Oh, this is too fascinating not to share!

[heidi]

It seems that Sarah Palin has been a member of the Alaska Independence Party.

ETA: Ah, not actually a member of the party in terms of her voter registration, but her husband was registered as a member of that party until 2002, and she has attended their events at least once and possibly more than that; she sent a message on video to their most recent meeting. /eta

Here's what their platform includes:

* A belief that "the vote for statehood was invalid because the people were not presented with the range of options available to them" and that "the federal government has since breached the contract for statehood on numerous occasions in over a dozen serious and substantial instances."
* A belief that there should be a vote on Alaskan secession.
* Remaining "steadfastly opposed to environmental regulations and actively promotes the private ownership and widespread development of Alaskan land."
* A platform which includes:

[A]mending the Constitution of the State of Alaska so as to re-establish the rights of all Alaskan residents to entry upon all public lands within the state, and to acquire private property interest there in, under fair and reasonable conditions. Such property interest shall include surface and sub-surface patent.

[F]oster a constitutional amendment abolishing and prohibiting all property taxes.

[S]eek[ing] the complete repatriation of the public lands, held by the federal government, to the state and people of Alaska[.]

She also said the following in a 2006 questionaire of all the gubernatorial candidates:

Q: Are you offended by the phrase "Under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance? Why or why not?

PALIN: Not on your life. If it was good enough for the founding fathers, its good enough for me and I’ll fight in defense of our Pledge of Allegiance

As Daily Kos said, "when John McCain's grandfather graduated from the Naval Academy in 1906, the Pledge of Allegiance, as first written, was only fourteen years old. It would not be made the official pledge of the United States until 1942, six years after John McCain himself was born. When John McCain was born, the words "Under God" were not in the Pledge. They would not appear there until 1954, during McCain's senior year of high school."

Is John McCain a founding father now?

And let's not even get into the issue of how well abstinence-only "sex ed" worked for her daughter (who I sympathize with a thousand per cent for having to deal with this in the public eye, which she obviously never sought for herself).

So, a poll, title courtesy of Starship, of course.
[Poll #1252017]

Comments

[kerryblaze.livejournal.com]

*sigh* The Pledge of Allegiance thing is one of my biggest pet peeves!!

[heidi8.livejournal.com]

: clings to Liberty Bell like a clinging thing

I really hope that they make a National Treasure 3 that says this because it might stop people from thinking something so nonsensical.

[kerryblaze.livejournal.com]

What's even worse is when people think the 'Under God' is in the constitution!

[misscake]

I would love her to stay on the ticket but only because it reduces the Republican chances in November. And I think they'd shoot themselves in the other foot if they dropped her. Mind you, they should have never chosen her in the first place. Talk about poor judgment!

[heidi8.livejournal.com]

He never should have chosen her. They should have vetted her, and they didn't.

Can you imagine if any Democrat had been a part of a secession-focused party?

[misscake]

This is what happens when you have a one-man vetting team as opposed to the long, thoughtful, thorough approach that Obama used. Biden may not have been everyone's first choice, but you can't say he wasn't well-vetted.

[phoenixsong]

That? is an AWESOME icon s:)

[msbhaven.livejournal.com]

Can you imagine if any Democrat had been a part of a secession-focused party?

The Republicans would jump all over that. They would say how un-American that is... and then of course linking it to why our war on terror isn't working. Except for the Surge. That worked. Right? Well didn't it?

[heidi8.livejournal.com]

Lincoln is rolling over in his grave.

[heidi8.livejournal.com]

Exactly.

(also, I LOVE your icon!)

[bekkio.livejournal.com]

Well, I picked the last option of the 2nd question, but I think you should have added another option:

"The Republicans obviously went on a crack-smoking binge to distract us after Barack's amazing speech on Thursday night"

[heidi8.livejournal.com]

They must've been smoking crack while watching the speech to okay this un-vetted pick.

[ginsu.livejournal.com]

Q: Are you offended by the phrase "Under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance? Why or why not?

