So McCain's VP choice was announced on Friday, and everyone's abuzz with his choice… either it's a daring, enlightened choice, or smacks of desperation, depending, I assume, on your political inclinations. (Though judging by this story, that may not be quite so clear a distinction this time around.) Then, over the weekend we find that his new VP's daughter is 17 and pregnant, but we're assured that she'll be marrying the baby's father.
Ah, what a relief! It is reassuring to know they're doing the responsible thing here, forcing a 17 year old into marriage to protect mom's career. Truly enlightened. (Of course, being a 21st century Republican, I guess her options are limited… unwed motherhood being second only to abortion as the gateway to hell, and adoption probably smacks too much of liberalism. Good choice for the kids, though, I'm sure — that's mom, dad and the newborn, for those keeping track of the minors involved.)
In other news, apparently there's a call to investigate the LAPD for another officer involved shooting (the fourth such death in recent months). This time it's a homeless guy that was waving a gun at cops. Before I start on a decidedly non-PC rant, allow me a brief disclaimer. I think this absolutely should be investigated, and if it turns out that the cops overreacted to the situation, then they should be held accountable for their actions.
Having said that, it seems to me that if you're out there, waving a gun at the police, the outcome of that action is pretty much all on your shoulders. It's not like the cops have some kind of warning sign that pops up to tell them "no, wait! This guy's really harmless!" Moments like this, I assume you're not terribly concerned with whether the guy really means it, or if he's really packing heat. You tell him to put the gun down. If he listens, all is well. If he doesn't, then frankly, hasn't he brought on this outcome himself? And yes, I understand he may not have full mental capabilities but a) how's the cop going to know that? And b) is it really better that the guy with diminished mental capabilities is waving a gun around?
Yes, I think it's safe to say that my tolerance for the flaws and foibles of humanity may have hit a low point.
Ah, what a relief! It is reassuring to know they're doing the responsible thing here, forcing a 17 year old into marriage to protect mom's career. Truly enlightened. (Of course, being a 21st century Republican, I guess her options are limited… unwed motherhood being second only to abortion as the gateway to hell, and adoption probably smacks too much of liberalism. Good choice for the kids, though, I'm sure — that's mom, dad and the newborn, for those keeping track of the minors involved.)
In other news, apparently there's a call to investigate the LAPD for another officer involved shooting (the fourth such death in recent months). This time it's a homeless guy that was waving a gun at cops. Before I start on a decidedly non-PC rant, allow me a brief disclaimer. I think this absolutely should be investigated, and if it turns out that the cops overreacted to the situation, then they should be held accountable for their actions.
Having said that, it seems to me that if you're out there, waving a gun at the police, the outcome of that action is pretty much all on your shoulders. It's not like the cops have some kind of warning sign that pops up to tell them "no, wait! This guy's really harmless!" Moments like this, I assume you're not terribly concerned with whether the guy really means it, or if he's really packing heat. You tell him to put the gun down. If he listens, all is well. If he doesn't, then frankly, hasn't he brought on this outcome himself? And yes, I understand he may not have full mental capabilities but a) how's the cop going to know that? And b) is it really better that the guy with diminished mental capabilities is waving a gun around?
Yes, I think it's safe to say that my tolerance for the flaws and foibles of humanity may have hit a low point.
Comments
The whole "forcing a 17 year old into marriage" is straight from your mouth. You and the disgustingly lib-minded MSM have nothing to back that one up. Seriously, you don't post about politics for months, and this is the first story you go for? The down-in-the-gutter and clearly out-of-bounds stories about her daughter? Why not just fly with the "I bet the down-syndrome baby is really the daughter's and Sarah is covering for her" rumor that the Daily Kos and Andrew Sullivan have been spouting? Talk about my tolerance for how low it can get!
I find it so outrageous and hypocritical that Obama will come out and dare to tell the press and the nation that his WIFE is out-of-bounds, let alone his two daughters. But, the press will go off on this poor girl.
Perhaps they had planned to marry before all this coverage? Why is it a bad thing? There's not that much more to do in Alaska. He's 18, she'll be 18. Sure, they're young, but there's nothing illegal here. Did someone forget that Obama himself had a 17 year old mother carrying him in her womb? That seemed to work out ok.
And, the day adoption is more liberal than the favorite Planned Parenthood option of abortion is the day I quit caring about politics. Hasn't happened yet.
