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Debi Juhl, president of the Sioux Falls Business and Professional Women, also agrees:
With five children, and one of those with special needs, Palin will have to do a lot of juggling in Washington D.C. But Debi Juhl, the President of the Business and Professional Women's chapter in Sioux Falls, says it's unfair to ask questions about Palin's ability to juggle motherhood and the Vice Presidential position.
Juhl says, "These questions aren't being asked of the men candidates and they need to spend just as much time with their families as the women do" [Ben Dunsmoor, "Palin as a Parent Versus a V.P.," KELOLand.com, 2008.09.02].
And even as I type this, I hear a woman on NPR's Morning Edition say, "I just think that if you're going to have children, you ought to stay home and raise them." Ugh! When are the Anessa Klumbs of this world going to realize the sexism in applying that statement to women who run for office but not men?
Oh Cory there's too much political correctness floating around out there. Sally Quinn was honest and right on in almost every way. A job like VP clearly will not leave enough time for Palin to be an equal and engaged parent to 5 kids. Her ambitions have made her a poor role model and a big step backward for family values. Everyday people who put their kids first are the real role models.
ReplyDeletejohnsd, I then assume that the candidate I choose to support, Barrack Obama has let his ambition get in the way of his being a good father and role model. Guess John McCain, since he has no small children at home, is the only candidate that is qualified, in your mind, to be President. It takes a mother and a father to raise a well rounded child. Your isms are showing.
ReplyDeleteJoseph G. Thompson
I haven't met any men who can breastfeed their wife's baby.
ReplyDeleteOpportunities for women are important and fair, but it is absurd to pretend that males usually do as much to take care of children as do men or are equally important. That does not diminish the importance of child rearing, it partly indicates we males don't usually do as much.
Joe Biden might have been an exception after his first wife was killed in a car crash.
Some of the PC Correctness really is just silly.
Palin may be a perfectly good mother as a governor or as a VP, but whatever, she is not the kind of person with the experience or background needed to be president.
Gutting a moose may be an interesting talent, but damn few opportunities in politics to gut moose and very little relation to the actual job.
Some of the crap spread at the GOP last night was even sillier than the worst PC Correctness. They suffer from acute Wingnut Correctness.
One has to also consider that as Vice President, Palin's children will have access to and be exposed to benefits such as private schools, in-home daycare and other perks that being VP can provide. While she is expected to fully serve as VP and is only a heartbeat away from being President, nobody questioned John F. Kennedy or Jacqueline Kennedy's abilities to provide a loving, caring home to their young kids in the 1960's when it was a far larger stigma. Don't underestimate her abilities. She's a time-management expert and juggler of duties, both as Governor and mother of five. She can handle it just fine.
ReplyDeleteDouglas, may I change your statement just slightly: "OBAMA may be a perfectly good father as a community organizer and short time senator, but whatever, he is not the kind of person with the experience or background needed to be president." And THIS statement is now true!
ReplyDeletePalin has had more executive and leadership experience than Obama. What state has he led? What town has he been mayor of? What businesses has he run? Answer: None! Being president requires leadership and executive ability, and Palin has both. Obama does not.
No, I'm saying if she is the candidate of family values she should walk the walk rather than talk the talk and conservatives should hold their candidates to their own values. Qualifications are not the point, but the position her family is placed by this decision. Quinn was honest and thoughtful in her assessment and probably could have excluded the gender bias and made a very similar point. Her article is worth reading as is Blanchard's response.
ReplyDelete"executive and leadership experience" -- In the last 20 months, Palin has run a small state government that faces few major crises thanks to the luck of big oil revenues. During the same period, Obama has built from scratch a successful national campaign that beat the once-inevitable Clinton machine and by garnering lots of small donations, 18 million votes, and more volunteers than the combined populations of Alaska and South Dakota (and maybe more).
ReplyDelete"Palin has had more executive and leadership experience than Obama."
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, Anon. Go read the Wiki pages for Palin and Obama and then try to tell me Palin has more executive and leadership experience than Obama with a straight face. Palin's experience utterly pales in comparison to Obama's. When you actually compare their resumes, Obama looks eminently qualified to seek the presidency while Palin looks like a fairly mediocre politician.
There is another interesting faith based article on the Washington Post site worth considering entitled "Palin: Is She Subject to Her Husband?"
ReplyDeletehttp://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/susan_brooks_thistlethwaite/2008/09/palin_is_she_subject_to_her_hu.html
Wiki pages can be changed, can they not? I stand by my statement that Obama is not qualified to become president, to be commander in chief, or to make decisions that will be in America's best interests, and that he will turn this nation into a socialist society if he would have his way. Sorry, but I just do not believe that is the right course for this great nation.
ReplyDeleteYes, Anon, Wiki pages can be changed. But they also have hyperlinked footnotes, so we can go to the sources and check the facts ourselves. Go ahead, check them out. They're quite revealing.
ReplyDeleteSo, what exactly is it you can point to that disqualifies Obama from serving as president? Why exactly do you think he'll turn our country into a socialist nation?