Thursday, September 18, 2008

Palin Mania

After a short hiatus away, I’m back! And there is lots and lots to talk about, especially the Palin Mania that has hit the media by storm. My thoughts? As a Democrat, woman, and human being I’m completed insulted. Palin’s feminist cries are laughable, as are her rallying cries to shatter the glass ceiling, an accomplishment that would abandon the 18 million voters (including me) who were hammering away behind Hillary Clinton. Yet, despite her anti-woman policies and ultra conservative values, the Republican campaign is doing its damndest to rally the female vote to nominate a woman whose candidacy will turn back the clocks.

Supporting Palin means supporting a candidate who will limit our reproductive choices, a woman who will make criminals out of women for choosing what is best for their own bodies. This is a woman who believes rape victims should carry their assailant’s baby to term, a woman who also believes incest survivors have no choice but to have their father, brother, uncle, or grandfather’s baby.

A vote for Palin is a vote for abstinence-only education, programs that have been proven ineffective and have failed even Palin’s pregnant 17-year-old daughter. A Palin-McCain ticket will ensure that young women across the country do not learn about birth control or contraception, topics comprehensive sex education programs teach to avoid unplanned pregnancies and reduce the rate of abortion.

About what about same-sex relationships? Forget it. In 1998 Palin supported the constitution amendment in Alaska that defines marriage to be solely between a man and a woman. Against a decision by the Alaskan Supreme Court in 2006 to give same-sex couples the same spousal benefits (such as healthcare and retiree benefits) that married couples receive, Palin believes such rights belong only to heterosexual couples.

Palin may be a woman, but her policies do not protect and support the rights of women. They undermine and seek to erode the very freedoms women have worked for decades to achieve. Her nomination to one of the country’s highest offices is a notable achievement, but Sarah Palin is not the right woman for this job.

Want a few more reasons not to support Palin? Check out: http://womenagainstsarahpalin.blogspot.com/

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