PALIN: Not on your life. If it was good enough for the founding fathers, it's good enough for me

To be fair, she might have meant the phrase "under God," variations of which the founders did use -- "endowed by their Creator," etc.

(Even in that case, though, I doubt she knows many of them were Deists and definitely did not believe in the divinity of Christ.)

[shocolate.livejournal.com]

I know it's rude to laugh at another country's political messes - but OMG, jaw dropping fascination!!

[ceilidh]

Hey, if half the country is laughing at themselves, it's not rude to join in! :P

[heidi8.livejournal.com]

It is like a trainwreck. Seriously, I've been refreshing Andrew Sullivan's blog all day (and he's British, so you know he brings the snark well!).

[ladylaw7.livejournal.com]

I almost get a Harriet Miers vibe from the whole thing. "I know she's not terribly qualified, but she's a woman! Look! I nominated a woman!" who is then replaced with a uber-conservative, but qualified, man. Sigh. I suppose regardless whether she stays or goes, it'll serve us well in November!

Your comment also brought me back to the time last fall, shortly after we'd moved to DC, when I saw Andrew Sullivan sitting with his laptop at the Starbucks around the corner from my office. I was starstruck :P

[zorb]

I almost get a Harriet Miers vibe from the whole thing.

Yes, exactly, the whole time. I won't be surprised at a similar switch (although really, using the same tactic again? tsk).

[annearchy.livejournal.com]

That's sort of what I felt too. "Look, she can have babies. So she's just as experienced as Geraldine Ferraro and Hillary Clinton!" *gags*

[delawarean.livejournal.com]

I think that Palin is possibly the best thing that can happen to America right now, being a part of John McCain's ticket. It clarifies all sorts of things. Looking at all of the stupid drama in her home life (which has been so brushed over and minimalized by the Republicans). . .and all of the blatant contradictions, in her professed values and the observable outcome of those values. . .well, it clarifies all of this. It undeniably does.

All of this is profoundly important, and I say this as a person who is not partiularly liberal. (Hey, I voted for Bush-Cheney in 2000, okay? That's where I'm at -- and I still hate what has happened to my country in the last eight years, period.)

And if McCain cannot see all this, so many other thinking people certainly can. I like John McCain as a senator, but it does not speak well of him or his judgement as a potential President.

Americans, above all, are NOT stupid -- and they will remember all this nonense.

I watched Barack Obama's wonderful Labor Day speech locally in Detroit earlier today, and it was incredibly inspiring. I only wish the national audience could have seen it, for it was meaningful and worthwhile. Like a true President, he eliminated the points he needed to because of Gustav,. . . and he added the points he needed to, because America is still, nevertheless, in trouble. . .and he invited all Americans to value what truly needs to be valued right here and now.

I am just sorry that the national news did not cover the comments he made in Detroit, for they are both insightful and meaningful.

And I say this as someone who has long tended to be surprisingly conservative. But I am tired. I am tired of people who talk the talk, and NEVER walk the walk. . .while people who are courageous get shot down.

I think I am being used. And I am sick and tired of this.

I suspect that there are a alot of people like me: Tired of lies and cycnicism, people who see the facts for what they are, people like me who just want to move forward and value all of our fellow human beings. I am incredibly tired of people like Sarah Palin, who get away with CRAP because they are called "Republicans". Obama took the high road through all this and I know the Repuplicans would never repay the favor. Doesn't that really say it all?

Enough already! This stinks to high heaven -- and I am TIRED of this!

And I know I am not at all alone.

- -

PS -- Sorry about the rant, Heidi. But really. . .this is ridiculous.

[heidi8.livejournal.com]

Never apologize for ranting! It's always welcome here!

[fishwhistle.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, having a politician who thinks the Founding Fathers wrote the Pledge of Allegiance is just normal, so I voted for number two. Preposterous, although actually not abnormal from a Canadian point of view, where practically every region talks about seceding once in a while and a party supporting Quebec separation routinely sends members to the federal parliament.

