Sarah Palin hid her pregnancy until the seventh month because she did not want it to interfere with the business of being Governor. She gave a speech about Alaska oil drilling as her amniotic fluid was leaking out. She gave birth one month early, to a Special Needs child, and returned to work three days later.
Now the ambitious career woman/supposed hockey-mom is toting around young Trig (Have you read the names of her children? There ought to be a law against that...) to show what a fabulous parent she is, and using his Downs Syndrome as proof to all those who may have doubted her sincere and religious conviction against abortion.
Her fans call her a "tough lady" and a "great mom."
I disagree and find it somewhat despicable that the woman who chose to have her husband raise their children - when he is not racing across Alaska in a dog sled -is now using her family as a political ploy. No wonder her supposedly abstaining teenage daugther Bristol (Did you catch that name? There ought to be a law...) got pregnant, there are no parents in the house to truly guide her.
Showing posts with label feminism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label feminism. Show all posts
Monday, September 8, 2008
Sunday, August 31, 2008
History in the Making, or Huge Blunder
With the announcement by the McCain campaign of his choice of Vice-Presidential candidate, there are a whole new set of considerations for someone like me, a blue-blooded Democrat who does not want to vote for Barack Obama.
I have analyzed several factors regarding the choice of Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska, interspersed with hilarious quotes from an op-ed piece by David Brooks.
1. She is woman: Very smart, given the 18 million disaffected female voters on the Democrat side, who did not get Hillary Clinton the nomination.
DB "Hillary Clinton's ringing endorsement of 'the weak-looking thin guy who's bound to lose.'"
2. She is extremely Pro-Life: This troubles me, in huge way. Just because she is a religious Soccer Mom, head of the PTA and mother of a child with Downs Syndrome whom she refused to abort, does that mean that I lose my right of choice? I treasure the division between Church and State, even if it is in name only.
3. She comes from of all places, Alaska, and both she and her husband are "real people": Excellent, given that Barack Obama has been critisized for not being in touch with the average American, black or white.
DB "We got to know Barack and Michelle Obama, two tall, thin, rich, beautiful people who don't prespire, but who nonetheless feel compassion for their squatter, and smellier fellow citizens."
4. She lacks experience: Actually fantastic, because if any Democrat dares to address this point, it bounces right back and them and hurts Obama in a big way. In fact the amount she has accomplished in such a short time, given the structure of her life, is quite impressive. If you want something done right, give it to a woman who is already busy.
DB "Barak Obama loves the future, because that's where all his accomplishments will be."
"We heard about his time as a community organizer, the three most fulfilling months of his life."
5. Her son will be serving in Iraq: Both positive and negative, given that she cannot be faulted for not contributing to the cause of a (lost) war, she might even work to end the war faster, to bring her son home. On the other hand, it means she supports the war which Bush blundered, and I just want our soldiers out of there; let the locals fight it out amongst themselves.
6. She actively supports using American oil resources (in Alaska): Not great for the environment, but a clever move given that Obama has spoken about the same idea. More cross-over from the Democrat faithful.
7. The perpetual question, is it good or bad for the Jews? The Republican Jewish Coalition Executive Director, Matt Brooks, says that Palin has "enjoyed a strong working relationship with Alaska's Jewish community."
It seems in this election that actually the VP will be the determining factor; if McCain dies in office, do you want Sarah Palin in there, after all, he is 72 years old. If Obama falters, he has a VP with slightly more experience, though not always for the benefit of his consituents and the American people.
DB "We heard from Joe Biden, whose 643 years in the Senate make him uniquely qualified to pander to the middle class... and who is himself a verbal train wreck waiting to happen."
Youth counts here, Barak and Palin's youth, McCain and Biden's age.
Either way, history will be made with a black President, or the first woman Vice-President.
I have analyzed several factors regarding the choice of Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska, interspersed with hilarious quotes from an op-ed piece by David Brooks.
1. She is woman: Very smart, given the 18 million disaffected female voters on the Democrat side, who did not get Hillary Clinton the nomination.
DB "Hillary Clinton's ringing endorsement of 'the weak-looking thin guy who's bound to lose.'"
