Really?

I have to wonder about some people that in normal circumstance, I would have thought they were very smart. I've been following some people on Twitter and some blogs and this whole Sarah Palin thing has me baffled. Seriously. Nobody has yet given a valid reason about what their real concern is with Sarah Palin. I've heard lots of "She scares the s*** out of me", "I freaking hate her", "She makes me want to puke". Really. You hate her? I think that's kind of strong, but hey, if that's how you feel.... Okay. But why? Nobody ever gives a reason. I don't get it.

Before John McCain chose her as his running mate I had never heard of Sarah Palin before. Which kind of surprises me since I read Alaska Magazine, but I digress... So I started reading about her. I couldn't find a valid reason not to like her. What I did discover is the ones who scare the crap out of me are the feminists. Holy cow! They're all about putting a woman in position of power, but... She can't believe in God, family, shoot a gun, or have an opinion about abortion. In other words, unless she's Hillary Clinton, she's "scary", or a bitch. Somewhere people you have to realize in politics there's a line drawn, or there should be a line drawn, between personal opinion on issues and what you would do in an elected office. Granted, sometimes the line gets blurred, but I've listened to some of the stuff Sarah has said and really, it's not the stuff nightmares are made of. Now our current congress and senate.... That scares me. I've tried to become more aware of the issues in this election. I'm not an expert, just voicing my opinion here, and I sure don't know everything about every issues. These are just some of the things that come to mind right now. So neither McCain nor Palin believe in same-sex marriages. Neither do I. But I've read that Palin (and I honestly don't know McCain's stance on this issue) does believe in benefits for same sex unions, as domestic partner benefits. I also think that's a great thing. My personal belief is, if you're living with someone in a committed relationship, then yes, that person should have the same rights as a spouse. A piece of paper does not make a marriage. Before some of my friends think I've become an apostate... I believe in marriage, I believe marriage is a union between one man and one woman... But I do not think the marriage license makes the marriage. I worked with an individual some years ago who worked tirelessly with her union at the time to get domestic partner issues at our place of employment. I know this person was in a very committed relationship and just wanted her partner to have the same benefits as a spouse. I saw how important it was to her and how hard she worked to achieve this, only to be defeated. I don't think that's right. I don't think anyone should be judging another's sexual orientation in regard to insurance, death benefits, pension benefits, etc. The same respect should be afforded to domenstic partners. So you can't call the union a "marriage". Who cares what you call it? Give my husband "domestic partner" benefits, I don't care what they're called.

One issue I've heard ad nauseum, suppose John McCain dies while president and she's going to run the country. Oh, puh-leeze... The president doesn't "run this country" anymore than I do. Ever hear of checks and balances? Which cracks me up every time I hear someone bemoan the fact that our president has put this country in debt. BS The congress and senate have put us in debt. The president "proposes" a budget. The house can veto it. The president can override their veto. With a majority vote congress and senate can override a president's veto. The president does NOT have absolute power. This isn't a socialist country, people. And what if he doesn't die in office?

Yes, she's anti-abortion. A lot of people are anti-abortion. I'm anti-abortion. I personally think it's very wrong, but I'm not going to presume to put myself in the situation of every woman who has faced an unwanted pregnancy in her life and tell her what to do. I think adoption is really a better choice for all involved, especially the child (duh). There are thousands of couples (gay ones too!) who want to have children and can't have them. I think abortion is about the most selfish thing someone can do, but I'm not going to judge someone for doing it. And yes, those of you who know me, there was a time I was very, very judgmental about this issue. Ain't so anymore. Anti-abortion leaders are not going to go away and they're not suddenly going to change their mind. Sometimes you have to live with decisions you don't agree with.

Let's see, what else? Oh yeah, she was pregnant when she got married and now her daughter is pregnant. Since when is that a matter of national importance? I'm willing to bet there isn't one family in America who hasn't been affected by this problem in one way or another; be it a daughter, son, cousin, nephew, niece, granddaughter or grandson. Crap happens people. Sometimes people do things that aren't "proper" or "perfect". That's because we're all humans and we all make mistakes. Let me tell you something. I had both of my children before I was married. I firmly believe everything happens for a reason and in my case, the "mistakes" I made turned out to be the biggest blessings in my life. As far as Sarah getting pregnant and then eloping. I applaud her for making that choice. They obviously loved each other, and they've made a wonderful family together. I hope her daughter and her child's father manage to do the same. And I don't give a rat's patoot what she named her kids. Can you be any more petty than to pick on someone for what they named their kids?

Troopergate? If someone in a position of authority threatened the life of my father, I'd do everything I could to do whatever it took to get that person out of that position. But, I haven't seen any proof yet that that's what happened in this case. And the jerk ex-brother-in-law is still a trooper anyway. He didn't lose his job. Big deal. Just for the record, I think he should have. What sort of idiot tasers a kid and then uses the defense, "He asked me to". Training load or not, you're obviously not the sharpest knife in the drawer if you even think about it.

The polar bear issue? So she sued the government to have polar bears removed from the endangered species list. That's because they weren't endangered anymore. Too bad for the polar bears. Face it, you can't save everything. I suppose this goes hand in hand with the fact that she hunts. Yes, her family eats what she hunts too. She doesn't go around shooting things and leaving the carcasses to rot. A lot of people in Alaska hunt in order to feed their families. It's a different kind of life up there. What a shocker! I read somewhere that she shot 40 caribou or moose (depending on the source) in one day. I highly doubt that. Do you know how long it would take to dress and pack out a moose or a caribou? You sure aren't going to do 40 in one day. Think, people, think!!!

And while were on the subject of cerebral activities... She did NOT ask to have books removed from the Wasilla library while she was mayor. She asked the librarian what would happen if she did want to have a book removed and the librarian told her that she (the librarian) was in charge. That's that. Sounded like a rhetorical question to me.

Just as an aside... I've seen these stupid pieces of Flair on Facebook - "I don't vote with my vagina". What the hell is that supposed to mean? That people are only voting for Palin because she's a woman? Maybe some are, but I think that's about the dumbest damn reason I ever heard of to vote for someone. And I think it's the dumbest damn reason NOT to vote for someone too. I don't understand why gender is even an issue here, because let me share something with you, if Sarah Palin were a rich female senator from Alaska, with a dirtbag for a husband, and could do nothing but bring up the fact that she was a woman, I wouldn't vote for her. But, if Sarah Palin were a democrat and a nominee, I'd switch parties to vote for her. It's who she has done as mayor and governor, and what she believes in, and what she hopes to accomplish as vice president that makes me stand behind her. NOT her gender.

As I said in an earlier post, last night I went to see Sarah Palin. I went into that meeting liking Sarah and I came out a very dedicated supporter. It doesn't matter to me that she's a woman, or a mother, or a moose hunter, or that she got pregnant before she got married. I think she sees things in this country that needs to be fixed and she's willing to work on fixing them. That's why I like her and that's why I respect her. I like her even more now that I found out their family income was only $166,000 last year and they gave over $40,000 to charity. Imagine, a person who actually knows what it's like to live within a budget! I'm not a great politically-minded person (as you can tell) but I don't remember reading anywhere that you had to be rich, from a big town, an Ivy League graduate, part of a political family, or male to be vice president - or president. Sigh. I feel better now.