In the hours since John McCain announced that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin would be his running mate, there's been a cacaphony of pro and con discourse. Was Palin chosen for her credentials, experience, positions and talents, or was she chosen because she's a woman and McCain hopes to court voters who previously supported Senator Hillary Clinton? Palin is low on experience, but she has a reputation for pulling out all the stops, and just might restore some of McCain's lost maverick image. Perhaps more significantly, she's a good looking woman with the kind of life and history that makes other women nod and say "You go, girl!"
But through all the buzz--positive and negative--one thing has been troubling me: one thing that I haven't heard mentioned by anyone else.
Just this past spring, Palin gave birth to her fifth child, a child with Downs Syndrome. As a pro-life politician, Palin gained points and gathered accolades simply for having her child--after all, many Downs Syndrome babies are aborted. But what is she doing now?
One of the things that has always troubled me about a large sector of the pro-life movement is the idea many pro-life activists seem to have that it's only their business for as long as it takes to make sure that the baby is born alive. Sure, some people active in the movement work to provide support to those new mothers and make it possible for them to raise healthy children, but for many, the victory is achieved and the battle over when a woman safely passes into her second trimester and can no longer obtain an abortion on demand.
It's always seemed to me that if those people were really so "pro life", they'd be worried about the babies and the toddlers and the adolescents, too...not JUST the unborn.
I don't know enough about Sarah Palin to judge her sincerity one way or the other, but her actions right now are reminding me quite a lot of those people who want to bar the doors of the abortion clinic but then consider the child "not our problem" once it's actually born. She's been applauded and patted on the back by all those "pro life" and "pro family" organizations for giving birth to the child, and now she's...going off to run for Vice President. How, exactly, is it "pro family" for a woman with a special needs infant to hit the campaign trail vying for one of the most demanding jobs in the world? Maybe it's just me, but I've always thought that part of being pro family was putting the needs of your family ahead of your own ambitions.
11 comments:
Perhaps it was a good move on McCain's part for choosing Palin. Maybe he agrees that the best man for the job is a woman, should anything happen to him. I understand he turned 72 today.
I did like what she had to say in her interview with Maria Bartiromo.
As far as being a mom of a special needs child and that her focus should be her family, I see nothing wrong with her decision, to accept the Vice Presidency. Yes it's a demanding job, but so is any other job.
Pro family is one thing; man and woman marriages, and pro life is against abortion, which is murder.
Does it have anything to do with being a working mother? Hardly. She just may be the right person for the job. Could it be any worse than Biden?
Debi, we're going to have to agree to disagree on this one. A person who putting her own personal ambitions above the needs of her own disabled child is not reflective of the character I'd like to see in an elected official. If even her own child's needs don't come first, are we supposed to believe that the needs of the citizens of this country will?
I have a number of issues with the Palin selection. Ultimately though, it comes down to the fact that I don't believe my vote should be a referendum on McCain/Palin OR Obama/Biden, but rather a decision on who is best equipped to do the job. An election is a fancy job interview, and in every interview I've ever given, a person's personal life is that.
The right went after Edwards on his decision to run with a cancer-stricken wife - in retrospect, hey, he obviously didn't care that much about his family. On a personal level - five kids, one with Down's Syndrome? I've got a two year old that demands so much time, I can't imagine being a politician. Five rugrats AND a country to govern? "First Dude" isn't a Mannie from what I gather.
While her family is her personal business, once the matters of qualification (and more importantly, McCain's qualification based on his first presidential decision) are settled it becomes a serious concern. I've hired people with family issues knowing they would never be my fast-track/go-to types; they were always sort of a filler, sometimes bordering on a form of charity. That's fine in restaurants or retail stores. I'm a little more concerned as the potential leader of the free world.
She's been balancing the family and high-stress jobs for about a decade now, and countless puff pieces have already been written about the support she gets from her husband and extended family. I'm assuming those of you who worry about the balance of her time were opposed to Bobby Kennedy running, right? He had 10 children, with number 11 on the way, two of whom were under 5 when he ran for president. Selfish SOB...
EE, I didn't have any position on Bobby Kennedy running for office, since I was two years old at the time. Had I been of an age to think about such things and his family had been in a shambles and there was no parent devoting himself or herself fully to those children, then yes, I would have been opposed. I was very opposed to John Edwards remaining in the race when it became clear that his wife was no longer in remission. However, I suspect that Bobby Kennedy's wife was a full-time mom, and as such the answer to "who is making those children his/her first priority?" would have been clear. It's clear in Palin's family, too: no one.
