Stirring the Pot
After a long, relaxing weekend, we all seem to be feeling better. My cold was a quick but intense one while Ian's cold is dragging on for over a week. He seems to be in good spirits despite the cough and congestion so hopefully that means he's not feeling too bad.
Ummmm, that's about it. I'll try to salvage this post by stirring the pot. So, what do you think about Sarah Palin accepting the Republican Vice Presidential nomination while knowing her 17-year-old daughter is pregnant?
Discuss.
7 comments:
I feel the same about her that I did about Edwards campaigning while his wife was dealing with a diagnosis of terminal cancer....I think people should deal with their families first. Not only does she have the pregnant teenager, but the new baby with special needs. People say that no one would be making noise if it were a man with the family problems...I think they would.
As for people complaining about her lack of experience while she's only a 'heartbeat' away from the presidency...Obama is running for the actual presidency with similar experience.
I found it to be odd that she would choose to put her daughter in such a public spotlight by accepting McCain's offer. Her daughter's pregnancy *shouldn't* be a news story, but anyone who has lived in the US for any length of time would know that such a thing would be front page news for at least a few days. That said, it is possible that Palin discussed this with her daughter, let her know that this will become public knowledge, that she would have little to no privacy, and that her mistakes would be analyzed without consideration for the fact that a 17-year-old girl is having to live through this. Perhaps her daughter told her that she is strong enough to handle it. And it is possible that she indeed is strong enough to handle it. Never underestimate the strength of children. However, I would land on the side that says it doesn't matter if your child gives you the green light. Asking her to go through this sort of public examination - even if the media is in the wrong for focusing on it so much - is unfair.
I do respectfully disagree with LCM's comment about Obama's experience being similar to Palin's. Obama has as much experience as Abraham Lincoln did when he entered the White House. He served for seven years in the Illinois Senate and has been in the US Senate for four years, during which time he's been on the Foreign Affairs committee. In addition, he has taught constitutional law, which provides me hope that he'll treat this country's constitution as something to be honored and respected. Palin served as mayor of a small Alaskan town for six years (her mother-in-law ran to replace her as mayor to give a concept of the size of the city) and has been governor of Alaska for just two years. Also, in addition to having literally zero foreign policy experience, she's done almost no travel outside the US. So, while I can see that one may disagree with Obama's policy stances, I cannot see how these two levels of experience can be equated as being similar.
Hmmmm... You sure do like to stir the pot don't you. Well to show you how much I know. I just learned from your site that her daughter is pregnant :) Yeah, that's how much I like politics. Okay, so I did spend all day today traveling and yesterday with family, so that would be my excuse if I were to typically follow this stuff. I guess my thought is at least she has a baby sister to practice parenting on first because mom will be too busy running w/ McCain :) I am going to stay out of ANY big debate because truly I am not up to date on any of the political stuff. But I will enjoy reading your responses to see what others think ;-)
While her daughter's pregnancy does make me think she needs to reevaluate her stance on abstinence-only sex-ed, I'm more concerned that she was a member of a secessionist party that supports separating Alaska from the United States ;o)
He He... To show how little I knew. I meant a baby brother :-) not baby sister!
I fully support Sarah Palin's decision to run as the VP candidate. Family stuff is just that, Family Stuff. It is up to her and her family to decide what is best for them. I think she is tough, tenacious and she has my admiration as a mom for stepping up and being an example of what a mom can do. I watched her entire speech last night, and it is clear to me she loves and cherishes her whole family. Even though her daughter is only 17, she has made and adult decision and will now have to exist as an adult in this world regardless of age. This is a great opportunity for all of us to see how a family can go through "rough patches" and "tough times" and yet stick it out and be supportive of one another.
I LOVE pot stirring! YEA! That aside, I think that no parent can truly control the behavior of a 17-year-old. It's not Sarah Palin who's pregnant, it's her kid, and I don't necessarily think this is evidence that she's 'a bad parent' or anything. Her daughter got knocked up, I'm sure it was a mistake, I'm sure it's caused a lot of heartache in this family and I'm sure that this little girl who is about to have a baby is going to have a rough enough time being a child with a child.
I agree with TheKeithFamily that maybe Ms. Palin needs to rethink the 'abstinence only' sex-ed, especially since rigorous scientific research shows it is ineffective and correlates with statistically significant increases in unplanned pregnancy AND sexually transmitted diseases (google-scholar it).
I also want to say that,while I am absolutely, completely and totally in opposition to Sarah Palin's politics, I respect that she's at least practicing what she preaches with regard to her own family. At least she's consistent.
And I like her hair and her glasses, which has nothing to do with her daughter's pregnancy, but I wanted to say it anyway. :)
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