It has been fascinating to watch all the liberals who suddenly feel that a woman’s place is at home with her children - especially a woman with an infant with Down Syndrome and a pregnant teenager. Sarah Palin’s priorities have been questioned. Her mothering abilities have been criticized. Consider the following story:
Shortly after Joe Biden was elected to the Senate but before he took office, his first wife and his three small children were involved in a horrific car wreck. His wife and daughter were killed, and his two young sons were seriously injured and their survival uncertain. Biden considered resigning in order to take care of his two sons, but was persuaded not to. He took his oath of office from their hospital bedside. He then assumed his senate position - traveling home each night. Did people ask who watched those two young sons while he was working as a senator? Should he have stayed home with them considering the trauma they had been through? It was definitely a crisis time for their family - and yet Joe Biden chose to spend his time as a Senator and not be home with his sons fulltime.
His boys are grown now, and they seem like well adjusted and productive adults. They obviously were able to recover from their physical injuries and had the necessary support to overcome the emotional trauma of their losses - all done without their mother and with their father gone most of the day every day.
Why is Joe Biden considered a hero for his actions, and yet Sarah Palin is vilified for running for office when she is obviously a caring and hands-on mother, her children seem to be thriving and well-adjusted, and while her children also have a devoted father? I’ve even read of people criticizing her by saying that if she’d spent more time with her teenage daughter, Bristol wouldn’t have gotten pregnant without benefit of marriage first. I can only hope those people don’t have to learn the hard way the fallacies of being self-righteous and judgmental.
Why are the women libbers not standing up and cheering Sarah Palin’s accomplishments? Are a woman’s achievements only noteworthy if the woman is politically liberal as well. Apparently, many supposed “pro-women” individuals and groups are only interested in promoting liberal women. Conservative women don’t count.
I’m disappointed in Oprah. She started losing her appeal to me several years ago. I subscribed to her magazine briefly, but it was boring and seemed to me to be nothing more than an Oprah-worshipping rag. So I cancelled that subscription after a couple of issues. Then she used her celebrity to promote Obama. That was certainly her right. It just seemed wrong for someone who has marketed herself as “everywoman” to suddenly align herself as “every liberal woman.” Now she refuses to have Sarah Palin on her show until after the election because she doesn’t want to politicize her show. Oprah, it’s too late for that. You’ve had Obama on your show twice (before he announced his candidacy for President), and while the promotions and appearances you’ve made for Obama since his candidacy may not have been on your television show, the effect is the same.
Sarah Palin has become an illuminating factor in politics. People who preach equality and tolerance are showing that their real beliefs are equality and tolerance for only people who share their views. People in the press that boast of only reporting carefully researched information and declare that they’d never repeat gossip as fact are suddenly shown to be eager to relate gossip as fact when it’s about someone whose politics are different from theirs.
Sarah Palin is a strong, articulate and well-informed woman, and she will handle all the media and liberal smears just fine. She will make an excellent Vice President now, and in four or eight years she’ll be the perfect first female President. For now, the folks who are trying to trash her are only showing themselves as the hypocrites they really are - and that helps the McCain-Palin ticket.
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January 1st, 1970 (2 weeks ago) at 12:00 am
September 5th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
No one can seriously claim that, had the accident occurred before the campaign, Joe Biden would have decided that it was a good time to start a major campaign.
The campaign was over when Joe Biden’s wife was killed. Not being rich, he was going to have to work somewhere. Staying home full time was not an option. Working for a law firm would have given him less control over his schedule than being Senator. So, yes, he went to work, but of all the options available to him no one can really say it was worse than the available options.
Compare Sarah Palin. She didn’t have to run in 2008. She is a young, rising talent. She would have had options in 2012 or 2016. In 2012 or 2016, her daughter’s pregnancy would be old news, and the impact on her child would be totally different.
In those circumstances, she chose to run right now. To advance her career, she threw her daughter under the paparazzi bus.
Is she unusual as politicians go? Not so much. I’ve known a lot of them, and few of them are people you would want to be in a relationship with.
But is she admirable? Not to me. I’ve known too many people, men and women, who have passed on promotions because it just wasn’t the right time for the kids. Those are the people I admire.
Sarah Palin - just another politician.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:52 pm
It’s Easy: I don’t know what Joe Biden would have done if the accident had occurred before his campaign - and neither do you. I’m talking about what he did do. He didn’t have to become a senator. He could have found a job where he could be home with his boys more. He didn’t, and I think he made the choice that he felt was best at the time. It meant he wouldn’t have as much time to spend with his sons at a traumatic time in their lives. It was his choice to make, though, and people have lauded him for going through the trauma and handling it well. He was never asked to postpone his career for his sons. You are saying Sarah Palin should postpone her career for her children, and yet you don’t know her or her family. My guess that if it were Todd Palin running for VP, you would never consider saying he needed to postpone his career because of his family situation. You’re simply being sexist.
