Selective sympathy for moms in public office

By Michelle Malkin  •  September 2, 2008 10:29 AM


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

  1. On Vetting Sarah Palin « I Took The Red Pill (and escaped the Matrix)
  2. Career women are awesome…so long as they’re Democrat « Crush Liberalism
  3. The Saloon dot net
  4. Swamp Hermit’s *QUICK* Bits « The Swamp Hermit’s Report
  5. A double-standard for Sarah Palin? You don’t say?! « Republican Party of Jefferson County, TN
  6. This ain’t Hell, but you can see it from here » Blog Archive » Democrats and women
  7. Obama to Paris, er, AC360: I have more experience than the Mayor of Wasila « The Dude’s Blog
  8. “Selective Sympathy…” (means Double-Standard) « Gunservatively!
  9. Sister Toldjah
  10. UNCoRRELATED
  11. Sarah Palin - Angel Child at Haemet
  12. THE ALL-OUT MEDIA WAR ON SARAH PALIN « Out West
  13. Link Love for the VP Candidate that We at Haemet
  14. More On The Left’s/Media’s Sexism: Compare Palin To Obama–Continuously Updating, Scroll Down « Blog Entry « Dr. Melissa Clouthier
  15. Brilliant! « regeneration
  16. Knight of Faith Sarah Palin vs. Knight of Infinity Barack Obama « Pronk Palisades
  17. CNN Embarrasses Itself Beyond Repair « Thespis Journal
  18. Media Hit Rock Bottom Over Palin | Hennessy's View
  19. Media Hit Rock Bottom Over Palin | Hennessy's View
  20. 2 New Pro-Sarah-Palin Web Sites « Gunservatively!
  21. Webloggin » Suddenly The MSM is Concerned About Vetting A Candidate
  22. Why does this matter?! - Page 2 - Ford Mustang Forums
  23. Swamp Hermit’s *QUICK* Bits « The Swamp Hermit’s Report
  24. Unhinged, Deranged, And Sexist « Tai-Chi Policy
  25. Michelle Malkin » Liberal men in a panic; Update: liberal women spinning, too
  26. Blatant Anti-Palin Bias in the Liberal Media: A Collection « BUUUUURRRRNING HOT
  27. El debate Palin - Biden (I) « Sarah Palin en Español

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Comments


  1. #433673
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 1:50 pm, sambo said:

    “We may be seeing the first woman president.
    . . . That was the best political speech I have ever seen delivered by an American woman politician.
    [Sarah] Palin is as tough as nails…

    and that my friends is what the libs are afraid of. Thats what I thought and its what they thought also…but can’t admit it.

  2. #433674
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 1:50 pm, Dan Lee said:

    Hey BemusedLib, why don’t you man up & take a look at the handy work of the weather underground.. This link is not a political website, it’s a link to the a memorial site for officers who were killed in the line of duty..

    http://www.odmp.org/officer/8924-sergeant-brian-v.-mcdonnell

  3. #433676
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 1:50 pm, nyk said:

    No, I just know you like to set people off.

    How punny.

    pretty sure your closer with the first guess.

    Not at all. And off topic. So…enough about me…

  4. #433695
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 1:56 pm, BlameAmericaLast said:

    The loony left wouldn’t be so up in arms if Palin was a weak candidate.

    They’re scared. Very scared.

  5. #433697
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 1:57 pm, Lindsay said:

    Please contact the campaign to show support against the moonbats and the media:

    http://www.johnmccain.com/Contact/

  6. #433702
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 2:00 pm, Laree said:

    The Drudge Report Biden: shes good looking I have more experience then her…It’s On!

    http://www.drudgereport.com/

  7. #433706
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 2:01 pm, mngirl said:

    Do you know, this is crap.

    Life is about choices, and Sarah and Todd Palin have clearly made the choice at various times of their lives, that one is a breadwinner and one has the more flexible schedule to accommodate the kids schedules. Democrat or Republican life is about choices and decisions.

    I have two executive women friends that begged me for tickets for Wednesday night so they could see Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina and Palin. They finally got tix through their govt affairs office. They have 7 kids between them and their jobs require them to travel globally. Their husbands have scaled down their jobs (instead of hiring full time nannies) to be the primary caregiver when their wives are travelling etc. They and their husbands have both made choices that are hard but their kids are thriving, the women are excelling at their jobs (as would a VP of the United States) and the one couple is coming up on a 20th Wedding Anniversary, not sure about the other.

    Modern, every day American women (single and married) deal with this every day. Its hard, but it shouldn’t even be part of the Palin story.

  8. #433710
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 2:03 pm, redpeach said:

    i wish this was just a little bit surprising, but it never is. at least you can say one thing about libtards – they’re very predictable.

  9. #433714
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 2:05 pm, atheling said:

    You know, all this “concern” that the Libs and MSM seem to express about Sarah’s decision to be a mom and to work makes me wonder if they should reconsider women serving in the military.

