Why does Palin come off as nothing but a tool?

2008-09-03T15:54:49Z

I have to confess that I've become kind of quiet about politics these days. I rarely discuss them, and don't make waves any more than necessary. I have my own ideas and opinions, and you all have yours, and life's a little too short to waste arguing and trying to sway each other's opinion when it's not likely to happen anyways. All we'd end up doing, most of the time, is either agreeing or ending up mad at each other, and for what? Not worth it, in the long run.

But McCain's recent choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate just reeks of political posing of the worst sort, and dividing public loyalties and sympathies well beyond the point of the average, simple political evil and public posing that's been the American way since t.v. was invented.

Too many people seem to be in a little too big a hurry to embrace "the first black president." Granted, maybe it's time for a black president. But did we have to go and vote one in who can't even seem track of his own birth certificate, or give any kind of straight answers about it? And why doesn't there seem to be any public record, as there is of your birth certificate or mine? Or anyone else's? Let's face it, I could single out any one of you people, or some random stranger in some state I've never even been to, present myself online as a prospective employer (no, I'm not actually a prospective employer, but I play one online, LOL), and for a nominal fee, run a full background check on you without you ever knowing or suspecting. It would make it easier if I had your driver's license or social security number, obviously, but I'm afraid even that's not necessary. If I had your first and last name, and a rough idea where and when you were born, one of the spybot websites would present me with of a list of options, which I could systematically narrow down until I had you fully in my sights. Then I could find out literally everything I needed or wanted to know about you, including your recent purchases at Walmart, thanks to their little tracking chips. So I may actually be able to call you up and carp at you for your erroneous decision to want to wear that shirt with those pants, which is showing up on your public record now as a crime of fashion, for which you're wanted in 7-1/2 states...

That's the hell of it. I could choose some random stranger in Provo, Utah, and pass judgment on their taste in music because of those two Jonas Brothers CD's they bought for some neighbor kid's birthday, but the Democratic Party's choice to lead our country can't seem to trace his own damned birth certificate! Uh huh, unless of course he's hiding it by choice...

Between that and his political record, or lack of one, combined with the fact that his running mate doesn't ring any truer than he does, I decided a long time ago that McCain definitely sounded like the lesser of two evils. Until he chose Sarah Palin, that is. I guess he saw the enthusiasm of entirely too many people wanting desperately to appear openminded and non-racist jumping on the bandwagon, wanting to hurry up and embrace "the black man" as the first black man ever to lead this country. So the best he could come up with was, given his age, health, penchant for cheating on his wife, etc., knowing that he's not likely to live to see the end of his term, people will be looking carefully at his personal choice for his own successor. Who better than "The First Woman." Any woman. As long as she looks female on screen, and appears to fit the perceived mold of "mainstream, conservative family values." I.e., she can't be a lesbian, or the conservatives will jump all over him. Nor can she be an atheist, a liberal, a smoker, a single mother, or anything else that would cause the Republican Party to withdraw their nomination, excommunicate him, and possibly deport him somewhere for the public good. And she can't look anywhere near as bad on screen as most ladies do first thing in the morning, or at the end of a bad day, or weeding the garden or coaching the kid's soccer practice, or people will turn off the convention and debates. No eye candy, can get that free at home, why watch? Nor can she be a stay at home mom, because then she'll never make it to the White House, because she'll be coaching her kids' soccer game, or even worse, baking those evil, insipid cookies that Laura got on her soapbox about a few years back. Cookies, baaaaaaad. Mmmmmmm, baaaaaaaad cookies, LOL. :-)

I personally think that if he felt the only way to trump Obama was with "The First Woman," it would have a riot for him to choose Hillary, so she and Obama could continue that catfight to the death from now until the beginning of November. That would have upped the ratings. Plus she looks good on t.v., and she's used to being under fire for her every thought, word, action and fashion choice. So he wouldn't risk driving her into the nuthouse or anything. And face it, if Bill hasn't done it by now, does anyone really deserve that right?

I really can't help seeing Sarah Palin as nothing but a tool, though. She has FIVE children, the most recent of whom has Down's Syndrome. How noble of her to bring such a child into the world. What a wonderful, pro-life thing to do. Uh huh. And who is raising that child right now, and nurturing her?

