Selective sympathy for moms in public office
Photoshop: David Lunde
In observing the P.D.S.-induced mania about Gov. Sarah Palin’s work/family life, I was reminded of a very sympathetic piece in the Washington Post from last July on female politicians in Congress who have young children.
Let me give you a taste of the long, page one WaPo profile, titled “Mom’s in the House, With Kids at Home For Congresswomen With Young Children, a Tough Balance.”
Before the sun rose over their Florida home, Debbie Wasserman Schultz pulled the thermometer from the mouth of her 8-year-old daughter, Rebecca, and checked the mercury: 103 degrees.
Stay home? Or go to work? It’s a dilemma familiar to millions of working mothers. But her situation is complex: The job is 1,037 miles away, in Washington.
She got on the plane and flew to a New York fundraiser and then on to Washington for her workweek as a Democratic congresswoman. She knew her husband could handle Rebecca’s fever.
Still, the guilt traveled with her. “It feels like someone’s ripping my heart out,” she said. “No matter how good your spouse is, kids want their mom when they’re sick.”
Wasserman Schultz, who also has a son, Rebecca’s twin, and a 3-year-old daughter, is part of a select group, the 10 women in Congress raising children under 13. It’s probably a congressional record, although no one has kept this particular statistic.
They reside on a shaky high wire, balancing motherhood with politicking, lawmaking, fundraising and the constant shuttle between Washington and their home states.
Most of the House members live apart from their children during the week, parenting by phone, e-mail and faxes and relying on husbands, family or nannies to fill the gaps. It’s a lifestyle dictated by election cycle. The four senators live with their families in Washington but wake to the daily frenzy of integrating children into unpredictable workdays that can exceed 16 hours and fray relationships.
And they all live with a reality possibly even more difficult: The public will scrutinize and judge the mothering choices these politicians make. It is this that sets them apart from other professional women and their male counterparts in Congress, and the 10 in the group are keenly sensitive to it.
Wasserman Schultz is a Democrat, by the way. So are most of the other working moms profiles, though a few Republicans are tossed in for the semblance of balance:
Several are determined to show that a woman can raise a family while serving in Congress. Nearly all say they feel compelled to use their own perspective as the tiny minority of working mothers in Congress to represent the 70 percent of mothers who have school-age children and jobs outside the home.
“In the Senate Finance Committee, we were talking about higher education and I looked around the room and thought, ‘I’m the only one saving for college,’ ” said Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), whose twin boys are 11. “I’m not professing that my colleagues with grown children are any less compassionate. They’re just not going through it.”
Often, motherhood colors the legislation they propose. Wasserman Schultz has introduced a bill to improve swimming pool safety, because accidental drownings account for the second-highest number of injury-related deaths of children under 14. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) is pushing a bill to ensure the rights of women to breast-feed in public. And Rep. Deborah Pryce (R-Ohio) is trying to increase federal money for childhood cancer research.
The response from lefty and feminist blogs was positive and sympathetic. Here’s an example from a liberal female blogger at Tapped:
So where are the husbands? I read the entire article, looking for husbands who had given up their careers to stay home to support the kids, but alas. In fact, there wasn’t a single quote from the husbands of these women or even an indicator they were doing more to pitch in and help with the family.
…It seems that women can’t choose to focus on their career in public office totally or they risk being ousted by voters for being a bad mom. In many ways, the story of these congressional mothers isn’t any different than the lives of regular working women. They’re still the ones pulling the majority of the family responsibility, even though they have demanding and prestigious jobs. Instead of women having to do it all exceptionally well, when will partners start making the sacrifices that women have been making for their husbands for years? Those kinds of stories are few and far between.
Well, Gov. Sarah Palin’s story is one of those stories. Her husband took a leave of absence as a North Slope oil field production operator to support his wife. But instead of extolling their choice, the leftists have morphed into ultra-social conservative “women belong at home” caricatures. And they are going after Palin’s husband now — digging up dirt on a two decade-old DUI arrest and reportedly offering money to bottom-feeders for damaging info:
As Obama operatives scour records in Alaska for dirt on Gov. Sarah Palin, they are also seeking embarrassing materials about her husband. And it isn’t just the Obama campaign. Several left-wing groups with ties to MoveOn.org have used their network to offer as to $5,000 for damaging employment or personal information about him.
