Palin

[LuciferSam]

More sexist views IMHO - a women who's motivated to achieve greatness in her career is automatically assumed to be ignoring the interests of her children. Spin this around, what if her husband were running instead of Sarah? Would we be sitting around discussing how Todd Palin was doing a disservice to his family for running for V.P.? I think not. Is Obama doing a disservice to his daughters by running for President? I think not. So why is Sarah? The only difference here is the fact that she's a woman.

Just want to throw out the obvious fact that the mother's role in raising her kids and relating to them is much different than the father's both physically and emotionally. I just don't see a straight-up comparison.

 

[goofer]

More sexist views IMHO - a women who's motivated to achieve greatness in her career is automatically assumed to be ignoring the interests of her children. Spin this around, what if her husband were running instead of Sarah? Would we be sitting around discussing how Todd Palin was doing a disservice to his family for running for V.P.? I think not. Is Obama doing a disservice to his daughters by running for President? I think not. So why is Sarah? The only difference here is the fact that she's a woman.

It is not because she is a woman. It is because she is utterly unqualified to be VP. A throughly and completely inexperienced and unqualified PERSON to be a heartbeat away. If her husband was running instead of Sarah I would move to Iceland. If she had the credentials of Billary or Diane Feinstein or Olympia Snow or Carly Fiorina or Meg Whitman or Kay Bailey Hutchinson it would be a different story. I think she does a diservice to her family because she has allowed blind ambition to cloud her thinking. She has only been out of America once in her life to visit Alaska National Guard troops in Kuwait !!! She is not even knowledgeable about what the VP responsibilities are. Come on , this is a totally unqualified person to be named and McCain has to be blamed. He will lose the election because either she will drop out because the heat in the national political kitchen will be too hot, or she will prove her ineptness under the national spotlight.

 

[30ashopper]

It is not because she is a woman. It is because she is utterly unqualified to be VP. A throughly and completely inexperienced and unqualified PERSON to be a heartbeat away. If her husband was running instead of Sarah I would move to Iceland. If she had the credentials of Billary or Diane Feinstein or Olympia Snow or Carly Fiorina or Meg Whitman or Kay Bailey Hutchinson it would be a different story. I think she does a diservice to her family because she has allowed blind ambition to cloud her thinking. She has only been out of America once in her life to visit Alaska National Guard troops in Kuwait !!! She is not even knowledgeable about what the VP responsibilities are. Come on , this is a totally unqualified person to be named and McCain has to be blamed. He will lose the election because either she will drop out because the heat in the national political kitchen will be too hot, or she will prove her ineptness under the national spotlight.

What proof do you have of any of these claims? Can you give some details? I've gone over her profile and I fail to see a lack of experience.

Also, FYI, you do a disservice to your candidate of choice by stating someone without a lot of insider Washington experience isn't qualified to hold the V.P. slot, or the position of President.

 

[Matt J]

What if the position of educators come in direct conflict with people's values? If religious conservatives don't have the right to ram their values down someone elses throat, why should liberal educators have the right to ram their values down our childrens throats? IMHO both sides are guilty of pushing their own values. I think to be safe public education should not be representative of any one view of the world, it should always strive to avoid taking a side. The rest should be left up to the parents.

I find it interesting that as someone who rails on and on about government waste and personal responsibility that your not for forced sterilization. My point being is that while many "conservatives" preach abstinence only programs they also want to cut welfare. My point to this is that say a conservative families daughter gets pregnant because she "loved her boyfriend and assumed they would get married eventually anyway". The family then throws her out. Now the boyfriend disappears and you have an unwed, unwanted, single mother. Once the child is born this becomes a double burdon on the state. Ultimately all of this could have been prevented with a condom. Do we really need the cost break down on those two scenarios?

What proof do you have of any of these claims? Can you give some details? I've gone over her profile and I fail to see a lack of experience.

Also, FYI, you do a disservice to your candidate of choice by stating someone without a lot of insider Washington experience isn't qualified to hold the V.P. slot, or the position of President.

She doesn't know the pledge of allegiance is not something written by our fore fathers. That to me is as bad as people who won't vote for Obama because they think he wasn't born in this country. Bonus points if you get whats wrong with the second sentence.

 

[Gypsea]

I think Obama's response was the correct one and bears repeating:

"Let me be a clear as possible: I have said before and I will repeat again, I think people's families are off limits," Obama said, "and people's children are especially off limits.

"This shouldn't be part of our politics," he continued, "It has no relevance to Gov. Palin's performance as governor, or her potential performance as a vice president.

