Organically Inclined » John McCain

Failin’ Palin

Mish — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 14:45:48 +0000

OK – let me set a few things straight right from the beginning.

1. I am a die-hard Democrat. Always have been. I was born with a blue tongue…

2. I liked John McCain. I did. I thought, for a while, that of all the Republicans, he was the one I could have dealt with the most.

3. I wanted to like Sarah Palin. I did. I tried. Really Hard. I swear.

But I can’t do it. I can’t like her. I even got mad at Maureen Dowd – one of my favorite writers – because I thought she was being a little too harsh on her in the beginning.

I was wrong.

Turns out that Palin is the original “Mean Girl.” While she might be a fellow “mom of many,” and a moose hunter to boot, she’s really all about nepotism and payback. She’s that Queen Bee PTA mom we all shrink from when she starts walking towards at a soccer game.

Look, I know Sarah is appealing. She seems like a “real Mom.” And maybe she is – in a lot of ways. But do we want the leaders of our country to be just average Joes – and Josephinas? Isn’t that what we got the last two times around? Wasn’t that why President Bush was so appealing? Because we could all see having him over to a barbecue and drinking a beer around the campfire? Just because a person is nice – or down to earth isn’t a reason to elect them president.

Our leaders in this new era need to be visionaries. They need to have gravitas. They need to be able to embrace new ideas and put them into action. Governor Palin may be pretty, but she does not have vision for the future. I love Alaska. I’d love to move there (if I could convince my “grew-up-in-Southern-California-husband” of the idea). And while I understand Alaskans need to profit from oil, being convinced of the idea that more oil will save us is short-sighted. We cannot, in this day and age, continue to allow Bush and Palin big-oil types to make our decisions. We need vision. We need a new perspective. We need to get out of this rut.

Todd Palin may be a great snowmachiner – but I don’t want him in on budget meetings. Sorry Todd. I don’t want me in on budget meetings either.

The backwards politics aside (as I understand there will always be pro-life, war-monger, big oil, put women back in a skirt politicians out there), I just can’t deal with the White House becoming one big high school. I hated high school. Putting Palin in the White House is like putting my high school nemeses (yes, there were more than one) up on a pedestal. Will there be a tanning bed in Blair House? Little all-nighter slumber parties with the Republican caucus? A slambook full of female Dems who aren’t nearly as stylish as Sarah?

Let me take it a little further. I think I’m fairly smart. I’ve been on the PTA. I’ve even considered running for local office. I’ve covered a lot of city council meetings and a lot of other issues. Do I think this someday makes me qualified to be the Vice-President of the United States? Umm….no.

While I would like to think I could handle such a job, I am also enough of a realist to understand that some issues of foreign policy and economic theory might be a bit over my head. There’s a reason we elect people who went to places like Harvard Law School and Oxford to positions like…President. Because they’ve studied these subjects. They understand what’s going on the world.

Don’t tell me that Palin understands the gravity of the situation she’s in right now. Make no mistake, her cheerleading skills are unmatched. But I’m afraid that in the end, Palin will do more harm for women than good, proving to the world that Americans are too easily taken in by good looks and can’t vote for substance to save their lives (um…Bush v. Gore anyone?).

Can we please remember that this is a race for the presidency? Not for student council? Yes, I myself harbor a small desire to be liked by the popular girls. But we can’t vote for Gov. Palin because we want her to like us! She’s not inviting us to dinner anytime soon.

I think part of the reason she’s making so much head way right now is because we women feel like we might not get to sit at the cool kids table if we don’t vote for her.

If I know a good “mean girl,” you and I weren’t going to get to sit there anyway. And she’ll manipulate us all to hell while we’re trying.

Sidenote: I think it’s ironic that Tina Fey (the writer of Mean Girls) gets to play her on SNL.

We do not need the future of this country decided on a tanning bed.

,l?;

Technorati Tags: Alaska Governor, election 2008, John McCain, maureen dowd, miscellaneous, palin, presidential election, Sarah Palin, vice presidential candidate

The Palin-McCain Administration

Mish — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 13:00:06 +0000

Need I say more?

Technorati Tags: John McCain, mccain-palin, miscellaneous, palin-mccain, palin-mccain video, Sarah Palin

Bristol Palin’s Pregnancy

Mish — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 20:54:59 +0000

I went to the Laundromat for the afternoon and I come back to hear that Bristol Palin is pregnant and is marrying the baby’s father. All I can say is “Wow.”

This is what Senator Obama had to say to Fox News: “I have heard some of the news on this and so let me be a clear as possible: I have said before and I will repeat again, I think people’s families are off limits, and people’s children are especially off limits. This shouldn’t be part of our politics,” the Democrat said forcefully. “It has no relevance to Governor Palin’s performance as governor, or her potential performance as a VP. And so I would strongly urge people to back off these kinds of stories,” he continued.