If a Democrat mom chooses public office, she’s a patriot Wonder Woman imbued with Absolute Moral Authority on children’s, health, and social welfare issues.
If a Republican mom chooses public office, she’s the child-neglecting spawn of Satan who has no business debating any domestic public policy because of alleged hypocrisy.
Ain’t feminism grand?
***
Related: There is now a Sarah Palin Sexism Watch.
More: There is now a Fight the Palin Smears website.
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Trackbacks
- On Vetting Sarah Palin « I Took The Red Pill (and escaped the Matrix)
- Career women are awesome…so long as they’re Democrat « Crush Liberalism
- The Saloon dot net
- Swamp Hermit’s *QUICK* Bits « The Swamp Hermit’s Report
- A double-standard for Sarah Palin? You don’t say?! « Republican Party of Jefferson County, TN
- This ain’t Hell, but you can see it from here » Blog Archive » Democrats and women
- Obama to Paris, er, AC360: I have more experience than the Mayor of Wasila « The Dude’s Blog
- “Selective Sympathy…” (means Double-Standard) « Gunservatively!
- Sister Toldjah
- UNCoRRELATED
- Sarah Palin - Angel Child at Haemet
- THE ALL-OUT MEDIA WAR ON SARAH PALIN « Out West
- Link Love for the VP Candidate that We at Haemet
- More On The Left’s/Media’s Sexism: Compare Palin To Obama–Continuously Updating, Scroll Down « Blog Entry « Dr. Melissa Clouthier
- Brilliant! « regeneration
- Knight of Faith Sarah Palin vs. Knight of Infinity Barack Obama « Pronk Palisades
- CNN Embarrasses Itself Beyond Repair « Thespis Journal
- Media Hit Rock Bottom Over Palin | Hennessy's View
- Media Hit Rock Bottom Over Palin | Hennessy's View
- 2 New Pro-Sarah-Palin Web Sites « Gunservatively!
- Webloggin » Suddenly The MSM is Concerned About Vetting A Candidate
- Why does this matter?! - Page 2 - Ford Mustang Forums
- Swamp Hermit’s *QUICK* Bits « The Swamp Hermit’s Report
- Unhinged, Deranged, And Sexist « Tai-Chi Policy
- Michelle Malkin » Liberal men in a panic; Update: liberal women spinning, too
- Blatant Anti-Palin Bias in the Liberal Media: A Collection « BUUUUURRRRNING HOT
- El debate Palin - Biden (I) « Sarah Palin en Español
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Categories: Double standards, John McCain, Sarah Palin
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» More From the East Anglia Archives
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» BREAKING: San Diego ACORN Document Dump ScandalVillainous Company
» Amateur Hour in the Oval Office Continues....Nice Deb
» OGreen Room
» Times Slimes Obamic Climes
Likewise, it’s too bad John Edwards isn’t the father of Bristol Palin’s child. Then the media wouldn’t care.
It just amazes me how scared the left is of Palin. They are pulling out every sleazy tactic in the book to make her look bad. Take a look at Drudge today. He has three links to articles attacking Palin. McCain has made a great choice. It’s obvious by the fear of the nutjobs.
Does anyone seriously think that Sarah Palin is anything but a pawn running mate for John McCain to bring in conservatives and Hillary democrats. What would a hardened secularist moderate like McCain want with a Bible-thumping creationist conservative in his inner circle? Palin is running for figurehead in chief.
It’s the usual double-standard, born of an ideology with no standards of its own. No moral underpinnings either, I might add.
I hope that the Palins can make it through all of the scrutiny. It’s going to tough road ahead and if helps at all I’m behind them 110%.
Liberals are just doing what liberals do.
If Andrew Jackson were alive and Sarah Palin were his wife the KOS would be challenged to duel with live ammo. That’s no joke.