In a similar vein of preposterousness, though, one of my favorite sights was when I drove through Georgia once, and at a gas station right off the highway they were selling both U.S. flag and Confederate battle flag stickers, with a sign above them that said, "show your love for your country."

[heidi8.livejournal.com]

Living in the bit of the south that pretends that we're actually somewhat off the coast of Manhattan, I've grown up with the idea of secession being something that only crazy people do. I know the way Canada was structured is pretty different from the states-joining-together, so I can see why you'd have a different take on it, though!

What would happen, though, if one of the separatist party's members ended up as PM?

[effervescent.livejournal.com]

They'd likely promptly order a referendum in Quebec, or something like that. It won't ever happen, though, because the only people who vote for them are usually in Quebec... The separatist movement has mostly died down, to my knowledge, though I've heard stirrings that it's having a small comeback now. Lucien Bouchard and Jacques Parizeau were the last really charismatic leaders for the movement, though.

The way that they approached it the last time was patently ridiculous, though - they believe in having as many referendums as it takes to get a majority for separating (as in, 50 to 49 would be enough) - and would consider one 'yes' vote to be enough to split up the country. The idea of them actually functioning separately doesn't even work, since they're smack dab in the middle of us, their northerly section actually wants to stay with us, and there's little issues like the fact that they still want to use Canadian currency, which begs the question of why separate at all, in that case?

Anyway! Will stop rambling in your LJ now -g- I really do hope that all of what's going on with Palin will make people stop and take a look at the party they've been voting for. I hate to have a 17 year old girl be a focus, but maybe it'd mean a big difference for your country.

[gonzai55.livejournal.com]

Not quite the same thing, but I very much enjoyed a rural home I passed the other day. On the same flagpole out front: a Confederate flag, and a rainbow gay pride flag.

[(Anonymous)]

That's kind of cute! I guess.

Part of that whole debate about what that flag really stands for, although in principle you could be a white supremacist and still support gay rights. (At least for gay whites.)

[mijan.livejournal.com]

For the poll, I think the historical ignorance and abstinence-only sex-ed are slightly more ridiculous than the secessionist leanings, if only because the last 8 years have made me wish I could secede from the US.

And... I hope she's still on the ticket come November... it would guarantee an Obama victory.

[scoreboard.livejournal.com]

Speaking as a scalawag and "a traitor to my race, class and heritage", I gotta go with the secssionist thing. After all, that didn't work out too well last time, and since then, Uncle Sam has got the hydrogen bomb, so anyone thinking secession needs what Begala would call "a check-up from the neck up."*

however, I think she's there for the duration, and for all you young'uns who read Ms. 8's LJ, go to Wikipedia and look up "Thomas Eagleton." Setting aside the matter of who the hell McCain would replace her with at this point, the harsh lesson of 1972 should be a reminder that a VP, like your first spouse, is not easily shed.

Or as Dr. Hunter S. Thompson said, "Buy the ticket, take the ride."

*Yeah, I'm pretty sure Kinky Friedman said it first.

[peacockharpy.livejournal.com]

"This was clearly a plan by the Republicans..."

Geez, if so, that completely sucks not only for Gov. Palin, but more so for her daughter, whose teen pregnancy has now become the stuff of tabloids and feverish Internet discussion.

I don't agree with all much ANY of Palin's political stances, I think she has some worrying things in her background, and I firmly believe that she's not prepared to lead (although, can I tell you how much it pisses me off to see people making cracks about lactating veeps and drawing conclusions about her capabilities? It's just milk, it doesn't require quarantine!! er, ahem). HOWEVER. If McCain, Rove, & Co. invited her into this maelstrom without telling her it was a ploy... that's just sheer cruelty. No one deserves that. And her daughter definitely doesn't deserve it.

But, sadly, I have sunk so low that I can see them doing it.

*clutches her "I deeply resent the way this administration makes me feel like a nutbar conspiracy theorist" totebag for at least a few more months*

[freckles42.livejournal.com]

Abstinence-only sex ed infuriates me to a frothing rage, so I shall abstain (HA HA, see what I did there?) from commenting on it. The founding fathers thing also threatens to send me into an apoplectic fit. Instead, I shall grab a paper bag and force steady breathing regarding the secessionist background.

