Palin’s place is back at home

Posted by ( Meru ) on October 08, 2008 at 2:12 pm

Suggesting that a woman’s “place” is at home raising a family harkens back a few generations does it not?  And suggesting that a person with a child with disabilities cannot manage an important job sort of disqualifies a lot of us from any meaningful work.  Good thing most employers do not feel that way. 

While I agree that it would be ideal if at least one parent remains home to “raise the family,“ I accept the fact that this is not always the case, whether by necessity or by choice.  We all need to accept that and move on.  We also need to accept the fact that children are, on occasion, born with disabilities. And while this fact makes the home life a bit more difficult, it should not reflect poorly on the parent who chooses to remain active in the work force.

We also need to eventually embrace, and actually seek out, a woman with main stream, middle America values like Palin to occupy the highest offices of our Government.  Once a woman occupies high office, perhaps this will open the door to many more qualified candidates to choose from, both men and women.

The letter goes over the top, however, when it suggests that Palin’s oldest daughter is some sort of disgrace and would set a poor example.  Example for who?  Barbara, Chelsea, Ronnie, Amy…were these kids expected to be role models?  Absolutely not, nor were they.  Sure they were special because they were part of the first family but otherwise they meant very little to anyone except for those who love them.  Just like the current crop of candidates’ children. 

Now, if the letter suggests that a child is a reflection of the parent, I would agree that this is true in some regards.  However, parents everywhere know that there is only so much you can do and then the little buggers are off on their own (remember Adam and Eve?  Surely their unwise choices do not reflect too poorly on their Father). 

Since the letter goes on, however, to declare the children themselves as role models, perhaps we should focus on the Palin’s oldest child.  He, along with less than 1% of other Americans his age enlisted in the military.  Unlike Obama, he did more than just “think about it.“  And the Palins, along with the McCains and Bidens, belong to the less than 1% of American families who apparently instill the value of military service into their children to the extent that the children actually act on that value.  We should also appreciate Palin’s youngest daughter, the little girl who was slicking down her baby brother’s hair with a spit drenched hand during Palin’s speech at the Convention.  What a good example of a caring, loving sibling.  Who raises such children!  Well, the current Governor of Alaska and her husband do.  So, if parenting skills are a qualifier for office, and taking care of a family, whether the person works outside the home or not, says something about a person,
Palin surely makes the grade.

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