End the Mommy Wars

I truly don't give a rats behind about Ms. Palin's family duties, if she is neglecting her children, or whatever, That???s on her. I do find it ironic that for a politician who advocates abstinence only education; she now has a pregnant teen. I'm truly starting to feel sorry for the girl though. And even the young man involved. (I heard on TV yesterday that his MySpace page said he never wanted to have children. Think he has any choice about now?) How many teen girls do you know who would want to have the fact they are sexually active plastered over the world? And of course the daughter really has only 2 choices. Carry the baby to term and give it up or carry it to term and keep it. Oh, and get married. However, my objections to Ms. Palin have a whole lot more to do with her politics and the fact with McCain, being a 72 year old 4 time cancer survivor with all kinds of other ailments, raises the real possibility that Ms. Palin could be promoted from VP to Pres in a heartbeat, or rather lack of one. I strongly disagree with her politics but I know she is in no way ready to be President. Her political experience in Alaska in no way prepares her for the international stage. She doesn't even hold positions on some of the pressing matters of the day, and I didn't think it was cute or funny when she said she's waiting for someone to tell her what the vice president does all day. If she doesn't know, she doesn't need to be in the office. I think McCain needs his head examined even more now that he has made his pick. What is he thinking? How can he possibly think that he should pick a person that could be the commander in chief if they actually get elected and he can't complete his term or dies, that has no experience or even positions? His choice demonstrates that he cares more about getting votes than about the good of the United States. Does he think women are stupid? At least with Joe Biden, we know we get a strong, experienced individual that can be effective as VP and as President if the need arose. I want to see a woman in the highest office, but I would not feel like celebrating if it is Ms. Palin. She would set women back decades because of her beliefs. So no, I'm not excited about her selection to be running mate, nor am I impressed by her credentials. I know we are talking about a woman who was mayor of a community of under 7000 people and not even 2 years as governor in a state with only 500,000, and that she was put in office by a total of under 115,000 votes. I also know some crazy folks have been put in office in Alaska. We lived in Alaska for many years, including in the town of Wasilla. I also know she didn't object to earmarks when it benefited her town, so saying she objects now is political talk. I know I will now be actively involved in trying to keep them out of office. And I think other women will be joining me. So maybe McCain will stir up women voters. I just don't think it will be in the direction he had hoped.

I haven't heard a lot about Sara Palin's including $170,000,000 in federal earmarks, which she was apparently assured Alaska would receive (probably from Ted Stevens) -- or about her original support ot "the bridge to nowhere" which she claimed to have quashed in remarks made shortly after her being named McCain's VP. As to the mommy problems, in my 40's I went to law school after my husband had run off with a 22-year-old girl and left me without a dime. I had 3 kids, supported them all, worked 2 jobs, made it without student loans, and graduated valedictorian of my class at the age of 44. I am not impressed by Sara Palin's "mommy problems." I had my own and overcame them as women do every day. Sandra Stanley, heartlaw@yahoo.com

How could you even try to talk to me as a woman claiming the debate makes women look loony, when in every sentence you DISAGREE with everything Palin says. If she espouses religious beliefs IN SCHOOLS, heck I have the right to say what I want to say ABOUT THAT as much as YOU DO ! Let her take her beliefs to her own kids, NOT IN SCHOOLS !

I am reading all of this mess and if it had been Michelle and her daughters you all would have burned her to the stake .. Remember most of you called her * An Angry Black Woman * and she didn't like America No one took up for her like you McCain folks are here . There is no double standard .. If McCains people can dish it out they need to be able to take what comes their way ..

I am a working mother. Full time working, full time mom. And I understand that we don't talk about working fathers the same way because we are biologically different, genetically selected to perform different roles in the family. Working women do carry an unfair burden - no matter what we do from 8-5, we still have to be the mommy. We have the womb, the breasts, and most of us, the instincts that are very, very different from those of the dads no matter how enlightened, helpful, and wonderful they are. We hold women to a higher standard because we have a higher duty to our children, driven either by evolution/biology or by God, whichever way you view it. There is no getting around that women and men can and SHOULD perform different roles in the lives of their children. My job, as a working mother, is to make sure that my children have their mother around as an effective, functional mother, during the few short years that they will need me that way, regardless of how passionately I may feel about my job, moving upward in it, or about what else I might be able to accomplish in the world. There was time for that before my kids, and God willing, there will be time for it later.