On September 2nd, 2008 at 10:39 am, 30 pcs of silver said:
Yet the hypocrisy is still galling.
Fred Thompson ripped into the NY Times on FOX this morning.
The scrutiny will not end until she leaves public office, like Newt, Tom DeLay, etc. I pray she is made of strong stuff.
Oh please. If that’s all she was then the nutjobs wouldn’t be attacking her so bad. They know she’ll help McCain rally the base, maybe take on a few Hillary voters, and then show Obama for the empty suit that he is.
The blowhards on the Left are so enraged at the choice of Sarah Palin they’re spewing out hot air faster than they can draw breath. If we could just tap that into their “gas,” the “energy crisis” would no longer exist. As an added bonus, we could institute a “windbag profits tax” on all liberal gasbags, the MSM included.
So what if she is, she still has you all trying to do anything and everything to discredit her. If she is but a pawn – why so concerned?
Whatever the reason, you libs haven’t been able see straight ever since. I think I hear the wahmabulance rounding the bend.
So now any criticism of Palin is automatically sexism? But you get so upset when the Obama campaign allegedly uses a similar ploy. I guess the old double-standard is in place now.
Not that Obama or anyone needs to take any swings at Palin right now: Supermom isn’t looking so super. Dems should just sit back and enjoy as the Republican Convention loses all sense of focus and deteriorates into a long discussion about hurricane preparedness, Alaskan independence and the Bridge to Nowhere.
A desperate McCain threw the dice and crapped out.
I just wrote a letter of support to the office of Governor Palin. They need to know we are pulling for this whole family. I really believe that this nasty, despicable smear campaign is going to bite them in the butt. We are going to win this election, not only because we are the best choice, but because the liberals are crashing and burning as we speak. They can’t help it, folks.
Indubitably. I’m truly at a loss for words whenever I read the latest attack. Nothing is off-limits or worthy of respect when – Republican.
That’s because the Dems have such a strong candidate. After all, isn’t a cigarette smoking community organizer with ties to a domestic terrorist the ultimate dream candidate?
And who pays for the nannies? And another thing…what’s with the extra last name? I can always tell a liberal feminist by the hyphenated last name.
Another dim bulb in the chandelier…the story wasn’t about the husbands. Geez!
Who’s crying sexism?
Allegedly? Just ask Bill Clinton about “allegedly”.
Do you seriously think and empty suit like Barak Obama would have won the nomination if he wasn’t black?
Do you seriously think Hillary Clinton would have been elected if she wasn’t the wife of a President?
You come in here and point out that a candidate for politcal office has made a decision for (gasp!) political reasons. Is that supposed to be some kind of dazzling insight?
For whatever reason McCain selected her the fact remains that a solid conservative is on the ticket. If McCain wins she has a good shot at the Presidency in ‘16, possibly even ‘12. That’s enough to win them the support of a lot of the previously disaffected base, including a lot of the regular commenters here.
I wonder if there are enough dumb Americans out there to not see the hypocrisy of the Obama campaign and the Democrats in regards to Sarah Palin? Surely Americans realize that no candidate is perfect – there is probably dirt on every single politician and their family if we all just search hard enough.
Apples and oranges. If a Democratic Congress person were concealing the parents of their baby and using it for political gain, you would be up in arms. I’m not saying that’s what happening here, but to compare that possibility to a mom in office with kids is disingenuous.
Also, every feminist blog I read, namely Jezebel and Feministing, is falling over themselves to defend Governor Palin from spurious attacks. The only attack they’re using is that she and McCain are proud that Bristol’s choice was to keep the baby when they want to take away that choice for everyone else.
And when CNN raised the question if Governor Palin could handle campaigning with five kids, the reaction on reasonable leftist blogs (this excludes Kos) was swift: out of bounds.
Another day dawns and the libs are convinced that this plays out to their benefit. It must be the glue.
Excellent point. The irrational hyperventilating coming from the Left is proof that they fear this woman’s nomination.
Uh…no- you Philistine. Criticizing her daughter yes. Criticizing her for choosing to keep her 4 month old son yes. See your messiah’s comments.