What makes me angriest is that we all know that if Obama had been the one with a daughter with a teenage pregnancy, the evangelicals would have had a righteous field day with it. Instead, now, they circle the wagons and scream at anyone who approaches them.

*rubs temples*

[takemejustasiam.livejournal.com]

I'm surprised by the whole thing. It is such a disaster so far. I just don't know what McCain is thinking. At this rate if Obama isn't made president, I will think pretty poorly of our country.

[blackink.livejournal.com]

And let's not even get into the issue of how well abstinence-only "sex ed" worked for her daughter

and

This was clearly a plan by the Republicans to distract us after Barack's amazing speech on Thursday night

Wow. If Sarah Palin had had an abortion when she was seventeen, or if she had forced her daughter to get an abortion, then I could see how it'd be relevant to her politics. But you can't condone a parent for the actions of a seventeen-year-old, especially when the age of consent is sixteen in Alaska. In the end, it was the daughter who chose to have sex, and now that it's happened, she made an informed and responsible decision to keep the child (and to marry the father). Talking about a seventeen-year-old like this, especially after Obama's campaign insisted that children be left out of it, is out of line. Palin undoubtedly taught her daughters as best she could based on her belief structure. Parenting only goes so far (though it should absolutely be the parents who teach their children about sex education, whatever version they prefer, not public schools), and in the end, it's up to the kid to decide whether or not to heed their parents' advice. And in this day and age, suggesting that kids who aren't taught sex education don't understand the risks or how to use condoms is bordering on ignorant. Besides, who says that Palin's daughter didn't use a condom? Condoms break or are used incorrectly all the time, sex-ed or not.

Taking advantage of another's misfortune and acting like it's all one big excuse for the GOP to take away some of Obama's thunder from a speech of all things is awful. I respect you as a person and your political views, Heidi, but this is just completely out of line, no matter what political affiliation you happen to have. Maybe I'm reading and interpreting your tone and the other comments wrong, or maybe you really did mean it that way, but either way, I think it's incredibly disrespectful toward the Palin family.

And no, if Obama's daughter were going through the same thing, the Republicans would recognize it as the sensitive situation it'd be, and they would handle it similar to how Obama's campaign is handling this, which I completely respect. This isn't a campaign issue - it's the life of a seventeen-year-old girl who made a poor decision and who has the maturity to take responsibility for it. But how her daughter's decision affects her ability to be the VP, I can't fathom.

[heidi8.livejournal.com]

I said, "let's not even get into the issue." To me, it's an aside, an irrelevant tangent from the real issues which include her already-known policy-preferences and the newly discovered - well, new to everyone outside Alaska - incorrect belief about the Pledge of Allegiance and separatist/secessionist platform of the Alaska Independence party. I have a huge problem with Murdoch's NY Post going to the guy's MySpace page and putting it into the paper and onto their website.

And had Palin had an abortion when she was younger - even if she is now anti-choice - I wouldn't think badly of her for having taking that option, or for changing her mind afterwards. Everyone is allowed to have whatever opinion they want, for themselves, and they're certainly allowed to speak about it to other people. It's the legislating of it that I have a problem with.

And believe me, I do know that unexpected pregnancies happen - Cate wasn't planned, although we knew that theoretically I could get pregnant while still nursing. There's lots of women who are pro-choice who would never consider an abortion for herself.

I definitely didn't say that the situation with Bristol was an excuse for the GOP to take away the press coverage of Obama's speech, but Republican operatives definitely said that McCain's decision to announce on Friday was to change the news coverage. If they vetted her, then they would have known about things like her Pledge answer and her AIP membership and her support of Buchanan in 1996 and 2000 - and if McCain chose her knowing all that, then I think his judgment is off the wire unreasonable. If she wasn't vetted and they didn't know those things, which were discovered within 60 or so hours of her being named, then they didn't vet her completely and then I think his judgment is off the wire bad.