I could care about her mommy problems, it's her views on women that make me sick. Her lack of anything resembling experience on the national level scares me. The fact that she would allow her 17-year-old daughter to ruin her life by delivering a child at that age I find appalling. The fact that she would change our laws to force a woman who has been raped and impregnated to go through delivery gives me visions of SS troops. She is not a model for any woman that I know. She is the anti-model.

The FEMINIST point of view is very near becoming, laughing stock and butt of water cooler joke material. Ya'll "ladies" are marginalizing yourselves.....I'm certain the few intelligent among your ranks would agree.

Keep it up....you are showing your lack of true conviction or values. Women's equality is not as important to you, as ya'll would have America believe.

NOBAMA!!!

I think we have to consider a persons character when they are willing to sacrifice their family for personal gain. I think Palin puts an American issue under the microscope. We seem to be willing to have children but not willing to care for them. We leave that to others and blame the system or television if the child has issues. As a male I feel sorry women if their hero is someone who has a special needs then leaves that child for the nanny to care for. Having a child is the easy part being a parent is the hard part. It great to say that you would force others to have children if they become pregnant under any circumstance but if that is your position then you should also follow by sacrificing to care for your own children. This is not a male female issue. As a father of a special needs child I gave up a career so that i could work from home to help with my child. This is not the right thing for everyone if we chose to have children we should put them first.

Great article--but lacking, of course, all the complexities of both politics and family life (how could it include all of these issues in one article?). Among the contradictions that are swept under the rug for many conservatives is the dissonance between the argument that "a child needs the parenting of two opposite sexed parents to become a healthy adult" (spouted by those against gay adoptions of small children), and the reality that being a vice president will effectively remove Sarah from most of her parenting role in her own family, making her husband the primary care giver with a largely absent female partner. If both parents are necessary, this seems to be a case of holding politics above family. I don't believe in "Country First". I believe in "Family First". She apparently does not.

I think that there is a misunderstanding as to the nature of the so called 'Mommy War's". In Sarah Palin's case, she has an infant with Down's Syndrome. Let me assure you, caring for a handicapped child not only takes both parents, but demands time that cannot be squeezed in between meetings. I am a professional, degreed, and appreciate the issue with equal opportunity for equal ability. However, any parent, man or woman, would be stretched to perform the duties of such a high office while caring for a child with the needs that baby will display in the next few years. He will need the attention of a physicial every month, if not two times a month. He will not understand the limitations of her schedule and it will be too much for her husband to handle alone. It is not the same as working full time with children that are not handicapped.

I think that is where everyone is confused. Unless you have a child with disabilities that are this great, it is hard to imagine the demands. She may not even realize how the situation will change as the child becomes a toddler and then a young child. This will interfere with her job, as the child will not time his issues to occur when she is not working or solely with other members of the family. It is what it is and that is why adults with mentally disabled children often limit their time spent on the job so that they are readily available.

If we are willing to burn Sarah Palin at the stake during a witch hunt for working mothers then EVERY SINGLE WORKING MOTHER needs to defend her right to walk out of the home and work just the same as you all are expecting Sarah Palin. There are a lot of jobs that are highly demanding out there, being the VP is not the only one folks! Keep up this witch hunt and it will come back to bite all us women in the butt. Either you believe as a woman that What message do we really want to send to our daughters and granddaughters?

I'm an American first and liberal second and I could not agree more with this article. While I could not be more opposite on the issues Palin holds dear, linking her daughter's decision making to Palin's focus on career is abhorrent. The comments directed at Palin can't be coming from the same feminists who argued that women should be allowed to vote, work and otherwise stand equal to men. ENOUGH ALREADY! Criticize her stance against reproductive rights even in the face of rape or incest! Decry her commitment to reform given the questions about her own abuse of power! Question her policy of teaching creationism rather than accepted science in our schools but for God's sake stop questioning her commitment to family!!!

I respect Sarah Palin, though I strongly disagree with her political views. I do know as a professional woman I needed to decide between my family and the levels I wanted to climb to in my profession. Could I travel at the drop of a hat with a son who had had brain surgery? Was it fair to my family, especially to my husband, for me to aim high and make our children second? Do we live in a 'fair' society--NO! We tell our children all the time life isn't fair but you take up your 'cross' and you battle on for what is important to you. I do think it is hypocritical for Mrs. Palin and every other republican that says they are God-fearing people who believe we should all be pro-life and not pro-choice when the God they say they serve is the number one advocate of choice. The bible says he gives us the option to choice him or not. To be a conservative extremist believing God frowns on certain sin more than others is amazing to me.
What the governor does is her business but has anyone address how her state is in the top two of the fifty states in certain STDs and she is promoting no Sex education in schools. Obviously the young people in Alaska, including the governor's own child, needs sex education at school or at home for the pro-homeschoolers so they are not having risky sex--and you are having risky sex if you end up pregnant. I often say if you are having sex unprotected you are trying to get pregnant or infected. I don't think her circumstances speak to her ability as a vice president but I think for someone who 'preaches' family first that she might want to put her own first right now.