The truth is steadily being exposed of the MSM, of the liberal hypocrisy and bias towards the Democratic Party. They judge not and report not of their own. Bring it on!
Conservatives are not reeling in revulsion about the news of Palin’s teenage daughter, pregnant and not yet wed. They are sympathetic and supportive.
What has been revealed, instead, in the muck throwing, is the dirty underbelly of the Democratic party: the nutroots-leftist-fascist strong arm of a once dignified political party.
Their nastiness is not driving conservatives to cast stones at the Palins,as they’d hoped. Daily Kos’ vile rumors will backfire as their hypocrisy will anger many people and push them to the polls.
McCain/Palin ‘08 brings palpable fear to the hearts of the Democrats. This fear exacerbates their hatred of Americans, Republicans,Christians, and conservatives. May their heads explode in anger as fear drives them further into the sewer where they were spawned.
McCain/Palin ‘08!
Red State Skeptic said:
Does anyone seriously think that Barack Obama is anything but a pawn for the Democrat party? What would America want with a hardened marxist-socialist Who studied black liberation theology for 20 years? Why would America want a president that assiociated with a violent, urban terrorist like Ayers for years and regards his as a great friend?
Are the Dems really that scared of her?
I work and deal with working and single moms everyday it is nothing new. If the single moms can do it why can’t Palin do it and she has help.
On September 2nd, 2008 at 10:48 am,
There is plenty of dirt on the Dem side. It just gets swept under the rug by the MSM. Any dirt on a Conservative, and the story never ends.
“Man is conceived in sin and born in corruption and he passeth from the stink of the didie to the stench of the shroud. There is always something.” — Governor Willie Stark (Robert Penn Warren, All the King’s Men, a must-read).
The Democrats have taught us some valuable lessons in the last couple of days:
1. A Woman’s right to choose is limited to choosing abortion;
2. Feminism is a concept available only to liberal Democrats and is not available for anyone of differing ideology;
3. Working mothers are child abusers if they try to balance a career and family;
4. A candidate’s family is now fair game in political discourse;
5. It is not hypocritical to oppose waterboarding as torture while favoring the infliction of mental cruelty upon children, so long as those children have parents that do not share your political views.
The gov’t schools took care of that….
/sarc off
Not at all. Only the criticism that wouldn’t be directed at a male candidate.
If you want to say “she has conservative views that I think would be bad for the country” that’s not sexist (it’s wrong, but it’s not sexist). All these questions about whether or not she can raise her kids and dismissing her accomplishments (of which she has more than Obama) are sexist. They’re also astoundingly hypocritical coming from the party that fetishizes identity politics.
Of course, it all makes sense when you realize that Liberals have tactics instead of principles.
you see all this about the women in congress having to leave their child at home when going off to “work”. Do they know that the VP has their home just down the road form the job. So much for 1000 mile traveling.
Is that what you are reading?
Well I think this shows how great a VP Sarah will be…..This is the kind of hate Cheney gets and gives our President an opportunity to get some work done
I found some little known Sarah Palin Facts. Hat tip to The McGehee Zone.
So Andrew Sullivan is wadding up his panties tsk tsking after hearing news of the Palin grandchild, that McCain did not properly vet Sarah? What about nobody vetting Obama and his conjugal visits with a known domestic terrorist? Puhlease!
So, if the Dems are all about attacking Sarah Palin and her family I guess that means it is ok now to attack Michelle Obama?
Then why the “Sexism Watch?”
I agree with Obama — who is my candidate, not my Messiah, you guys just can’t stand that we’re enthusiastic about our candidate for a change, can you — and am consciously avoiding any discussion of Bristol.
I didn’t realize that McCain/Palin were supporters of forced abortions. I’ll have to reconsider my vote now. /sarc off
The fascist democrat sexism is getting old…
PALIN/McCain….I will pull the lever- now – unless I see Republican sexism……
or L_O_T_E_Y behavior….
Every Liberal I know badly misunderstands the Conservative mind. Over the years they’ve constructed a caricature in their minds and convinced themselves that it’s an accurate reflection of us. And as a general rule the further left you go the deeper the misunderstanding is.