    After all, many of them had to leave their children behind to go fight wars – sometimes forever.

    Should we bring that up? And ask them if we should ban women in the military?

  10. #433715
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 2:06 pm, Dan Lee said:

    On September 2nd, 2008 at 1:56 pm, #192 BlameAmericaLast said:

    The loony left wouldn’t be so up in arms if Palin was a weak candidate.

    They’re scared. Very scared.

    Bingo!!!

    They are absolutely horrified..

    Here’s a funny little story..

    Barack Obama has a double digit lead on McCain coming out of Primaries.

    Without even trying, & despite the completely lopsided MSM coverage of the two candidate in favor of Obama, McCain completely erases Obama’s lead (within 1-3 polling points) going into the Democratic Nation Convention..

    Day after DNC Obama shows 8-9 point bounce in Polls…

    Day after DN-Convention that lead is erased again, just by the mere announcement of Palin as VP pick..

    Logic seems to dictate RN-Convention will give McCain/Palin 8-10 point bounce? Who knows??

    Scary hmmm liberals??

    BOO!!! hahahahaha!

  11. #433724
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 2:09 pm, lance said:

    Is it any wonder why more good people don’t run for public office? Look at how low the left will sink to attack anybody. The Obama camp doesn’t have to make the attacks directly because there are enough unhinged followers (and the MSM) that will do the dirty work for them.

    How long did it take before the press was forced to cover John Edwards love child because the National Enquirer broke the story? Not a top political magazine, mind you. Yet, before the ink is dry on the McCain/Palin signs the left has the rumor mill on overdrive, pouncing on anything to slam the VP candidate.

    The left is definitely deranged. The entire DNC was mostly about bashing Bush and trying to tie McCain to W. Now the focus is on Palin. Should I hope that Obama will ever address the issues? Oh right, he really doesn’t have anything to run on except fooling the people so he can’t be distracted by the facts. Let’s just focus on slinging mud, in a smooth-talking way.

    Change I can believe in? Not on your life! The true hypocrisy is Obama. He launched more racism against himself than anyone, but the left will continually be sexist to Palin and treat McCain like a dirty old man. Obama (the inexperienced Senator from Illinois) and the left trash Palin and her lack of experience, but she is only running for VP, not POTUS. Isn’t he running against McCain? Obama’s DNC speech was the same old liberal speech of the last 20-plus years, he just delivered it better than his predecessors. Is that change, or hypocrisy?

  12. #433732
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 2:13 pm, RabbidSquirrel said:

    On September 2nd, 2008 at 1:27 pm, Goldwater Knight said:

    Did you major in Woman’s Studies?

    I did!

    Unfortunately, I didnt get a degree though, because as a Junior I had to switch majors to Home Economics with a minor in Child Psych..

  13. #433735
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 2:14 pm, Dan Lee said:

    Yes, & I love how Obama publicly denounces attacking candidate’s families, knowing full well that the idiots over at the Daily Kos & the Huffington Post will do his campaign’s unspoken biding for them.

  14. #433757
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 2:21 pm, CharlieT said:

    Andrea Tantaros,
    Republican Political Commentator wrote in her blog:

    This could only mean there must be something about Sarah Palin that is deeply threatening to the left, a constituency that has long believed they have cornered the working mother market. Five kids? She should be at home begging Democrats for a handout. A husband in a union? He should be on the picket lines.

    Liberals like to pretend they are tolerant and accepting of those who are different but when it comes to anyone not ensconced in their progressive, elitist dogma they mock and attack their lifestyle to inspire hate.

    Couldn’t have said it better.

  15. #433763
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 2:22 pm, iamgman said:

    O/T but just how many of us rode in the window above the back seat of the car when we were toddlers? Or rode in smoke filled cars with the windows up?

    I remember fighting my brother for that spot. Loser always had to take the floor with the hump even though the seat itself was open.

  16. #433764
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 2:22 pm, gunslingerpatriot said:

    In the words of my mentor (I am drug& alcohol major)-“Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean you are not being followed”

    There is enough stuff coming out that the obama camp is involved that gives me shivers down my spine; such as demanding the DOJ investigate a 527 organization for a policital ad and then following it with a demand that they investigate the person paying for it.

    I agree that the families should be left alone unless they actively get involved in the campaign process. Chelsea is fair game, Bristol is not, obama’s daughters are not, michelle o’ is fair game.

    If I recall john kerry when in 2004 outed dick chenyes’ daughter and she wasn’t campaigning for her father. Bush 43, his daughters were hounded by the media, and since they were actively involved in his campaign-were fair game.

    Unfortunately most conservatives have accepted the fact that the media is very biased and that there is a double standard for conservative versus liberal.

