A freaking heartbeat away from the Presidency

I woke up this morning with the news of Sarah Palin’s 17 year old unwed daughter being 5 months pregnant! I must be dreaming – this is the stuff bad Hollywood movies are made of: an evangelical, (almost) beauty queen of a small Alaskan town, with five children, a four year college degree in journalism, and  an anti-choice/anti-evolution/pro oil drilling agenda is going to be a heartbeat away from the presidency of the the United States of America! Only in Hollywood my friends…

sarah palin michele roohani

Do I look stupid to you people? Do we, as women, look so clueless to you republicans that you imagine us all  voting for a woman only because of her gender? This is as valid as me voting for Ahmadinejad for the sole reason that he’s born persian!

Palin went through with her fifth pregnancy knowing that her child will have Down Syndrome. I have a nephew with this problem and I know how heartbreaking it is for the parents and the siblings…To insist in bringing a child like this to the world is selfish and insane.

palin mccain michele roohani cartoon

Palin is an avid member of the NRA—Natonal Rifle Association—  which makes her the dream candidate for the republican ticket. She’s too damned young and inexperienced to be the vice president of this country. Read this article and this one to have some fun with this issue. Here are some interesting opinions about this whole affair.

palin thumbs up

Unless Obama (aka the Dark Knight) messes up really bad from here to November, I don’t see how he can lose…

obama mc cain polls

“At least two thirds of our miseries spring from human stupidity, human malice and those great motivators and justifiers of malice and stupidity, idealism, dogmatism and proselytizing zeal on behalf of religious or political idols.” Aldous Huxley

jim borgman palin

30 thoughts on “A freaking heartbeat away from the Presidency

  1. Relevant & provocative post. By the same token meaningful Aldous Huxley’s Quote .

    It would be appropriate for the Republican Party to officially file for Chapter 11.. “reorganization” of their bankruptcy.

  2. The Republicans are betting once again on the stupidity of American voters. And let’s face it it’s probably the right strategy for them. It worked in 2000 and 2004, so why not in 2008?

    This is an example of politics being brought down to the level of American Idol. If we weren’t talking about the most powerful, militarily at least, country in the world it could even be good for a laugh.

    Americans who are well off might think they will have more money in their pockets when a Republican is elected. And if that’s all you care about it seems logical to vote Republican. But according to data from the US Census Bureau, even that is wrong. In the period from 1948-2005 income levels have increased more under Democratic presidents than Republican presidents. This is true for all income levels, albeit the effect is more pronounced for the poor than for the rich. This New York Times article goes into all the details http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/31/business/31view.html for the details.

    I’ll just keep my fingers crossed until November hoping that enough voters will see that more Republican mismanagement of government will just continue running the country into the ground.

  3. nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people. Republicans focus on her “executive experience”. They forget that W was a two-time (failed) CEO and two term governor. Clearly executive experience didn’t help him!

  4. Dear Michele,
    I guess this is proof positive that what’s sauce
    for the goose is not necessarily sauce for the gander. Will we now hear from the family values people about how well abstinence works? They’ve had a lot to say about many things; I wonder if it would be too much to ask that they address greed, which is, after all, one of the seven deadly sins. And, having addresses that issue, perhaps they might like to enlighten the rest of us about hyprocrisy.
    Djelloul Marbrook

  5. How would she control a country like USA and eventually the world if she cannot control her 17 year old daughter? Not that she had ever gained my respect, but she lost it if she could ever gain any!!!!

  6. Couldn’t agree more with Ken and JL. Unfortunately, betting on the voters’ need to gratify the immediate vs. long term needs is always a safe bet. The average voter’s concerns are mundane and for the most part irrelevant to the long term growth and prosperity of a nation. Our selfish interests make for awkward gestures by the Invisible Hand!
    So, the Republicans aren’t insulting our intelligence, they are merely feeding to it! The average voter will probably vote for Palin because he/she identifies with her. It was a smart choice by Mccain, if you asked me, in the sense that it made the Republican ticket more competitive. Whether it was a wise choice for the nation, however, is arguable.
    What’s funny to me is how her 17 year olds’ pregnancy is now off the table as an issue. In my opinion, it’s not about the poor kid’s judgment, or even Palin as a parent; it’s about the hypocrisy of the self-righteous right that tends to offer solutions to the masses for problems it can’t resolve for its own immediate family. It’s the do as I say, don’t do as I do syndrome. It’s no different than Larry Craig voting against gay rights while frequenting bathroom stalls where he’s sitting on more than the toilet!
    Oh well.

