Haven’t I been good?
Not a single political post for 8 WHOLE DAYS.
*collapses with effort*
So here’s something fun for you to watch (just 5 minutes) and it will make you howl (or cry).
The shockingly liberal legacy of George W. Bush
The partisan portraits will not tell the whole story, of course, because the narrative is not tidy. Bush’s legacy is more than the protracted war in Iraq. In some areas it is the result of hardline conservative ideology — but in others it is surprisingly liberal. Bush is the tax-cutting conservative who nonetheless grew the federal government in size and power. He is the former governor who championed states’ rights while centralizing more power in Washington. He is the proponent of race-neutral policies who did more than any president before him to measure, track, and invest in the achievement of black and Latino children. He is the advocate of human dignity who authorized interrogation techniques that amount to torture. The passionate defender of liberty who circumvented laws to spy on his own citizens. The lover of freedom who toppled one dictator while propping up others. The progenitor of wars that killed thousands on one continent, and the humanitarian who spent unprecedented sums to save millions from disease on another.
Untangling and judging the Bush presidency with its complexities and inner contradictions will engage historians and politicians for decades. But there is no doubt that Bush achieved what Vice-President Dick Cheney once said he wanted: a presidency that was “consequential.”
I think I know why I’m a bit miffed by Sarah Palin now.
It’s because I really wanted to like her.
As a woman, I am so incredibly excited to have the opportunity to have a woman in a position of such power. This glass-ceiling is in dire need of being shattered. So as a woman, I really, really, really want ot like and support her, even if I don’t agree with all of her policies.
And yet I just can’t.
I feel a bit let down and, to be honest, pandered to. Like “Oh, here’s a girl. Let’s just pick her.” instead of choosing the woman that is best qualified for the role (and I know that there are qualified Republican women out there). Her behaviour, her record, the storm of her “Charlies” in her one and only interview, her defensiveness, the lies, the smug arrogance….I feel so disappointed. Of all the women that could have been picked, why her? I’d have loved to have seen a qualified Republican woman in that slot.
And finally, something to think about:
“The abortion issue cannot be ignored,” he [Tony Campolo] says. “Here’s where you can see where both parties have something to contribute. The Republicans want to overthrow Roe v. Wade, and the pro-life people would cheer that, and they should. The other side of the story is this: 70% of the abortion in this country (USA) are presently driven by economic forces. You have an 18-year-old woman who works at Wal-Mart at minimum wage – she has no hospitalization, she has no opportunity for maternity leave, she has no access to daycare when the baby is born, she’s in dire straits. If you’re going to be pro-life, you cannot only be concerned about the unborn; you have to be concerned about after they’re born. Are we going to have universal health care so she doesn’t have to worry about paying her hospital bill? Are we going to raise the minimum wage, because presently that woman cannot pay for her retn, let alone take care of herself and a child? Are we going to provide daycare for her so she can continue to be employed? Are you willing to give her a maternity leave so that she doesn’t have to either lose her job or have an abortion?”
