This is a letter I got in email. It is a feminist who shares her point of view. I thought her points were beautifully executed. Just thought I would share. > > > > I am having Sarah Palin nightmares. I dreamt last > > night that she was a member of a club where they rode > > snowmobiles and wore the claws of drowned and starved > > polar bears around their necks. I have a particular > > thing for Polar Bears. Maybe it's their snowy > > whiteness or their bigness or the fact that they live > > in the arctic or that I have never seen one in person > > or touched one. Maybe it is the fact that they live > > so comfortably on ice. Whatever it is, I need the polar bears. I don't like raging at women. I am a Feminist and > > have spent my life trying to build community, help > > empower women and stop violence against them. It is > > hard to write about Sarah Palin. This is why the Sarah > > Palin choice was all the more insidious and cynical. > > The people who made this choice count on the goodness > > and solidarity of Feminists. > > > > > > But everything Sarah Palin believes in and practices > > is antithetical to Feminism which for me is part of > > one story -- connected to saving the earth, ending > > racism, empowering women, giving young girls options, > > opening our minds, deepening tolerance, and ending > > violence and war. > > > > > > I believe that the McCain/Palin ticket is one of the > > most dangerous choices of my lifetime, and should this > > country chose those candidates the fall-out may be so > > great, the destruction so vast in so many areas that > > America may never recover. But what is equally > > disturbing is the impact that duo would have on the > > rest of the world. Unfortunately, this is not a joke. > > In my lifetime I have seen the clownish, the inept, > > the bizarre be elected to the presidency with regularity. > > > > > > Sarah Palin does not believe in evolution. I take > > this as a metaphor. In her world and the world of > > Fundamentalists nothing changes or gets better or > > evolves. She does not believe in global warming. The > > melting of the arctic, the storms that are destroying > > our cities, the pollution and rise of cancers, are all > > part of God's plan. She is fighting to take the polar > > bears off the endangered species list. The earth, in > > Palin's view, is here to be taken and plundered. The > > wolves and the bears are here to be shot and > > plundered. The oil is here to be taken and plundered. > > Iraq is here to be taken and plundered. As she said > > herself of the Iraqi war, "It was a task from God." > > > > > > > > Sarah Palin does not believe in abortion. She does > > not believe women who are raped and incested and > > ripped open against their will should have a right to > > determine whether they have their rapist's baby or not. > > > > > > > > She obviously does not believe in sex education or > > birth control. I imagine her daughter was practicing > > abstinence and we know how many babies that makes. > > > > > > > > Sarah Palin does not much believe in thinking. >From > > what I gather she has tried to ban books from the > > library, has a tendency to dispense with people who > > think independently. She cannot tolerate an > > environment of ambiguity and difference. This is a > > woman who could and might very well be the next > > president of the United States. She would govern one > > of the most diverse populations on the earth. > > > > > > > > Sarah believes in guns. She has her own custom > > Austrian hunting rifle. She has been known to kill 40 > > caribou at a clip. She has shot hundreds of wolves > > from the air. > > > > > > Sarah believes in God. That is of course her right, > > her private right. But when God and Guns come together > > in the public sector, when war is declared in God's > > name, when the rights of women are denied in his name, > > that is the end of separation of church and state and > > the undoing of everything America has ever tried to be. > > > > > > > > > > I write to my sisters. I write because I believe we > > hold this election in our hands. This vote is a vote > > that will determine the future not just of the U.S., > > but of the planet. It will determine whether we create > > policies to save the earth or make it forever > > uninhabitable for humans. It will determine whether we > > move towards dialogue and diplomacy in the world or > > whether we escalate violence through invasion, > > undermining and attack. It will determine whether we > > go for oil, strip mining, coal burning or invest our > > money in alternatives that will free us from > > dependency and destruction. It will determine if money > > gets spent on education and healthcare or whether we > > build more and more methods of killing. It will > > determine whether America is a free open tolerant > > society or a closed place of fear, fundamentalism and > > aggression. > > > > > > > > If the Polar Bears don't move you to go and do > > everything in your power to get Obama elected then > > consider the chant that filled the hall after Palin > > spoke at the RNC, "Drill Drill Drill." I think of > > teeth when I think of drills. I think of rape. I think > > of destruction. I think of domination. I think of > > military exercises that force mindless repetition, > > emptying the brain of analysis, doubt, ambiguity or > > dissent. I think of pain. > > > > > > > > Do we want a future of drilling? More holes in the > > ozone, in the floor of the sea, more holes in our > > thinking, in the trust between nations and peoples, > > more holes in the fabric of this precious thing we > > call life?
I get the feeling when I read posts like that the person writing doesn't have a deep understanding of the issues that they feel so passionately about. I think people like this have made up their mind before actually reseraching the subject. (For whatever reason, be it religion, politics, gender, race, etc...) A telltale sign is the amount of topics that they touch on, without giving any real in-depth explanations to most of them. And, the ones they do talk about usually parrot biased media, rumors, exagerations, unsubstantiated claims, etc... Here is a perfect example. She believes in guns. (constitutional right to bear arms) She has her own custom Austrian hunting rifle. (relevance?) She has been known to kill 40 caribou at a clip. (complete falsehood) http://thearcticsounder.com/news/show/2866 From the brief research that I did (and by brief, I mean about 5-10 minutes) it was initially thought that 40 caribou were found slaughtered, another reported upwards of 50, and several reported the final count at around 120. None of these were admitted, or suspected to have been shot by the Palin's. There are also mention of topics in posts like these that the writer clearly does not understand, or simply states they disagree with, without offering an alternative solution or viewpoint. These topics include removing animals from the endagered species list, US demand for oil and what is required to meet this demand (importing or domestic drilling, etc..), or national security issues involving military actions against rogue nations or nations that harbor threats to the US. Your friend has every right to her opinion, and every right to express her opinion. I however do not give any merit or credence to this.
oh, she's not a friend. I have no idea who the original person who wrote it is. Just came through the wave lengths. WE all have opinions though. And I respect you for having yours.
Here is an example of how garbage like this spreads through the internet. http://booksandideas.wordpress.com/2008/09/13/why-i-have-to-take-a-stand-against-sarah-palin/ The trouble is that one person who is clearly biased and is too lazy to research the topics on their own posts some mindless crap. Another person reads it, and passes it along. And another. And another. And so we have the internet. It is not just about Palin either, as I have mentioned in a previous post about Obama rumors. You can find similar writings like this about pretty much any politician in the spotlight. It however is not an excuse for laziness. Shame on the person who writes it, as well as the person who passes it on.
The problem that this causes is that people who want real answers to real issues have to sift through all the bullshit that is found on the internet. A lot of people do not have the time to check and cross check everything they find on the internet, and unfortunately, that is what is often required.
Exactly...there are going to be exaggerations. Someone needs to research for themselves. People are going to draw opinions as they do research. So what words someone uses to say one thing, another might find them lies because of interpretation. I just liked the way she executed her passion in the letter. There is nothing wrong with enjoying people's rights to express their opinions.
And that is great! Good for her for having the will to care. What is truly powerful is when you have the passion and the fuel. I think it is rare to find both, but when you do, that is how you influence people and make a difference.
Absolutely. Besides...no matter how much research you do on these candidates, its all bullshit anyway. I just wanna live in a world without leaders or elections or politics Let's just hope more people find their passion and drive....in whatever way that happens to be
I think a lot of people on this site want that, I know I do but I don't think it will happen. Most people can't see past the rhetoric.