  7. Dear Family, Friends & Colleagues, 

Simply said, I remain truly dumbfounded & dismayed by learning of McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin as his would be V. P., & possibly our President!  

As a woman & mother of 3 healthy kids, I will NEVER UNDERSTAND as to why Ms. Palin & her husband would decide to have a child at age 44 while already having 4 healthy children, & while knowing the fact that the odds of giving birth to a healthy baby is seriously compromised after the age of 35, let alone years later at the age of 44!  Why take such a chance of giving birth to a baby at an age with high possibility of birth defects & knowingly subjecting such a baby to a disabled life?  I must admit that I find Ms. Palin’s decision as so very cruel, selfish & appalling & truly feel sorry for the baby boy with Down Syndrome she gave birth to in April of this year! 

I am even more appalled by the fact that Ms. Palin’s 17-year old daughter is 5 months pregnant with a bastard child!  This tells volumes about Ms. Palin’s lack of leadership qualities, as apparently so, she cannot even manage her own household & the proper upbringing of her children!  Perhaps, she should have aspired to be more of a responsible & hands-on Mother after making a decision to have such a large family, rather than tending most of her time to the responsibilities of various public roles. 

In a few months time, Ms. Palin’s baby boy will be playing in the playpen with his niece or nephew, or better said with his parents’ grandchild!  I find this fact a little unsettling to my stomach, and for the life of me, I cannot even imagine the idea of having such irresponsible woman & this kind of a mother, as a possible candidate to be the President of my beloved country! 

Moreover, what happened to McCain’s continuous campaign slogan of “Experience, Experience, and Experience”?  Considering McCain’s age of 72 & his recurring Cancer history, having an experienced & highly qualified V.P. on his ticket is indeed a very crucial matter. What experience Ms. Palin has with National Security & Foreign Policy?  None whatsoever!!  She has been a 1st time Governor for only 2 years, & before that she was a Mayor of a very small city with about only 9,000 populations!  No wonder that I now hear from so many of my Republican friends & colleagues that they are no longer supporting McCain!

As the anniversary of September 11 nears & we are once again profoundly reminded of our patriotism & the duty to our country, I truly hope & pray that we, as the citizens of this vast & great country of USA, will be more focused on the crucial issues our country is currently faced with, both domestically & abroad, by choosing our politicians accordingly rather than just playing loyal with our party affiliations, and/or voting only based on our religious beliefs of pro-choice vs. pro-life issue.   

Warmest regards,

    Afsaneh Ziaee



  8. Truly disappointing choice. Five children need a lot of care. Ms Palin was very enthusiastic about Obama before she was nominated as the running mate. After that she was so honest as to inquire about the job description of the VP. The parody continues.

  9. This is going beyond disappointment. It’s depressive! How can we describe being a woman and undecided? Is being undecided, uneducated and unintellegient kind of cute these days? The movie “Swing Vote” very symbolicly shows the tragedy of this phenomenon . Who gives a damn about Sarah Palin, her pregnant daughter, and her down-syndrome child? As Woody Allen said once, you should always choose your heros from the dead people so they don’t disappoint you in life. We should wait to see what’s next for Mc Cain!

  10. J’aime beaucoup lire votre blog et j’espère recevoir votre message qui m’annonce la sortie de ce billet d’humeur !!!
    J’ai l’impression de ne pas tout comprendre… mais mon anglais progressera certainement en vous lisant ! votre blog dégage une grande personnalité et assurément des idées fortes avec de l’humour… suivre l’élection du futur président par les yeux d’une américaine me parait plus évocateur que de lire certains journaux…

  11. This decision by McCain will probably cost him election, and deservedly so – not because of Bristol Palin’s pregnancy but because of the much more troublesome “troopergate” story.
    Being consistently pro-choice, i must strongly agree with Alfred J. Garrotto: how does anyone dare judge and condemn a decision made by a woman to give birth to a baby with Down Syndrome? Doesn’t being pro-choice mean supporting a woman’s choice? It is certainly difficult for the family, but these days there are people with this condition who live reasonably productive and even happy – yes, happy – lives.
    By what authority do you decide who deserves to be born and who does not? And where do you draw the line? If in the future science makes it possible to determine during pregnancy how the child will look like, would you say that unattractive ones must be aborted because their ugliness will make the life tough for them and their families?
    Choice must mean just that – choice. Otherwise we can truly become worse than those on the other side of this argument.
    And another objection. Why is a woman being condemned here for choosing to have a career in spite of having five children? Have you ever criticized a man for that same thing? Somehow i do not think so. If you truly are for gender equality, be consistent please.

