Monday, September 15, 2008

Sarah Palin: Phyllis Schafly with a Pretty Face

I was thrilled that the newspaper asked me to comment on Palin. One woman actually called my house on Saturday to thank me for it. But the best part is reading the comments on the paper's website! Woozer! "Sarah Palin exemplifies what most American women were like, not so long ago when this country was truly great."


Sarah Palin: Phyllis Schlafly With a Pretty Face

When the Republicans announced their nominee for Vice-President last Friday, I was not shocked, I was offended. I was offended that the GOP clearly thinks women are stupid, particularly women who were supporters of Hillary Clinton for President. Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton have nothing in common except for their gender. Palin, more conservative than McCain, believes in creationism, drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve, abstinence only education and opposes gun control, stem cell research, and abortion, even in cases of rape or incest.

The media focus on Hillary supporters who would not vote for Obama was all hype. The few women who are distraught about Obama winning the primary are just that: a few. No intelligent Hillary supporter would ever confuse gender over belief. It's a pity that the Republicans think so little of the intelligent women in this country who care about issues like national health care, pay equity, the environment, sexual education, the right to choose when and if we bear children, childcare, education, maternity leave, the economy, affirmative action, and a war with no end in sight.

If McCain moves into the White House, I can assure you that many rights we now hold will continue to be destroyed as they have been under the Bush Administration. Our right to choose, our right to live in a country free from pollutants, our right to health care, and affirmative action will be set aside while we invade more countries, send more of our children to useless irresponsible wars and chip away at any rights that gays and lesbians have begun to get over the last decade.

Palin left her city in debt, she tried to ban books in her city's library and clearly her advocacy for abstinence only sex education has not been affective, as demonstrated in her own family.

When Palin was interviewed in July about being on the list for potential vice presidents, she said "I keep asking exactly what the VP does every day." A world where Sarah Palin is just a melanoma away from a Presidency with no federal or foreign experience is not a world I want to live in. And just because Alaska is next to Russia does not make her an expert in foreign policy. I want to live in a world where justice, equality and true democracy unite us as citizens and where other countries look at us as the progressive democratic country that our forefathers wanted us to be. To me, Ms Palin is just the right wing version of Phyllis Schlafly with a pretty face.




http://www.heraldnews.com/opinions/x55303083/COMMUNITY-VOICES-Phyllis-Schlafly-with-a-pretty-face-09-13-08