I have barely come down from the high of Obama’s acceptance speech, only to learn that McCain’s choice for Vice President is a busty chick with a huge beehive who used to smoke pot and doesn’t hate gays. Governor Sarah Palin has the Sexy Librarian look that we’ve all come to appreciate, and she’s certainly a ‘fresh face’ in national politics.
But I’m sorry, a great ‘hive alone isn’t enough to get by on. Just ask Amy. Sarah Palin is the anti-Amy, and not in a good way. In high school, she was head of her school’s Christian Fellowship of Athletes. She’s a “pro-life” activist who is skeptical about global warming and wants to prevent polar bears from being protected as an endangered species.
She is also a strong proponent for oil drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge, which even McCain has opposed. She is under investigation for abuse of power in the firing of her ex-brother-in-law, a state trooper. She fired the Public Safety Commissioner who balked at firing the ex-brother-in-law, and replaced him with an official who had already been reprimanded for sexual harassment.
Sarah Palin is clearly an ambitious and capable woman, but I’d like to see her stay in Alaska and ruin things there, rather than help John McCain ruin what’s left of the whole world.
Earlier this year, She was brave and noble enough to bring a child with Down Syndrome into the world, but here are my problems with that:
1. She named him Trig. (Her other kids are named Bristol, Willow, Piper and Track)
2. She returned to her office 3 days after Trig’s birth.
Are any of you good with this? I’m saying Yes on Trig, but No on His Mom.
I cannot believe any of this. I am convinced that John McCain never wanted to run for president. And so he has chosen this Alaska lady so that he will never win. I am afraid for her safety. I think Joe Biden might bite her head right off and spit it out on the street and then make some asshole/sarcastic comment about it that would make me giggle.
I do not think women should have babies if they have to return to work three days after they have them. I also do not think women should HAVE to birth babies if they are victims of rape and/or incest. What a bad bad Christian I would make!
1. That child already has enough problems. Why saddle him with that name?
2. That child already has enough problems. Why saddle him with a mother who puts work first?
I would like to take her by the beehive and smack some sense into her. Truly.
Also, I’m guessing that’s short for Trigonometry?
I’m just scared that she’s a self-described “hockey mom.” McCain’s about to croak. That would leave this hockey mom to be the hockey mom for the United States of America.
She looks like Andrea Zuckerman on 90210 (vintage 90210).
It was anti-climactic indeed to see McCain introduce this woman as “exactly who this country needs”. After the DNC I had just allowed myself to start daydreaming about a world with a smart American president and his brilliant VP.
Then McCain introduced this woman. They look horrible together. I thought he was going to make Daddy Yankee his running mate.
I don’t know which scares me more: her voice (and the way she talks) or the fact that there actually are people who will vote for them – and quite a few of them.
I can’t wait next week’s conventions.
The RNC puts an ex-beauty queen/pro-lifer/NRA-lifer up to court the woman’s vote? PLEASE McCain gods, fail him, fail him hard.
weird, she does look like Andrea from 90210. Evil, evil Republican strategists, did they time this for the new 90210 launch??
Re: “She returned to her office 3 days after Trig’s birth.”
I was on the train the other day. Three young paralegals (2 guys and one girl) were talking about their heros; the girl said her hero was a partner of the firm who had been answering emails on her blackberry while giving birth and then returned to the office 2 hours later after giving birth.
but the beehive is indeed impressive
i intensely dislike mccain so much.
3 days….Lazy Bitch!
Obama’s speech was quite the stunner wasn’t it….. could the busty beehive chick be McCain’s ‘femme’ tactic…?
Ok after laughing lots at Imelda Matt’s comment I’m back on track with mine…
Phew for one moment I thought maybe McCain had pulled a left field blinder to nab the Hillary lovers but obviously the background of the beehive is pure evil in fact she looks like the garage owner who tried to kill our Top Gear boys – a car programme that is brilliant and did things in Alabama that no one should do and treated the UK to the US far right christian lovin thugs.
Please America elect Obama – it gives us hope and party time
Why doesn’t the Rest of the World have a constituency vote in the U.S. Elections?
We could save you.
xx
Brilliant choice. Suckering the Dems again…
My wonderful American friend Denise and a pal of hers who lives down in your neck of the woods, Sister, who goes by the name of Idabelle (great name, real too!), passionate Dems both, are very worried about the choice. After all, compare to Joe Teeeeeeeth Biden…hey, see my point? See theirs?
And who’s talking about Obama’s speech? Gone, gone, gone. The oldster’s thinking, and so far he’s thinking circles around you Dems.
Get crackin’ people! You could still lose this thing!
Scratch a liberal democrat and watch how many turn out to be sexist. I’m laughing at how many people are saying she should be home with her kids. Dad’s home with the kids, guys!
Patrick – As my Gentleman Stalker, I forgive your politics and look beyond them to your heart and soul.
CyndiF – I am not personally a liberal Democrat if you’re addressing me. I am in favor of the death penalty and I don’t care about Palestinian civil rights.