  12. In response to AJG September 2nd, no one is denying Palin the right to have a disabled child, we are concerned about her lack of qualifications to be a breath away from becoming the president of the United States. Her nomination obviously demonstrates McCain’s lack of sound of judgement. Plus, being a parent to a child, especially a disabled child is consuming, how is she going to meet the needs of that child and the demands of Vice Presidency and potentially of the Presidency?
    A’Okay, let’s not wake up one morning and hear that Sarah Palin herself is with child again- another Down’s Syndrome’d baby- and ready to take on the demands of being—the United States’ 45th President, due to John McCain’s, you know?!! Think that’s not possible? Well, think again – anything is possible once she is on the ticket she could end up there. (I mean become the president, not pregnant again! this might actually reduce her chances of becoming pregnant again? maybe?)

    John McCain turned 72 a few days ago (August 29th). If elected, he’d be the oldest president ever inaugurated. After months of slamming Obama for ‘inexperience,’ he showed us his wisdom and brand of ‘experience’ = none! – by choosing Palin to be one heartbeat away from the presidency: a right-wing religious conservative with no foreign policy experience, simply because she is a woman? This is Affirmative Action gone haywire!

    Don’t take me wrong. I think it is great that a woman, a working mother is on the ticket, but I am kind of concerned about her qualifications and what she stands for. (Although there is the possiblity before the day is over Palin could be dropped from the ticket anyhow.) However, since she is still kicking, we need to get to know her and her boss. Her nomination and pick as the VP is a desperate attempt by McCain that might back fire- which ever direction it might take – and as Pat Buchanan- a staunch conservative himself recently commented ‘a huge gamble in recent history of election politics’, and I might add a gamble with the future of this country.

    Who is she?

    -She has no foreign policy experience. Was Mayor of Wasilla, a small town outside of Anchorage, before she was elected governor of Alaska a year and half ago.
    -She is strongly anti-choice, opposing abortion even in the case of rape and incest.
    -She is solidly in line with John MaCain’s ‘Big Oil first” energy policy. She’s pushed hard for more oil drilling and says renew-ables won’t be ready for years. She sued for listing polar bears as an endangered species- she was worried it would interfere with more oil drilling in Alaska.
    -How closely did John McCain vet his choice? He met Sarah Palin once at a meeting. They spoke a second time, when he called her about being the vice-president and offered her the job!

    Here is what some Alaska residents recently reported about their governor:

    She is really just a mayor from a small town outside Anchorage who has been a governor for only 1.5 years, and has ZERO national and international experience. I shudder to think that she could be the person taking that 3AM call on the White House hotline, and the one who could potentially be charged with leading the US in the volatile international scene that exists today. —Rose M., Fairbanks, AK
    She is VERY, VERY conservative, and far from perfect. She’s a hunter and fisherwoman, but votes against the environment again and again. She ran on ethics reform, but is currently under investigation for several charges involving hiring and firing of state officials. She has NO experience beyond Alaska. —Christine B., Denali Park, AK
    As an Alaskan and a feminist, I am beyond words at this announcement. Palin is not a feminist, and she is not the reformer she claims to be. —Karen L., Anchorage, AK
    Alaskans, collectively, are just as stunned as the rest of the nation. She is doing well running our State, but is totally inexperienced on the national level, and very much unequipped to run the nation, if it came to that. She is as far right as one can get, which has already been communicated on the news. In our office of thirty employees (dems, republicans, and nonpartisans), not one person feels she is ready for the V.P. position.—Sherry C., Anchorage, AK
    She’s vehemently anti-choice and doesn’t care about protecting our natural resources, even though she has worked as a fisherman. McCain chose her to pick up the Hillary voters, but Palin is no Hillary. —Marina L., Juneau, AK
    I think she’s far too inexperienced to be in this position. I’m all for a woman in the White House, but not one who hasn’t done anything to deserve it. There are far many other women who have worked their way up and have much more experience that would have been better choices. This is a patronizing decision on John McCain’s part- and insulting to females everywhere that he would assume he’ll get our vote by putting “A Woman” in that position.—Jennifer M., Anchorage, AK