From what I’ve seen of Palin so far, it would appear as if she has the character to get through just about anything the media/democrats can throw at her. The libs trolling this blog might as well face it – her selection has energized the base. Conservatives would much rather judge a person by the content of their character than by the color of their skin (democrats seem to have mixed that up a bit).
And Obama is using loaded dice. Why isn’t the MSM looking into Obama’s Kenyan fundraising activities?
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/sep/01/nigerian-police-seize-obama-gala-funds/
The left are “collectively” terrified of Sarah Palin.
Good!
“And they are going after Palin’s husband now — digging up dirt on a two decade-old DUI arrest…”
Hey, it’s fair game. But let’s also have a bit more discussion on Sen. Obama’s past drug use.
As for the feminists, I heard one Berkeley professor on Pacifica radio go on about how Gov. Palin is inexperience and will “implode” during the campaign.
One wonders–well, not really–what this professor would have felt if Gov. Palin held the “pro-choice” view.
Classic case of projection. Palin has us fired up and you libs are visibly and justifiably quaking in your booties. Out of sheer curiousity which Democratic presidential candidate were you libs unenthusiastic about?
You know what I’m really admiring McCain. On top of the fact I like the quotes it also seems like a good indicator that he did know
what he should havewhat in a better world he shouldn’t have.From Sept. 2 (Bloomberg)
Because the MSM is an arm of the Democrat party, and as such must look the other way for one of their guys.
BemusedLib said:
Why would America want a president that associated with a violent, urban terrorist like Ayers for years and regards his as a great friend?
Do you have a rational explanation for this or do you simply gloss over it?
I think that, but I also think Sarah Palin is a very accomplished lady in her own right, and does not deserve the deranged wrath of the drooling nutroots raining down upon her.
And what did the mostly liberal readership of MSNBC.com think of this topic in Nov of 2005? (see poll below)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10152008/
Funny how their tune changes when they see an opportunity to pick on a 17 year old REPUBLICAN CONSERVATIVE female..
Here’s one guy who thinks you’re faking your Obamagasms:
BemusedLib said:
Why would America want a president that associated with a violent, urban terrorist like Ayers for years and regards him as a great friend?
Do you have a rational explanation for this or do you simply gloss over it?
I can fully accept that’s your candidate I just want to know more about your competence. After all, competence is the only system of morals that’s set to a gold standard.
I have no doubt that she will energize the base. Maybe we can start calling her Messarah. But McCain needs swing voters to win and Palin doesn’t deliver — she’s an earmark-loving, hardcore conservative who undercuts McCain’s two strongest arguments: that he’s a reformer and that experience counts. Worse, she’s become the story, not McCain, and the entire convention is being driven off-message.
We agree — we both think she’s a great choice.
What this brings out is the elitism that’s rampant in the establishment political culture. No Harvard, no Yale, no Princeton. No Council on Foreign Relations private club membership. How could she possibly know about foreign affairs? Well, guess what! You don’t need to know how to pronounce the name of the puppet leader of Russia to know what kind of man he is, or that you need to stand up to him and all the other scum out there. When did we start accepting the notion that only specially trained people could be president or vice-president in this country? Sarah Palin is more of a populist in the best sense of the word than anything the Dems have to offer. Like someone said elsewhere (I can’t remember where I read it, but it was over the weekend), I hope McCain’s not a drag on the ticket.
Lindsay…I love that. Can I quote you? On the topic of the pregnancy of Gov. Palin’s daughter…I think we need to just go ahead and get a big branding iron with an H on it (you know, for harlot) and brand her in the forehead. Perhaps a week in the pillory would help, for good measure.(/sarc off). Then maybe we can get back to the issues that matter to the American people. If the liberals are comparing the pregnancy of the daughter of the VP candidate to Obama’s issues, they need to be very very careful. It is a bit of a stretch to say “the punishment of a baby” is as scandalous as a Wright, Rezco, Ayers, and a black supremicist, marxist presidential candidate.