The candidate who himself was born to a teenage mom, reminded reporters, “You know my mother had me when she was 18, and how a family deals with issues and you know teenage children, that shouldn’t be the topic of our politics and I hope that anybody who is supporting me understands that’s off limits.”

Good for Senator Obama. And good for Governor Palin for getting ahead of it – I had read some of those rumors that Trig (the Governor’s fifth son) was actually Bristol’s and didn’t believe it.

I have a lot of issues to consider when deciding for whom I will vote this November, but whether or not Bristol Palin is pregnant is not one of them. I do, however, applaud the family for being supportive of her – and not shunning her in an effort to promote her mother’s campaign and make everything “look nice.”

Good luck to Bristol – she is embarking on a wonderful and frightening adventure. I’d recommend she read some Ariel Gore!

Technorati Tags: Ariel Gore, Barack Obama, Bristol Palin, John McCain, miscellaneous, Palin Pregnancy, Sarah Palin, teen pregnancy

It’s Official – I’m obsessed with Sarah Palin

Mish — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 15:24:29 +0000

OK – not in a creepy way, just in a “read all I can about her way.” Because I really, really want to like her. Maureen Dowd - usually one of my favorite columnists – really hacked me off this morning too. Because while I appreciate her humor in the face of truth, I also believe that picking on what a woman names her children is just getting snippy. I have a feeling that while Sarah Palin was always the most popular girl in school – Maureen Dowd might have been the girl in the corner, scribbling her thoughts in her slambook. At least – that’s what it felt like this morning.

This is one of the main reasons I feel we may never have a female president. Because women are too hell-bent on tearing each other down – no matter what their views. Wouldn’t it have been great if Dowd could have at least given Palin a pat on the back for getting this far, before ripping her to shreds?

Anyway, in my own search for truth in politics (no, really, I’m trying not to laugh while I type), I have been enjoying the multitude of stories on the Internet about Palin. I have always wanted to live in Alaska and this just gives me a little more fodder.

Here are a few news stories I found interesting:

Homemaker Palin made sparing donations

Where Palin Made Her Name

Palin, an Outsider Who Charms

Technorati Tags: election 2008, Governor Palin, John McCain, miscellaneous, Sarah Palin, vice presidential candidate, VP

Thoughts on Governor Sarah Palin…

Mish — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 13:54:55 +0000

OK. I’ve had to amend a post I made yesterday. I was, initially excited about Governor Palin’s selection as the VP candidate from the GOP. You see, I am conservative in many ways. I am pro-life. I am for smaller government (just like Thomas Jefferson). I am fine with hunters owning rifles (I shot tin cans with a .22 once, it was kinda fun). I am fine with leather and fur…especially in contrast to petroleum-based synthetics. I believe that subsistence hunters and trappers have the right to make a living and clothe and feed their families. I also like to ride a snowmobile once in a while.

But here’s the deal. I don’t believe that the government has the right to make the decision for a woman about what she does with her body. While I am personally pro-life…I don’t think that we have the right to tell someone else what she should do.

I am anti-death penalty. Again, because I don’t believe we mere mortals have the right to decide who should live or die.

I not only can’t abide by a person that believes that not only should people who love each other be denied the right to share health insurance but believes that we should amend the Constitution to make it so. Are we going to repeal the 14th amendment while we’re at it? Will Senator Obama and still have the right to vote if we do?

We also have a moral obligation to the planet – and denying that we’ve done wrong by her is more than a little disconcerting, it’s downright embarrassing.

I will admit, I almost fell for this fellow mother of five’s ambitious plan to lead us…but I’m wincing while I watch her try and break our glass ceiling with a rolling pin.

I like my rolling pin – it’s great for rolling out pie crust, but I don’t want it to be the only tool my daughters’ have when they go out into the world.

Is Sarah Palin the “Joan of Arc of Alaska” politics – as the Anchorage Daily News called her? Or is she a wolf in sheep’s clothing?

I honestly don’t know. She has a son going off to Iraq soon. She did say Creationism should be debated in schools – but didn’t make a deal out of it. According to the ADN “Her first veto was of a bill that would have denied benefits to employees in same-sex relationships — she said she supported the idea but accepted legal advice that it was unconstitutional.”

I’m a long time fan of Joe Biden, so we’ll see what the days and weeks ahead bring. I have a feeling Biden might mop the floor with her. I also am so impressed by Senator Obama in many ways. And this is, after all, a Presidential Election – we are voting for the person to lead our country – not the person, as McCain says “to attend funerals.”

The debates will tell me more…I’m not going to get anything from the pep rally conventions…but I certainly like the excitement of the election so far!

P.S. – to the woman who said I shouldn’t be allowed to homeschool my kids because I misspelled the word “root” (I said “route”), I know that some people are perfect all of the time, but I hope to teach my children that mistakes can be corrected! I was typing quickly and posted too fast!

Technorati Tags: Alaska Governor, election 2008, feminism, Governor Palin, John McCain, miscellaneous, presidential election, Sarah Palin