    To artistically paraphrase Davey Crockett’s Texas comment….You can kiss my a$$, I am going to vote McCain/Palin!
    GSP

  17. #433783
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 2:26 pm, Bill Grant said:

    On September 2nd, 2008 at 1:56 pm, #192 BlameAmericaLast said:

    The loony left wouldn’t be so up in arms if Palin was a weak candidate.

    They’re scared. Very scared.

    I disagree. While I like her I think that they smell blood. Cynically speaking, they have enough already to keep throwing dirt on her until November, they know it and are gleeful about it from what I have seen elsewhere.

    Today in the Gallop daily tracking Obama broke 50%.

    McCain was left with little choice other then to nominate a candidate like her to appease the factions so well represented here. It is time to rally and get involved or lose this thing to Barack Obama and the rest of the miserable leftist scum.

  18. #433785
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 2:26 pm, BrianNY said:

    #157 bemused said:

    So, Obama is disqualified because an associate of an associate is a criminal? I am emphatically not defending the Weather Underground, but really, that a ridiculous conclusion.

    Interesting. I don’t know if everyone here “disqualifies” Obama for hitching his wagon to a Chicago stud like Bill Ayers, but from what I read, most agree that their entire political relationship deserves to be revealed (personal fundraisers, chairing and boarding committees that doled out millions of dollars in political patronage disguised as “developing educational programs in Chicago,” etc.) including the recently unsealed papers at UIC.

    Barack Obama thought that Bill Ayers was was a big deal in Chicago. Fine. Now, others want to bring this political relationship to the national level and see how the American people feel about it.

    Do you have a problem with this? After all, if Obama felt that the sealed divorce records of his political opponent in Illinois were relevant to his senatorial campaign in 2004, then certainly all documentation, sealed and unsealed, regarding Obama’s business and political relations with former Weather Underground leader and terrorist Bill Ayers should be fair game for all of America to learn about…shouldn’t it?

    Yeah, a trillion dollars and thousands of American lives…we’re finally getting things under control.

    Well, try comparing the War on Terror experience with other government programs. Trillions of dollars and thousands of American lives after the 1965-66 social experimentations created by liberal democrats in Washington, we still aren’t getting things under control. In fact, quite the opposite has happened. Families have been uprooted. Urban families have been decimated. Public education has been consistently cheapened. The continuous federal funding of unstructured communities has led to increases, and sometimes epidemics, in crime, disease and social breakdown that has crept into other communities and has destroyed many innocents in its wake.

    Are our efforts in Iraq slowly paying off? Yes. Are they paying off more rapidly than some very major liberal efforts within our own borders over the past 40 years? Yes. So you see, sometimes things are a “big success, that” when you place them in proper perspective.

    In the mean time, bin-Laden reigns at large,

    From what I’ve seen and read, bin-Laden hasn’t been able to “reign,” no less pop his head out of his hole since November of 2001. I give our Special Forces full props for this fact.

    Afghanistan is deteriorating,

    Compared to pre-November 2001? I beg to differ.

    Iran and Syria have more influence than ever

    How so? Just around thirty years ago, Iran had enough influence to capture and hold 52 American hostages for 444 days, fight a roughly 8 year war with one of its neighbors and lob missiles at our destroyers in the area, all the while exhibiting their influence in Syria, Lebanon, Gaza and the West Bank as they continue to do today. Today, their agents get their asses kicked by both American and Iraqi forces when they cross into Iraq to do harm. That certainly seems like less influence today than tirty years ago. And for the record, Syria is Iran.

    (an Iran knows that we’re too tied up in Iraq to seriously threaten it),

    I suggest that you reevaluate this statement. Our Military is currently camped on the eastern and western borders of Iran as we speak, and a very large number of US Navy carrier fleets and submarines are floating at their front doorstep. I doubt that Tehran considers that “tied up.”

    terrorist organizations are running Palestine and Lebanon,

    Always have, always will.

    Putin is thumbing his nose at us,

    I would argue that he is not only thumbing his nose at Europe, he is outright threatening them and telling them how it’s going to be all over again, as long as he mantains control.

    and we’ve lost friends

    Who?

    and moral standing with a systematic kidnap and torture effort

    No more so than under President Clinton’ rendition policy in the 1990s. But even Bill Clinton learned not to place too much capital in countries and organizations who grumble about American “human rights abuses” but who cannot nor will not defend our National interests.

    (not to mention going to war on the basis of lies in the first place).

    Ironic to your last point, the same “lies” that comprised the Clinton Administration’s policy of regime change in Iraq, and the majority of democrat votes in both the House and the Senate in 2002.

    I suppose that the majority in Washington DC, republican and democrat, liberal and conservative, past and present are all just liars to you?

    Big cynicism, that.

  19. #433805
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 2:31 pm, Dan Lee said:

    The leftist media is engaged in an unprecedented, & unethical assault on Sarah Palin.. One only has to do a Google News search to see it:

    http://news.google.com/news?q=sarah%20palin

  20. #433925
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 3:09 pm, escondidoguy said:

    I’m happy to see that Sarah Palin has the Dems panties in a big wad. I just read a bunch of tripe on Bab’s sight. Ms. Streisand is howling about the “obvious ploy” McCain used by picking Palin.