    We need to engage ourselves in the political process – there is only 2 months left, get involved with the Obama campaign, otherwise we could end up with a tempered wise and a zealous in the Whitehorse. Like Obama said last Thursday, make change happen (instead of simply hoping for it?). Bring change to Washington, he said. It’s about us, not him. To my Iranian expatriates especially: there is a lot of misquotes about Obama and what he is saying about a nuclear Iran. His words are taken out of context. Become well informed. READ the entire articles, the headlines are misleading (about all the candidates, I might add). We need Obama if we like to see a real attempt at diplomacy with Iran and a more, a lot more effective person at the Whitehouse to deal with our issues today, from healthcare to dealing with Iran and in the international theatre as a whole.

    As for now, feel the winds of change through out America? The kind of change that will not do you good? (referring to McCain/Palin ticket).

  13. Age (Mc Cain), Skin colour (Obama), Betrayal (Clinton), Pro-life (Palin), Ego (GWB), looks like we all need to pick a trait, exacerbate it an spend hours, discussing it, when at the end of the day only Education, Humanity, and Will matter. Where are you JFK???,,, but in fact even him had an affair… Appalling, this political mascarade. So hard to bring imagination, creativty, and forward looking minds to the ultimate power position.

  14. In response to Mitra and MarK, I for one do question her decision to have a disabled child! You see MarK, most Down Syndrome patients have a variety of medical issues other than just the way they look. This comparison is not even close to the decision of aborting a child because of how he/she looks; this one’s about their health. 50% of these patients have heart defects and although about 20% die in their first year of life, many live to become older. However, 50% of those who lived past their first year of life die in through their thirties with Alzheimer’s disease or cardiac/digestive diseases and complications. These conditions cause them a lot of suffering; let’s not even talk about the social problems they face. Of course, I completely understand your slippery slope argument and the philosophical ramification of where to draw the line; but a person’s decision to bring another person into this world with full knowledge of a serious medical disability is just unnecessary cruelty. It’s cruel to all parties involved. The person deciding can choose their own burden, not that imposed on the child, the family, and the society as a whole. Such patients often require disability and welfare for the heart problems and other social/cognitive problems they have, something that is a social responsibility. So, the issue seems more complicated than it appears at first glance. Whenever such genetic diseases creep up on unsuspecting people, everyone chips in and makes the best of it; but to have this knowledge ahead of time and do nothing to avoid it just seems cruel to me. I don’t know, I’m not an ethicist nor an expert on the topic, but I think a philosopher said it best: “I see no problem with never being born… and if you don’t agree with me please consult my invisible friend!”
    So, I just wanted to put in my two cents on Palin’s unreasonable decision. Of course, in the context of faith and religion, rationalization is useless; that’s the domain of faith based dogma. Interestingly, the fact that abortion is deemed immoral on religious grounds appears more of a political issue to me than a religious one. I wonder if anyone has done a thesis to find out where this theological movement began and what was its rational basis at the origin. But that’s another story all together. To me, however, a religious person who stands against abortion rights but supports capital punishment or collateral damage during a war will forever remain an enigma (Bush? anyone?!) I wonder if there ever was a better poster boy for cognitive dissonance on the topic of the sanctity of life. Oh yeah, Palin will not abort, but will have no hesitation on turning her AK-47 towards anyone who wants to impose gun control on her rapid fire succession. Pop a cap in Al Franken’s ass governor, but make sure you don’t impale a single fertilized egg! Go figure.

  15. Que ce couple ankylosés dans des concepts moyenâgeux, se propose de diriger la destinée de ce pays; je crois rêver!
    C’est du surréalisme. Comme dans une situation ou l’on spécule en disant “What if”.
    Malheureusement dans ce cas,le “what if” est une réalité. C’est du Cornélien pur. A ce niveau le pire est possible.

    Ou sont ces personnages qui ont fait l’histoire, et qui par leurs visions ont participés a améliorer la condition humaine.