First of all, Sarah Palin's family is not, "in a shambles". It's amazing how prudish people can turn when it provides an opportunity to attack someone they disagree with. Nor was Bobby Kennedy's family idyllic. One son died of an OD, and his kids were reputedly so wild that Jackie Kennedy wouldn't let her children associate with their cousins.
But beyond that, it seems to me that you're going out of your way to make some unfair assumptions. You assume that Todd Palin will not stay home, based, as far as I can tell, on your extensive knowledge of what kind of man he is. It's "clear" according to you that "no one" will consider the children a first priority. This is of course, despite the fact that the VP's salary is more than she and her husband currently combine to make, and also despite the fact that his areas of job expertise, oil drilling and commercial fishing, are not exactly high demand industries in the D.C. area.
You also assume you know why she accepted the job. It's also apparently clear to you that Palin's reasons for accepting the Vice presidency are no greater than venial personal ambition. I guess you can read her mind and be certain that she doesn't see it as a higher calling, or an opportunity to provide a better America for the kids you are so concerned for?
And on top of that, she's been a governor (not exactly a low-demand job) for two years, and Trig has been around for about 6 months. So far, there have been no sign that the Palins are not handling parenting as well as any other American family, but now that they'll have MORE resources at their disposal, and she might actually be in a less stressful role (as a non-chief executive), you assume her children will suffer for it.
EE, you're making up and then responding to a number of things I didn't say. For instance, I never suggested that Palin's children will suffer MORE for her attempt to upgrade than they are already suffering from her Sarah-centric life.
And I don't ASSUME that Todd Palin hasn't been a stay-at-home father while she was running the state of Alaska--I believe her representations and those of the campaign that he has his own profession. Are you suggesting that I should assume that they're lying and really he's at home raising the children? Believe me, that would be the first positive thing I'd heard about this family if it were true.
Your take is that there's "no sign" the Palins aren't handling their parenting responsibilities well. That's obviously an opinion question. In my mind, a family where both parents are out aggressively pursuing their careers many hours a day while someone (who?) else is the primary caretaker for their special needs child isn't handling its parenting responsibilities well.
And, of course, the "prudish" reference you make here is comical in view of the fact that it's Palin's philosophy that makes sex outside of marriage such a no-no that it shouldn't even be talked about. From HER perspective, do you think things are going well in her family? Do you think it's beneficial to Bristol to face teen pregnancy in the national spotlight, and to try to adapt to marriage and parenting at this young age with the eyes of the world on her?
"She's been applauded and patted on the back by all those "pro life" and "pro family" organizations for giving birth to the child, and now she's...going off to run for Vice President. How, exactly, is it "pro family" for a woman with a special needs infant to hit the campaign trail vying for one of the most demanding jobs in the world?" Nothing in your original post expressed concern over her current job. All of the concern was expressly over her decision to run for VP. I try to stick to what people say, rather than drawing my own conclusions.
I said "will not" stay home, not "has been" staying home. Tenses are important. I don't deny he hasn't stayed home up to this point. He did take a leave from his job due to worries over conflicts of interest, but then they publicly stated that for financial reasons he went back to work. Since he has shown willingness to stop working in the past, and their income will increase if she is elected whether he works or not, I see no reason to assume, as you are doing, that no one will be making the kids a priority, or that the Palin family hasn't anticipated that her responsibilities might increase in Washington and planned accordingly.
And it may just be a matter of opinion as to whether they are handling their responsibilites as parents, but until someone provides evidence that they aren't, why not give them the benefit of the doubt? You ask "who" is taking care of the children. Plenty of stories have been written about how often Trig is in her office while she works, and how their extended families pitch in to help. So the answer seems to be "their parents, and grandparents". Poor kids...
Lastly, Sarah Palin might believe that sex outside of marriage is a "no-no", but what proves that to be the case? Despite the common misconception, she supports teaching contraception in addition to abstinence education. The only thing she has opposed are "explicit sex-ed programs". So yes, the prudes are those who want to paint her whole family as falling apart because, *gasp* a teenager got knocked up.
I have no problem with her or anyone else running for office or having any job that requires them to balance the time they have with their family. We all are forced to do this to some degree. What I DO take extreme issue with is Palin parading that baby out in front of evey photo op she can justify and when she had Trig brought up on stage after the VP debate, at 9:30 at night it was OBVIOUS that she was exploiting her own child for her benefit. "Aww shucks, look at me. I'm just a mom." That was a pathetic demonstration and I cannot believe no one called her on it.
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Im calling to call on the. Three people one nicor clipboard. Its a scam.
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