CherylKatz.org

I didn’t see this at the time it was shown, I actually only got to view it after we’d finished with McCain’s speech (had to pause it to put the wee one to bed.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDx80bnFrVs

I found the imagery beyond upsetting.  Appalling.  Not in and of itself, but because it was being shamelessly exploited to make people feel afraid, to garner support for Republican defense policies.

I was there on 9/11.  Not the only person I know who was there, and certainly one of a million people in the tip of lower manhattan that day.  Footage of the destruction, the dead and the dying, touch a tender spot that I tend to armor pretty well.  I don’t like it when those feelings and those memories are triggered; I especially dislike it when its purpose is to convince me to hate an enemy or vote a certain way.

Keith Olbermann’s reaction was dead on.  Republicans regularly decry the kind of graphic footage that was used, and yet found it appropriate to stuff their propaganda full of it.

I really am appalled.

That bit toward the end about having been an arrogant jerk and how he came to love America more than himself was actually good. Too bad he ended every sentence with a creepy, forced smile; it made almost everything he said seem insincere.

He actually seemed most natural, human and approachable in the moments after the protester was hauled off. His off the cuff comment made him seem for a brief moment connected to what was going on around him.

The rest nearly put me to sleep. It really is a shame that he wasted the whole speech making policy sound like the most boring topic on earth. Even if I disagree, I still enjoy a good speech better than one that sounds half asleep.

If they can’t keep protesters out of their own convention, how are they going to protect us from terrorists?

Yes, this builds confidence.

Why did the “Service” signs look like Hershey bars?

Also, why did the RNC come off looking like a really big karaoke bar, while the DNC looked like an actual, professional, coordinated political event?

Anyway….

Will Bristol Palin’s pregnancy make McCain-Palin more appealing to some Obama supporters *and* social conservatives?

1) She’s keeping the baby.  This is a win with pro-life conservatives.

2) She’s embarking on the struggle of parenthood a) by surprise and b) incredibly young.  I imagine this makes Bristol a sympathetic character to many single mothers, pregnant teens, many of whom are not necessarily conservatives themselves.

3) This makes her mom look practically like a saint.  No one can completely control their children, but they can be supportive and see that they “do the right thing.”  And it makes McCain look more progressive for choosing Palin when he “knew” about the daughter’s pregnancy.  Which may help him in the center and have uncertain effects on the right.

Scary, scary.

Of course, Obama shines like gold, saying that this all shouldn’t be a campaign issue.  

Mr. Obama said the pregnancy “has no relevance to Governor Palin’s performance as a governor or her potential performance as a vice president.” He added that, “my mother had me when she was 18. How a family deals with issues and teen-age children — that shouldn’t be the topic of our politics.” (excerpt from NYTimes.com article here)

I agree, but only if Palin isn’t hiding something - it *is* a campaign issue if the potential vice president of the United States is a big fat liar. It’s true, the pregnancy issue has no bearing on her doubtful but possible abilities.  It does bear upon her honesty.

I would like to see a campaign that is about real issues.  I also think that the problem of unwed pregnancy is sadly a real situation for more Americans than anyone would like to believe.  How either side would handle such a problem presents a real voting issue for many many people.  

On the other hand, if it were Obama and not Palin who had a 17 year old pregnant daughter, I can only imagine the hypocrisy that would be hurled at him. 

All just food for thought.

Okay, well I guess it was always possible that the rumors about Sarah Palin’s son being her grandson were not true.

But Bristol *is* pregnant, now.  I have a lot less to say about this.  I’m glad the Palin family is supporting her.

However.  This means that *if* Bristol isn’t really the mother of Trig, then the story of her delivering a speech, getting through airport security, boarding not one but a series of connecting flights back to Alaska, and engaging in otherwise risky behaviours during the labor and delivery of her fifth child - IS true.  And personally I think it’s a) implausible at best, and b) if true, horrible that she showed such lack of concern for the safe delivery of baby #5, whatever her reasons were.

She’s pro-life.  That is why she carried a Down’s Syndrome baby to term.  (Over 90% of Down’s Syndrome pregnancies are terminated - according to wikipedia.*)  Her behaviour between water breaking and delivery certainly indicates a lack of concern for the safety of the child, an inconsideration for the other passengers on the two flights that could have been grounded if she needed to be brought to a hospital mid-flight, not to mention for her own health.

This is infuriating, to say the least.

I just don’t buy it.  I think that maybe Bristol is 3 months pregnant, and being used as a convenient cover up to the original cover up.  It certainly is a resonably successful diversion to the rumor about Trig’s birth.