2. She is extremely Pro-Life: This troubles me, in huge way. Just because she is a religious Soccer Mom, head of the PTA and mother of a child with Downs Syndrome whom she refused to abort, does that mean that I lose my right of choice? I treasure the division between Church and State, even if it is in name only.
3. She comes from of all places, Alaska, and both she and her husband are "real people": Excellent, given that Barack Obama has been critisized for not being in touch with the average American, black or white.
DB "We got to know Barack and Michelle Obama, two tall, thin, rich, beautiful people who don't prespire, but who nonetheless feel compassion for their squatter, and smellier fellow citizens."
4. She lacks experience: Actually fantastic, because if any Democrat dares to address this point, it bounces right back and them and hurts Obama in a big way. In fact the amount she has accomplished in such a short time, given the structure of her life, is quite impressive. If you want something done right, give it to a woman who is already busy.
DB "Barak Obama loves the future, because that's where all his accomplishments will be."
"We heard about his time as a community organizer, the three most fulfilling months of his life."
5. Her son will be serving in Iraq: Both positive and negative, given that she cannot be faulted for not contributing to the cause of a (lost) war, she might even work to end the war faster, to bring her son home. On the other hand, it means she supports the war which Bush blundered, and I just want our soldiers out of there; let the locals fight it out amongst themselves.
6. She actively supports using American oil resources (in Alaska): Not great for the environment, but a clever move given that Obama has spoken about the same idea. More cross-over from the Democrat faithful.
7. The perpetual question, is it good or bad for the Jews? The Republican Jewish Coalition Executive Director, Matt Brooks, says that Palin has "enjoyed a strong working relationship with Alaska's Jewish community."
It seems in this election that actually the VP will be the determining factor; if McCain dies in office, do you want Sarah Palin in there, after all, he is 72 years old. If Obama falters, he has a VP with slightly more experience, though not always for the benefit of his consituents and the American people.
DB "We heard from Joe Biden, whose 643 years in the Senate make him uniquely qualified to pander to the middle class... and who is himself a verbal train wreck waiting to happen."
Youth counts here, Barak and Palin's youth, McCain and Biden's age.
Either way, history will be made with a black President, or the first woman Vice-President.
Monday, December 31, 2007
Girl Power
From a newspaper clipping in the New York Times, that has been in my wallet for close to 20 years:
Benazir Bhutto, the dismissed Pakistani prime minister, has given her three children advice in case they are ever teased in school about her downfall, reports Newsweek: "I told them to say, 'My Mummy has been prime minister twice. How many times has your mummy been prime minister?' "
Not just prime minister, but the first and only woman to be the leader of a Muslim country, and her murder represents a tragic blow for Pakistan, and for democracy everywhere.
Although I was encouraged by the news that her son and husband would be taking up her mantle, I can't help but wonder why a female blood-relative was not given that opportunity, based upon the late Benazir Bhutto's success.
That being said, I do not think that Hilary Clinton should be given the same opportunity in the American Presidential race. Despite the fact that the Times has given her a 3-in-1 chance of winning the overall election, I do not feel that she has the right stuff for bridge building, either within Washington and overseas. And it has nothing to do with her having a pair of breasts.
Benazir Bhutto, the dismissed Pakistani prime minister, has given her three children advice in case they are ever teased in school about her downfall, reports Newsweek: "I told them to say, 'My Mummy has been prime minister twice. How many times has your mummy been prime minister?' "
Not just prime minister, but the first and only woman to be the leader of a Muslim country, and her murder represents a tragic blow for Pakistan, and for democracy everywhere.
Although I was encouraged by the news that her son and husband would be taking up her mantle, I can't help but wonder why a female blood-relative was not given that opportunity, based upon the late Benazir Bhutto's success.
That being said, I do not think that Hilary Clinton should be given the same opportunity in the American Presidential race. Despite the fact that the Times has given her a 3-in-1 chance of winning the overall election, I do not feel that she has the right stuff for bridge building, either within Washington and overseas. And it has nothing to do with her having a pair of breasts.
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