Punished With a Baby

This is now the new line from Sarah Palin in her attacks against Barack Obama. But what she's doing is taking his statement out of context. His original statement from March 2008 was:

"When it comes specifically to HIV/AIDS, the most important prevention is education, which should include -- which should include abstinence education and teaching the children -- teaching children, you know, that sex is not something casual," he said.

"But it should also include -- it should also include other, you know, information about contraception because, look, I've got two daughters. 9 years old and 6 years old," he added.

"I am going to teach them first of all about values and morals. But if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby,"

I hate to tell Sarah, but having a baby when you're not ready can be a punishment. If she doesn't care for the word punishment she can substitute that with many others. How about devastating. It's not the baby itself, it's the life situation of having that child at a young age that can be punishment. Her parsing of words completely misconstrues the message Obama was talking about. She ought to look at what life has in store for her own 17 year old pregnant daughter. I've seen that movie before in my own family.

My younger sister became pregnant at 16 and,like Bristol will have, had a shot gun wedding. It turned out to be a nightmare. Her education stopped. By the time she was 18 she had 2 children and a drunken, abusive husband. He beat her up the night they were married, pregnant and all. In the next 8 years of that marriage he not only beat her but the children as well. I saw what he did and was shocked. I implored her to leave but she was scared and thought religion demanded she stay married...to suffer through it. But it wasn't just her suffering; it was also her children. The final straw was the day he put a loaded gun to her head. That was when she finally had the courage to leave.

But the effects of her situation only became graver. Now she was on her own with 2 young children, no education and an ex that refused to pay the $50 a month child support the court ordered. For a time she sank into a world of drugs, alcohol and depression. She struggled to make ends meet; ended up on welfare for a time before finally settling into life as an underpaid, overstressed factory worker. Sadly, she'd had dreams of being an accountant; she had been amazing with numbers and bookkeeping in school but as a single Mom she had no money or time to think about going back to school.

Thankfully both her children turned out to be successful. One has graduated from college and the other manages a Walgreens. They had great support from the rest of us. However, not every family has that kind of support structure. But my sister? Today she's 53 years old and suffers from depression and is still fighting her way through life working 2 jobs...factory worker and maid at the hometown Hilton Hotel.

Now, this story is not to advocate for abortion. It's to advocate for education. Comprehensive, appropriate sex education to include the teaching of abstinence. Not simply abstinence only. It amazes me how so many think information will "cause" their child to have sex and that will lead to abortion. How silly. If teens have the correct information they are able to make better choices which can, in turn, reduce the number of pregnancies and abortions. But let me be clear, I do support a woman's right to choose but I want them all to be informed first.

If Sarah Palin thinks that teens being taught abstinence only and having babies so young is not punishment I have a bridge in Alaska to sell her.

Last Look at Summer Flowers

Busy day today so I thought I'd put up some photos of my summer flowers. Being right on the lake flowers grow like mad. Nicest thing is that I've never had to plant any. These are all wild flowers. I love the colors.

Sarah Palin Abused Her Power

It has been found by investigtor Branchflower that Governor Sarah Palin DID indeed abuse her power.

The pdf of the report is here:

Branchflower Report to Legislative Council

Pages 48 through 68 explain the events that led to Branchflower's findings.


It proves she is a vindictive person. She and Todd were out for a personal vendetta against Trooper Wooten for personal reasons. SNAP!

BTW, this was a bi-partisan council so the McCain campaign can forget the bogus spin I'm sure they'll throw out.

Blue Star Families for Obama

These are wonderful videos. As a military veteran I am so pleased to see this. These people are great so please visit them at Blue Star Families for Obama.

From their website:

BSF4O is a grassroots organization created earlier this year by a handful of Army and Marine spouses who have a Pro-Military, Pro-Obama message. Today, thanks to the tremendous efforts of our dedicated volunteers (even our website was donated by BSF4O members!), BSF4O has chapters in 24 states and communicates with thousands of military family members across America.

Here's another one of the videos from their site.

Republican Supporters of Hate

Even though today McCain asked the people at his rallies to be respectful he still told them he wanted to fight. Now, seriously, you think the people in these videos will listen to him? The utter ignorance and anger of these people is appalling. What's worse is that they are PROUD of displaying it.
I don't think these people could define socialist if you asked them.







Those the real McCain supporters and they make me ashamed that they call themselves Americans. I've never heard this kind of ugliness at an Obama rally.

UPDATE Per Mark Halperin :

After days of watching in silence, McCain calms the crowd at his Minnesota town meeting.

"I want everyone to be respectful. And let’s make sure we are, because that’s the way politics is done in America."

Tells one supporter who says he’s scared of an Obama presidency: "I have to tell you, he is a decent person, a person that you do not have to be scared [of] as president of the United States."

After a woman calls Obama "an Arab," McCain interrupts to say: "No, ma’am. He is a decent family man, citizen."