Luckily for Bristol Palin, her parents have the means that she can keep the baby if she wants. At least they don't view it as a 'punishment' as Obama said he would view one of his daughters getting preggers.
The only thing that smacks of desperation to me is the hit-jobs that the press are desperately throwing out there. They didn't expect this pick, and neither did the Obama campaign. With every attack, they are digging themselves into a hole. Even the extremely liberal group, WomenCount has lashed out at the media for the sexist and indecent hatchet jobs being thrown at Palin. I wonder who else they can alienate? Polls only have McCain behind by 1 or 2 critical states...
No, I haven't posted about politics for months… nothing's really caught my attention. Obama won the nomination while Hilary had a public meltdown when things went south for her. Not much to say about that beyond the fact that, once I saw her character come forth as things went bad, I was glad to see her NOT get the nomination. (I do have to admire the way she made handing off the nomination to Obama all about her, though.) McCain's taken the fascinating tack of following the least popular president in history with a campaign that seems to say "if you liked the last eight years, you'll LOVE John McCain!" And Bush and company have been relatively quiet — no assaults on the Constitution, no sovereign nations invaded on flimsy evidence (though there's still plenty of time between now and January for us to storm Iran. Guess it all depends on who wins in November, and how much trouble he wants to leave for the incoming President. If Obama wins, it could mean "Good Morning, Tehran!" for us.) But there really hasn't been anything that's struck me as worth talking about.
And that's really all that's going on here… I'm speaking to my perceptions, the things I've heard and seen on this topic. Of course "forcing a 17 year old" is straight from my mouth. You looking for fair and balanced here? You'll have to try Fox News for that. (Oh, wait…)
So, before you go trying to take some kind of higher ground carping about Obama saying his wife and daughters are out of bounds, I'd have had immeasurably more respect for the woman if she had said something to the effect that "we're aware of my daughter's pregnancy, thanks for the concern. But we'll deal with this as a family matter and you can all mind your own damn business where my family is concerned." Instead she took the opportunity to assure the faithful that she and her family are firmly committed to that whole family values platform by reassuring them that the 17 year old will "do the right thing" and get married. My point being that, perhaps, marriage isn't necessarily the best option at 17 years old, with the implied notion that, if people like Sarah Palin have her way, that'll be the only option open to said pregnant 17 year olds. (And, may I observe that perhaps this statement really says it all, when it comes to the notion of 17 year olds choosing to keep the baby: "Luckily for Bristol Palin, her parents have the means that she can keep the baby if she wants." Not all pregnant 17 years olds are that fortunate.)
I'm sure no one's actually forcing her to get married, and I assume that there've been long, heart-to-heart discussions between mom, daughter, future son-in-law, etc. and everyone's happily aboard with the plan for the daughter to get married. But if you think that those discussions happened without any mention of "what's best for the family" or "what's best for mom's career"… well you've got more faith in human nature (and the career politician) than I have. (And just how is "There's not that much more to do in Alaska" a justification for anyone getting married?!?)
As for the desperation comment… that was a cheap shot, based on comments I've heard all weekend (from all my liberal/Democrat friends, and one or two Republicans, as well). Obama had an 8 point lead in the polls, last poll I saw, which is no surprise coming off the Democratic convention. I would assume those numbers to flip by the end of this week, or to even out to something much closer. I'm under no delusions that Obama's a lock, or that McCain is desperate. What I do see is that an announcement like this, on the heels of the DNC, picking an unknown Governor seemingly out of your hat after, reportedly, one interview and the equivalent of a Google search for vetting, smacks of a desperate attempt to seize the spotlight and appear relevant in light of the "historic nomination of a black presidential candidate". Whether that's truly what happened, or she's been on his short list for months and been that "little secret" they've been holding onto for this moment doesn’t really matter to me, I'm just telling you what it looks like.
As for Palin herself, I question her qualifications for the job. At this point, those seem to be she's female, she's attractive and she's pro-life. End of discussion. As many have pointed out, after months of bashing Obama for his lack of foreign policy experience (a lack he seems to have addressed with HIS VP choice) the oldest man ever to run for President picks a running mate that's got, if possible, less experience than Obama. Forgive me for belaboring the obvious but, considering his age and the pressures of the office (which has severely aged every man to hold that office) somewhere along the line there should have been the discussion that (especially if he's elected to a second term in office) there's probably a better than average chance he's not leaving the White House under his own power the last time he leaves. So a running mate that looks like they might have the experience to take over, if worse come to worst, hardly seems an unreasonable expectation.
