The initial thought that went through my mind, "You have got to be kidding me," persists. The more I read about Sarah Palin the more I am turned off. She is a mother which is a beautiful and wonderful thing. But is accepting a nomination for one of the most stressful and time consuming jobs responsible when you have a four month old down syndrome baby? She protested polar bears placed on the endangered species list, worrying it would prevent oil drilling in some parts of Alaska. She disagrees that humans are a big cause of global warming, she believes only creationism should be taught in schools and she is staunchly anti-choice, even in the case of incest or rape. If you are not picking up what I am putting down, she doesn't represent me....in the slightest.
It is not these points that terrify me the most. It is the judgement of John McCain. He only met Sarah Palin once, at a meeting, then spoke with her a second time when he offered her the VP position. He has never worked with her, he has barely had time to learn her name. I see what he is doing, I get his line of thinking. Fighting one historical nomination with another adds a sense of drama and excitement. It gets peoples attention and reaffirms the American Dream. But choosing someone simply because they are a woman? It reeks of affirmative action and nothing more. Is there not one other Republican woman who is more qualified? Hell, take Conde. She has at least worked in the national government. As a woman I am offended by this choice and it reaffirms my concern over John McCains judgement. In having to make his first big executive decision he responds in a rather thoughtless and dangerous way. He is incapable of thinking critically about the things that matter most. I do not trust the man. And now, should our great country choose him, and he became unable to do the job, we get Sarah Palin.
I will be watching the debates, maybe she will prove herself under pressure. Or maybe she will get eaten by Joe Biden. Either way, if you didn't guess it before, you probably know now which camp I am for. I truly hope for the best. I know that a turnaround in America won't happen overnight and I don't believe any candidate would be a magic fix it pill, but I don't change to be delayed for another 4-8 years. I believe both our window is small and our country and the world just can't afford to wait.
Did I give you any new insight or convince you on one point or another? Probably not. But I feel a little better after a good rant so thank you for reading.
The party was at Mitja's parents home and, while I understood we were going into the country, and that he was raised in a small village, I in no way expected what I saw. We pulled in down a drive and into a courtyard. On one side was a barn were the festivities were being held, at the head was the huge home, or country manor, rather, that was built in 1840, and on the third side was another much larger barn attached to a 700+ year old tower. Mitja, apparently, is farm royalty or so he was deemed Prince Busch for the remainder of the weekend.
I appreciated the weekend for many reasons. Mostly, I have noticed my tendency to slide again into the daily grind, worrying only about the job and what must be done, often at the expense of what I really need. What a wonderful opportunity, then, to have no option but to stop and listen. To observe and be unconcerned with what will happen in the next hour. To fully enjoy each moment. And each moment in the weekend was well beyond full.