"And so I would strongly urge people to back off these kinds of stories," he said. "You know my mother had me when she was 18, and how a family deals with issues and, you know, teenage children, that shouldn't be the topic of our politics and I hope that anybody who is supporting me understands that's off limits."

Now I hope people will listen to him.

 

[Chickpea]

I think Obama's response was the correct one and bears repeating:

"Let me be a clear as possible: I have said before and I will repeat again, I think people's families are off limits," Obama said, "and people's children are especially off limits.

"This shouldn't be part of our politics," he continued, "It has no relevance to Gov. Palin's performance as governor, or her potential performance as a vice president.

"And so I would strongly urge people to back off these kinds of stories," he said. "You know my mother had me when she was 18, and how a family deals with issues and, you know, teenage children, that shouldn't be the topic of our politics and I hope that anybody who is supporting me understands that's off limits."

Now I hope people will listen to him.

I agree with this 100% - her daughter should not be dragged into this in any way - however, I will add that by disclosing that her own daugther is pregnant (ie: did not practice abstinence), I hope we will be avoided the hypocrisy of being preached to about this subject by the mother. I feel strongly about this just as I do about women who have had abortions THEN found the light and now preach against it (completely forgetting that when faced with a difficult choice, they had exactly that - A CHOICE). So hopefully Palin can talk about issues important to her (energy) and stay away from talking about the way we do or do not have sex.

 

[Chickpea]

With respect to Gov Palin being a working mum - I am firmly in the camp of believing that one can juggle work and family (some better than others) - there is no right way or wrong way. And it is quite disheartening to see some people attempt to judge her parenting skills by having accepted this nomination. Like CCK, I actually see this as a tremendous opportunity for her and her family and even if I may disagree quite a bit with her thinking on the policy issues that will affect this country, I do not think her status as a working mum should be be belittled. Men running for public office are not scrutinized this way and I think both should be treated equally.

One does not need to dig far to see exemplary stay at home mums and just as exemplary working mums - both come with a distinct set of advantages and disadvantages - if there was one set formula that guaranteed success we would all be doing it.

 

[Chickpea]

This is an exellent op ed by David Brooks - it is worth reading because it summarizes why so many people are uncomfortable with McCain having selected Palin as his VP.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/02/opinion/02brooks.html?hp

John McCain is not a normal conservative. He has instincts, but few abstract convictions about the proper size of government. He?s a traditionalist, but is not energized by the social conservative agenda. As Rush Limbaugh understands, but the Democrats apparently do not, a McCain administration would not be like a Bush administration.
The main axis in McCain?s worldview is not left-right. It?s public service versus narrow self-interest. Throughout his career, he has been drawn to those crusades that enabled him to launch frontal attacks on the concentrated powers of selfishness ? whether it was the big money donors who exploited the loose campaign finance system, the earmark specialists in Congress like Alaska?s Don Young and Ted Stevens, the corrupt Pentagon contractors or Jack Abramoff.

 

[Jdarg]

The state should be given control over the education of our children because parents can't be trusted to do the job? I'm feeling ill. This is a very very slippery slope. Do me a favor and keep your politics and your personal views on how my kids should be educated out of my f'n schools. Thank you.

Call me crazy, but I prefer my kids stay disease free, pregnancy free (before marriage if possible and definitely not pregnant as teens), and alive. I want them to hear clear and correct information from as many sources as possible. We will give the hard push for the morals and values part at home.

I wouldn't worry too much about having a comprehensive sex ed class in our local schools any time soon -I don't see Walton County schools agreeing on the need and having the stomach to figure out a way to do it that doesn't involve having WWIII. It's easier not to take any stand, so now we have a lot of kids having sex, getting diseases and getting pregnant. Talk to a few local physicians, and glance at a few Myspace pages if you need some proof.

I will also add you to my growing list of posters whose posts are getting nastier and more personal. I understand a passionate argument, but being vicious is unnecessary.

 

[Gypsea]

I agree with this 100% - her daughter should not be dragged into this in any way - however, I will add that by disclosing that her own daugther is pregnant (ie: did not practice abstinence), I hope we will be avoided the hypocrisy of being preached to about this subject by the mother. I feel strongly about this just as I do about women who have had abortions THEN found the light and now preach against it (completely forgetting that when faced with a difficult choice, they had exactly that - A CHOICE). So hopefully Palin can talk about issues important to her (energy) and stay away from talking about the way we do or do not have sex.

I am also pro-choice so I totally agree with you but I am hoping that this can be kept a private matter as we would also hope if it was our daughter and we were in the limelight.