And yes, condoms do break and are used incorrectly but many studies, including one by HHS, says that comprehensive sex ed classes result in delays before teens engage in sex, and result in improved condom usage. No, I don't condem Sarah and Todd Palin because Bristol is pregnant, and nowhere did I say I did. I didn't want to get into a discussion of it, and that's exactly why I said "let's not even get into..."

So, what do you think of her participation in the Alaska Indepenence Party? I mean, she did a recorded message for their most recent convention, and their head seems to think that the John Birchers are too liberal. I know a lot of Republicans who are disturbed by the idea of someone who's supported any state's consideration of secession, being a heartbeat away from the presidency.

[blackink.livejournal.com]

Then why bring it up if it's irrelevant? By doing so, you made it relevant to the discussion at hand, which seems to be related to whether the GOP had pulled out such a "controversial" candidate to undermine the response from Obama's speech. You bring it up again in the poll, with 'abstinence-only sex ed' being an option on the ridiculous scale, as you used her daughter's pregnancy as an example of how this system can fail. If it's an irrelevant tangent, then why bring it up in the first place?

A lot of my comment was in response to the previous comments and replies in this entry as well, not solely what appeared in the entry. I should've made that clearer as well.

Personally, if Palin had had an abortion at seventeen or forced her daughter to get one, I would heavily reconsider my vote for McCain. That separation of morals and actions would be a serious issue to talk about in an online forum. What's happened with her daughter is, as you (and Obama) have said, irrelevant to her ability to be the VP. I won't argue the point of abortion, since that would be never-ending, but on the issue of sex education, just because her daughter is pregnant doesn't mean she wasn't educated. On the flip side, those who did receive sex education aren't immune to teenage pregnancy. It comes down to choice and risk. Some people choose to take it, some people don't, and in the end, her daughter chose to take it. Having taken that risk, she did the responsible thing and didn't make her child pay the price for her decision. That's admirable, and those are the values that Palin has clearly taught her children with her own pregnancy.

I've no doubt that the Republicans announced the news of the VP pick to take attention off of Obama, and I was amused and pleased that they'd done so, given the media's tendency to kiss Obama's ass. But what I'm objecting to is the inference that they picked her as a candidate to be controversial because of her daughter's pregnancy. Republicans might be cast as the evil villains in society today by Hollywood and liberal media, but exploiting a seventeen-year-old girl is below any civil political party, and I found it highly offensive that it would even be inadvertently suggested that the party would do that.

I haven't heard anything about the pledge or the secession bit on CNN or other media outlets, but I haven't been listening or reading much today so far, so maybe that's changed. But I have been hearing about her daughter's pregnancy non-stop, so if any move was to distract from the Obama campaign, it would've been that one. Again, offensive. Maybe it's not how you intended it, but it does come off that way quite strongly to me. On the topic of vetting, I know the vetting process appeared to be quite short, but I firmly believe that she was fully vetted. These 'major controversial issues' everyone's talking about in these comments are anything but. They aren't real campaign issues, and getting it all out there in the beginning is exactly what they're doing. I'm not saying she's perfect, not even remotely. In fact, these 'flaws' are what makes her appear much more human. In the end, what some democrats will potentially think themselves above, that will be what endears her to others.

The article you linked to condemned the Palins as parents in relation to her politics, as have others. And again, I have to ask why you even brought it up (though your "let's not even get into it" has the implication of a 'dear lord, aren't they hopeless?' sense of exasperation to it, though again, whether or not that's intentional, I don't know, but it certainly comes off that way, and the way others are reacting in the comments show similar assumptions and verifications) if you think it doesn't matter. Clearly you must at least to some degree, as you linked to two individual articles about it. So I'm a little confused - was it important, or was it irrelevant? And if you didn't want to talk about it, then why bring it up?