The bottom line is that no matter what is true, at this point, something is seriously wrong with Sarah Palin.

*A 2002 literature review of elective abortion rates found that 91–93% of pregnancies in the United States with a diagnosis of Down syndrome were terminated.

If I were a conservative evangelical Christian, I’d be thinking thusly:

What in heaven’s name is Sarah Palin doing being Governor of Alaska with 5 kids at home?  What kind of good Christian mother leaves her children at home to be educated outside the home, where they could be infiltrated by other people’s values?  THEY MIGHT LEARN SCIENCE!!

But I’m not.  So instead I just think /she’s/ the nut job.

1) She sued the Bush Administration for declaring polar bears an endangered species… because that would hinder her plan to drill the bleeding shit out of Alaska.

2) She’s part of an organization called “Feminists for LIfe,” which at its face doesn’t sound like such a bad thing.  Feminists can be pro-life while recognizing it’s none of their damn business to meddle with the interior of anyone else’s uterus, right?  Nooooooooooo.  (Well, I mean, feminists CAN think that way, but it isn’t the case with Feminists for Life.)  Nope.  They think abortion is wrong no matter the case - incest, rape, risk to the mother’s life.

3) John McCain is 72 and has survived cancer like a hundred times.  (Or at least a handful.)  This makes her so much closer to being president than I am even comfortable thinking about.

4) She may or may not actually be the grandmother of her 4-month-old “son,” possibly covering for her unwed 17-year-old daughter’s pregnancy.  To summarize, her pregnancy was a total surprise to her coworkers when it was announced at her “7 month mark.”  Pictures do not indicate much showing.  Her daughter had been out of school for 4 months before the child’s birth, supposedly with extended mono.  And in the family’s Christmas photo, who looks pregnant here?

Personally I couldn’t give less of a crap whether or not Bristol was unwed or pregnant.  Or both, as the case may be.  And it’s not that I want Sarah Palin in the white house to start with, but especially not if she’ll lie to cover up for her daughter while simultaneously showing no holds barred on telling other women what to do with their bodies.

I guess with more media attention this rumor will eventually be verified.  What a disaster for the McCain/Palin campaign.

OK, I just had to add the lagging, nagging thought in my head.  Either Sarah Palin is lying to cover up for her daughter, which is icky.  Or she showed some reckless abandon in boarding a plane with leaking amniotic fluid to take a 12-hour flight back to Alaska to deliver this child.  What does that say about her pro-life beliefs?  I’m pro-life, but if the kid has Down’s I don’t really care about delivering safely?  What would this say about her doctor - bordering on malpractice so that her child wouldn’t be a Texan, as Mr. Palin weakly joked?  I know I’m babbling a little bit, but for the love - something is not right here.

I don’t regret for a minute that I supported Hillary Clinton through the primary season.

But I sure am happy with Barack Obama as the Democratic nominee.

I am feeling a little bit betrayed at the moment.  Eliot Spitzer was my shining ideal of what a politician should be - not perfect by any means, but certainly upright, honest and direct.

Imagine my shock and disillusionment to find out that he is involved with a prostitution ring, after knowing him to be a crusader for the people, and knowing him to have busted up a small handful of prostitution rings in his time as NY attorney general?

I know that trust and belief in political leaders is hard-earned at best, and certainly not something I should expect, but Spitzer had been one of my few exceptions.  I’ll certainly go on voting and participating in politics, no one figure is going to break me.  But it’ll take a little time for the shock of this to wear off.

For those who didn’t know of Spitzer before today, let me put it this way.  If it came out tomorrow that Barack Obama had ties to a prostitution ring, well, this would be a parallel.

This raises so many uncertainties: will he resign?  Who will replace him as NY Governor?  If Hillary is elected, his replacement will be appointing an interim Senator for her seat.  What happens if he doesn’t resign?  What implications will this scandal have for the Democratic party at large (if any?)  Grr.

• Sami is doing extremely well at her new school, and is even eating the lunches I pack for her!
• I’ve lost eleven (11!) pounds since mid-january.  The first 4 without even realizing it.  I never considered one or two pounds significant progress before, however I am encouraged by every small step.
• Hillary Clinton won Texas and Ohio last night (more or less).  I was surprised to find myself feeling relieved about this, and also came to a concrete realization: I am not a fan of lofty rhetoric.
• I am so kicking this cold’s butt.  I’ll have my voice back, in full, soon.
• I had a good conversation with our Rabbi this morning.