    Nous retrouver avec une illuminée qui pousse vers l’autel du sacrifice d’innocente créatures,et son acolyte, un Fanfan s’en va en guerre, qui ne fera qu’augmenter les pertes humaines, sans possiblement parvenir au moindre résultat promis, et avec cela gonfler encore plus l’endettement de ce pays. Ce qu’ils prônent ne fera qu’augmenter les laissés pour compte, qui se trouvent sans couverture sociale, et sans pouvoir accéder a l’éducation, avec autour un marasme économique qui ne fera qu’évoluer vers le pire.

    Au fond, ce n’est pas vraiment le couple qui m’afflige, c’est le pourcentage si élevé de la population qui adhère a ces idées.
    Ces populations, motivés par ces révérends qui fabriquent dans l’antre de leurs temple de l’absurdité, et de la soumission; une illusion préfabriquée, au service de leur enrichissement propre et le déploiement de leur pouvoir; une trame sociale l’abreuvée a la source de l’inconscient et de l’absurde.

    Etienne de la Boëtie doit se retourner dans sa tombe comme une vrille. Il faut relire son œuvre édifiante “La soumission volontaire” et se rendre compte de l’aveuglement qui règne.
    Il s’agit de lutter pour que cette masse dangereuses ne deviennent majorité.

  16. N’étant pas américain, ce qui, par les temps électoraux qui courent, me semble tout-à-fait supportable, je ne saurais me prononcer sur l’aspect politique de la candidature de madame Palin à la vice-présidence des USA.
    Je m’autorise cependant quelques mots. Madame Palin est plutôt jolie, genre infroissable cependant, et la photo du magazine Vogue découvre largement une poitrine “émouvante”. On pourrait presque rêver d’une nuit avec Sarah Palin. Toutefois, lorsqu’elle se compare elle-même à un pittbull avec du rouge à lèvres, le fantasme nocturne s’évanouit. J’avoue que la comparaison faite par madame Palin avec un tel chien me surprend. Lui a-t-on dit, dans son entourage, que le pittbull était un chien réputé dangereux en raison de son caractère particulièrement borné? Le pittbull fonce sur sa proie et ne la lâche plus, même si elle est illusoire.Il ne s’agit là que de considérations venant de la science vétérinaire et on ne saurait y voir quoi que ce soit de métaphorique, surtout venant d’un habitant de la “Vieille Europe” qui ne désespère pas de succomber aux charmes de madame Palin quand elle aura renoncé à se métamorphoser en pittbull.
    Il me vient une question à l’esprit : la devise des USA est-elle “God bless America” ou ” God save America”?

  17. Well put Ali,

    Bringing a Downs Syndrome Child with all the complications that comes with it to me is simply a selfish act, considering what that child will go through if he/she lives long enough to be 25 or 30.

    Last night Palin’s speech was a reminder how a woman can serve the seemingly best interest of men. Those of us from the cultures where abuse and demeaning of women (sexual mutilation of girls for instance) is for the most part carried out by women on behalf of men are well familiar with this. Those women are smart, witty and feisty, it is their thinking that sucks!

    Palin is absolutely a fire ball, whose appeal is for the most part towards the white male working class who enjoy seeing lots of kids, and women who serve their best interest. She will mobilize union worker and the conservative base like wait and see! Palin appeals to the conservative base (forget about women, men like her more) and this could land McCain in the White house.

    Now let’s cut through the chase. The beef for me as an Iranian expat is the issue of foreign policy in this election. The question that I need to ask myself is who will better serve the international interest here? Who will give diplomacy a real chance? Who is a war monger? Which one will change the psychology of international politics? McCain or Obama?

    Think this person will think twice about attacking Iran? She is in Bush’s camp and will show no hesitation to slaughter thousands, if not millions of innocent Iranians. A McCain/Palin administration will not entertain diplomacy with Iran and will ignore Iran’s cry for diplomacy (I personally believe a good chunk of Iran’s acting out is a cry for diplomacy and direct negotiations and opening up a real dialogue). Unless a real effort is made towards such dialogue we stand to see US attacking Iran and thousands killed.

  18. I do apologize. Il semble que ce sont certains libéraux américains qui ont qualifié madame PALIN de pittbull. Il ne s’agirait donc pas d’une comparaison établie par elle-même. Je suis soulagé.
    Connaissez-vous cette chanson italienne des eighties :”perche ti amo sara”?

