Palin-tology
It's old news that my lady Hillary wasn't chosen as the Democratic candidate for this year's presidential election. I think she would have made a fine choice, but in retrospect I'm glad that it didn't happen that way. I think Barack Obama is the right choice at this critical time.
It must be a difficult time for the Republican Party. They have a wildly unpopular incumbent president who 1) waged war on baked evidence, 2) ushered in a blatant disrespect for the Geneva conventions. They have supported abstinence-only education, which is proven to be ineffective. They doubt that humans are causing global warming. And then there's the horribly inept response to Hurricane Katrina. Republican-supported deregulation is at the heart of the mortgage crisis that is crippling our economy. They are so desperate this time around that they cling to a man, John McCain, whom they have vilified throughout the course of his political career.
On the surface John McCain seems a likable guy. He's a war hero, a tough guy, an alpha dog, if you will. He has indeed ruffled the expensive feathers of his fellow Republicans at times, but that hardly qualifies him as a maverick. Rather, a look at his voting record on many important issues reveals him to be the typical conservative Republican. He has voted against raising the minimum wage something like seventeen times. At one point he even voted to abolish the minimum wage. He has voted against education programs that would help to retrain workers in laid off factories--one real way of revitalizing the economy in a hard-hit state like Ohio. He has voiced his opposition to Roe v. Wade, essentially supporting the government's right to regulate women's health decisions. His campaign is run by lobbyists. Like many fatcats in Washington, his views and votes are dictated by lobbyists. How can you say that you'll fight the "Beltway Insiders" when you've been one for over twenty years??
McCain's true colors were shown with his choice of running mate, Sarah Palin. She is a successful woman with a great family, but that's where my respect for her ends. She favors abstinence-only education programs. As proof that these programs don't work, we see that her own teenage daughter is pregnant. Maybe Bristol and her boyfriend made the decision to have a baby and then marry. Or maybe, like many many teenagers, their conservative upbringing and community kept them from stocking a condom that they would later need in the heat of the moment. The same right wing pundits that vilified Jamie Lynn Spears--and all the inner city "welfare queens" out there--now congratulate Bristol for "choosing life." Of course Bristol is fortunate to live in a supportive, wealthy family. Republicans often seeks to deny women of lower socioeconomic status the living wage and health services needed to support a family. Things like a minimum wage, family medical leave...what about that part of life??
Sarah Palin opposes abortion even in the case of rape and incest. That is, a girl or woman who was forced to have sex would then be forced to bear the child of her attacker. I say "girl" because, according to RAINN.org, 44% of sexual assault victims are under the age of 18. Not suprisingly these anti-choice advocates also oppose providing rape victims with emergency contraception. To show what life is like for victims in a country that follows Palin's views, I found this article: http://www.hrw.org/reports/2006/mexico0306/1.htm.
"A social worker in Jalisco told Human Rights Watch: “We … had the case of an eleven or twelve-year-old girl who had been raped by her brother. … She came here wanting to have an abortion, but we worked with her psychologically, and in the end she kept her baby. Her little child-sibling.”
It must be a difficult time for the Republican Party. They have a wildly unpopular incumbent president who 1) waged war on baked evidence, 2) ushered in a blatant disrespect for the Geneva conventions. They have supported abstinence-only education, which is proven to be ineffective. They doubt that humans are causing global warming. And then there's the horribly inept response to Hurricane Katrina. Republican-supported deregulation is at the heart of the mortgage crisis that is crippling our economy. They are so desperate this time around that they cling to a man, John McCain, whom they have vilified throughout the course of his political career.
On the surface John McCain seems a likable guy. He's a war hero, a tough guy, an alpha dog, if you will. He has indeed ruffled the expensive feathers of his fellow Republicans at times, but that hardly qualifies him as a maverick. Rather, a look at his voting record on many important issues reveals him to be the typical conservative Republican. He has voted against raising the minimum wage something like seventeen times. At one point he even voted to abolish the minimum wage. He has voted against education programs that would help to retrain workers in laid off factories--one real way of revitalizing the economy in a hard-hit state like Ohio. He has voiced his opposition to Roe v. Wade, essentially supporting the government's right to regulate women's health decisions. His campaign is run by lobbyists. Like many fatcats in Washington, his views and votes are dictated by lobbyists. How can you say that you'll fight the "Beltway Insiders" when you've been one for over twenty years??
McCain's true colors were shown with his choice of running mate, Sarah Palin. She is a successful woman with a great family, but that's where my respect for her ends. She favors abstinence-only education programs. As proof that these programs don't work, we see that her own teenage daughter is pregnant. Maybe Bristol and her boyfriend made the decision to have a baby and then marry. Or maybe, like many many teenagers, their conservative upbringing and community kept them from stocking a condom that they would later need in the heat of the moment. The same right wing pundits that vilified Jamie Lynn Spears--and all the inner city "welfare queens" out there--now congratulate Bristol for "choosing life." Of course Bristol is fortunate to live in a supportive, wealthy family. Republicans often seeks to deny women of lower socioeconomic status the living wage and health services needed to support a family. Things like a minimum wage, family medical leave...what about that part of life??
Sarah Palin opposes abortion even in the case of rape and incest. That is, a girl or woman who was forced to have sex would then be forced to bear the child of her attacker. I say "girl" because, according to RAINN.org, 44% of sexual assault victims are under the age of 18. Not suprisingly these anti-choice advocates also oppose providing rape victims with emergency contraception. To show what life is like for victims in a country that follows Palin's views, I found this article: http://www.hrw.org/reports/2006/mexico0306/1.htm.
"A social worker in Jalisco told Human Rights Watch: “We … had the case of an eleven or twelve-year-old girl who had been raped by her brother. … She came here wanting to have an abortion, but we worked with her psychologically, and in the end she kept her baby. Her little child-sibling.”