    But like the deranged dem that she is, Babs got bogged down in her nonsense laden vaporizing arguements. It’s obvious that none of the liberals out there condeming Palin have actually investigated her background. Or, more than likely, are scared and need to put on a hissy fit.

    Sarah is a class act and because of her I’ve now decided to actually vote for “Amnesty McCain”.

  21. #433934
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 3:11 pm, graysonret said:

    Remember, the left, and particularly the young left, vote their emotions. Without any experience in the world, they have not much else to use. If it “feels good”, it’s good enough for them. Many others vote left, in order to get more entitlements, and could care less about the country, world or anything else. The vast majority of the left, know nothing about the Constitution, and could care less about it anyway, or its history; a radical document that turned 13 “countries” (eyed by Europe to be picked off, one at a time) into a world superpower. As history consistantly points out; first, democracy, then apathy, then dependence, then dictatorship. Obama is a threat to be elected, by apathy. He promises dependence. With his campaign getting supporters to “feel good”, we could have a serious threat. So, far, “feel good” campaigning is doing well for him, though logic has been entirely left out.

  22. #433940
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 3:13 pm, atheling said:

    On September 2nd, 2008 at 3:11 pm, graysonret said:
    Remember, the left, and particularly the young left, vote their emotions. Without any experience in the world, they have not much else to use.

    Yes, and that’s why they are open to demagogues.

    If they were truly well educated, they would have the critical thinking skills to see past the smoke and mirrors. But we all know that our educational system is all about indoctrination, and not about learning.

  23. #433949
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 3:17 pm, bear1909 said:

    “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”
    – Guess.

  24. #433960
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 3:22 pm, bear1909 said:

    For me, the Vice Presidency is about being one heartbeat away from stepping in as Commander in Chief.

    Bidet? One heart beat away from the title Commander in Chief? A prattling huckster who plagiarizes his speeches and has never created one dollar of wealth in his life.

    Palin? A grown woman who has exerted herself to achieve excellence given the cards dealt her. She knows something about life in the world, family life (and all the messy issues she doesnt rely on the government to solve), and a real appreciation for Her Country.

    Give her the football and the button any day of the week. Governor Palin makes SlowJo look like the buffoon that he is.

    And dont get me goin on what she makes Flinchy Obinghole look like. She should insist that he call her Mommy.

    Bear1909 out.

  25. #433978
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 3:31 pm, AlohaGuy said:

    Hey, Richardson got elected, Cold Cash got elected, Obama might be elected. Rational thought doesn’t always carry the day. Get used to the idea that much higher taxes will be used to subsidize deadbeats. We may still be Screwed ‘08. I’m keeping my Jindal/Bachmann ‘12 T-Shirt in the top drawer.

  26. #433979
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 3:32 pm, Christian Soldier said:

    PALIN took on the “good ol’boy” Rs in her state..BIG project and politically dangerous…

    Wasserman takes valuable time to legislate for “pool safety”…

    Pretty stark difference…

    PALIN/McCain…..

  27. #434000
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 3:40 pm, Me said:

    Wow. We really see who scrapes the bottom of the barrel in this election and it sure isn’t the Republicans. I do hope the American electorate has the presence of mind to see how this reflects on the jackass party and not Mrs.Palin.

  28. #434028
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 3:51 pm, AlohaGuy said:

    Ayers won’t apologize for bombings that could very well have killed people

    They did. His girlfriend (and a couple others I think) blew herself up trying to make a bomb he designed. He makes the absurd claim that they didn’t intend to hurt people, but it was a nail bomb whose only person is to maim and kill.

  29. #434031
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 3:52 pm, AlohaGuy said:

    only person = only purpose
    sorry….feels like a Monday

  30. #434033
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 3:54 pm, the_moll said:

    OMG! Palin’s daughter had sex! Sarah Palin is the world’s worst mom! Cancel the elections! She could never be VP! And what about poor Trig? She’ll neglect him if she’s elected!
    /sarcasm off

    Can you imagine the flurry of news stories there would be if Palin was involved with an unrepetant domestic terrorist?

    Now there’s a real story.

  31. #434035
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 3:54 pm, Thomas B. said:

    Okay… I’m getting tired of the MSM propaganda. If this was John Edwards, it wouldn’t even make it to the front page. This is an extreme example of Liberal Media Bias. Where is the talk of Edwards’ child? Compare the two. Photographs of Edwards’ child, hush money given out, and the intentional cover-up of the MSM. Versus, the vicious unsubstantiated rumors of Palin, that the MSM reports as truth without further research. Mmmm… bias much

  32. #434047
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 3:59 pm, nyk said:

    Today in the Gallop daily tracking Obama broke 50%.