I am not a feminist and never claimed to be. I do want Miss Congeniality to follow up on her pro-life platform by nurturing the new life she created this spring.
I want her to put down “the blackberry and the breast pump” she so proudly wields and take care of her Down Syndrome baby. I want her to put her breast directly in his mouth, so that he may feel the warmth of his mother’s arms and she can have some skin contact with him. I want her to commit to helping this child to fulfill his potential, instead of giving herself credit for not aborting him and then going back to the office.
Let her husband go to work and stop giving his kids those idiotic names.
Ah Wolfwoman, you know I’ll be popping in for this one alright. I’ve only been scanning recently, but am somewhat dismayed to see just how many people are going to be swayed by the fact that she’s got a kid with DS. People I had down for rational. Of course it’s important, and thanks for succinctly stating my argument before I even had it composed in my head, but if having a child with DS is enough to make a difference (hands up who remembers Chad) then I fear for this November more than usually. A lot of your guys have no real concept of how much we watch and how much it matters to us not in the US. Mostly red staters, but far be it from me to generalise. The rest of the world takes this shit seriously. From my perspective, I’m saddened to see some DS parents thinking that this is the lobbyist wet dream they’ve been waiting for forever, and I can understand what they see, but it is criminally misguided to base who gets into serious power on that. Yes she would put DS on the map, yes that would be a good thing but unfortunately there are some other mildly pressing concerns that you guys have too, right? Besides, she names her kids as though they are a collector’s series of model trains, God help them. Imelda Matt, you made me pee a little bit just then.
Sister Wolf, I don’t want to harass so I’ll only say this once: This woman may be misguided in going back to work when her child needs her. But how does that compare to Obama, who fought against protection for infants “Born Alive” after an abortion? Who will not bend over late-term abortion?
Please, people, don’t bring up the idea that most conservative types are indifferent to babies after they are born. That simply is not true. Many are far more moderate over economic issues than over abortion. Many might still be Democrats were it not for the party’s mad commitment to abortion before all. Of course there are other pressing issues the United States must face now, as your other readers say, but it might have been easier to unite a majority of the country behind the party if pro-life people had not more or less been silenced or forced out of it, or told that their opinions were evil.
I hope your Republican party wins in spite of its many recent and tragic errors and in spite of my own misgivings about it, for the simple reason that as long as this issue is not dead in the US, it will not completely die in the rest of the world, either.
But of course, I’m evil, and Canadian to boot.
Late-term abortions are an unimaginable tragedy that nonetheless should be a woman’s right to choose under certain circumstances. Try reading the accounts of broken hearted women who elected this option rather than deliver a severely deformed fetus with brain damage.
There are already too many children here and now who are desperately in need of loving homes, not to mention clean water, food, medicine, etc, to warrant the forced birth of one more baby against the will of its mother.
Let every passionate “pro-life” woman step forward and adopt a severly disabled brain damaged child….or even a crack baby…before she condemns a woman’s right to choose.
I will be doing all I can to help Obama get elected.
“I am not personally a liberal Democrat if you’re addressing me.”
No, I wasn’t addressing you specifically. I do find your follow-up comment strong. Part of what is so fraught about child-rearing these days is how many people are ready and willing to tell you when you’re doing it wrong (only breast-feeding mothers nuture their children?). Palin’s family looks pretty happy and well-adjusted.
Plus, I love that she named two of her daughters after TV witches (Piper, Willow).
I am sorry, but I do not think that this addresses the issue in question, which is whether it is right to kill a child to satisfy the needs of its parents. It is not by making this a principle of one’s political rhetoric that one builds a more compassionate society. The approach turns children into a commodity – no matter how extreme the cases which one uses to justify the principle.
Indeed, disability rights advocates are alarmed by the notion that any kind of disability – any kind at all (even a cleft palate, in one notable English case) – is reason enough to end a child’s life. They fear that with the gradual disappearance of disabled people, it will become increasingly difficult fot those remaining to win societal support or acceptance.
I am not certain that there really is a dearth of people willing to adopt disabled infants. A friend who volunteers for a DC support centre for pregnant mothers who wish not to abort their infants tells me that they have lists of people who are eager to do so. In any case, the suggestion that women who oppose abortion must be willing to adopt disabled infants is a red herring. Many families are very anxious to adopt infants who are not disabled, but this does not persuade pro-choice advocates to argue against the termination of healthy “fetuses”.
I think that Obama is – aside from this one blind spot that appals me – a reasonable candidate who may help to right some other wrongs, though he suffers from some of the same lack of experience which you find in Sarah Palin. In fact, she is the only one of the four contenders who has executive experience.
Clio –
“I am not certain that there really is a dearth of people willing to adopt disabled infants.”
I am certain, and I don’t believe my challenge is a red herring. These “pro-life” fanatics are like chickenhawks. They talk the talk, let them walk the walk.
