Thursday, September 04, 2008

why i cannot support sarah palin

palin poses with a caribou shot by her good self

it would be the ultimate irony if the republican candidate for vice-president of the usa ended up being the first woman elected to one of the top two political positions in the country. the euphoria of many after the attack-dog speech sarah palin gave in minnesota last night had me reaching for indigestion tablets. here are some reasons why i felt sick:

* she is an evangelical xian
* who is a member of feminists for life
* and enjoys hunting as a lifelong member of the national rifle association
* she is a big supporter of oil drilling in the arctic national wildlife refuge
* as the daughter of a science teacher, she is open to teaching creationism in public schools

as the l.a.times said:

"she is against abortion even in cases of rape and incest, sued the federal government to take polar bears off the endangered species list, has said creationism should be taught in schools and advocated a constitutional ban on providing healthcare benefits to same-sex partners"

or as gloria steinem wrote:

"Palin ... opposes just about every issue that women support by a majority or plurality. She believes that creationism should be taught in public schools but disbelieves global warming; she opposes gun control but supports government control of women's wombs; she opposes stem cell research but approves "abstinence-only" programs, which increase unwanted births, sexually transmitted diseases and abortions; she tried to use taxpayers' millions for a state program to shoot wolves from the air but didn't spend enough money to fix a state school system with the lowest high-school graduation rate in the nation; she runs with a candidate who opposes the Fair Pay Act but supports $500 million in subsidies for a natural gas pipeline across Alaska; she supports drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve, though even McCain has opted for the lesser evil of offshore drilling. She is Phyllis Schlafly, only younger."

how anyone who was a hillary supporter could possibly be angry enough to vote for a person, whatever their gender, with these particular values, i just do not know.

nb i have no problems with anyone having a religious belief (re evangelical xian note), i am just a firm believer in the separation of church and state, do not believe that ms palin is able to make that division, and thus am dismayed that she is running for national office

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