I thought the kids of candidates where off limits? I know no ones allowed to say anything about Chelsae Clinton even though she is almost 30 and campaigns with her mom.Today I see pictures of Bristol Palins boyfriend all over the place and news about what he’s like.They may have made a mistake premarital sex,but atleast their doing the responsible thing.Gee how come no one mentions Al Gores kid who was arrested for pot in his car and many other democrat kids that mess up?The left has gone to the the ultra extreme with PDS and I hope it comes back and bites them.
That’s what the right has been doing all along, without justification. It’s silly to pretend to suddenly need a reason now.
Just saw a story on HuffPo about Bristol’s “Baby Daddy” (I’m quoting the headline). It reminded me of recent attacks by the right against the Obamas (and makes me wonder how FOX will label the baby’s father), and the sudden outcry that happens when the left doles out the same treatment. Just a thought.
That said, I agree that Bristol should be off the table. She’s not running for office. But I agree with the above quote: There’s enough bad news emerging about Palin each day to keep her family out of it.
Someone said yesterday ‘we’re taking a lot of flak, must be over the target’, I think that’s true.
Problem is, the young girl is the one who is being hurt by this, how incredibly mortifying for her. Teen-agers don’t need to have their oopses broadcast to the world. And I didn’t use the word mistake on purpose, my oops is 40 years old now and an upstanding tax paying citizen.
Tell the MSM to lay off the kid !!!!!
Because murder of a separate human being should never be a choice. There is never any shame in standing up for what’s right.
And if that’s the only attack – bring it on. Being pro-life is a good thing.
It’s a far cry from Obama, who sees his own unplanned grandchildren as punishments. PUNISHMENTS! They’re his grandchildren, for cryin’ out loud. So a logical person can (and should) conclude he cares even less for unrelated children who are guilty of nothing else save existing at a time when it’s inconvenient for the parents.
Pathetic. Absolutely pathetic.
I work because I have to. We can’t afford not to. My son is young. Does it make me a bad mother that I work to put a roof over our heads, pay our bills, and buy food? Does it make my husband a bad father because his salary can’t cover our expenses?
No. It makes us real. And it’s far preferable (but still frustrating) that women work rather than rely on government assistance.
The hypocrisy of feminists is outrageous. They’re not about treating women equally – they’re about obtaining special treatment for the women who toe their man-hating, family-bashing, abortion-loving ideology.
They don’t give a crap about me. More than one supposedly “tolerant” liberal/feminist has told me I’m “brainwashed”, “hoodwinked by the patriarchy”, “stupid” and “unintelligent” because I CHOOSE to be a pro-life, conservative Catholic.
Feminism used to be about giving women the freedom to pursue a career or a family or both.
Today, it’s about making women victims, about killing their children and bashing me.
I want none of it.
And, listening to some of the liberal callers to my local talk radio station, they’re not exactly pleased as punch with the way KOS and the rest are treating women.
Ahhh, having 30 pcs back is soooooo refreshing.
It’s Killin em and
I Love it!!
McCain/Palin 08′
Go Baby Go!!
Perhaps, but a couple of months of non-stop, scorched Earth attacks on her by the Obamunist Left is going to turn off a lot of suburban women to the Democrat brand.
On September 2nd, 2008 at 10:57 am, BemusedLib said:
Because of outrageously sexist “journalists” like cnn’s John Roberts and ABC’s Bill Weir. It was Weir who asked a McCain-Palin camp rep on Saturday’s GMA, if Sarah Palin could campaign and still be a good mother to her kids. Were the circumstances reversed, would Weir have asked that of MR. Palin? I think not!
Well, on the other hand, there are those of us single dads with full custody of our kids who are successfully managing our day jobs and getting our kids off to school and soccer practice, while doing it without help from the government.
The state says the kids shouldnt live with the dad. The courts say the kids belong to the mom. The lawyers say there is no way you can win your case to change that. So you spend tens of thousands of dollars, slowly clearing your name of all the false charges that her lawyer accused you of, instead of spending the money on positive things.