During his stop in Minnesota when he expressed to the crowd that Obama was a decent man, he was promptly booed. So much for getting the salivaters under control now that you've spent 5 days whipping them into a froth, John. Well, we'll see what happens next. As far as I'm concerned the damage has already been done. His followers are still rabid to me.

McCain Campaign Defends the Hate

Talk about hubris! These people disgust me. Brian Rogers, a McCain spokesman, is now defending the ugly, angry, petulant rantings heard at the recent McCain/Palin campaigns:

Barack Obama’s attacks on Americans who support John McCain reveal far more about him than they do about John McCain. It is clear that Barack Obama just doesn’t understand regular people and the issues they care about. He dismisses hardworking middle class Americans as clinging to guns and religion, while at the same time attacking average Americans at McCain rallies who are angry at Washington, Wall Street and the status quo.

Even worse, he attacks anyone who dares to question his readiness to serve as their commander in chief in chief. Raising legitimate questions about record, character and judgment are a vital part of the Democratic process, and Barack Obama’s effort to silence and shame those who seek answers should make everyone wonder exactly what he is hiding.

So Barack doesn't understand regular working people? I call bullshit. I want him to say that to my Dad's face. My Dad has voted Republican his entire life but not this time. He'll now be voting for Obama. He is disgusted as are many clear thinking moderate Republicans.

Today former Republican Michigan Governor William Milliken stated he's had second thoughts. He endorsed McCain during the primaries but has had it with the tone of the campaign.

"He is not the McCain I endorsed," said Milliken, reached at his Traverse City home Thursday. "He keeps saying, 'Who is Barack Obama?' I would ask the question, 'Who is John McCain?' because his campaign has become rather disappointing to me.

"I'm disappointed in the tenor and the personal attacks on the part of the McCain campaign, when he ought to be talking about the issues."

Milliken, a lifelong Republican, is among some past leaders from the party's moderate wing voicing reservations and, in some cases, opposition to McCain's candidacy.

Then there's former Republican, now Independent, Lincoln Chafee who had this to say:

"That's not my kind of Republicanism," said Chafee, who now calls himself an independent. "I saw what Bush and Cheney did. They came in with a (budget) surplus and a stable world, and look what's happened now. In eight short years they've taken one peaceful and prosperous world, and they've torn it into tatters."

As for McCain's choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for his running mate, "there's no question she's totally unqualified," Chafee said.

He had similar reservations about Obama's lack of experience, but said the Democrat's handling of the campaign convinced him he's ready to lead.

Chafee said he has spoken with several other moderate Republican leaders, and "there are a whole lot of us deserting."

Add to that Republican Ray LaHood from here in Illinois. He's retiring this year and is still supporting the McCain ticket as of now but he's not pleased at all.

LaHood supports the McCain ticket, but doesn't like what he sees at some of the McCain-Palin rallies: When Barack Obama's name has been mentioned by Sarah Palin, there are shouts of "terrorist," and LaHood says Palin should put a stop to it.

"Look it," LaHood said. "This doesn't befit the office that she's running for. And frankly, people don't like it."

LaHood says it could backfire on the Republican ticket.

He says the names that Obama is being called, "Certainly don't reflect the character of the man."

Is it any wonder that so many moderate Republicans are fleeing from the McCain/Palin ticket? They certainly don't want to be associated with the kind of garbage that's been going on. It's one thing to disagree with your opponents policies. It's quite another to tolerate and tacitly approve of the hate that's being yelled at rallies. McCain/Palin are playing with fire and it seems they just don't care. Some of those people are truly unhinged and all it takes is one of them to do something foolish. This is what 20 years of hate radio/tv from the likes of Limbaugh, Hewitt, Hannity and Savage have produced. How proud will they be if someone gets killed?

Obama Responds on Ayers Association

Barack Obama went on conservative Michael Smerconish's radio show to respond to the McCain campaign's smear regarding Bill Ayers.

Audio of the interview:





Some of what Obama said:

"The gentleman in question, Bill Ayers, is a college professor, teaches education at the University of Illinois," he said. "That's how I met him -- working on a school reform project that was funded by an ambassador and very close friend of Ronald Reagan's" along with "a bunch of conservative businessmen and civic leaders."

"Ultimately, I ended up learning about the fact that he had engaged in this reprehensible act 40 years ago, but I was eight years old at the time and I assumed that he had been rehabilitated," Obama said.

Gah, if I was to held responsible for some of the stupid things people I knew in the 60's did I'd probably be in prison or a mental ward. Obama went on to say the following:

"This guy is not part of my inner circle, he doesn't advise my campaign, he's not going to advise me as president," Obama assured listeners.

I just think this line of attack not only smacks of desperation on the part of the McCain campaign but also stupidity. The economy is tanking daily and this is all the McCain campaign has to say to America? I think it's because they know if they talk about the economy it's a losing battle. It's just nauseating to see the level to which his campaign has sunk.

You can read an entire article over at Ben Smith's Blog.