I respect Sarah Palin, though I strongly disagree with her political views. I do know as a professional woman I needed to decide between my family and the levels I wanted to climb to in my profession. Could I travel at the drop of a hat with a son who had had brain surgery? Was it fair to my family, especially to my husband, for me to aim high and make our children second? Do we live in a 'fair' society--NO! We tell our children all the time life isn't fair but you take up your 'cross' and you battle on for what is important to you. I do think it is hypocritical for Mrs. Palin and every other republican that says they are God-fearing people who believe we should all be pro-life and not por-choice when the God they say they serve is the number one advocate of choice. The bible says he gives us the option to choice him or not. To be a conservative extremist believing God frowns on certain sin more than others is amazing to me.
What the governor does is her business but has anyone address how her state is in the top two of the fifty states in certain STDs and she is promoting no Sex education in schools. Obviously the young people in Alaska, including the governor's own child, needs sex education at school or at home for the pro-homeschoolers so they are not having risky sex--and you are having risky sex if you end up pregnant. I often say if you are having sex unprotected you are trying to get pregnant or infected. I don't think her circumstances speak to her ability as a vice president but I think for someone who 'preaches' family first that she might want to put her own first right now.

Yes, Kathleen ... We get the call to back off, but this is not a simple assault on the local soccer mom. Palin had every opportunity to examine her personal circumstances and that of her family and say "NO" to John McCain. Rather, she came out conservative-family-values, pro-guns-a-blazin', anti-Gay, pro-Christian, pro-drilling and tossed her hat into the political ring of fire with little regard for her family and the scrutiny they would fall under. Conservatives constantly poke at the Democrats saying we are leftist whiners. Yet when the truths about a Republican are less than Disney and apple-pie, we are called mean and insensitive. I also don't buy the argument that we are beating on some poor defenseless 17 years old girl. She obviously was adult-enough to insert part A in slot B and make a baby. So now who are the whiners??? The Republicans are because they know their political house-of-cards is crumbling. And you expect it to get BETTER by bringing the 18yo father to the convention? To do what? Reinforce the fact that they had pre-marital sex and didn't use protection under radical-Right Christian teachings? To demonstrate that this maverick woman can't handle her own family, but may inherit the most prominent seat of power in the world? Republicans crack me up. Mark Foley and Larry Craig get busted for gay sex rants and you expect us to only talk about the kind things they did. "He was a church-goin' man" they say. PLEASE!! Republicans have taken so many pot-shots at un-wed mothers (the non-white ones anyways), gays, "illegals", left-thinkers, etc. They cannot however handle the truths when they are the results of actions in their own un-clean houses and then cry foul. You can't have it both ways, dear Kathleen. As my grandfather used to say, "if you stick your head out of the foxhole, people are going to shoot at it." So please stop your whining about how we need to be nice and "how dare we"?!? WE HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF THE REPUBLICANS DESTROYING AMERICA, TAKING US INTO AN ILLEGAL WAR WITH NO GAIN, SPITTING IN THE FACE OF GOD LIKE S/HE IS SOME KIND OF POLITICAL COMMODITY. ENOUGH!!!

Call me catty, call me whatever, but this woman had every opportunity to say " no thank you" to the position at this time and she stepped out there, she took the land mine, she said yes. No one forced her and when you make a decision to run for PUBLIC office, you make the decision to make your business, political, and on some level your personal decisions public. We are voting for this woman to represent us, not giving our stamp of approval for working. She will represent me and my family, OK SO STOP AND LISTEN TO THAT STATEMENT, does a mother with FIVE children, two small and one requiring extra special care and one requiring support have time to represent me? She is a mother, and a mother is not a father and never will be. Unless I am validating that she focus on the country as much or more than her family, which I don't, then my conclusion is she does NOT represent me and my values. Therefore, she will not get my vote. I have every right to come to that conclusion in this process and voice that to my collegues friends and neighbors. If you don't like the heat Gov. Palin, stay out of the kitchen.

Thank you, Ms Deveny. I am appalled at what I have witnessed in the last few days. I have yet to hear someone question Mr Obama's childcare choices or parenting skills. Quite offensive.