Many of us come from less than stellar backgrounds with relatives that provide us with much story telling. Nothing wrong with that. People in high places are no different. Jimmy Carter had Billy. Bill Clinton had Roger. Sarah Palin...well, that is another story.
First she had an unmarried daughter end up pregnant after much talk about abstention from sex until marriage. Then the boy's mother was arrested for illegally dealing drugs. Now her husband's sister has been arrested for breaking and entering, and the ex-future son-in-law and his family are now going on TV and telling all about the former relationship. They allege that Ms Palin knew about the close relationship because they shared a bedroom. Could there be a reality show in their future?
Sometimes it is better to stay in your place than to have all of your family's dirty laundry exposed to the world. It appears from the family backgrounds of both Palin and her husband, that they may be a bit more, shall we say, seedy than most. Yet, she is not to blame for all of these issues. She can't help that the boy's mother is a drug dealer, nor can she help that her sister-in-law is a common thief.
Nevertheless, all of this seedy, negative publicity reflects upon her. Who knows, now, where it will end? There are probably many other skeletons in the closet, which may jump out at any time. She always has her own chances to snap defeat from the jaws of victory. Remember the turkey killing video? Then, just this past week the Republican speaker fiasco and the revelation of her SarahPac relationship with Van Susteran and her husband, both Scientologists.
Ms Palin has four years to provide the voters and her opponents with so many reasons why she is not fit to hold a national office. Maybe she should be content with keeping a close eye on Russia from her back porch and stay at home in Wasilla while keeping her family soap opera off the national stage.
One of my readers usually says that all of this is the liberal media picking on this sainted, Christian woman. Wait until she tries to run for national office. Then we will see the Republican juggernaught of dirty politics tear her limb from limb, using all of the dirty secrets they can skim from the sludge of her life.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Friday, April 3, 2009
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
An Intellectural Discourse on A Decision To Support the Right to An Abortion
Please read this discourse on one man's decision to move from "pro-life" to "pro-Abortion" (unfortunate choice of words as Mr. Westmoreland-White points out below. Pro-choice is correct, and I should have seen that.) rights. This is a very intellectual missive and summarizes how and why this man made a courageous change of mind on a very emotional issue.
AP Reports the Similtaneous Arrests of George W. Bush and Dick Cheny!!
Sorry, all good things just don't happen. April Fool!
Monday, March 30, 2009
Why Is There No Outrage?
From the Brady Campaign:
"If, in the month of March, tainted peanut butter or spinach had led to the deaths of ten people in Alabama, eight in North Carolina and four in California, Congress would be calling for investigations and legislative reform."
Yet, the silence is deafening. In one of the above referenced mass shootings, the one in Alabama, an assault rifle was used. No one has called for the ban on assault rifles to be re-established. Nothing has happened. No one is outraged. No one is calling for someones head on a platter because these innocent people died. Several of the victims in North Carolina were nursing home residents. You can't get much more innocent that that.
It is a shame that 30,000 people die a year as a result of gun violence. There is no Mothers Against Gun Violence or Parents For Better Gun Laws nor is there an American Gun Violence Prevention Society or a Foundation for the Prevention of Gun Violence. The NRA intimidates any politician who might even think about introducing better gun legislation. The scare tactics are immediately thrown into high gear to ensure that gun owners are sufficiently brainwashed into thinking that their guns are going to be confiscated.
This past election, the NRA and its minions spread the word that the Democrats were going to take away guns. Never mind that the Supreme Court had already ruled on that issue. Never mind that the President has said that he respects the right to own guns. The doubt must always be kept alive. The NRA must have money to pay its highly paid staff, after all.
I know that at least some will respond that "criminals will get guns regardless of the law." Right, but think about how many people have gotten them legally, then gone out and committed mass murder. There must be better gun laws in this country. It is imperative that assault rifles be illegal, for the sake of innocents as well as the police. Police officers normally carry some caliber of semi-automatic pistol. They simply cannot compete with assault rifles. Unfortunately, these weapons have been legal again, since the Bush Administration let the law lapse. There are thousands of them on the street now. I'm sure there have been many legally purchased for the Mexican drug cartel armies.
