So Sarah Palin is whining that her critics are “cowards and jerks.” You know what I have to say about that, “Grow up lady!” She was running for a national office and ran into criticism. That goes with the territory. Heck, I ran ran for a local office and lost a job over it.
You can only blame others for your shortcomings for so long. If I allowed myself to be interviewed on national television and couldn’t answer basic questions about the Bush Doctrine or foreign policy, that would be my fault. To blame others is cowardly. If you aren’t aware of the nations that signed the NAFTA agreement (especially when one of those nations is the next-door neighbor to your State and that relationship is 50% of what you are drawing your foreign relations credentials on), then maybe you should just say no to being the vice-presidential nominee for your party.
But maybe when you cut spending for your State’s sex-ed program and then your teenage daughter winds up pregnant, setting an example for “Just Say No” isn’t your strong suit.
Seems she had a hard time saying no to all those clothes too. I’m looking forward to the audit of the Republican Party books. That should be interesting. And just how much of those expenditures will wind up unaccounted for? I’d hate to be a Republican donor at this point. I like nice clothes as much as the next princess, but I don’t expect other people to pony up for them for me.
I don’t know about you, but I’m thinking that if SP wound up going missing in a freak Arctic blizzard, our country would be better off for it. Lord help us if she comes back around in 4 years…
I would hope that the Republican Party (and certainly this country) could do better than a nice looking air-bag…
2-3 months ago, I was seriously considering voting for a Republican presidential candidate for the first time in my life. I had a great deal of respect for Mr. McCain and his record of bucking the GOP. His unfortunate choice of a VP running-mate, his apparent lack of understanding of the seriousness of this country’s economic difficulties and his erractic behavior have made it apparent that he believes that most Americans are uneducated hicks with little but their guns and religion to keep them warm and entertained.
Now his campaign’s decision to go on the offensive and attack Mr. Obama’s character and distant associates just reeks of dirty politics. And what’s worse is that it is a tactic that Mr. McCain once swore he wouldn’t use. It’s kind of like the campaign finance bill that he introduced and then hired the author of to help him figure out how to make the most of it’s loopholes. Nice, isn’t it?
Mr. McCain and Ms. Palin’s claim to be the “real Americans” is insulting to all of us really. We must not be that intelligent as a nation if we can turn on backs on the realy financial concerns of the past two weeks and worry about whether Mr. Obama is un-American because he once sat on a board with a man who led some civil-rights era unrest that included bombings 40 years ago.
That kind of reaching logic may fly up in the wilds of Alaska, but I think most of the rest 49 states are a little more enlightened. Do you suppose all that winter darkness makes folks more out-of-touch and paranoid?
A notoriously conservative columnist this week called for Sarah Palin to step down from the Republican ticket. After seeing some of her recent interviews, I would think that every Republican would want her gone just to end the embarassment factor.
The truth of the matter is that I was excited about the prospect of a female vice presidential candidate for about the five minutes it took me to read up on her background and politics. From that moment on, I was furiously against her. She may be a working mother with children whose ages span a broad range and her own political aspirations but beyond that, the woman and I have absolutely nothing in common.
And the more I learned about her, the less respect I had for her. Frankly, she’s more recklessly holier-than-thou and hypocritical than W himself, and we don’t need any more of that in DC. As anti-feminist as this is going to sound, I also feel that with the challenges several of her children are currently facing, her family might need her more than her country right now. I even told DH that I wouldn’t even want to take on the demands of a local school board race, much less a high-profile national race, if my kids had those types of issues.
Now, watching how unprepared and just plain dim-witted she has been in her recent interviews, I’m just as glad I didn’t support her. It puts feminism back 50 years for McCain to think that he can put a socially conservative beauty queen on the ticket, who isn’t even capable of an intelligent interview, just to get women and the right on his side. Right about now, I’d be really embarrassed to be a conservative. First, Bush and now, her… It’s like “Dumb & Dumber.”
Maybe all the politicians in this race think that most Americans are clinging to their guns while hiding behind their religion or maybe, when the reporters aren’t around, they refer to us as “rouge cous” (French for “red necks” and Palin’s name for a company she had). One got crucified for actually saying it, but the sad tale is that the Republicans have shown even less regard for the intellect and priorities of average Americans by putting this woman and a war hero with anger management issues on their ticket and expecting a majority to buy it.
DH and I went to a 50th birthday day party for everyone in his graduating class since this is the year most of them are turning the big 5-0. It was fun; not like a reunion at all. They had it at a Panini’s Bar and Grill. The one saving grace for me, since DH tends to be a social butterfly at events like this, was that they had the Olympics on a big screen TV. And since DH had to chat up everyone that was there, I got to see Michael Phelps win his 8th gold medal which was really exciting.