And then in the end, it didnt matter what was alleged, it was the kids that grew up and finally realized that dad wasnt the bad guy after all and changed the court’s mind.
So what is the left’s goal? To tear Mrs Palin down? To tear her husband down? To destroy her kids by saying the happy family doesnt really exist? To find out that their dog is sleeping with the neighbors cat? I’m still missing the point of what they are trying to accomplish other than to be jealous that she’s not a Democrat.
A note of extremely bewildered concern:
Over the Labor Day weekend, I met with a dozen family members — all of whom are well-off, college-educated, conservative people.
The question was asked of the entire group: “Okay, who’s voting for Obama?”. Ten hands went up (?!?!?!?).
Upon the question: “Who’s voting for McCain?”, only my hand went up.
I *hope* this is all only because we are in California. I could not believe what I was witnessing, nor the reasons given (eg, “I just like the way Obama sounds”; “Palin has *no* experience”; “No more Bush”, etc).
Un-’Frigging-Believable. There’s still lots of work to do, folks!
I am not uncomfortable with Obama’s casual association (where’s the big revelation that Kurtz was supposed to turn up — that they co-chaired a meeting?) with someone who’s crimes were 30 years past and who had turned himself into the police 20 years before, and who was a colleague at the Obama’s workplace and who has denounced terrorism.
“In a letter to the editor in the Chicago Tribune, Ayers wrote, “I condemn all forms of terrorism — individual, group and official”. He also condemned the September 11 terrorist attacks in that letter. “Today we are witnessing crimes against humanity on our own shores on an unthinkable scale, and I fear that we may soon see more innocent people in other parts of the world dying in response.”
Am I thrilled about it? No. Is it important? No.
A 17 year-old girl — a teenager — young lady — had fallen in love with a man.
It didn’t matter that this man was not only married, but was the father of an infant son by his wife — who was again pregnant with their second child.
It did not bother this young lady with this small detail, because she promptly became pregnant with this man’s child.
This woman-child was seventeen and unmarried when she conceived. The father is married with children.
The young lady of whom I am referring; the young lady who was three months with child before marrying the never-divorced father of her child — is, of course, Ann Dunham — the mother of Barack Obama.
When the Obama campaign released its initial reaction to the pick, including the sneering reference to “a town of 9,000,” it reminded us once again that to the Democrats, if you don’t live in Manhattan or San Francisco, you’re just a dumb hick, bitterly clinging to your guns and religion.
When you consider the criticism has nothing to do with her job, YES it is sexism.
Where is the criticism against Obama for not staying home and caring for his children? How can he possibly stand up the the pressure of the office, when he has the responsibility of a family?
Get it now?
Waaaaah.
Trust us. If Sarah Palin starts making brain-dead comments accusing America of being an intolerant, racist nation, we’ll call her to account just as Li’l Micky was called out.
If BO is elected those double standards will become a kind of Democrat Sharia law – we can call it Obamia. It can start with everyone kowtowing towards Washington 5 times a day, a “religion” there is no god but there is a prophet and his name is BO, cultural laws – all criticism of the Prophet is heresy and punishable by death, all criticism of black Americans is racism, alms for the poor will become reparations for the crime of white skin color, and daily kos will become the secret police force always on guard to strip away the rights and privacy of those who believe in God and cherish freedom and destroy their victims privacy, reputation, and family. Of course they will also not stand for any criticism either.
Speaking of daily kos, I find their leaking of personal medical data of an underage girl to be troubling and hope some DA in Alaska will invite the kosites before a Grand Jury to discuss their actions. It would also be quite a pleasure for the same DA and jury to indite BO for some felony – they can consult with Tom Delay’s prosecutor or Nifong for specifics. God knows that after 2 years as a senator with “roots” in Chicago politics, he is guilty of many crimes.
McCain also needed the conservative base which he was lacking prior to selecting Palin as his VP which I can safely say he now has. Still quaking in those booties….
Such as? Please be specific. I need specific, rational information to present a proper retort.
Gov Palin is a MOM…..
I feel thats the hardest job on earth…
All the other things she has on her resume, are just a plus for the USA..
