for books.

If he's got the older GI Bill, then there's no living stipend but the money goes directly to the service member.  He could be getting 1789/month if he has that WHILE he's in school.  Also, I'd assume this guy took advantage of the various programs to save money while on deployment (like the one where you can get 10% interest on up to 10K) - if you're careful, you can save a lot, plus the tax advantages.

I don't know what rank he got out at, but he could have been making somewhere between 2800 and 4000 a month, depending on rank - and he didn't have to pay for housing in the service.

[ViolaSebastian]

Jam. Homemade jam for every US citizen!!!!

I could actually get behind that platform..,but that would mean that Creepy Stephen would be president, and ain't nobody got time for that.

When I look at the photographs on her facebook page, I can't help but be reminded of some of those classic shots of the Kennedys.  Stephen and Meredith relaxing on a sailboat, the children impeccably dressed in front a front porch with an American flag waving in the background, Stephen dressed in uniform with a gun while he lays a big wet one on Meredith...seriously, just set those suckers to some sappy music and slap "STEPHEN HAMMER FOR PRESIDENT 2040" on there and you've got a campaign commercial.

[Rear Window]

Wow! Their kids' clothes in the FB pics are really terrible. It's like smock diarrhea. Smocked clothes can be cute, but she goes way overboard. 

Do they believe in birth control?

 

[chaotic life]

Nope. They are quiverful as was Meredith's parents. And I truly believe his goal is that picturesque Kennedy persona for politician. I think he surveyed the conservative political arena, decided that was where his talent to be elected lay and has orchestrated every single step since then to hone that concept.

I think he had his sights set on politics since he was a teen but it was while he was at Cambridge that he decided he could manipulate the conservative vote and set out on his great conversion and searched for the perfect conservative wife to perfect the image.

And clearly I am a cynic cause I think he's as faithful as JFK to boot.