Did I hallucinate the 70s?

[blamebrampton]

Warning: Humourless grumping follows.

Goodbye, feminism, we hardly knew you.

It's my own fault for reading about American politics while I'm still sick, but I am now sick and cranky and too weak to throw things in the directions they should be thrown.

A woman's right to own her own body and make choices about it is for all women. Not all women except the daughters of conservative politicians. All of them.

If you, as I do, disagree with Sarah Palin's position on abortion, then you can write to her, vote against anti-abortion politicians in your area, or donate money to women's health clinics. Don't weigh in on her daughter. It's obnoxious, whether it comes from the right or from the left. 

Women have enough difficulties asserting ownership over their own bodies as it is.

It's not as though there aren't genuine political issues that are worth being involved with and angry about in America at the moment. The delightful kestrelsparhawk  has been chronicling police reaction to protests against the Republican National Convention. Observers, journalists and lawyers sent into represent others have been detained, handcuffed and arrested in a manner that makes mock of the Land of the Free. Flick over and read, the entries aren't locked.

This is not the Republican Party of Lincoln, this is not the America of its Constitution. To be fair, I doubt it is the Republican Party of John McCain. But I sadly suspect that he is not the party. I would be far more cheerful about the state of international affairs if he was. While he may have issues with keeping his pants up, he seems underneath to be a committed political figure. I may prefer Obama, but all I ask from political leaders is diligence and good legislation. They can do what they like with their pants, and their daughters can, too.

Comments

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

They can do what they like with their pants, and their daughters can, too.

OMG. yes. I cannot nod enough.

I've been trying to stay out because just reading the posts have been giving me a headache. But I do have to say that the hypocrisy does not lay with the politician whose daughter got pregnant, but with the people who are making an issue of it.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Yes! I am going to turn into one of those mad old women who writes rude letters to journos who bang on about this stuff.

It's because journalists are too lazy to write on topics that are really important about politicians. What about her voting record? What about Alaskan state finances? Industrial relations? Legislative developments?

And as to bloggers and journalers who natter on similarly, GAH! Yes. With you on that.

[(Anonymous)]

It's been written about but not as much as her youngest son and her eldest daughter. It has been said the daughter being pregnant was no big secret before Palin was tagged for McCain's running mate. The cynical part of me suspects the announcement of the daughter's pregnancy was timed deliberately to distract from what is truly troubling about Palin. The daughter only helps her position with the religious fundimentalists because she's keeping the baby and marrying the father. Plus, I think they are secretly hoping someone opposing the ticket WILL pick on the daughter: there's very little that's more bullying than picking on a pregnant teenager. Obama himself has said a candidate's family and especially children are off limits and won't comment any further of Palin's children. Still, the fact the media is all over it, garners sympathy for the Palin family.

Palin opposed designating polar bears an endangered species because it restricts oil drilling. She also does not believe pollution or any human action is responsible for global warming.She supports opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. She did increase taxes for oil company profits though.

She is against gun control. At one point, she started to push for "creationism" to be taught in Alaska public schools; but she then backed down. She has stated she would not support any sex education in public school beyond abstinence-only.

She has stated she supports Alaska's constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. However, her first veto as governor was to kill a bill that would have barred the state from granting health and retiree benefits to the partners of gay state employees. She also states some of her best friends are gay. :P

When she became governor, she sold the jet the previous governor bought. She became popular for stopping work on an expensive bridge to an island with a very small population; but she initially supported the project.

There has been much reporting on who Palin supported for President in 2000. McCain has stated claims from the media that Palin supported Pat Buchanan are part of a media "smear campaign" against her. Palin claims she supported Steve Forbes. She did wear a Buchanan button when he visited the small city she was mayor of at the time. She claims it was merely meant as a sign of respect and a welcome to the community. (Frankly, I DO see wearing a candidate's button as an endorsement. You can welcome someone and respect someone without wearing their button. ... though personally, I'm not particularly in favor of respect and welcome of Buchanan either.) I won't go into huge detail about Pat Buchanan but he has claimed AIDS was "nature's retribution" against homosexuality and that Hitler was a "man of courage." (Much has been said about the latter comment being "taken out of context" but ... whatever.) Buchanan has claimed Sarah Palin did fund raising for him.

Another thing McCain is calling a "smear" is the media claim that Palin is a member of the "Alaskan Independence Party." Palin insists she has been a Republican since 1982 and McCain camp produced records support this. AIP's chairman claims Sarah Palin WAS a member. Palin's husband was officially registered with the AIP party. The AIP is a fierce state rights group who want to return federal lands back to the state. Some members support sucession from the US.

Regardless of whether the above "smears" are true or not, it is pretty clear to me that Sarah Palin leans quite decidedly right wing politically.


As far as Sarah Palin's record in general: she was mayor of a city with a population of about 8,000 for 8 years. She has been governor of the state with the lowest population density in the US (about one person per square mile) for less than two years. There isn't much record to report, frankly.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

See, a long list of perfectly good reasons why she is an appalling candidate. Did any of them make it into most of the opinion pieces I read yesterday? Oh no.

I found it interesting that she supported rights for gay partners, the line drawing that so many religious conservatives do never ceases to fascinate me. Bet she eats shellfish, too.