I am not like Sarah Palin
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Sarah Palin is not like me.
I will never ascend to be the first female to be nominated by the Republican Party as Vice-President. That honor goes solely to Sarah Palin. The fact that she stands alone in this designation does not overshadow how alone, or in the company of such a small, select group, should not be lost on anyone.
Sarah Palin is not like me in so many ways. I have been a resident of the contiguous 48 states my entire life; I have spent a number of years as a resident of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Alabama. I therefore have in common with almost 300 million United States citizens what the less than two million citizens of Hawaii and Alaska do not share: adjoining borders among 48 states. I would never pretend that I am very familiar with issues pertaining to these isolated states; to Ms. Palin’s credit, she does not pretend to be familiar with issues pertaining to the “lower 48.”
Sarah Palin does not share my religious views. While I have a creed and a faith, never would I manipulate my belief in God to justify an ill-founded war. To appeal to other like-minded religious zealots to ignore the myths such as the notion that weapons of mass destruction required US force in Iraq is at the least deceptive and at the most blasphemous. It is so true that the even the devil can cite Scripture for his own purpose.
I am not like Sarah Palin in that I do not support her notion that daily prayers should be required in public schools. I no more want my children to be forced to pray in a religious style that goes against their upbringing than, I would imagine, she would want hers to have to chant the Koran. Public education is the great equalizer for all of America’s children, not just the select few that agree with Sarah Palin’s hard line ideology, and the fact that her support for school prayer is an attempt to tear the pubic school system down as a mask for not having to come up with a serious plan to make them better reeks again as blasphemy.
Successful people who have families have a balancing act they must maintain in order to not sacrifice one for the benefit of the other. Many successful people emerge unscathed in their pursuit of career advancement while helping to maintain the health of their families. I am not like Sarah Palin. There was a time when my family needed me more than at any other time of my adulthood. As a single parent of a child whose other parent abandoned at a young age, I quickly realized the dedication I would have to pour into my child in order to help him grow up to be as happy, well-adjusted and happy as he is. Even though I put my own career “on hold” during the “tender years” of my child’s growth, I am proud to say that I have reached the goal of advancing my career very successfully since then. A parent who rushes into her own “career advancement” while leaving the parenting of her infant child with Down’s Syndrome to her oldest, unwed high school daughter who is expecting a child of her own smacks of the same type of abandonment issues my own child had to endure. Where has Sarah Palin been when her children needed her supervision? What future lay ahead if Sarah Palin’s aggressive ambition is realized? What judgment does Sarah Palin make on those who don’t measure up to her own superficial measures of moral behavior?
The hypocrisy of Sarah Palin is furthered by her own philosophy of preaching “abstinence only” as the sole means of birth control. While I do not share this philosophy with Sarah Palin, I additionally do not share her obvious lack of parental support while her daughter failed to “go it alone” to remain abstinent.
This country is too important to have frivolity, fear and fraudulence permeate its presidential election. I am not like Sarah Palin’s reliance on sarcasm to appeal to a lower level of thinking so that she can persuade that element of people to gloss over real issues that this nation faces. Sure, it’s great “politainment” to utilize low brow, clever sarcasm to make fun of one’s opponents, but it is obvious that Sarah Palin is not like me because she is not seeing the big picture of ending reliance on foreign oil while preserving our fragile environment. In this case, Sarah Palin manipulates even the greatest treasure (if I am going to pretend to know at least one thing about Alaska) that her state has to offer: the awesome beauty of the land that is preserved there. Even the most effective sarcasm could never summarize the danger that Sarah Palin brings to the White House’s treatment of the environment.
I am not like Sarah Palin because I feel financial pain when I buy gas or food. I worry about my retirement because I fear that my country will not live up to its promise that the social security taxes I have been paying throughout my career will not result in support when I can no longer work. I worry that my health care, which is provided as a benefit for the number of years I have dedicated to educating children on spite of sub-par wages, will be taxed to the point of creating further hardship for me and my family. I worry that I am not like Sarah Palin. The omission from her speech of addressing my concerns is disheartening. My conclusion is that her opponents, in this respect, are fortunately not like Sarah Palin.
Sarah Palin is not like me - nor is she like the wide majority of Americans - because she feels that the administration of the past eight years has been successful in increasing the number of jobs, curtailing the rate of inflation, protecting the environment, promoting fairness and accountability of our nation’s politicians, appropriately utilizing our young men and women in armed conflict, leading truly effective educational reform, and firming our stance as friends and leaders around the world. Sarah Palin is not like me because I will not vote for her; I can only hope that those who review George Bush’s efficacy as President by reporting a low approval rating will reject at the polls her attempt to continue that unfortunate performance and legacy.
It is heartening to know that Sarah Palin is running for an office which traditionally is figurative in that it merely prepares the “next in line” to rise to the highest office in the event of a physical catastrophe to the President. Given the record and participation of the second in command of the past eight years as well as the health of the Republican presidential candidate, however, gives this writer much reason to be fearful of the narrow agenda she would bring to the White House. Sarah Palin is not like me, but I fear that she is a kindred spirit to Dick Cheney.
Finally, I am not like Sarah Palin … because I am a man. This last fact, however, should be no reason for this man not to vote for her, just as it should not be a reason for women to vote for her merely because of her gender. Making a knee-jerk choice based on sex without the effort of independent thought is an unfortunate lack of wisdom, in my opinion. How I am similar to Sarah Palin, however, is that I am a human being. This fact, however, seems to get lost in her need to stand united with her narrow faction to divide our nation instead of finding commonality and fairness among the many divisions in our country so we can once more stand united. The strength of her pervasive “holier than thou attitude” has emerged as the sharpest contrast between the us, majority of American voters, and Sarah Palin.