Unfortunately, Americans take diseases more seriously than gun violence. I don't mean to minimize the terrible diseases that we fight every day. Yet, why can't we be AS serious about gun violence and the major trade in guns. My state legally exports hundreds of guns to northern cities, such as New York and Philadelphia. Nothing is done to stop them, because they are bringing bucks into the state, and it is now run by Republicans, who want to spread gun violence, rather than stop it. They have weakened the gun laws, making it easier to carry them in crowded venues, on state parks, in restaurants. and other places where innocent people can easily be killed by some nutcase, who thinks he is going to take out a criminal.
I am a gun owner. I own several rifles and pistols, including one of the greatest military rifles of the 20Th Century. I enjoy shooting black powder and have a flintlock under construction. At the same time I recognize the danger of guns. There are so many innocent children killed because someone didn't secure their weapon or teach their kids the danger of it. In the end someone rarely pays the price for the death.
We, basically, ignore the tragedies. At the time they happen, everyone talks about how sad it is and how awful society is, but rarely does anyone do anything to prevent the next one. Too many people subscribe to the "guns don't kill people, people kill people" foolishness. Well, my friends, when it happens to you, your family, or your friends, are you going to ignore it also?
"If, in the month of March, tainted peanut butter or spinach had led to the deaths of ten people in Alabama, eight in North Carolina and four in California, Congress would be calling for investigations and legislative reform."
Yet, the silence is deafening. In one of the above referenced mass shootings, the one in Alabama, an assault rifle was used. No one has called for the ban on assault rifles to be re-established. Nothing has happened. No one is outraged. No one is calling for someones head on a platter because these innocent people died. Several of the victims in North Carolina were nursing home residents. You can't get much more innocent that that.
It is a shame that 30,000 people die a year as a result of gun violence. There is no Mothers Against Gun Violence or Parents For Better Gun Laws nor is there an American Gun Violence Prevention Society or a Foundation for the Prevention of Gun Violence. The NRA intimidates any politician who might even think about introducing better gun legislation. The scare tactics are immediately thrown into high gear to ensure that gun owners are sufficiently brainwashed into thinking that their guns are going to be confiscated.
This past election, the NRA and its minions spread the word that the Democrats were going to take away guns. Never mind that the Supreme Court had already ruled on that issue. Never mind that the President has said that he respects the right to own guns. The doubt must always be kept alive. The NRA must have money to pay its highly paid staff, after all.
I know that at least some will respond that "criminals will get guns regardless of the law." Right, but think about how many people have gotten them legally, then gone out and committed mass murder. There must be better gun laws in this country. It is imperative that assault rifles be illegal, for the sake of innocents as well as the police. Police officers normally carry some caliber of semi-automatic pistol. They simply cannot compete with assault rifles. Unfortunately, these weapons have been legal again, since the Bush Administration let the law lapse. There are thousands of them on the street now. I'm sure there have been many legally purchased for the Mexican drug cartel armies.
Unfortunately, Americans take diseases more seriously than gun violence. I don't mean to minimize the terrible diseases that we fight every day. Yet, why can't we be AS serious about gun violence and the major trade in guns. My state legally exports hundreds of guns to northern cities, such as New York and Philadelphia. Nothing is done to stop them, because they are bringing bucks into the state, and it is now run by Republicans, who want to spread gun violence, rather than stop it. They have weakened the gun laws, making it easier to carry them in crowded venues, on state parks, in restaurants. and other places where innocent people can easily be killed by some nutcase, who thinks he is going to take out a criminal.
I am a gun owner. I own several rifles and pistols, including one of the greatest military rifles of the 20Th Century. I enjoy shooting black powder and have a flintlock under construction. At the same time I recognize the danger of guns. There are so many innocent children killed because someone didn't secure their weapon or teach their kids the danger of it. In the end someone rarely pays the price for the death.
We, basically, ignore the tragedies. At the time they happen, everyone talks about how sad it is and how awful society is, but rarely does anyone do anything to prevent the next one. Too many people subscribe to the "guns don't kill people, people kill people" foolishness. Well, my friends, when it happens to you, your family, or your friends, are you going to ignore it also?
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