  19. In response to Ali – i know people with Down Syndrome and one of them is actually a relative of mine who is nearly 50 years old right now. He is not complaining about his life at all. Would his parents prefer to have a healthy child? Of course they would! But would they prefer to remain childless instead of having him? Absolutely not!
    Are they all wrong because the society has to spend a certain amount of money on him? One would like to hope that you do not think so. Would you advocate forcing all women who are on welfare to abort all of their pregnancies? Some people might actually, but that would not be a very liberal thing to do, would it?
    Being pro-choice myself, i would definitely be for an abortion in case when this condition is diagnosed early enough. But i respect other people’s religious convictions and would never impose my preferences on anyone else. Isn’t that a truly liberal thing to do?
    That is why i raised my objection to declaring her decision “wrong”. And i also object to condemning her for choosing to have a career with five children at home, for a simple reason that no man is ever criticized for making such choice.
    Questioning a person’s qualifications for the job is a completely different matter and i have no problem whatsoever with that.
    In my opinion, none of the four people on the major party tickets is ready to be an effective president on the first day in office (very few of them ever are) and voting should be based on whose positions are closer to one’s own on the issues that one considers important. But that is of course only my own opinion and – believe it or not – i respect other views.

  20. MarK, I understand your point and I’m not saying that any one who unknowingly has a Down Syndrome child has done anything wrong; neither am I advocating forced abortions for anyone who has a known Down Syndrome fetus as much as I think it’s unjust and a cruel choice. I can understand a childless person deciding that a Down Syndrome baby is better than non; but a 5th child? Come on! And yes, a 50 year old Down person is not rare. The current life expectancy is around 50 nowadays but there are chronic problems along the way. But insofar as the social obligation and your comment: “but that would not be a very liberal thing to do, would it?” I should qualify that I am not a liberal. I’m solidly an independent and have mixed views about things on both sides of the spectrum. I do believe in choice, but I also believe that with each of our choices comes great responsibility. If a person decides that they will have a Down Syndrome child by choice, then they better not expect me to pay for it because it’s not much different than me shooting myself in the leg and collect disability from them. It’s my choice, I better not impose it on others who decided to work and pay taxes instead of just collecting. We can’t have it both ways. That’s where I depart from the liberals. Life’s full of choices but every time we decide one way, we forfeit the outcome of other choices. Unfortunately, we still can’t have our cake and eat it too!

    I also agree with you that non of the folks on the ticket are qualified to be president. But let’s face it, who is really qualified to be president? What does it really take? Most their decisions are shaped by their advisers and special interest anyway. So, I think anyone who wants to be president should automatically disqualify as a candidate! What an ego, what a power trip! Anyone who thinks they can lead the world has a Superman complex. So let’s grab a bunch of random folks off the street, run all kinds of tests on them, and make the most qualified president! That’s the ticket!!! I’m yet to hear a reasonable argument as to who makes a good president. Also, a good president to whom? One person’s good president is another’s bad president! Just a reminder that Bush enjoys a 30% approval rating. So, he’s a good president to 30% of the population.

    Mitra had a great point about men who support women that support their chauvinistic interests. But isn’t that’s true about all people who vote for any candidate, male or female? Is this a sexist issue or just a human self-interest issue? I don’t know. Palin may seem attractive to the type of guys Mitra mentioned and clearly, McCain calculated all the potential ways she connected with voters in ways he couldn’t. Good for him! But for me, the past 8 years have been such a wrong turn that I’m definitely voting to the left this time around. Unfortunately, it’s the only other option anyway. So, this means Obama! In fact, I’m so voting against the right this time that I don’t even care if it turns out that the son of a goat herder actually like goats… and I mean realy really likes goats!!!! 🙂

  21. Hey Michele, Thanks for this two links. Here is what I have posted on the LA Times in response to some of the comments to Gloria Steinem’s Sept 4th article. To be honest I was bothered by the kind of language some of the readers had used. I am posting that comment here as well, since the LA times may not even print it. Here it goes, and thanks for you wonderful blogland, I am enjoying it:

    Reading some of these comments I am appalled at the language and the personal attacks against Gloria Steinem. This is not a forum to examine Steinem, but obviously some are taking this opportunity to settle scores beyond the scope of this discussion. But since issues are brought up, I would like to mention that obviously some of the younger female commentators do not appreciate what the womens’ lib in the US has done for women around the globe (and in the US of course). To those I must say it is easy to enjoy the liberties and privileges we have in this country as a woman and forget how we got it? (I would like to see more comments from women of diverse backgrounds, Middle Eastern, African, anyone? Please speak up! those of us who look up to women’s lib in the US, speak up! Our writing will have an accent, but so be it, say something!! and to those rude comments: This is a free country, to disagree with someone does not mean you need to be disrespectful and demeaning!)) And think by enlisting someone like Palin to stand a chance to be the 2nd in command in this nation we continue to strive in the direction of achieving our goals? And we are being true to our men and women?

    These personal attacks against Steinem speak volumes about the frustration of women who want to be supportive of a woman nominee but maybe deep down know she is not the best choice? ‘We cant’ speak up because if we do we might be undermining women?’ Well no, she is not a good choice, she is immature, conniving, condescending. I wonder if she has ever carried a conversation with a person of a diverse back ground (other than native Alaskans, if we consider a native Alaskan a person of diversity here, which I don’t–they’re native!!), I mean we’re talking someone with that level of purity! I don’t want her in the white house. We need to speak up. The White House is not a place for personal discovery either!

    But not to worry! A hot and cold pack (Arizona, Alask) will work like this: (read on, we will get to the hot and humid (Arizona, Hawaii part too!).

    The nomination of Sarah Palin is nothing but a desperate attempt by McCain to steal the election, and that –he might do, by bringing Christian right to the rescue. If McCain/Palin ticket makes it to the White House, I doubt very much if Palin will be anything but a lame duck of a VP! So please let’s turn our attention to real issues in this election- namely the economy, joblessness, the housing crisis, the war against terrorism, and then pray– pray long and hard that nothing will happen to McCain while he is in the office so that we won’t have to deal with an angry zealot in the White House, how about that?

    There are so many conservative, experienced women McCain could have chosen, but none that would be so conforming to the Christian right– ‘ Palin would be the poster woman for CR,’ I am sure McCain was advised! But this is nothing new, and to those who cheer her nomination: Please see her for what she is: a token candidate, someone who will bring in the unionized workers to the election polls and some females too, but definitely not calibers of Hillary supporters- and democrats better wake up to this reality that Palin was picked to tap into a completely different base- Palin was picked to bring back the Christian Right that Bush has blown with his policies. McCain, needed to distant himself from Bush, while figuring out a way to bring back the base that landed Bush into the white house, it was not women, it was not minorities, it was not blacks, it was the Christian right, and with Palin, McCain revived that base.

    So now the Beer Belly of the election is secured – another reminder that – women have always served the interests of men, (they have always served that beer! not that it will do anybody any good, but we’ve done it nonetheless!) either by fear and intimidation, or by shear ignorance and lack of a healthy thinking- and this is no different. Women have always done the dirty work for men, nothing to get excited about!! we all know that in cultures where sexual mutilation of females is practiced, the act is usually carried out by women!)

    In Palin I see an angry woman who likes to kill animals, but also makes sure a young girl pregnant due to rape and or incest is forced to carry that child, hopefully not at gun point. And if this young girl chooses to terminate the pregnancy it will be done in a back ally abortion parlor, swell!!!! Let’s fight for these policies at the global level.

    What about that animal? What if the moose was pregnant? Then what? Will Palin bother to examine the animal to rule out pregnancy and then shoot it? Or it is OK to kill the mother moose? Wow! So forget the cold (Alaska), stick to hot and humid, (Arizona and Hawaii) and figure out those two. See which one will deliver, and remember, Obama has Biden to fall back on, with McCain? We got some work to do baby! Lots of baby!

