On Palin etc...

Ya know what -- I like that she'll give her acceptance speech here... I like that she lives by her ideals and I like that she seems to be supporting her daughter in a difficult time.

I don't necessarily share her ideals. In fact, I may be significantly opposite her in most areas... and that is what matters, thus why I can't see myself voting for her.

I don't think that if I had a young special needs child, a pregnant teenager and a husband who works out of town 2 weeks of every month (as far as one can get from DC and still be in the US), that I'd accept the nomination for VP (unless it was from someone with as much GDS as Obama... hmmm, yummm...). But -- that is her decision. Just because she seems to want to take decisions about a variety of things away from me does not entitle me to judge her decisions. She and I are different people with different capabilities.

I also don't buy the BS that if she can have 5 kids, run the PTA etc -- that she has the skills to be VP. If that were the case, one of my favorite students (the one with 11 kids) should be President and Queen of the world -- right? She's a single mom (now) with 11 kids -- talk about organizational and budgeting skills... she kicks butt -- and I might even vote for her, if given the chance...

I don't mean to imply that Sara Palin doesn't have the skills to be VP, only that being a parent and PTA president is no indication of those skills. She'll need to find a way to demonstrate those skills soon... especially since McCain is old.

I also don't buy the BS that calls Palin a bad parent because her 17 year old daughter is preggers... last I knew, 17 year olds have the mobility to get out of the house to have sex -- if the kid was conceived in Sara's presence... then she deserves the title of 'worst mom in Alaska' -- but I suspect that just wasn't the case.

Now that I think about it, I wouldn't even be all that troubled if Sara had supported her daughter's choice to have an abortion. It would have shown me that her daughter is an independent person who is making her own hard choices -- and, in this situation either choice is a hard one.

I am a bit troubled by the idea that her daughter is keeping the baby. Folks, I don't know ANY 17 year old parents who are really able to raise a child. That child should be adopted by a couple who is mature enough to raise and nurture that child. Of course, I think the same thing about EVERY teen mom's decision to keep the child... the fact that the kid might (God help us) be born in the VP mansion doesn't change things.

I also firmly believe that McCain saw Palin as a way to siphon Clinton voters -- and if the Clinton voters fall for it, they are a lot more gullible than I thought they were. Palin does not equal Hillary -- look at her stance on just about any issue and you'll see the difference. I am pretty bothered by the prospect of electing someone as our president who thinks we, as women, would be fooled by nominating Palin -- really, that says a lot about how he sees women... and it ain't good.

Finally --- I think McCain picked Palin because she is in line with his base and doesn't have much actual political baggage (experience) to account for or explain. I do think he knew all about the pregnant daughter and realized that our attention would probably go there instead of to the fact that he picked a woman he could dominate. Hopefully, she won't become VP --- and all of this hot air will be just that come November...

until then, I may just watch DVR'd home shows and read old Sue Grafton books... that is, until I need to get out and vote for the guy with GDS!