Undecided though the election will be for three more months, a remarkable year; on one side the first non-Caucasian to be nominated for the highest office in the land and, on the other, the first woman chosen for the second highest office. Were it not for McCain I might be sorely tempted to vote Republican for the first time in my life. Just given what I’ve learned about Sarah Palin in the last few days (prior to which I have to admit I hadn’t even heard of her) she’d be a good choice…more Libertarian than Republican, seems to me, and that’s more than do-able for my political philosophy. Only thing is, as with most previously elected/chosen to high office, it remains to be seen whether or not she will hold to HER principles, beliefs and philosophy or succumb to simply treading the party line and BS…which would be both a shame and let-down…if the party to which she subscribes is elected.
Of course, from Friday when everyone was raving about her honest-to-good-ness and shining light a couple of things have sneaked into the news…some believing a different light should be shed on her, others “wait and see”, some “uh-oh!” while others smiles have taken a slow turn downward. But how earth shaking are these things? It’s comical to me that for a Party who continue to mock and choose to remember the infamous “I smoked it but didn’t inhale…” with derision, have no qualms with “I smoked it but didn’t like it..” Personally, for me that wasn’t a big deal with Clinton nor is it with Ms. Palin….I said then (and still believe) that we were going to be very hard-pressed to find absolute purity (or morality!) in any of our elected officials at this juncture in history. Hey…all those vying for high office are children of the sixties…go figure! If it’s not pot, not some other recreational drug, it’s alcohol, infidelity, adultery. Maybe it’s a safe bet that anyone who never did indulge in those questionable pastimes can’t afford to run for office anyway so we never hear of them but unless society as a whole takes a gigantic upswing…seems to me there is going to be a skeleton of some sort in every cupboard in the future. The fact that it has now been divulged that Ms. Palin’s teen daughter is about to be an unwed mother (despite her family’s moral standards) is nothing thousands of other families haven’t experienced. I guess they haven’t exactly said that she will be an unwed mother but I’d be really surprised that, despite the fact that it’s been stated the young woman is “marrying her boyfriend” wouldn’t you think it unlikely she will do so…or be encouraged to do so…at sixteen? Kudos to the fact that abortion has not been given any consideration. Skeletons in the closet only trouble me when they are chained there…bring them out, get adequate ‘meat’ on their bones and we all then know there is nothing hidden. Myself, I don’t think this matter of her daughter’s pregnancy and being “unwed” pertain to her status as VP-elect. After all, it isn’t as though this affects or is detrimental, life-threatening or hurtful to anyone outwith their own families so why make such a mountain of it? Little to nothing has been said about Joe Biden’s sons’ recent indictments, we have a candidate for local office whose relatively recent actions and behaviour could certainly have harmed one or more persons, he broke a law among a few other indiscretions (to put it lightly) in the same 24hr. period and left his office at that time to save embarrassment YET switched parties only months later so he could run again…and there people who, I’m sure, are normally upright, upstanding citizens willing to turn a blind eye to get him once more elected. These are things that have either hurt others or had the potential for inflicting hurt…so why the hoo-hah over the Palin teen?
I think it speaks volumes for her family and their principles. I’m sure her parents were not at all happy at the situation in which Bristol found herself. Few parents would be but certainly not parents who advocate abstinence only to find their own daughter hadn’t adhered to this family policy. That would cause me a bout of apoplexy. But regardless of their reactions, regardless of Mom’s status and, I’m sure, well-known beliefs…not just in their own community but in their entire State/political community…they did what I could hope many parents would. Suck it up and share their daughter’s responsibility by not suddenly abandoning another of their principles by shoving her off somewhere for an abortion. It’s been known to happen…no matter how strong Pro-Life beliefs are. Some say Ms. Palin (the Mom) has been unfair, selfish, in exposing her daughter to this unwanted world-wide ‘fame’ all of a sudden. That maybe she shouldn’t have accepted the offer of a possible Veep-ship given the family circumstances. Why not? This is something her daughter got into and will have to get out of, deal with, from here on in. She’s not the first or only child who’s had an unplanned, unwed, pregnancy nor will she be the last; whether she eventually marries the father or not she is keeping the baby instead of disposing of it, her family have not deserted this child either by word or public recrimination but kept her close in the family fold and plan to see things through as a family. That demands some respect for integrity, ethics…isn’t that what we want (need after so long without!) of someone involved in running the country, surely? I am both pro-life and pro-choice…personally pro-life but absolutely defend pro-choice for any other woman finding herself with such a decision to make so I applaud the Palin’s and just really regret that I cannot and will not vote for McCain.
Either way we appear to have the most intriguing election in my lifetime…and, one way or another, an interesting four years ahead. To say the least………………….
