Miss Congeniality

You know, I’m not going to touch the “suspicious birth” of Sarah Palin’s 5-month old Down’s Syndrome baby. Truth be told, while I’m sure there are exceptions, we are all familiar with Down’s Syndrome as a birth defect of children born to women over 40. So I’m just not going to go there.

Sen. Obama has stated publicly that his opponents’ families are off-limits, and especially that their children are off-limits and not relevant to the campaign. I agree. I have always felt that the behavior, sexual orientation, religions of politicians’ families are irrelevant to how that government official or candidate does or will govern. So I will not pick on Ms. Palin’s teenage-pregnant-out-of-wedlock daughter, either. Personally. That does not mean, however, that I will not pick on Ms. Palin and more importantly, Mr. McCain. High road? What’s that?

In fact, I find Ms. Palin’s behavior and demeanor most troubling. She is “pleased” at the prospect of being a grandmother at age 44. Can we imagine that a 17 year old girl and an 18 year old boy (except in the rarest of circumstances), are delighted to rush – shotgun style – into a marriage of political convenience? You can imagine the scene behind closed doors while they were figuring out what to do, right? The Republican spin machine is going at it full-force, is it not? They hope that this will cast Ms. Palin in the role of “a parent just like you”, facing the trials and tribulations of raising teenagers. And a special-needs infant, simultaneously. Does anyone, besides me, get the feeling that these poor kids – especially the poor son of a bitch getting shoved to the altar – are nothing but props to this woman?

Unlike you, however, Ms. Palin is running for Vice President of the United States. Unlike you, Ms. Palin – should Mr. McCain (G-d forbid) win this election – Ms. Palin would be the proverbial “hearbeat away from the Presidency.” If I thought Ms. Palin’s “family values” were suspect before, I’m sure as hell convinced of it now. She is sacrificing her child(ren) on the altar of political ambition. An offering to the Golden Calf, if you will.

As for Mr. McCain, does this not cast some pretty big doubts on his decision-making processes and judgment? Despite all the other old (and young) white dudes whose names were being dropped as potential running mates, it’s no great surprise that he really wanted a woman to put on his ticket. After all, the Hillary crowd would flock to anyone with a vagina, no? But everyone assumed it would be someone with a track record and a known quantity, like Kay Bailey Hutchison. As to the issue of experience, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz of the 20th Congressional District (encompassing 29 separate municipalities in two counties here in Florida), has said: “My congressional district has more people than the entire state of Alaska.”

How thoroughly was Palin vetted before the decision to bring her onboard was made? Who peeked into her closets and decided that the ethical skeletons didn’t rattle loudly enough to worry about? Which bright boy wrote the definitive memo saying that it was a good idea to choose a funadamentalist uber-Christian, who thinks abortion should be banned – even in cases of rape and incest; that contraception is murder; someone who deliberately chose to bring a deveopmentally disabled child into the world and display this innocent infant and a pregnant teenager as her badges of integrity as casually as the American flag pin in her lapel, to “balance out the ticket”? And was McCain drinking Kool Aid at the time?

I know. I’ve asked lots of questions here, most of which will never be answered. But I think the most important question is: Why has no one called Children’s Services? ‘Cause you know that if the shoe were on the other foot the Rove-ian scum-mongers would have been all over it like white on rice.

I find the Republican double-standard amusing and frustrating at the same time. If she were a Democrat, instead of lauding Palin as the living embodiment of a working wife and mother who overcame the odds to pursue her career and struggles to be a good parent just like you and me, she would be vilified as an evil morally depraved self-centered slut who can’t stay off her back and can’t discipline her equally libidinous offspring.

I’m just sayin’.