Some day care center, because mommy's too busy being Veruca... er, Superwoman. She doesn't have time to stay home and take care of her own special needs child, the way that most women I've ever known would be most likely to decide to do, because she's too busy putting more feathers in her own cap to up her Superwoman image. How noble. Look at all she's accomplished. Hell, she accomplishes more in the average day than most women do in an entire lifetime. Especially those hateful, bashable "stay-at-home moms." All they've managed to do is bake cookies. And I, like a heel, have eaten them all, and even had the audacity to ask for more...

And Tami, before you clobber me, please hear me out. I've always considered myself blessed to have a wonderful wife like you, and that I've been able to make enough money to support you and the kids without your ever needing to work if you didn't want to. And I've always been grateful to be able to make it truly your choice whether to stay with your career or stay home with the kids, whichever you were more comfortable with. I have to admit that I've always secretly hoped that you'd stay home with ours at least until they were school age, then go back part time if you were just plain bored or wanted your own money or whatever.

So I've truly felt blessed that you've decided to come into business with me, giving us the unique opportunity to both stay home full-time, while both working full-time. Guess there really is a lot to be said for our zoning laws, to where we could make a successful business happen right out of our own home. I've never wanted to pressure you into working if you'd rather stay home, nor have I ever wanted to hold you back if you'd rather return to "The Shire," or go into some other line of work if you'd rather. But I must say, I've never been displeased with your decision to come into business alongside me, as the ultimate team on both business and parenting. Especially the times when you've bailed me out because I'll hit a solid, unyielding mental block on either a job or a kid problem, and you're just plain smarter than I am, and have a much better inborn feel for both, even though I'm usually the one who's given all the credit, which I rarely actually deserve, and we both know it. And the times when you've leaned on me to take badly needed but desperately unwanted vacations by myself, or with our son. You're my heart, my soul, my soulmate, and my inspiration, and I can't thank you enough for putting up with me, and having faith in me even when common sense has done everything in its power to tell you otherwise. Thank you for listening to your heart instead of your head in the area where it means the very most to me, basically. I just hope I've never made you sorry you chose to come back to me in defiance of all common sense and the advice of a few key people in your life at the time. And I don't mean to embarrass you or anything, but I hope that posting it here will keep you from ever forgetting it anytime soon. And that it screams out to everyone in our lives that you're the one making my clock tick after all these years, just in case anyone has any doubts.

I'm afraid Sarah Palin is setting an evil precedent for every single woman in America, though. She's "accomplishing" far more than any normal, 3-D woman was ever meant to accomplish. And it's just setting the bar higher than ever for the rest of you. She's presenting herself as "the ultimate role model" that the 5 closest females in my life right now could not collectively compete with or live up to, even if "Gollumette" suddenly came back from the great beyond as the real "Barracuda" prototype of "Super Working Mom." Sorry, Legolyas, don't mean to give you nightmares or anything, but think about it. What a formidable force the 6 of them would make as "The Superwoman Squad." A lot like the "X-Women," each having their own unique superpowers, and together, becoming a formidable, undefeatable superforce. And each of them I might add, being her own special, unique blend of Superwoman, based on the challenges of her own life. I have the greatest respect for every one of you ladies, and hope that whatever choices you've made have worked out well for you.

I really hope to see a world, though, where every single couple in America is every bit as free to choose how they want to live, handle parenting, share the workload, etc., as Tami and I have always been. But I can't help thinking that Sarah Palin may be the single biggest threat to that that we've ever seen in our lifetimes.

Mega, I guess I'd be most interested to hear your take on this after all these years. Guess I've got a sudden hankering to calmly and rationally discuss politics with you after all these years, for old times' sake. Guess I miss it, okay? :-)

And Aimerz, Merry and Frodo, I'm also very interested to hear you ladies' take on it, too. I guess I've come to trust and value all of your opinions after all these years.

And Tami, I can't help suspecting I'm about to get your opinion offline, between the eyes with both barrels, LOL. So I'm afraid I'm slipping out to lunch a little early, and have no idea when, or if, I'll be back. <weg>

Love you all,
Mixter

P.S. Gollumette, if you happen to be lurking out there anywhere, I guess I'd even be interested in hearing what you think of her, LOL. Sorry, Legolyas :-)

The Mixter

Why does Palin come off as nothing but a tool?