    Wow. That’s the highest pro-Obama numbers we’ve seen so far! I knew the Palin issue would be reflected soon, but hadn’t seen them yet. Thanks for the link.

    While I like her I think that they smell blood. Cynically speaking, they have enough already to keep throwing dirt on her until November, they know it and are gleeful about it from what I have seen elsewhere.

    Exactly. That’s exactly what I hear from other Dems — and why, as I said earlier, libs and Dems are happy about Palin. Not, as people on this site seem to believe, worried.

  33. #434075
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 4:09 pm, Mookie said:

    Speaking of feminism, what the hell is with Debbie Schlussel and Laura Bush?

    Yikes.

  34. #434098
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 4:17 pm, BlameAmericaLast said:

    Today in the Gallop daily tracking Obama broke 50%.

    I would hold on to that for about a day or two, because it will surely disappear by the end of the week. This poll was taken over the weekend.

  35. #434102
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 4:18 pm, sonofdy said:

    Exactly. That’s exactly what I hear from other Dems — and why, as I said earlier, libs and Dems are happy about Palin.

    And that is why none of those lowlife scum can ever claim anything about “issues” again because if they win because of this, they would have won based on them beating up on a pregnant 17 year old girl. Classless, tasteless, and completely un-american. Lets next examine the sex life of your daughters libs.

  36. #434106
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 4:21 pm, BlameAmericaLast said:

    Classless, tasteless, and completely un-american. Lets next examine the sex life of your daughters libs.

    See, that’s the difference. Classy conservatives don’t even go there.

  37. #434123
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 4:28 pm, stayathomemom said:

    Michelle, you said it exactly right. Liberals are so hypocritical!! They are so biased and closed minded when it comes to anybody that doesn’t hold their liberal views. Shame on them for going after Palin. They will regret this in the long run. It just shows how scared they are! Can’t wait to hear her speak tomorrow night!!

  38. #434143
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 4:39 pm, Goldwater Knight said:

    nyk said:

    Today in the Gallop daily tracking Obama broke 50%.

    Wow. That’s the highest pro-Obama numbers we’ve seen so far! I knew the Palin issue would be reflected soon, but hadn’t seen them yet. Thanks for the link.

    Gore had a 10 point lead around this time in 2000. But then again, not every election is the same.

  39. #434144
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 4:39 pm, nyk said:

    And that is why none of those lowlife scum can ever claim anything about political “issues” again because if they win because of this, they would have won based on them beating up on a pregnant 17 year old girl.

    No, I think people are beginning to focus on other Palin-related topics. The pregnancy is out of the bag and, I think, becoming less and less of an issue by the hour. There’s many more Palin issues/controversies that people are just starting to talk about.

    And I don’t know if “issues” are really of that much importance to a group that sees arugula and gherkin consumption as worthy of reportage and constant reference.

    I would hold on to that for about a day or two, because it will surely disappear by the end of the week. This poll was taken over the weekend.

    Possibly (and I do, in fact, tend to think these things change daily). But with the Palin VP announcement and the GOP’s claims about the boost it gave the party and McCain’s candidacy, it’s at the very least interesting that Obama is now scoring his highest percentages thus far.

  40. #434149
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 4:43 pm, max said:

    The sanctimonious sexism of the left, particularly the hit piece on the New York Slimes front page Tuesday about women across the country “wondering” whether Sarah Palin willhave to neglect her children… truly astonishingthe level to which these people will stoop.

    To me there really is no question that Ms. Palin will have to scrimp a little on the reaeing opf her kids. Will they little Palins receive the kind of Mommy quality time they would if Mommy were not VP? Clearly the answer is No. It’s called sacrifice. She’s not decidingwhether to takle a VP position at Wal-Mart that will keep her late on family night dammit! She’s running for VPOTUS! Families comes second…. sacrifice.

  41. #434153
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 4:44 pm, Goldwater Knight said:

    Let’s take the focus off Bristol for a moment:

    A charge of obstructing a police officer against the daughter of U.S. Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.) was dismissed Tuesday after she apologized. Ashley Blazer Biden, 21, of Wilmington, Del., was with a group outside a North Side bar about 1:15 a.m. Aug. 3 when someone threw a bottle at an officer, said Jerry Lawrence, a spokesman for the Cook County state’s attorney’s office. When officers tried to make an arrest, Biden blocked one of them and made intimidating statements, police said. Circuit Court Judge William P. O’Malley dropped the misdemeanor charge after Biden and two of her friends apologized to police in court for their actions.

    I would’ve thrown the book at her.

  42. #434155
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 4:45 pm, katablog said:

    You bet I think Sarah Palin is more than a pawn for McCain. In fact, to me, she will be the reason I will now vote for the McCain Palin team! I swore never to vote for McCain. I will happily cast my vote for a woman who has taken on the good ole boys network, brought home the bacon and fried it up in a pan!