Since N was a swimmer in high school, we’ve been following Phelps career for quite some time. I love to read articles about him because he sounds like such a normal guy, very down to earth. It’s nice to see someone who’s getting all this attention but doesn’t seem to be letting it go to his head. We were really happy to see him break Spitz’s record.
As a woman of a “certain age,” I was also really pulling for Dara Torres. And what she accomplished as a woman and a mother is nothing short of amazing. When she had the best time coming out of the semi-finals in the 50-meter freestyle, I had such high hopes for her to get a gold. But I don’t want to take away from what she did accomplish, and she only missed that gold by one-one hundredth of a second. The same margin by which Phelps won his 100-meter fly the night before. I thought Torres showed a great deal of class and sportsmanship before the race by asking the officials to hold up for the swimmer whose suit had torn and after the race by not challenging the results and accepting the results with grace. Her disappointment showed but she congratulated her competitors and smiled for the cameras. I hope that she keeps it at it and considers trying to get to the London Olympics.
I must say, she puts me to shame. She’s only a little younger than I am, but she’s in amazing shape and has had kids too. I guess I’m going to have to consider resurrecting my workout blog for some motivation. If Torres can be in the kind of shape she is, there’s no reason why I can’t spend a few hours a week on the treadmill at least.
Finding out that a woman that hates you has been hired to be your son’s pre-K teacher.
The downside to getting involved in local politics is that people (who don’t really know you) decide for one reason or another that you are Satan and that they must bad-mouth you at any opportunity. This is especially hard and hurtful when it is someone with whom you previously had at least a warm acquaintanceship if not an actual friendship.
Yes, I know that backstabbing and ever-changing loyalties are the name of the game in politics. This is probably why I’ve decided that I really don’t have the stomach for playing the game any longer.
But the current problem is that P is already struggling in his current school. To put him in a class with a teacher that may have a tendency to be prejudiced against him from the start just doesn’t seem like a good idea. So now at the eleventh hour, I’m looking for a new pre-K program where he’ll at least have a chance of getting a teacher that won’t have any clue who his mother is and just like him for the rambunctious, mischievous, smart boy that he is.
Now I just have to find a program that employs this saint…
We need to do something about fixing up our backyard. We would like to have a patio with an outdoor fire pit. Yesterday, I saw this article on a circular brick patio that costs less than $200 to put in. That one is only 7 feet across, so we would need something bigger. I was intrigued by it though because we’ve been coming up with projects that need to be done around here because N’s boyfriend is pretty handy and could use some extra cash right now. I’m angling to get the living room painted and tile work done around the front door and the fireplace first. Who knows if we’ll get to putting in a patio before the weather turns, but I can dream can’t I?
So here I am putting something where I’ll be able to find it again when I need it…
P’s been struggling with behavioral issues at school. Most of it is just being mischievous but he’s also seeming to have a hard time staying on task and getting along with the other kids. I knew that with him being the only boy and being so much younger than his sisters, that he would probably have some socialization problems. But after being in school for almost a year, the behaviors seem to be getting worse, not better. Most of it has been brought to light this summer when he’s had a different teacher. Actually, she’s his 4th (or 5th, I can’t remember for sure) teacher in less than a year, but the head of the center swears that this one is the best. I’m not pleased about all the turnover, but I do understand that it’s been an unusually tough year for his class. I also don’t have a lot of options right now.
I don’t want to be one of those parents, but I’ve wondered if it couldn’t just be a personality thing between him and the teacher. Strangely enough, I get good behavior reports when he’s with another teacher for some reason. But the truth is, we’re seeing some stuff we don’t like here at home too. He’s a summer baby (and a boy…), so we’ve decided that we won’t send him to kindergarten until he’s 6. But when he goes, we want him to be ready. The preschool director has recommended a behavioral program, so I think we’re going to give that a try.
It’s hard not to wonder though: would he be having these issues if I had stayed home a little longer and enrolled him in the cooperative preschool that is designed more for kids with stay-at-home parents that K & H went to? Did I pick the wrong preschool/daycare program for him? Am I not doing something with him when I’m home that I should be? Am I doing something… wrong? Aaahh, mommy-guilt… Isn’t it swell?
Then to make me feel even better about my parenting skills (or potential lack thereof…), we were planning to put P in T-ball but had been holding off on registering him for financial reasons and since practice didn’t even start until August. Then this week, I realized: August, T-ball, better get my butt in gear. But when I called, they had closed registration the day before. So now because of my lack in preparation, he can’t do T-ball this year. Next year, he’ll be 6 and will have to do Coach-Pitch which will be harder for him without the T-ball experience. More bad mommy guilt…
Maybe it’s just because it’s also that time of month, but I can’t help feeling like I’ve fucked up his whole life before he even gets into grade school.
