palin pick produces pounds of pleasure
Time for me to address the elephant in the room. The young, female elephant to be precise.
I was unsure of what to think about John McCain's pick when it came out Friday. I still see positives and negatives to the pick and am not sure where I come down overall yet. But the sheer entertainment of watching the left shit themselves over the choice of Palin as VP makes me glad of the pick for the entertainment value alone.
Experience.
It is exceedingly entertaining to watch the same people who contend that experience wasn't that important call Sarah Palin inexperienced. Putting aside the sheer hypocrisy of that statement, I'll take a former mayor (of an admittedly tiny town) of 8 years and a governor of almost 2 years at the BOTTOM of the ticket over a former state legislator of 7 years and US Senator of 4 years (2 of which has been spent campaigning) at the TOP of the ticket any day. Even putting aside the difference in experience needed to be Prez versus VP, I have always contended on this blog and will continue to contend that EXECUTIVE experience counts much more than LEGISLATIVE experience. Palin has almost 10 years of political executive experience, not to mention a year as the chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. Say what you will about the size of those positions, being an executive for 10 years is preparation that Obama doesn't have. And let's not forget: Prez versus VP.
Family Values.
It is exceedingly entertaining to watch the same people who contend that a woman shouldn't have to stay home and watch the kids, who seem to think that stay-at-home mom's just don't quite get feminism, to question whether it's right for Palin to "abandon" her children for a run at the Vice Presidency. It would be entertaining to watch them attack her because her 17-year-old daughter is pregnant, were it not so sad. If this were a Democratic candidate, and the daughter was choosing abortion, I would bet money that it would be hailed as a progressive family in step with 21st century American values. Because the daughter has the audacity to have the child and marry the father, it is somehow less than model behavior.
Also, for all those people who are claiming hypocrisy because Christian leaders are not denouncing 17-year-old Bristol Palin as a harlot, let's review: 1) (sane) Christians don't claim to be perfect, just forgiven 2) Contrary to popular belief, Christian's don't condemn unwed pregnant women to death. In fact, we often take care of them for free in crisis preganancy centers, which - whatever you think of them - have a 98% customer satisfaction track record. It's true, we generally try to persuade women against abortion because we generally believe it to be an abhorrent practice, but we do care pregnant women - we don't just throw pamphlets about fetuses at them.
Women Voters.
It is exceedingly entertaining to watch the same people who championed Hillary's run for the presidency as a wonderful historic achievement for women (as they should) call McCain's pick an insulting, sexist ploy that somehow insinuates that women will vote for a woman regardless of her political beliefs and party.
Tinfoil Hats.
It is exceedingly entertaining to watch the same people who recoil with derision (as they should) at conspiracy theorists claiming Obama has some hidden Muslim agenda spew forth theories that Palin's infant son is actually her grandson and other such rubbish.
So for the entertanium generated by watching the left twist itself into a pretzel of self-contradiction, I applaud McCain's pick.
As far as my feelings on the candidate herself? Sure, I wish he would have picked someone more experienced. As I said, I think any cries of inexperience against Palin in favor of Obama are downright laughable considering their positions on their respective tickets and the type (executive vs. legislative) experience each brings to the table, but it would have been nice not to have to get into the issue. Since she's a pretty true conservative, I agree with just about all her positions (I'm still learning about her here and there as I can, so I reserve the right to register disagreement as I learn more). She seems to have been unafraid to challenge her own party in terms of corruption and government spendiness, which is something I'd love to see more of in Washington.
So at the moment, I suppose I'm in pretty firm support of Sarah Palin on McCain's ticket.
What do you think of Palin?
I was unsure of what to think about John McCain's pick when it came out Friday. I still see positives and negatives to the pick and am not sure where I come down overall yet. But the sheer entertainment of watching the left shit themselves over the choice of Palin as VP makes me glad of the pick for the entertainment value alone.
Experience.
It is exceedingly entertaining to watch the same people who contend that experience wasn't that important call Sarah Palin inexperienced. Putting aside the sheer hypocrisy of that statement, I'll take a former mayor (of an admittedly tiny town) of 8 years and a governor of almost 2 years at the BOTTOM of the ticket over a former state legislator of 7 years and US Senator of 4 years (2 of which has been spent campaigning) at the TOP of the ticket any day. Even putting aside the difference in experience needed to be Prez versus VP, I have always contended on this blog and will continue to contend that EXECUTIVE experience counts much more than LEGISLATIVE experience. Palin has almost 10 years of political executive experience, not to mention a year as the chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. Say what you will about the size of those positions, being an executive for 10 years is preparation that Obama doesn't have. And let's not forget: Prez versus VP.
Family Values.
It is exceedingly entertaining to watch the same people who contend that a woman shouldn't have to stay home and watch the kids, who seem to think that stay-at-home mom's just don't quite get feminism, to question whether it's right for Palin to "abandon" her children for a run at the Vice Presidency. It would be entertaining to watch them attack her because her 17-year-old daughter is pregnant, were it not so sad. If this were a Democratic candidate, and the daughter was choosing abortion, I would bet money that it would be hailed as a progressive family in step with 21st century American values. Because the daughter has the audacity to have the child and marry the father, it is somehow less than model behavior.
Also, for all those people who are claiming hypocrisy because Christian leaders are not denouncing 17-year-old Bristol Palin as a harlot, let's review: 1) (sane) Christians don't claim to be perfect, just forgiven 2) Contrary to popular belief, Christian's don't condemn unwed pregnant women to death. In fact, we often take care of them for free in crisis preganancy centers, which - whatever you think of them - have a 98% customer satisfaction track record. It's true, we generally try to persuade women against abortion because we generally believe it to be an abhorrent practice, but we do care pregnant women - we don't just throw pamphlets about fetuses at them.
Women Voters.
It is exceedingly entertaining to watch the same people who championed Hillary's run for the presidency as a wonderful historic achievement for women (as they should) call McCain's pick an insulting, sexist ploy that somehow insinuates that women will vote for a woman regardless of her political beliefs and party.
Tinfoil Hats.
It is exceedingly entertaining to watch the same people who recoil with derision (as they should) at conspiracy theorists claiming Obama has some hidden Muslim agenda spew forth theories that Palin's infant son is actually her grandson and other such rubbish.
So for the entertanium generated by watching the left twist itself into a pretzel of self-contradiction, I applaud McCain's pick.
As far as my feelings on the candidate herself? Sure, I wish he would have picked someone more experienced. As I said, I think any cries of inexperience against Palin in favor of Obama are downright laughable considering their positions on their respective tickets and the type (executive vs. legislative) experience each brings to the table, but it would have been nice not to have to get into the issue. Since she's a pretty true conservative, I agree with just about all her positions (I'm still learning about her here and there as I can, so I reserve the right to register disagreement as I learn more). She seems to have been unafraid to challenge her own party in terms of corruption and government spendiness, which is something I'd love to see more of in Washington.
So at the moment, I suppose I'm in pretty firm support of Sarah Palin on McCain's ticket.
What do you think of Palin?