    Sarah Palin is the kind of woman I hope to be. She understands small business, she understands raising a family, she understands standing by your moral beliefs while many say your shouldn’t. Palin not only believes – she actually lives what she believes! It is the first time a politician has given this skeptic *hope* for true *change*.

    The attacks against her are beyond despicable. The MSM thought people were too hard on Michelle Obama by actually holding her to the words she wrote and spoke. Sarah Palin must be doing something very, very right for the liberals to be gang rushing to attack both her and her daughter.

    We all are faced with moral dilemmas and difficult times in our lives (often brought on by our spouses, children or even our own behavior) but taking responsibility and living what we espouse is what shows our true colors.

    The libs want to dig up Palin’s husband’s DUI from over 20 years ago but Obama gets a pass for taking drugs? How does that play in Peoria (and across the rest of the USA)?

    Sarah Palin is more like *me* than any other candidate I’ve seen run for national office.

  43. #434170
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 4:49 pm, Goldwater Knight said:

    Here’s a little more red meat:

    A son and a brother of Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) are accused in two lawsuits of defrauding a former business partner and an investor of millions of dollars in a hedge fund deal that went sour, court records show.

    The Democratic vice presidential candidate’s son Hunter, 38, and brother James, 59, assert instead that their former partner defrauded them by misrepresenting his experience in the hedge fund industry and recommending that they hire a lawyer with felony convictions.

    The legal actions have been playing out in New York State Supreme Court since 2007, and they focus on Hunter and James Biden’s involvement in Paradigm Companies LLC, a hedge fund group. Hunter Biden, a Washington lobbyist, briefly served as president of the firm.

    Of course a media bias does not exist, kind of like Keyser Söze.

  44. #434172
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 4:50 pm, max said:

    BrianNY #206…
    thanks for the terrific post!

  45. #434175
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 4:51 pm, BlameAmericaLast said:

    Speaking of controversies, I wonder when the MSM will get around to the story about Biden’s son AND brother about the fraud lawsuits they are facing?

    Now THIS is an issue.

    The “What did he know, and when did he know it” kind.

  46. #434213
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 5:09 pm, ITookTheRedPill said:

    One of the reasons why Americans Love Sarah Palin

  47. #434225
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 5:15 pm, swmntman said:

    NYK said:

    …The pregnancy is out of the bag and, I think, becoming less and less of an issue by the hour. There’s many more Palin issues/controversies that people are just starting to talk about.

    Sorry NYK, no matter how you try to minimize it, your party and your media are still beating up on a 17-yr old girl. My, my, my…

  48. #434228
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 5:18 pm, chapoutier said:

    And I don’t know if “issues” are really of that much importance to a group that sees arugula and gherkin consumption as worthy of reportage and constant reference.

    Don’t forget ham! Of course he’s only doing that to trick us all into thinking he’s not Muslim.

    Or bowling!

  49. #434244
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 5:27 pm, sonofdy said:

    Beating up on her? Thats a mild way of putting it. They are destroying her life.

  50. #434248
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 5:30 pm, AlohaGuy said:

    And I don’t know if “issues” are really of that much importance to a group that sees arugula and gherkin consumption motherhood as worthy of reportage and constant [negative] reference.

    Don’t forget hamTrig! Of course he’s [Bristol's] only doing that pregnant to trick us all into thinking he’s not Muslim actually her baby.
    Or hunting!

  51. #434250
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 5:32 pm, Gabe said:

    On September 2nd, 2008 at 5:27 pm, sonofdy said:
    Beating up on her? Thats a mild way of putting it. They are destroying her life.

    One of the worst has been pessimistic, pro-abortion atheist AllahPundit at Michelle’s own Hot Air. It has been disgusting. I’m glad someone is finally calling him on it:

    http://ace.mu.nu/archives/272213.php

  52. #434254
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 5:34 pm, Micheleeroo said:

    For anyone who hasn’t seen this very inspiring video, by all means go to:

    http://youtube.com/watch?v=quvBbcFDPI0

    and turn up the sound, so you don’t miss the wonderful music. If you like it, please pass it on to as many as you think would be interested (PS–I didn’t make this video, I just had it recommended to me and like to pass on good stuff when its deserved)

  53. #434257
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 5:35 pm, Chief RZ said:

    Two decade old DWI arrest? What’s next, kindergarten kisses? These people reveal their bias every time they open their mouths. Double Standard has a whole new meaning.

  54. #434266
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 5:44 pm, flenser said:

    Bill Grant said;

    McCain was left with little choice other then to nominate a candidate like her to appease the factions so well represented here.

    I hate to break it to you, but the “factions so well represented here” are the base of the Republican Party.

    As opposed to pro-war liberals like yourself who want to turn the GOP into a more aggressive foreign policy version of the Democrats.

    If Obama wins, people like you will be to blame.

