Note: the photo above is a photo provided by Sarah's mother to the Republican party of Sarah with Bristol on a hunting trip; the photo at the bottom is of Sarah in her Alaskan office with a bearskin in the background.
See, for all the Republicans highly touted spiel, "Sarah Palin is just an American gal everyone can relate to", I can't relate to her. For starters, I have to admit I'd have trouble relating to anyone who named their kids Track, Bristol, Willow, Piper and Trig (and call me mean spirited, but it leaves me wondering what the grandbaby will be named...Tundra? Calc?)
But I digress. I don't want to underestimate her. That would be a very bad mistake. I've spent a fair amount of time the past few days reading about her on the web, and watching YouTube videos of speeches she's made. She doesn't speak as well when someone else isn't supplying the words, by the way. I wouldn't call her intellectually nimble; not by a long shot. Nevertheless, she's nothing if not formidable. Here's a smattering of what I've found: She's anti sex ed; anti abortion, even in cases of rape and incest; anti stem cell research; anti same-sex marriage; anti spousal benefits for same sex couples (of course); anti-drug...mmmmmmmm, let me clarify that: she opposes legalizing marijuana, because of the message it might send to her kids, (there's that family values thing again) BUT she admits she smoked it: "I can't claim a Bill Clinton and say that I never inhaled" while it was legal in Alaska, but not in the US (I guess that's that separation of Alaska from the lower 48 thing); pro-life....well, pro human life...well, pro human life if you aren't yet born...she supports the death penalty and supports aerial hunting of bears and wolves and she's in the process of suing the United States to remove polar bears from the endangered species list (see Governor's Office press release, "Polar Bear", dated August 4, 2008); she's in favor of teaching creationism in schools; was initially in favor of The Bridge to Nowhere but is now against it; is in favor of teacher led prayers in public schools; in favor of absolute right to gun ownership..
Sarah Palin scares the hell out of me.
5 comments:
I've been reading about her too. She is perfect to pull that radical right back into the fold. She's pretty terrifying.
I watched her speak last night. I was not impressed. She was pithy, but I thought she was lackluster and I don't how anyone would have found her inspiring. I will be interested to see how she performs without a teleprompter. However, she made a better showing that Rudi. What a terrible speaker. I was kind of embarrassed for him.
To consider that this woman could realistically end up in the president's chair is...crap....I don't even want to go there. I hope to god we don't have to.
Wow! An verbally challenged Christian right-wingnut! THAT will be a breath of fresh air in Washington...! Lisa :-[
And if she didn't have two x chromosomes she wouldn't have even been looked at for Veep. Talk about sexist.
Jackie
I find McCain's choice of Palin for his VP running mate absolutely mind boggling. Clearly he is playing to the far right wing of his party in choosing her. But McCain didn't need those voters. He needed independents. When all the hoopla dies down, and voters a get clearer picture of just how far to the right she is, I imagine it will send independents running right into the Obama camp.
If McCain somehow thought that Hillary voters would vote for Palin simply because she is a woman, it shows McCain's thorough lack of understanding of why women were supporting Hillary in the first place. They liked her polices. The fact that she is a woman was a bonus. Does McCain think that in choosing a woman whose policies and world view are the polar opposite of Hillary's he'd gain those voters?
Stacy
I must be a christian right winged nut. she sounds pretty good to me. Do you reckon she'll have young men sneaked in to her office?
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