I Can't Stay Quiet About Palin Any Longer

I have never intended this blog to be a forum for political discussion, but I think it’s time for me to break away from my typical topics. The blind support I have seen forthe McCain/Palin ticket which seems to stem mostly from the fact that the Vice Presidential candidate is in possession of a pair of ovaries has driven me to comment. I, like most women would be thrilled to have a female hold the highest elected office in our country. But can’t people see that by supporting the wrong woman, just because she is a woman, could set our cause back years, even decades? I don’t dislike Sarah Palin as a candidate because she is a Republican. In fact, I have always felt that if Barack Obama was not elected President I could actually be pretty comfortable with McCain. That is until he chose Palin as his running mate. I could support a woman if she were more like Condoleezza Rice and less like the lovechild of Martha Stewart and the Terminator. Following are several reasons why Sarah Palin scares me. Please note that much of the following is quoted directly from On The Issues. On The Issues is a website which provides a detailed history of each candidate's voting record as well as their public stances on issues. It can be accessed at http://www.issues2000.org/default.htm

Sarah Palin On Abortion:

During the Alaska Governors debate in 2006 candidates were asked what they would do if their own daughters were raped and became pregnant.

Palin said she would support abortion only if the mother's life was in danger. When it came to her daughter, she said, "I would choose life."

Sarah Palin On Equal Rights for Same Sex Couples:

Ms. Palin said she supported Alaska's decision to amend its Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. But she used her first veto as governor to block a bill that would have prohibited the state from granting health benefits to same-sex partners of public employees. Ms. Palin said she vetoed the bill because it was unconstitutional, but raised the possibility of amending the state Constitution so the ban could pass muster.

Elected officials can't defy the court when it comes to how rights are applied, she said, but she would support a ballot question that would deny benefits to homosexual couples. "I believe that honoring the family structure is that important," Palin said. She said she doesn't know if people choose to be gay.

On Education:

Earlier this year, she told the Anchorage Daily News that schools should not fear teaching creationism alongside evolution. "Teach both. You know, don't be afraid of information.... Healthy debate is so important and it's so valuable in our schools. I am a proponent of teaching both. And you know, I say this too as a daughter of a science teacher."

On The Environment:

Governor Sarah Palin announced today the State of Alaska has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia seeking to overturn Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne's decision to list the polar bear as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

This action follows written notice given more than 60 days ago, asking that the regulation listing the polar bear as threatened be withdrawn. "We believe that the Service's decision to list the polar bear was not based on the best scientific and commercial data available," Governor Palin said.

The Service's analysis failed to adequately consider the polar bears' survival through prior warming periods, and its findings that the polar bear is threatened by sea-ice habitat loss are not warranted. The Service also failed to adequately consider the existing regulatory mechanisms which have resulted in a sustainable worldwide polar bear population that has more than doubled in number over the last 40 years to 20,000-25,000 bears.

Palin On Stem Cell Research:

Palin told ABC’s Charles Gibson that “we should not create human life, create an embryo and then destroy it for research, if there are other options out there.”

But now the McCain/Palin campaign now has a radio spot that enthusiastically supports stem cell research.

To see a full accounting of Sarah Palin’s voting record please take the time to visit http://www.issues2000.org/Sarah_Palin.htm and decide for yourself. Then vote. Conversely, if you aren't going to take the time to get educated on where this woman stands stay home on November 4th. Many of these issues pertain directly to you, as a woman, a mother, a daughter, and a citizen of this country. Please don't just vote your emotions, take time to figure out if, woman or not, she is qualified to represent all of us, and to lead this country in the event that McCain cannot. To paraphrase the candidates' favorite quote, just because it wears lipstick doesn't mean it isn't a pig.