An observation regarding Sarah Palin
As an Alaskan, I feel no small amount of embarassment that the capable and smart women of my state are being represented by such a loud and ignorant voice.
Sarah became Governor of the State of Alaska, a job she was completely unqualified for, because Alaskans were sick of the former governor and would have elected a monkey had one run against him. In retrospect, perhaps.....well, water under the bridge now. Sarah ran as the Outsider, not in the Old Boy network, and promised to bring the gas pipeline (which had been mouldering in Juneau) to fruition.
Alaska is a state small in population, and we are rabidly independent and stubborn folk. We will give about anyone a chance, provided they don't start telling us "how it is done in the south 48". At first Sarah did fine, some of her cronies in the Republican party got popped for taking bribes (some embarrassingly small) but she was pretty clean all told. She didn't screw much up, but didn't do much either. Sarah finally announced she was pregnant again. She continued to learn the job of Governor, and a small movement pushing to get her on the VP ticket in her party started to gain momentum. I do not belong to said party and paid little attention. She was vastly unqualified and it appeared to be just some overzealous fanboys behind it.
Then it was announced that Sarah had given birth. They let us know that Trig had Downs and that Sarah and her family had been aware of this before his birth. This was not a big deal....except.
It had been mentioned in the newspaper that Sarah had not been in Anchorage when she went into labor. She boarded a commercial flight, in labor with her FIFTH child, without telling the airline personnel that she was laboring. When nurses heard about this there was outrage. This was a woman in labor with a very high risk pregnancy who endangered herself, her unborn son, and an entire planeload of passengers because she "wanted to have the baby in Anchorage".
So when Sarah trots out her family values, and makes a fuss about depictions of disabled children, and uses that child as a political tool - well, I vomit just a little bit in my mouth.
/end rant
Sarah became Governor of the State of Alaska, a job she was completely unqualified for, because Alaskans were sick of the former governor and would have elected a monkey had one run against him. In retrospect, perhaps.....well, water under the bridge now. Sarah ran as the Outsider, not in the Old Boy network, and promised to bring the gas pipeline (which had been mouldering in Juneau) to fruition.
Alaska is a state small in population, and we are rabidly independent and stubborn folk. We will give about anyone a chance, provided they don't start telling us "how it is done in the south 48". At first Sarah did fine, some of her cronies in the Republican party got popped for taking bribes (some embarrassingly small) but she was pretty clean all told. She didn't screw much up, but didn't do much either. Sarah finally announced she was pregnant again. She continued to learn the job of Governor, and a small movement pushing to get her on the VP ticket in her party started to gain momentum. I do not belong to said party and paid little attention. She was vastly unqualified and it appeared to be just some overzealous fanboys behind it.
Then it was announced that Sarah had given birth. They let us know that Trig had Downs and that Sarah and her family had been aware of this before his birth. This was not a big deal....except.
It had been mentioned in the newspaper that Sarah had not been in Anchorage when she went into labor. She boarded a commercial flight, in labor with her FIFTH child, without telling the airline personnel that she was laboring. When nurses heard about this there was outrage. This was a woman in labor with a very high risk pregnancy who endangered herself, her unborn son, and an entire planeload of passengers because she "wanted to have the baby in Anchorage".
So when Sarah trots out her family values, and makes a fuss about depictions of disabled children, and uses that child as a political tool - well, I vomit just a little bit in my mouth.
/end rant