I will never ascend to be the first female to be nominated by the Republican Party as Vice-President. That honor goes solely to Sarah Palin. The fact that she stands alone in this designation does not overshadow how alone, or in the company of such a small, select group, should not be lost on anyone.
Sarah Palin is not like me in so many ways. I have been a resident of the contiguous 48 states my entire life; I have spent a number of years as a resident of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Alabama. I therefore have in common with almost 300 million United States citizens what the less than two million citizens of Hawaii and Alaska do not share: adjoining borders among 48 states. I would never pretend that I am very familiar with issues pertaining to these isolated states; to Ms. Palin’s credit, she does not pretend to be familiar with issues pertaining to the “lower 48.”
Sarah Palin does not share my religious views. While I have a creed and a faith, never would I manipulate my belief in God to justify an ill-founded war. To appeal to other like-minded religious zealots to ignore the myths such as the notion that weapons of mass destruction required US force in Iraq is at the least deceptive and at the most blasphemous. It is so true that the even the devil can cite Scripture for his own purpose.
I am not like Sarah Palin in that I do not support her notion that daily prayers should be required in public schools. I no more want my children to be forced to pray in a religious style that goes against their upbringing than, I would imagine, she would want hers to have to chant the Koran. Public education is the great equalizer for all of America’s children, not just the select few that agree with Sarah Palin’s hard line ideology, and the fact that her support for school prayer is an attempt to tear the pubic school system down as a mask for not having to come up with a serious plan to make them better reeks again as blasphemy.
Successful people who have families have a balancing act they must maintain in order to not sacrifice one for the benefit of the other. Many successful people emerge unscathed in their pursuit of career advancement while helping to maintain the health of their families. I am not like Sarah Palin. There was a time when my family needed me more than at any other time of my adulthood. As a single parent of a child whose other parent abandoned at a young age, I quickly realized the dedication I would have to pour into my child in order to help him grow up to be as happy, well-adjusted and happy as he is. Even though I put my own career “on hold” during the “tender years” of my child’s growth, I am proud to say that I have reached the goal of advancing my career very successfully since then. A parent who rushes into her own “career advancement” while leaving the parenting of her infant child with Down’s Syndrome to her oldest, unwed high school daughter who is expecting a child of her own smacks of the same type of abandonment issues my own child had to endure. Where has Sarah Palin been when her children needed her supervision? What future lay ahead if Sarah Palin’s aggressive ambition is realized? What judgment does Sarah Palin make on those who don’t measure up to her own superficial measures of moral behavior?
The hypocrisy of Sarah Palin is furthered by her own philosophy of preaching “abstinence only” as the sole means of birth control. While I do not share this philosophy with Sarah Palin, I additionally do not share her obvious lack of parental support while her daughter failed to “go it alone” to remain abstinent.
This country is too important to have frivolity, fear and fraudulence permeate its presidential election. I am not like Sarah Palin’s reliance on sarcasm to appeal to a lower level of thinking so that she can persuade that element of people to gloss over real issues that this nation faces. Sure, it’s great “politainment” to utilize low brow, clever sarcasm to make fun of one’s opponents, but it is obvious that Sarah Palin is not like me because she is not seeing the big picture of ending reliance on foreign oil while preserving our fragile environment. In this case, Sarah Palin manipulates even the greatest treasure (if I am going to pretend to know at least one thing about Alaska) that her state has to offer: the awesome beauty of the land that is preserved there. Even the most effective sarcasm could never summarize the danger that Sarah Palin brings to the White House’s treatment of the environment.
I am not like Sarah Palin because I feel financial pain when I buy gas or food. I worry about my retirement because I fear that my country will not live up to its promise that the social security taxes I have been paying throughout my career will not result in support when I can no longer work. I worry that my health care, which is provided as a benefit for the number of years I have dedicated to educating children on spite of sub-par wages, will be taxed to the point of creating further hardship for me and my family. I worry that I am not like Sarah Palin. The omission from her speech of addressing my concerns is disheartening. My conclusion is that her opponents, in this respect, are fortunately not like Sarah Palin.
Sarah Palin is not like me - nor is she like the wide majority of Americans - because she feels that the administration of the past eight years has been successful in increasing the number of jobs, curtailing the rate of inflation, protecting the environment, promoting fairness and accountability of our nation’s politicians, appropriately utilizing our young men and women in armed conflict, leading truly effective educational reform, and firming our stance as friends and leaders around the world. Sarah Palin is not like me because I will not vote for her; I can only hope that those who review George Bush’s efficacy as President by reporting a low approval rating will reject at the polls her attempt to continue that unfortunate performance and legacy.
It is heartening to know that Sarah Palin is running for an office which traditionally is figurative in that it merely prepares the “next in line” to rise to the highest office in the event of a physical catastrophe to the President. Given the record and participation of the second in command of the past eight years as well as the health of the Republican presidential candidate, however, gives this writer much reason to be fearful of the narrow agenda she would bring to the White House. Sarah Palin is not like me, but I fear that she is a kindred spirit to Dick Cheney.
Finally, I am not like Sarah Palin … because I am a man. This last fact, however, should be no reason for this man not to vote for her, just as it should not be a reason for women to vote for her merely because of her gender. Making a knee-jerk choice based on sex without the effort of independent thought is an unfortunate lack of wisdom, in my opinion. How I am similar to Sarah Palin, however, is that I am a human being. This fact, however, seems to get lost in her need to stand united with her narrow faction to divide our nation instead of finding commonality and fairness among the many divisions in our country so we can once more stand united. The strength of her pervasive “holier than thou attitude” has emerged as the sharpest contrast between the us, majority of American voters, and Sarah Palin.
5*****