[blackink.livejournal.com]

There's absolutely no evidence to say that she does in fact support a state's secession, only a welcoming message talking about competition between political parties (inferring she does not belong to the AIP) and valuing other ideals that the party holds. She also refers to upholding the Alaska Constitution, which only became operative after Alaska became a state and says nothing about secession. As for whether or not she was part of it, it's implied in her recorded message that she isn't: "I've always said that competition is so good, and that applies to political parties as well". She never acknowledges supporting secession - she's simply supporting certain values of a political party in an attempt at being civil and recognizing them as legitimate competition. There's nothing that says two different political parties can't agree on certain issues, and what those certain issues did not include is secession. This so-called video evidence has been completely blown out of proportion, and it's attack tactics all around. Given the laughable crap that the Daily Kos has come up with over the past few days (and quickly took down), it's pretty clear they're just a liberal blog pandering to tabloid rumors and not an unbiased and factual news site.

And as for the pledge bit, it sounded like a gaff to me and not something she necessary believes. Yeah, it sounds annoying taken out of context like that, but was it an off-the-cuff remark where politicians often gaff? Was she laughing when she said it? Was 'Under God' or any part of religion mentioned in regards to the Founding Fathers previously in the interview? Show me the whole interview and I'll give you my full opinion on that. But as it stands, to me personally, it doesn't seem any worse than Obama's refusal to wear a flag pin. Unremarkable and irrelevant to her politics. Everyone screws up - and if that's the best the democrats and media can come up with, then that's fantastic.

Also, the bit about Palin being a "heartbeat away from the Presidency" is such an annoying statement that I've been hearing way too much lately. John McCain might be older than the average candidate, but he's intelligent about his health and watches it closely. He also has some of the best medical help in the world. They're aware that he's at risk of a heart attack, and they're careful about it - but who says that Obama won't keel over tomorrow from a massive heart attack or stroke, or any other number of factors occurs? It's a scare-tactics statement, and a ridiculous one at that. And frankly, if Palin did become President because of McCain's untimely demise, then that wouldn't be half as bad as certain others gaining the presidency. I don't think she'd make a bad President at all.

[heidi8.livejournal.com]

OK, this is weird, because I wrote an extensive reply to this and it seems to have been Eaten By LJ.So I will rewrite it (albeit with fewer links than it originally had - if you want more links for #2 especially, let me know).

1. The pledge bit was something she wrote in response to the Eagle Forum's questionaire back in the 2006 gubernatorial race.

2. The "heartbeat away from the presidency" is an aphorism that's been around at least since Reagan was shot - when I replied yesterday I linked to articles where it was mentioned in connection with Quayle, Gore, Cheney and Bush #1, as well as Biden. It has nothing to do with McCain's heart precisely - people have said it about every VP candidate in the last 20+ years. The one window I still had open was W's eulogy for Reagan. Just FYI.

3. Her husband was a member of the AIP, and she has attended their events. What would you think if Obama, let's say as a teenager, had attended a single meeting of a group that wanted a vote on the secession of Hawaii? Would you brush it off as easily as you're brushing off the Palins' participation in AIP activities? What do you think Lincoln would say about it?

4. DO you really think that her participation in Stevens' 527 - when McCain has spoken out against 527's - is not a campaign or governance issue? Do you really think that her acceptance of - and lobbying for - earmarks that are on McCain's list of earmarks that he considered problematic is not a campaign issue?

What is a campaign issue for you?

[selinakyle47.livejournal.com]

Palin is the conservative, evangelical base gimme so I am fairly certain she'll be on the ticket come November. As much as McCain would like to peel away moderates, he still needs to make sure the base comes out.

[chinawolf.livejournal.com]

Actually, I'd not thought of the last option yet, but you're correct. I learned in negotiation theory yesterday that one of the things you need to get what you want for sure is to move the point of view of the opponent. Palin is how bad it could be. Probably anyone else will be at least more acceptable than her, to Republicans and Undecideds both.

[chinawolf.livejournal.com]

To make clearer - I really don't think even the republican hardliners can like her.

