Politics

I usually try to keep my day-to-day life separate from this blog. This is my escape, a place where I focus on things that are good, sweet, pretty, and most importantly, uncontroversial. Nevertheless, the past two weeks have been too strange, and the world has gone too topsy-turvy, for this blog to escape unscathed. Politics matter too much to me, this blog matters too much for me, and you all matter too much to me to leave the current American political scene unmentioned. Now I'm going to say it straight out, if you don't want to know my political views, stop reading. Come back on Monday; I've got something really cute to share (with everything happening in the world, I need some really cute crafts in my life!).




Okay, I warned you.





I grew up in a conservative family. We have a long history in conservative politics, many links to the republican party, and conservatism is one of the chief ways that we define ourselves as a family. In the midst of this, I was born a liberal. I have a very early memory of driving past one of the poorer areas of the small town I grew up in and asking my dad why we, and everyone else with some extra money, didn't just give it what we didn't need to the poor people so that everyone would be able to eat and have new school clothes. I still remember his response, "how did my daughter become such a little democrat?" Of course, this was said in a loving way; my parents have always been supportive of my views, although they differ from their own. Even so, it's always been hard for me. Being a politically active family, politics make up one of our primary conversation topics. When I first left home, I found it odd that political issues didn't come up in other people's families dozens of times a day - to me, that's normal. Of course, these discussions generally set my views against the rest of my family's views. Being a sensitive (perhaps overly sensitive) person by nature, these discussions always have, and continue to, hurt me personally. I'm not proud to say that they still can result in tears.

Yesterday, I posted a link to this blog on my Facebook page. Minutes later, one of my cousins, an intelligent, well-educated, progressive woman who trains jet pilots for a living, responded by suggesting that women who do not support Sarah Palin are anti-feminist, being unable to identify with a successful woman and so assuming that she was chosen simply because she happens to be female. I was confused about this sentiment coming from someone I respect, but quickly saw in it the ideas of sudden outspoken "feminists" like Rick Santorum. This was my response.

Why I do not support McCain/Palin

I'm against both Palin and McCain because of the policies they have supported in the past and those that they continue to support today. I see those policies as damaging not only to everything that women have accomplished in the past century, but as damaging to everything that makes America an amazing country, to everything that makes me proud to be an American. I am certainly not against Sarah Palin because she is a woman; there are many successful and amazing women in both parties that I would admire as vice presidential candidates, and there are several that I would be downright thrilled to see in that position (or even better - as #1 on the ticket!). Likewise, I'm certainly not against John McCain because he is a man.

The truth of it is, I see no reason for anyone, man or woman, to support this ticket. Despite her main talking point, Palin's policies do not promote energy independence in any meaningful way, since nonpartisan energy experts have determined that we will not see ANY financial effect from new drilling for ten years, during which time we could develop clean, sustainable energy and help to bring true energy independence to the next generation. Her history does not involve cutting taxes (as Alaska does not have sales or income tax), although it does involve tax rebates due to the massive influx of wealth that has resulted from recent high gas prices - an act of government that I see as irresponsible. She has absolutely not shrunk government in Alaska; in fact she left her hometown with a far larger government than it had when she became mayor, and she has not worked to shrink state government in any way. By no means a fiscal conservative, she entered entered office as mayor with a surplus, and left it with a large deficit. As governor, she has accepted massive federal earmarks (including the money for the "bridge to nowhere;" an original supporter of the bridge, she turned against it following the negative press, but never returned the money given over for it). As mayor, she actively worked to ban books in her public library, then attempted to fire the librarian who stood up to her, only backing down when the majority of the community came together against her. She does not support programs that help teen mothers, yet she supports abstinence only education, which multiple studies have shown to only increase rates of teen pregnancy and STD/STIs. She is opposed to birth control and abortion even in cases of rape an incest. She charged rape victims in her hometown $1200 for the rape kits used to collect DNA evidence to prosecute perpetrators. She is a member of a church that believes gay people should be "healed" through the power of prayer. She is now partnered with a man who has opposed equal pay for equal work measures, who's party has made the federal government larger than it has been since the 1930s, who has overseen the ever-growing division between rich and poor in this country, who has repeatedly aligned his interests with big oil, special interest groups, and lobbyists, rather than with the American people. Together, they have insulted community organizers, people who work every day to help those members of our society who need it most. In keeping with that sentiment, they oppose providing health care to low income and uninsured women and families.

Sarah Palin does not represent me as a woman. She does not represent me as an American. In my deepest soul, I believe that the America of McCain/Palin is not the America we need.

It's time for change, and it's time for hope. Tomorrow can be better than today.