palinausea

it did not take me long to figure out why sara palin makes my skin creep. it doesn't have anything to do with the fact that she looks like skipper barbie. i even made an outline to make sure that i wasn't just having a knee-jerk reaction in election time.
these are some of the points that seemed most pertinent. first... i have the same issue with her that i have with so many "pro-lifers," which is: now that you have a new life, who is going to be responsible for it for its entire life? why is life more important before birth than when you are, say...19 and in the national guard? or afghani? or iraqi? or 48 and on death row? or on the other end of one of those guns that she likes so much? what about a little infrastructure for the little bundle of joy? her party has gutted the education department and nearly every department in the child welfare administration. hmmm. (do you know why you have never seen a t-shirt saying, "pro-life and pro-gun?" because it would explode from sheer hypocricy. ) if you look at her own family, there seems to be a little bit of a disconnect from i think of as "family values." good on her for keeping the most recent baby. that said, down's syndrome babies take a hell of a lot of resources to raise. they need a stable, loving, attentive environment to thrive. studies show that breast-feeding positively affects the development of a new-born baby's brain. i can only imagine that it is even more crucial in a special needs child. three days is not enough. and where is trig palin now, while mama canvasses the country? no, i would never dream of suggesting that a father cannot be a primary care-giver. i am privileged to know several. but none of them have off-site jobs, 5 kids, or a special needs infant. how can someone run on a family values ticket when their family has no primary care giver?
and what in the name of heaven was palin thinking when she OUTED her pregnant 17 year old? yes, teen pregnancies happen; especially in areas where "abstinence only" health education is the standard. yes, "abstinence only" works great as birth control. it's keeping teens from screwing that is the problem. as for their decision to keep the baby, again, good on them. but... it is a private matter. her mother should have had the common decency to turn down mccain's offer to spare her child international scrutiny. and what is worse, MARRIAGE?! what? she is 17! they are handing their daughter off into a teen marriage and motherhood?! and people are lauding this as noble? WHAT? what is wrong with a party that elevates teen-aged marriage and excoriates consenting adults of the same sex who want a legal life-time commitment?
sigh. it is going to be a long few months. listening to this woman and her presidential candidate cast the obama-biden ticket as elitist and against the common citizen while slurping at the corporate/ defense industry trough and violating the very family values they laud is going to be difficult. but i will. and i will vote.
and so must you.
read. listen. think. and vote.