Since we disagree on the meaning of “child” and “fetus” I don’t think we will make any progress in this discussion, Clio. However, I respect your right to argue your opinion here.
“Plus, I love that she named two of her daughters after TV witches (Piper, Willow).”
Well, turns out this part isn’t true. Good story, though.
People Magazine interview
Where do your children’s names come from?
TODD: Sarah’s parents were coaches and the whole family was involved in track and I was an athlete in high school, so with our first-born, I was, like, ‘Track!’ Bristol is named after Bristol Bay. That’s where I grew up, that’s where we commercial fish. Willow is a community there in Alaska. And then Piper, you know, there’s just not too many Pipers out there and it’s a cool name. And Trig is a Norse name for “strength.”
Ha. Good thing the family wasn’t into football, or Todd would be, like, “Football!”
She goes moose hunting and enjoys eating mooseburgers. I want that woman to have my babies!
Oh dear. I said I would make my point only once, but – as you have responded twice – I will continue, if you don’t mind.
1. Where does your certainty about people’s unwillingness to adopt disabled infants come from? One of my relatives searched high and low for any child in Canada, but eventually had to turn to another country (a poor one), in order to find children to adopt. She has five of her own; she has adopted three, though none happens to be disabled. Nor is that a story I hear from people who work for pro-life groups. Please do not dismiss them out of hand. (I have checked but have not been able to find reliable statistics.)
2. Disagree about the difference between a fetus and a child? On what grounds? How is an infant “born alive” after an abortion not a child? How is a six or seven-month fetus not a child? Because its mother says so?
3. You have ignored my points about how the expectation that disabled infants are too difficult for their mothers to care for, or to adopt, may end by destroying support for the disabled. This is a real issue, and the late disability rights activist Harriet McBryde Johnson was greatly troubled by it.
4. Most abortions are performed on healthy fetuses; only 3% of women state that fetal health problems are their reason for abortion. (Statistics on this subject are hard to come by; that’s from 1987.)
She’s terrifying! I fear that the Down Syndrome baby story is going to melt soft-hearted Americans. Our only hope is that McCain has another recurrence of melanoma before the election. The guy’s got serious health issues in his past and there’s a very good chance this woman could end up president. She’s governor of a state with one-fifth the population of Brooklyn!
It is interesting how the issue of SP’s Down Syndrome child has attracted a great deal of concern, criticism, praise and other reactions from women from all over the political spectrum. This is a button issue. Somehow this one seemingly small thing is really getting women going.
Mark my words, this is an angle into something deep and strong dividing women in the US today. I’m a guy, and I don’t really give too much of a lukewarm damn about the issue…but women do. It’s virtually all they talk about.
And dearest loveliest of Sisters, DON’T LOOK TO MY SOUL. Surfaces only with the boy, please. Surfaces only. It’s the only way I can be tolerable in the long run. For God’s sake, don’t look in my soul! Or my heart! You’ve no idea what you’ll find there!
And speaking of tolerance, I really really want to take you gently into my arms, with your arms draped delicately across mine, your hands on my shoulders, as light and precise and delicate as the touch of a feather. And then I would like to draw you close and kiss you deeply and gently, but deeply for certain.
You are a beauty. That picture still takes my breath away.
Just keeping priorities straight here. Kissing first…politics later.
Patrick
Clio – Here is an agency trying to help place 120,000 children with special needs. No shortage for people looking to adopt.
http://www.childrenawaitingparents.org/?gclid=CJ-7l5KHuZUCFRNOagodWi_BQg
Re disabled rights – I feel it’s a woman’s choice whether to give birth or not. If she discovers that she’s carrying a severly deformed fetus with no expected quality-of-life, she must have the option to abort the pregnancy. Her choice, no one else’s.
If she wishes to end a pregnancy that does not carry this risk, it is still her right to do so. A six month old fetus is not a child. It’s lungs are not developed enough to breath unassited. If assisted, a baby of such prematurity has a high risk of blindness, brain damage, cerebral palsy and other serious problems.
Patrick is right that Sarah Palin will be a lightening rod for abortion arguments on both sides of the fence. She wants to reverse Roe vs Wade.
I would rather hear Stalker Talk from Patrick than argue about abortion rights, but anyone wishing to carry on, may freely carry on!
This woman is an idiot. Very bad choice McCain. Shes against abortion. What a stupid bitch. She looks like an evil, evil witch of a woman who would abuse any power given to her.
Very well, then. This particular stupid bitch will withdraw from the discussion, as she does not wish to cause the hostess any distress.
Eemmus – I can’t even stand her voice and diction. Take her away!
Clio – come on, you are the least stupid bitch here! Feel free to have your say.
PatrickH, I am female, but agree with you that it seems to me a Brit that America (well its women) are obsessed with the “abortion” issue. Are there not many other issues affecting the world to judge candidates on?
For the record I am pro-choice 100%, and I too had a small leak when I read Imelda Matt’s comment (not good as I am at work……)