And I voted for the founding-fathers thing being absolutely UNSPEAKABLE because such a gaffe may be acceptable for normal people, but I hold people who run for an office as high as that to a much higher standard, one which hasn't changed even during W times. They need to be so sharp you can cut your finger on them, in my opinion, and win the people's hearts and minds by intelligence, problem solving ability, charisma and impeccable diplomatic skills. I didn't know that about the pledge. Her not knowing it is just horrifying, worse than any political position she takes that I might not agree with.

[fangirljen.livejournal.com]

Hey now! I wouldn't want to see Petrelli as McCain's running mate, despite how he seems to have more leanings toward being a Republican. Considering Obama seems to be musing Nathan quite a bit, we don't need him running against Nathan. :) And if Biden wasn't a running mate, Nathan would be perfect for Veep.

[heidi8.livejournal.com]

Back in early 2007 I wrote a few paragraphs on why Nathan couldn't run and win as a Republican in NYC - but of course, that was before the end of S1, and the Fix via Micah, so it's irrelevant to the actual plot. But I still stand by my arguments then - he wouldn't even be relatively close in polling as a Republican in NY, so in my universe, Nathan is a democrat.

Angela, on the other hand....

[fangirljen.livejournal.com]

Cool. Yeah, because even with Micah's help, Nathan was still pulling in the lead. I think he's more of a moderate.

Angela and what about Arthur? :D

[ashavah]

Because Alaska would totally be able to support itself successfully as an independent nation. /sarcasm

*boggles*

[nicocoer.livejournal.com]

. . . The more days I know this woman exists, the more her stupidity appears to grow exponentially. Actually, since the level of stupid/hypocrisy has jumped in the past 5 hours, I'm getting twitchy about the "days" bit.

1) Re: teenaged daughter. I CANNOT BELIEVE that this woman can stand up there and be all extreme Pro-life, Anti-education, "pro-family" and have this happen while attempting to be a real politician. Yes, yes, It's her daughter's choice to have sex and she has to face the consequences and find joy in it if she can (heck, my 17-year-old sister is having a baby in a month, and we are all awaiting Ambellina's birth) But Gov Palin is not running for Gov this time. If she's unable to maintain a healthy and safe home, how is she going to be able to maintain a healthy and safe country?

Also, If you are out there as a hard-nosed anti-education person and want people to take you seriously? YOU MAKE SURE THIS STUFF DOESN'T HAPPEN. Because this (and I do feel bad for Bristol and hope that her marriage doesn't end up a demonstration of statistics the way that her pregnancy is demonstrating this point)purely demonstrates what's wrong with abstinence only Education. And I don't mean it just as not having all the info available- I personally learned it via the internet- but that it reinforces stigma when people think about using contraceptives.

2) Re: Founding Fathers and the PoA: My mind seriously shut down for 5 minutes when I heard this. It was written more than 100 years after the founding- none of the founders were even ALIVE when it was written. We were around 20 years from our bicentennial when "Under G-d" was added- ditto about founders being dead. They cover this stuff in your basic high school US history now (not that anyone remembers it), and even if they didn't EVEN WIKIPEDIA HAS IT. It's unfathomable to me that there's a state with a Governor this uneducated about our history, let alone a VP candidate. Just. NO.

3) Re: secessionist tendencies: OH. MY. G-D. D-did they even do a basic background check on this woman before they picked her? Because um. How much fail is demonstrated here? TOO MUCH. I swear, this woman not only gives conservatives a bad worse name, she will make the internet explode with righteous indignation if we learn any more about her.

Guess who's taking advantage of her British Blood-ties if this woman gets into office?

[rookie131.livejournal.com]

I also love that she didn't know what the VP's job would be. Oh, and how about no passport? There is no way they seriously think this woman could possibly run our country.

Did you see Carville's piece on Larry King? He nailed it. Even had a picture of her office when she was mayor of a town of a whopping 5000 people.

Here's my only gripe about the whole daughter-being-pregnant scandal. If it was reversed and Biden's daughter was pregnant, it would be all "Damn liberals have no family values." But, somehow, because it is a Republican, it is okay because the girl is going to get married. Even though she would be thousands of miles away from her future husband when she is living in DC.