  55. #434270
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 5:45 pm, flenser said:

    Two decade old DWI arrest?

    And of the spouse of the VP candidate!

    If that’s the best (worst) they can come up with, they’re in trouble.

  56. #434317
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 6:15 pm, nyk said:

    Don’t forget ham! Of course he’s only doing that to trick us all into thinking he’s not Muslim.

    Ha! But the right isn’t falling for that old trick!

    Or bowling!

    Oh, yes. Or bowling. The measure of any potential candidate’s worth.

  57. #434327
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 6:20 pm, Micheleeroo said:

    Love this line from David Brooks: I heard Mr. Palin once tore that “do not remove” tag off a mattress…

  58. #434348
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 6:27 pm, atheling said:

    I love this quote from Sarah when told that the fight was going to be nasty:

    “What’s the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull?

    Lipstick.”

  59. #434384
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 6:51 pm, Sidana said:

    hen 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.

    Then by all means.. go be excited. It seems to me that YOU are the one that wandered onto a conservative site, and YOU are the one that is demanding that we all bow down to your Candidate.

    And your demand to talk about Bristol is one more instance of hypocrisy, where you all whine,, including YOUR candidate about “leaving our families out of it, and then standing and HELPING when the MSN drag our people’s children through the mud.

    I have said it before: Knock it off.

  60. #434388
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 6:57 pm, Die Hippie, Die said:

    On September 2nd, 2008 at 6:15 pm, nyk said:

    Ha! But the right isn’t falling for that old trick!

    What trick? D’ohbama’s clearly more “GOD DAMN AMERIKKKA” than “Alahu Akhbar, yiyiyiyiyiyiyiyi.”

  61. #434393
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 6:58 pm, Goldwater Knight said:

    Don’t forget ham! Of course he’s only doing that to trick us all into thinking he’s not Muslim.

    Come on we know Obama isn’t a Muslim because in his own mind there’s no God higher than himself.

  62. #434446
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 7:37 pm, Dan Lee said:

    Tell me what you guys think of this one:

    Seems awful convenient to take a Conservative political website out of the Google directory for 30 days, just 2 mos before the election.. I’ll look into their claims keep you posted, but tell me what you think..

    Dear site owner or webmaster of danleereport.com,

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    because your site has been modified by a third party. Typically, the offending
    party gains access to an insecure directory that has open permissions. Many times, they will upload files or modify existing ones, which then show up as spam in our index.

    The following is some example hidden text we found at danleereport.com:

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    [...]

    In order to preserve the quality of our search engine, we have temporarily
    removed some of your webpages from our search results. Currently pages from
    danleereport.com are scheduled to be removed for at least 30 days.

    We would prefer to have your pages in Google’s index. If you wish to be
    reconsidered, please correct or remove all pages (may not be limited to the
    examples provided) that are outside our quality guidelines. One potential remedy
    is to contact your web host technical support for assistance. For more
    information about security for webmasters, see http://googlewebmastercentral.blo
    gspot.com/2007/09/quick-security-checklist-for-webmasters.html.

    When you are ready, please visit
    https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/reinclusion?hl=en to learn more and
    submit your site for reconsideration.

    Sincerely,
    Google Search Quality Team

  63. #434448
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 7:39 pm, 11B said:

    I hope the neocons rightly get the blame they deserve when McCain gets trounced in November. Their policies, such as support for open borders, have been a disaster.

    Gov. Palin is a decent conservative, and I hope they don’t lay the blame on her and social conservatives for the inevitable defeat.

  64. #434470
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 7:49 pm, Common Sense said:

    You know, it IS hard to work full-time and be there for your children. It DOES take two parents to make it work successfully.

    I’m in IT. For many years I was a manager. As those in IT know, sometimes you work a lot of hours, late hours, phone calls in the middle of the night, etc. 4 years ago I spend my summer working 80-90 hours a week trying to complete projects for an egotistical VP at a major news organization (guess which one?) who was completely unreasonable and impossible to please. After that experience, I changed jobs and purposely took a non-management position. MUCH better. However, to help out a co-worker on a project, I agreed to both work and manage a project last summer. BIG mistake! Same kind of situation and hours.

    Lessons learned, even though I still work 50-60 hour weeks fairly regularly, I don’t let people take advantage of my willingness to make the project successful. And I make sure I’m ALWAYS available to my kids if they need me.

    As an IT consultant, as least I dictate my own hours and can work from home if I need to (like when my kids are sick).

    Before my kids were in school, my mom watched them while we worked.

    There were times when my husband was our stay-at-home parent. When I was unemployed, I was the stay-at-home parent. Now we’re both working, but my husband works nights and has Sun, Tues, Wed off while the kids and I have a regular schedule. As in most families, we do what we have to to make it work.

    I’m sure Sarah Palin has the same sort of family and a lot of support.

