Graceful Parenting in Austin

Here are my random thoughts on Sarah Palin…

- My first thought when I heard she had a four-month-old baby was “OH MY GOD! IS SHE CRAZY?!?!!!” which may not be very modern thinking. But my own experience right now working and having one small child and one bigger one is that it is FREAKING HARD and if a national crisis came up at the same time Baby Girl was throwing up, I would take care of my baby and that might be a problem for national security. I thought about this one for a while and then remembered one important point - it isn’t ME running for Vice President. She is an experienced Mom of five kids who has managed to be Governor while being pregnant, giving birth and having a newborn. She has found a way to take care of her family. Maybe her husband takes on more of the responsibility. Maybe the older ones help with the younger ones. Just like men in important positions get to decide how to care for their family, so does Sarah Palin.

- I get annoyed by liberals who say Palin doens’t represent women’s issues like abortion rights, birth control coverage by insurance and equal pay for equal work. In a way it makes sense to call these women’s issues, because women agree with them in larger numbers than men. But there are conservative women to, women who share her views. She isn’t betraying women by being a woman with conservative views, she just happens to be conservative woman, which is the kind of woman that makes sense for the Republican ticket.

- I enjoyed her speech last night. Well, maybe not for the content. We disagree on just about every policy position. But I enjoyed her personality and spunk and confidence. How great that she can be a Governor of a state with a small population one day and on the national scene as a major player the next, without hesitation or apology, with strength and guts. And I am a sucker for what I call the Blossom effect. I was very aware growing up that there weren’t a lot of women doing a lot of things. I had trouble choosing a major in college, because I didn’t have models for what was possible. I ended up in education, because that was something women did. I didn’t think this out loud, it was in the background, that it wasn’t realistic for women to be doctors or lawyers or politicians. I was in my twenties when the TV show Blossom was on. I know there were women on TV before Blossom, but for a young woman to have her own show, it felt like I was seeing myself on TV for the first time. I loved Blossom. And I loved seeing Sarah Palin speaking as the Republican party’s Vice Presidential candidate. (This is not related to how I will vote, of coarse. That is different.)

- I don’t buy her maverick story, though. The speech had some good points, but also some cheap shots, which is politics as usual. For example, we are to take Palin’s run for office as a sincere and born from her love of country, but Obama’s as a only a mechanism to further his career? Really? Sarah Palin - have you read his diary? Have you interviewed his therapist? You know this? This is a Jerome Corsi style argument (see my opinion of that here, it includes a Corsi-style mini-bio of Mother Teresa). Well, really, it isn’t just a Jermoe Corsie style argument, it is literally one of his arguments in Obama Nation. This type of argument lacks integrity and honesty and is a dirty, cheap shot. This type of talk from her has an impact on the Blossom effect for sure.

Wow, this is an interesting election. I’m fascinated and excited and a little nervous. While I like the Sarah Palin pilot, I don’t want to see the show picked up for four seasons. I’d rather watch some Blossom reruns while Obama and Biden change the nation.