  22. From Madleen Allbright to Paris Hilton and Mom Palin,
    Who would dare to compare Mrs Allbright with Mrs Palin?. At least if Mc Cain would have selected Paris Hilton instead of Mom Palin we would have had lots of fun.
    It is very disappointed to see that today the selection criteria have changed. Political marketers define the voters target (could be fly-fishing white men, or whatever) and then go get the bait which will attract the audience. This choice is disappointing as it shows that selection criteria are simply screwed-up.
    The world of angry people, melting Arctic, search for vaccines, etc… does not care about Mom Palin family situation, religious believes and all these mundane attributes of her.
    As Milan Kundera wrote it: “life is elsewere”, and politics as shown these days, is completely out of reality. Thank you Political Marketing. Do not we have what we deserve?. Incompetence. Is there not another Mrs Allbright in this great nation of 250 Millions people or so?.
    Looks like the Artic will keep melting.
    L

  23. In his interview on Fox News last Thursday, Obama said that the troop surge in Iraq “succeeded beyond our wildest dreams”, thereby implicitly admitting that he was wrong in voting against it while McCain ‘s vote was correct. Regarding Iran, Obama said that he “would not take the military option off the table” and that he “will never hesitate to use our military force in order to protect the homeland and United States interests”. That sounds as close to McCain’s position as humanly possible for any Democrat. Whether he was being honest about it or just pandering to that channel’s mostly conservative audience is anyone’s guess at this point. Time will tell.
    As for the Down Syndrome debate here, i already said that i personally would certainly prefer aborting the fetus in this case. But isn’t it clear to everybody that Sara Palin did not have such a choice? For her and millions of others like her it is simply not an option.
    In accordance with her beliefs, human life is sacred and abortion therefore is murder. We the pro-choicers do not agree with that and we demand – fairly, i think – that “their” beliefs should not be imposed upon us. Why then do some of us insist that our thinking should be imposed upon “them”? That is terribly hypocritical and unworthy of a civilized society. We can’t expect our opponents to respect our opinions if we deny them the right to theirs.
    And one more thing that i think is important.
    We should be very careful in taking whatever we read as the so-called “gospel” truth. For example, it has been reported and repeated many times in most media that Sara Palin is against any sex education in schools and that she supports “abstinence only” programs exclusively. Now we find out that as recently as just two years ago she stated on several occasions that she is in fact “pro-contraception” and that “kids who may not hear about it at home should hear about it in other avenues”. She also said that abstinence is simply “the other alternative that should be discussed with kids”. Now, that is actually a much more reasonable and nuanced position on this issue than what was reported previously.
    Of course there are still plenty of other issues on which we can and do disagree with her, but my point is that we should not blindly believe everything we see on the internet or, for that matter, in all other media.
    At this point i think that, unless something earth-shattering happens during the next eight weeks, the victory of the Democratic ticket by a comfortable margin is practically inevitable.
    There are several reasons for my certainty about it, but that is an entirely different discussion.

  24. MarK, what’s your reason for the inevitability of the Democratic ticket? I’m apparently not as confidant as you are. It depends who’s more motivated to get out and vote. The right is more organized (that’s why they represent the rich!) The Democrats, as evidenced from the excessive partying at the DNC, may actually be recovering from their premature partying the night before the election and forget to vote!

  25. Back to 1905…….
    In 1905, French parlement wrote in the law that religion and state had to be separated (Séparation de l’église et de l’état). 103 years later politics, for the sake of seducing voters, takes overwhelming control of private life instead of tackling the real issues. Why care about Palin’s daughter pregrancy?. Who cares about Palin’s child handicap?. Who cares about Mom Palin’s decision not to abort?. She is a free woman, and makes personal decisions that involve her soul, consciousness and husband. Dictatures have always banned religion from public debate, Today democracies use religion to seduce people, and of course collect dollars. Today, the world is sinking into major disasters, health care, global warming etc… etc… Potential leaders instead of solving issues, spend their time showcasing their personal “life (to the extent of bringing minor children to political stages), with the hope of harvesting votes. Appalling.
    L

  26. Laurent, in theory you’re right; but your view represents the reason why Democrats lose elections. They keep saying “Who cares that this or that?” Their intellectualism keeps them out of touch with the reality of the electorate. See, the electorate cares about all the nonsense that you rightfully claim irrelevant. The problem is that it’s not the intellectual elites that are the sole voters in this country. The majority vote not with their brains, but with their pockets or religious views. The intellectual voice is lost in a sea of idiocracy. So, as long as the Dems keep talking about how things should be as opposed to how they are, they will lose to a republican party who has long ago forfeited the idea of giving the average voter too much credit. They pander effectively and use voter stupidity to their advantage vs. the Dems who seem oblivious to this fact.

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