    While I would dearly love to be a stay-at-home mom, or at least work part-time, that’s not the deck I was dealt and I have to deal with it.

  65. #434490
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 7:58 pm, AlohaGuy said:

    Common Sense said:

    CNN wants you to know you’re evil.

  66. #434583
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 8:34 pm, EWTHeckman said:

    BemusedLib:

    It’s not 1972.

    Bill Ayers knows that too. Here’s what he wrote on his blog on April 2006:

    Still I’m disinclined to apologize because I hear the demand for a general apology as a howling mob with an impossibly broad demand, and on top of that I’m not sure what exactly I’d apologize for. The ’68 Convention? The Days of Rage? Bombing the Pentagon? Every one of these can be unpacked and found to be a complicated mix of good and bad choices, noble and low motives.
    In some part, apologizing is rejecting, letting go or giving up—conversion. There’s something deeply human at stake, something in both the heart and the head, an intellectual severance, an emotional break. And a broad, general apology may be just too much—I am not now nor have I ever been… Even when true, the words are mortifying. They are the end not only of a dream, but of a life. The apology in general is uttered, and suddenly you die.

    In my case, my actions are all well-known, I’ve resolved the legal charges, and I’ve faced the consequences. Yet a central moral question remains—the question of individual responsibility and of the nature of judgment. But I still refuse to grow up if the price is to falsely confess a sin I don’t take to be a sin.

    So how does this compare to his statement against terrorism?

    I’ve never advocated terrorism, never participated in it, never defended it.

    If he “never participated in it,” yet admits to what he did, then there would appear to be a contradiction. Unless, of course, he doesn’t consider what he did to be terrorism. Let’s look at the last line of his earlier statement again, shall we?

    But I still refuse to grow up if the price is to falsely confess a sin I don’t take to be a sin.

    How can you reasonably claim that he has repudiated what he did when he clearly thinks that what he did was not terrorism, and not even wrong? How can you claim (without the rest of us rolling around the floor in laughter) that he is repentant when he equates apologizing to dying? Can you find a confirmable quote where he specifically repudiates his actions with the Weather Underground and not simply “terrorism” carried out by someone else?

  67. #434643
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 9:03 pm, securitymom said:

    I watched The Today Show this morning for a few minutes – they of course had Meredith Viera do the dirty work of shoveling the dirt on Palin. It was sickening. I finally had to turn the channel. Hey Meredith, what kind of mom are you since you have a full-time job? Hypocrisy alert!

    The MSM has so lost their minds with BDS and now PDS that they have no shame at all.

  68. #434646
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 9:04 pm, chapoutier said:

    Come on we know Obama isn’t a Muslim because in his own mind there’s no God higher than himself

    I can admit when something is funny and that was really funny.

  69. #434650
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 9:06 pm, zorro said:

    Ain’t feminism grand?

    The one benefit of all this, as Rush put it, is that feminism has now been exposed for what it really is, just another channel for liberalism. The NAGS could care less about real-life women.

  70. #434670
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 9:14 pm, publiuswarmac9999 said:

    The media aided assault on Palin ought to be challenged by making forcing them to full vet Obama. It turns out that Obama’s mother was a 17 year old when she was impregnated by a married man. Maybe that ought to be the grist for the media as well.

  71. #434826
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 10:04 pm, jangar said:

    Like I always said, the Left is a godless bunch. This is the best they can come up with, having severe mental disorders.

  72. #434871
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 10:11 pm, emjem24 said:

    Wonderful critique, Michelle. Right on the money. Such is the ironies of feminism. If you’re a liberal feminist who juggles a career, husband, and kiddies you’re a hero. If you’re a conservative and a Republican, you better not bother trying to support your family. This country doesn’t want or need women such as you.

    This is why more and more this country is becoming unrecognizable to me. We used to be the country where, whomever you are, you could make it. Now, it would seem that feminism no longer has any room for those of us Conservative women. Liberal women no longer care to debate the particulars with their conservative sisters, they’d just rather punt us aside because we “embarass” the cause or we have nothing to add.

    What an utterly sad thing this situation is. I’m not sure that this is the kind of legacy that such women’s rights activists as Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton would have agreed with. :sad:

  73. #435183
    On September 2nd, 2008 at 11:49 pm, Wayfaring Stranger said:

    atheling #246 (love your handle btw), after hearing Laura Ingraham mention the hockey mom/pit bull comparison on air this morning, I came across the original post at The Weekly Standard:

    …A nervous young McCain staffer took it upon himself to explain to Palin the facts of life in a national campaign, the intense scrutiny she’d be under from the media, the viciousness of the assault that she’d be facing, etc.:

    Palin: “Thanks for the warning. By the way, do you know what they say the difference is between a hockey mom and a Pit Bull?”

    McCain aide: “No, Governor.”

    Palin: “A hockey mom wears lipstick.”

    That quote had me laughing today every time I saw a pit bull. :lol:

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