Die Hippie, Die wrote:
You’re confusing my post with the sound that’s been echoing from this site ever since the coverage of Palin began!
Great for you!!!!!! also went through this over 6 years ago with a 3 1/2 year old daughter…and we’ve been happy since!
The comparisons just aren’t the same. When Bristol gets out there on the stump for her momma… then we’ll talk.
Completely fabricated and debunked. MO was the first to label BO as her “baby’s daddy.”
What bad news is emerging each day? Her seventeen year-old daughter is pregnant. That’s been the only new news. Everything else is simply conspiracy theories….
Bemused said:
I guess you could call her that but she doesn’t seem like an vapid, arugula-eating elitist to me. But hey, I’m clinging to my guns, bible and Harley.
The paranoia of the right never ceases to amaze. I mean, really.
Gotta admit… it’s good to be back.
When the Palin announcement was made, Bob Beckel looked like someone had just punched him in the gut. It is obvious that the Dems fear a real woman with gravitas – and they will do virtually anything to impugn her integrity.
As a kid growing up, I remember the old statement that “The first baby can come anytime after a marriage, and the second always takes 9 months”. There were a lot of “shotgun” marriages in the good old days, but at least they were marriages. Today, some woman gets pregnant and is immediately branded a victim of some evil young man – and if you watch Maury ever you will see some really stupid women and some really evil and stupid men just interested in the next lay. (Here is a clue – you are responsible for your stupid decisions whether you like it or not.)
nyk said:
Nyk is 100% right and you all should listen to her. Nyk’s perceptive insight and intellectual superiority blankets this whole thread. Thank you Nyk; I am humbled.
You have to read more closely: that was Ayers describing 9/11.
Interesting word choice: “booties.” The problem for McCain us that the Bush years have severely eroded the Republican base. It’s much smaller now than it was even four years ago. Meanwhile, the Democratic base is expanding as hundreds of thousands — millions even — of new voters come on the rolls.
I was talking to a friend who’s working on a Congressional race in a swing state and he said that Obama’s people had registered 2000 new voters in a single day, the first day of the convention. That’s the stuff that gives McCain’s people (and probably you) nightmares. And the same thing is happening across the country.
Considering Michelle Obama echoed Saul Alinsky’s “Rules for Radicals” in her keynote speech, I think a case can be made that the Obama’s are still very much in sync with the Ayers-Wright-Pfleger view of America.
And as long as we’re quoting Ayers: “”There’s something about a good bomb … Night after night, day after day, each majestic scene I witnessed was so terrible and so unexpected that no city would ever again stand innocently fixed in my mind. Big buildings and wide streets, cement and steel were no longer permanent. They, too, were fragile and destructible. A torch, a bomb, a strong enough wind, and they, too, would come undone or get knocked down.”
Fixed it.
All the criticism of Palin has focused not on her conduct or qualifications – but her family. Her past as a beauty queen.
Were this done to a liberal, it’s be a crime.
Because Palin’s a conservative, it’s all “fair game.”
Now you’re confusing Waaaaah with Raaaaah!
Rusty weaseled:
Actually, you just did.
Spouses are fair game because there’s a humongous difference between the First spouse and the First Kid: while the former, as life-partner and confidante, has the President’s ear and can influence policy; the latter is more or less, just along for the ride.
Yep. Obama winning the election is the stuff of nightmares – the destruction he’ll do to our security, our economy, our families should scare any rational person.
Funny – up 2,000 registered voters and still a dead heat in the polls.
Bemused Lib:
Good thing I’m not paranoid. I just watched the movie last night.
The fact that she’s currently under investigation for possible ethics violations, was almost recalled as mayor in 1997, her prior membership in the Alaskan Secessionist Party, her quotes indicating she isn’t quite sure what VPs do or what’s going on in Iraq…None of these things are conspiracy theories — they’re all direct quotes or information that’s easy to find online (e.g., http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=AS&p_theme=as&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0F79408854D0C20B&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM).
What part of Sarah Palin reinvigorating the base, don’t you quite understand?
Yes,I hear ACORN is in full throttle.