Last night, as I was watching ABC’s Charlie Gibson interview Gov. Sarah Palin and restraining myself from throwing anything too heavy at my T.V., I wondered just how dumb, exactly, the McCain campaign thinks the American people are.
Are we supposed to be fooled by Sarah Palin’s smile and average soccer (excuse me, hockey) mom voice into believing that a McCain-Palin administration would actually respect the Constitution, despite the fact that one of the major reasons she was named his running mate was the fact that her positions on key issues make her a darling of the Religious Right, a group whose support McCain desperately needs to win?
(Just to be clear, the Obama campaign isn’t completely off the hook on this one, either – that “Committed Christian” flier made my blood boil, too.)
Should we ignore that she never actually answered Gibson’s question about whether or not she’s experienced enough for the job, or will feel comfortable as a player on the national stage?
Are we really supposed to not be outraged that in defending a political statement she made – in a church – in which she strongly suggested, intentionally or not, that she believes the war in Iraq is a holy war? And then not throw up our hands in complete disgust when she defended herself by comparing her not-so-eloquent, off-the-cuff words to Abraham Lincoln’s, one of the most thoughtful, meticulous orators in American history?
Regardless of what she intended with her comment about the troops (or the one about the construction of a natural gas pipeline across Alaska being God’s will), she made a political statement in a house of worship, to a group of graduating ministry students. Highly unethical behavior, at best, for an elected official who is supposed to not only keep religion and government separate in her own politics, but defend that separation for every citizen she represents.
Add in the fact that she apparently thinks her work in government is immaterial without religion, and I’m all but pulling my hair out at the thought of Palin remaining an elected official of any kind, let alone tackling the vice presidency. Take her statement that “I can do my job…but really all of that stuff doesn’t do any good if the people of Alaska’s heart isn’t right with God,” for example. Poor grammar aside, the implication that a state’s population “being right with God” is essential to its political institutions functioning properly is blasphemy against the Constitution. That’s not something I want anyone thinking while working in any part of the White House. (Too late, I know. But let’s try for a little 20/20 hindsight here, and not make that mistake again.)
While I’m here, I may as well cover all the bases in the ballgame of the Sarah Palin media circus: no, I am not sexist. I do not disdain my fellow women or think having a family means a woman should stay home. I think being a successful working mother is something to be proud of, and I hope I can do it myself in the future. And just for the record: I’m a liberal, as well as a woman, and I can hit eight out of ten clay birds with a .410. Nine out of ten with a .20 or a .28. Sarah Palin is not the only woman who knows her way around a gun, and the Republican Party does not have a monopoly on target shooting. I can only wish they’d stop talking about it as though it has anything to do with being a politician. Kind of like being Christian, or believing in a Judeo-Christian God.
From a feminist who loves her country and her religious freedom: Please, let’s show every candidate for public office that America is neither dumb nor asleep, and that we won’t accept any compromises to our First Amendment just so they can get the backing of the Religious Right.
Leave a Comment
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Sarah Palin is just Bush with Boobs. I know thats not PC, but as another Feminist who is comfortable on in Target Practice, It really ticked me off when I saw online comments about Farm Girls Doing it all, as if City Women weren’t authentically anything but maybe eye candy or hopeless nerds.
I am not a Christian. And I am tired of being Scared of my own government. That if I have a problem, that whatever case for redress I bring to them, will be judged not on the merits of that case, but on what church I go to
I was in the military in the during the First Gulf War, and um, I wasnt a Christian then either. I wouldnt knowingly join a holy war for Crusaders, and it would upset me greatly if someone were to suggest that my Mission Goal is to Instill Christ on some Heathen populace somewhere.
and what no one seems to understand in this rhetorical circus is that by stating or insinuating that the Iraq War is another Crusade, they feed our enemies hatred and bitterness, and they insure that our POWs will not be treated well or possibly even be allowed to live. But since Sarah is only shooting at Moose {who dont have liscenses for Conceal to carry or Opposable thumbs} I guess she never thought of that. That she could be setting some of her beloved, Crusading soldiers up for torture or worse, because they could be perceived as proselytizing infidels in an invading religious force.
THANKS SARAH. WAY TO WATCH OUT FOR YOUR UNIFORMED SOLDIERS!
Because Muslims and everybody else in the world, is watching the campaign closely. And Word will get around. People who already hate us, will simply use this as a justification to keep the burning flame of hate alive.
Selling herself as a Mom who has everything is a joke. I am a stay at home mom. I should be finishing my college degree but I can only afford to either go to class OR get daycare. I cant afford to do both, so I do neither. I dont have a huge local family network near me to help me with free childcare {I am military and this is where we retired} and I dont make enough to hire a nanny or anything like that. And the only place I could work that let me bring the children didnt pay enough to do much more than cover gas money and lunches there at work.
So comparing herself to someone like me is a joke. We make good money, but even when gas prices were only 2.$ a gallon, we were just squeezing by. And my husband who is a good provider doesnt have flex hours either. All Sarah has done is inflame the mommy wars, but then that is the goal. To split the women of this country so that they can get nothing done in their best interests.
Her views on abortion are disturbing, and after the concerted attack by conservatives on Birth Control, I do wonder if she is surreptitiously part of that as well. Redefining all Birth control as abortion, and supporting what amounts of a conscientious gag rule for people who have penii who object to giving women comprehensive medical options, including birth control, plan b or abortion options.
Sarah Palin has too much baggage. And I remember John McCains campaign in 99. His 180 degree turn towards the Christian Reich sickened and frightened me. I remember when he disappeared in Virginia after attacking them over hijacking the Republican Party. His choice of Sarah Palin makes me want to check him for a gash in his head. How can someone go in the opposite direction like that without the least bit of shame or remorse?
Bush is Scary, McCain/Palin, just as scary at this point. Now the internet rumors are that because Palin is the Gov of Alaska that her experience with the Bering Straight [read Russian Border} gives her unique military experience. Can we say Reaching?
No one mentions why McCain didnt pick Jesse Ventura then because he WAS a Seal, or perhaps a governor from a TACAMO State like Oklahoma or maybe Nebraska where Looking Glass used to be. Maybe Nevada for Area 51?