(BTW, I would argue that Planned Parenthood's favorite option — hence the PLANNED in the title — is contraception, not abortion. But that's something Palin and friends also oppose, so I guess that's moot.)
I actually think the quickness of my response was related directly to...I'm not doin' much and have no one to talk to. But, I could be wrong...
The MSM is the mainstream media. Don't ask me how/why 'stream' got its own letter. I don't make the acronyms, I just use 'em.
You're right that not much has been going on. But, the theme of your post (I like that all your posts typically have a theme - typical writer) was that this was an example of how far we've fallen. But, not that this kind of shit is newsworthy (which I expected you to pick up on), but the actual story. That's what really got me. You should be bashing the story for even being a story, not the content.
My 'higher ground' comparison was really aimed at the MSM. When Obama said, 'hands off' they oohed and ahhed and backed away. But, no such treatment for the Republican female candidate. It's a sad state of affairs. I should also mention that Palin's response WAS "this is a family matter, so back off" but, that came after the 'she's getting married and we're happy' quote. Again, the MSM failed to report the whole thing. Sad, sad.
And, I don't think it's a cheap shot to claim desperation on the left. They like to be the party that represents blacks, and youth, and women. They are none too happy about a woman Republican on the ticket breaking apart the 'old white man' myth. There is so much shit being thrown at the wall about Palin it's scary. The NYT has already had to make detractions - apparently they 'mistakenly' reported she was a member of a group that wanted Alaska to secede. They just got around to fact-checking that today I guess. And, the conspiracy that the down-syndrome baby really belonged to the daughter? DailyKos and Andrew Sullivan are STILL reporting on that one. So, yeah, it seems pretty desperate to me.
Yes, Obama led by 8 points yesterday (if you count 'leaners'), and 5 today. He has a 'leaner' lead of 10 electoral votes. It's still down to 1 or 2 states. I definitely think Palin is as much about political strategy as anything.
As for Palin herself, she was on my radar about 4 months ago. I can't speak for McCain. For the record, I dismissed her as a serious choice due to her lack of experience. HOWEVER, she does not have less experience than Obama. She has much more. MUCH more. The left can throw the 'small town mayor' meme around as much as they want. They'll just piss off small town America. Fact is, small town mayor is more than Obama. Big state Governor, even for two years, is much more than Obama. Head of the National Guard - the only Guard with a 24/7 active unit (the 49th missile defense unit that watches Russian missile activity and Russian flyovers) - is much more than Obama. Running her own business is more than Obama. Whistle-blowing on her own corrupt party members in the Alaskan government is much more than Obama. So, that's a bad tactic for Obama to take. I'm not saying I'm comfortable with her leading the country if/when McCain kicks it tomorrow. But, I do like her better than Obama.
Big surprise, I know...
Now, the non-story part you're right. I probably should have caught that. Guess I was reacting more to the reaction to the story, then the quality (or lack thereof) of the story. Maybe it's just that I'm jaded. I don't expect the media to perform any better than that, so I'm not surprised any more.
And I wasn't claiming desperation from the LEFT! Geez, I hope we haven't sunk to that point yet. I was pointing out that, as I mentioned, so many people I spoke to over the weekend said it looked like a desperation move for McCain. I thought that's overly optimistic and figure it's going to be a couple more months before we get to real desperation on anyone's part.
Of course, I don't know why we're debating it at all. If it really does boil down to 1 or 2 swing states, that's more than enough for Republican voting machines to steal the election again anyway.
(sorry… couldn't resist. *grin*)
Who cares? It never comes down to California anyhow...
sadly, too true.
For the rest, thank you two for the interesting debates. That's all I can say without blowing my brains out.
A friend just blamed Bush for bailing out AIG without first discussing it with Congress. I actually burst out laughing. You know she would have blamed Bush if he had left it for Congress. And I still don't know who did bail out AIG. Thought it was the federal reserve.
How is there no mention in the blogging of the attack on our Embassay in Yemen? It was nice to read that the attack was thwarted (but it would have been better of course if no security had been killed in the attack, only terrorists).
Train crash? John and Ken played some of the 911 tapes. Horrific. I have decided to turn my blackberry to silent for messages while driving. It's too easy for me to read an email or write just a "quick" response while driving. Alas, these "quick" actions take more than the few seconds I think they take.
Ok, I had to stop myself from replying to any more. I love your discussions, but really . . . .