October 23, 2008

Sarah Palin Embarrasses Me

I have been thinking a lot about politics lately - really, who hasn't? I have been doing more research than I've ever done, paying more attention to the news and debates and interviews than I ever have before. One reason for this is that if I thought I was afraid in 2004, if I thought I was heartbroken and disappointed when Bush "won" again, that will IN NO WAY compare to how I will feel if McCain/Palin somehow come out on top in this election.  Before you read on, know that I'm not debating the issues here.  I'm talking about feelings, and a primal anger that bubbles within me.  I'm not going to go over the talking points, and compare them - there are tons of websites out there that do that.  I'm just talking about what I think right now.

When Sarah Palin first became the Vice Presidential nominee for the Republicans, there was a lot of talk about her being a woman. Now, some time has passed and she has had a chance to come out and show us who she is. I still feel that the focus should be mostly on Obama and McCain's policies - shouldn't we be focusing on what they will do for us as President? However, because of McCain's age and health concerns, I feel that we need to take a really good look at the person next in line to become the President if something happens to him.

John McCain is 71 years old, which means that if he won this election, he would be the oldest person ever to take the office of President. McCain's doctors have given him a clean bill of health at this time. Even if he's healthy, things happen. At 71 years of age, you just never know. And I feel that if something did happen, and Palin was put into office, it would make a complete mockery of our country.

Some people vote on a single issue. Maybe they refuse to vote for anyone who is anti-abortion. Maybe they refuse to vote for anyone who supports gay civil unions or gay marriage. For me, I have a fundamental problem with Sarah Palin as a woman and mother. There's something I don't understand... Sarah Palin does not believe that a woman should be able to have an abortion even in the case of rape. To me, saying that someone should carry and bear a child created during a violent attack, or created during a terrible, scarring incestuous moment, is completely heartless and cruel. As if being raped isn't bad enough, as if being forced to have sex against your will didn't scar you enough, now you should be required to bear the child of that event? I just can't agree with that.

And that's where my fundamental issue begins... I'm a little confused. If you believe that a baby has the right to be protected and born NO MATTER WHAT, how do you justify putting your baby in the amount of danger that Sarah Palin did? Her amniotic fluid started to leak in Texas, but instead of heading for the nearest hospital, she decided to hop a plane back to Alaska, pass up a bigger, more equipped hospital, and head to the one in her hometown. As if this wasn't bad enough, she was pregnant with a baby who had Downs Syndrome, which frequently causes heart problems. How can she, as a mother, have put her baby in that amount of risk? Once amniotic fluid is leaking, your body and your baby are open to infection. She doesn't believe that other women should I find it incredibly hard to believe that when her amniotic fluid started to leak instead of heading for the nearest hospital for the safety of her downs syndrome baby (who often have heart problems), she would hop some planes and then get into a fricking car to an airport with an inferior pediatrics unit. If you believe life starts at conception and that ALL babies should survive, why would you put your baby at risk in such a huge way?? It just doesn't make any sense to me. It's totally hypocritical.  As a mother, I just can't stomach it.

The bottom line is this...  If Barak Obama is elected, it will be an amazing step for our country - our first African-American President.  Wow.  If Hilary Clinton had made the democratic ticket, I would have felt that it was an amazing step forward for women if she'd been elected our next President.  But if Sarah Palin is elected... I feel it would be a step backwards.  Whatever she would do in office as VP or President, it certainly would not be an advancement of women as a group, she would not be a representative of the women I know, nor of the rights we hold dear or seek to gain.  These past eight years, I've been embarrassed.  I can't believe the mockery that has been made of our contry by our current administration.  With McCain/Palin in office, I can't imagine how people will see us.  I can tell you for sure that if I travel abroad, I'll definitely be saying I'm Canadian, because I will be a little too ashamed to admit that I'm from America.  And in this country, we should never feel that way.  

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Amen! She's got street smarts, I'll give her that, but she is in no shape to potentially lead our country. McCain's choice in picking her makes me question his judgement.

Daisy said...

Honestly, I think she's not too bright. I want a president that's smarter than i am. That means Barack Obama. Joe Biden will be a good VP and a trusted advisor.