September 6th, 2008 at 7:21 am
I agree with you Carol. If the tables were turned Todd Palin would not be questioned. For “It’s Easy” to assume Sarah Palin said yes to this opportunity without caring about the effect to her family is just that, an assumption. None of us know what discussions she had with her husband and children. Frankly, it is none of our business.
As for Oprah not having her on her show….I’m glad. Oprah Winfrey lost my respect MANY years ago and I think she is duplicitous and egotistical. Oprah has thrown her support to Obama and she is NOT going to do anything to give airtime to ‘the other side’. I really think she sees herself as a King maker. Frankly, I think those of us who support the MaCain/Palin ticket should boycot her show. If enough people do that it would send a message.
September 6th, 2008 at 8:53 am
The Palin family makes their decisions by unanimous consent. Several years ago their oldest boy was the only one in the family who voted for his Mother to not run (for governor) and she waited another two years, until the family vote was unanimous. Which means that, in the family meeting when the vice-presidential decision was discussed, Bristol voted for her Mom to say yes. She knew she was pregnant, her parents knew, her siblings must have known. But they all voted anyway, to do the brave, adventuresome thing.
But they all knew, because of the way Todd and Sarah run their family, that whatever challenges they faced as a result of this decision, they would face them together.
The more I read about Sarah Palin, the more I like her. No, the more I love her. I haven’t been this much in support of a candidate for office in many, many years.
September 6th, 2008 at 9:04 am
One correction to my previous comment: In 2004, Sarah was urged to run for the Senate, not governor. That is when Track voted “no.” Then in 2006, she ran for governor, with her family’s unanimous consent. Debi
September 7th, 2008 at 8:27 am
Sarah Palin, as a Christian women, along with her family felt this was the Open door she needed to walk through! None of these people have suggested that Obama should have waited until until Senator Clinton had her turn,since he is also young enough to have an opportunity later.
If Sarah’s daughter had had casual sex or an abortion, she would also be wounded and need her mother. She chose to have the baby. It goes without saying but as Geraldine Ferrar said, Mothers manage to work and take care of their children at the same time. As a governor or Vice President, she can afford all the cooks, cleaners, schools, tutors etc and will have time to love and care for her family.
September 8th, 2008 at 9:29 am
First of all—How long did Sarah discuss this life changing decision with her family? As far as I know, she was only asked to run as VP less than a week before she excepted the offer. That’s not a lot of time to make such a huge change for her entire family. I also heard that she didn’t tell her family of her decision until she was on the plane on the way to meet with McCain. I was a single working mother of three and it wasn’t a choice. It was a necessity. Also, Palin is responsible for putting her daughter in the spot-light not the media. It seems she’s able to make allot of choices for her family and herself that she is not willing to allot to other women. A bit of a double standard maybe? Pat
September 8th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
Pat Engeleiter: If you stop jumping to conclusions long enough, you can check out Palin’s interviews. She was asked by a CSPAN reporter back in February how she would respond if asked about being John McCain’s running mate. At that time she was already being talked about as a Vice Presidential possibility. This isn’t a sudden decision, and what makes you think she discussed it only a day or two with her family? Within conservative circles, Palin’s been considered as a possible running mate for McCain since last winter. It was a family decision. Listen to her without your prejudiced mind kicking in, and you’ll see she’s intelligent, articulate and has an understanding of the issues.
September 12th, 2008 at 8:57 am
I loved reading all the reponses to this bold commentary. I’m a naturalized American (ex-war refugee) in my mid-30’s. In my short life, I have been a journalist, scientist, musician, artist, retailer, tutor, music teacher, dancer, charity worker, and political activist. But the role I cherish the most is as a Christian wife, mother and homeschooler now. I still work part-time at Disney and do some writing, art, and music - but my career has never taken priority over God, family, friends, and church involvement. My husband works for local government in a leadership position and is also a musician and co-homeschools. So yes, you can have it all - career, family, and moral convictions - but it’s something you have to work at to get balance. We have also dealt with emotional, physical, and mental traumas. As a registered Republican, McCain was my last choice for my party’s presidential candidate, but I would’ve chosen him over Obama when it came down to the November ballot. Palin and Biden just confirmed my choice. Oprah appeared to be a racist and bigot to me before she ever supported Obama. Now she also appears to be a hypocrite.