Aw Come On....Tell Me How You Skin 'Em!

Scary!

WASP

This is making the rounds. I have received several emails today urging me to add to an insta-blog, Women Against Sarah Palin. With the click of a button, voices can now rise up, not solo but in resounding chorus. Any woman with an internet connection can, and should make her voice heard if she is not comfortable with, is insulted by, or shudders in fear of this looming puppet.
I share with you:


Friends, compatriots, fellow-lamenters,


We are writing to you because of the fury and dread we have felt since the announcement of Sarah Palin as the Vice-Presidential candidate for the Republican Party. We believe that this terrible decision has surpassed mere partisanship, and that it is a dangerous farce on the part of a pandering and rudderless Presidential candidate that has a real possibility of becoming fact.

Perhaps like us, as American women, you share the fear of what Ms. Palin and her professed beliefs and proven record could lead to for ourselves and for our present or future daughters. To date, she is against sex education, birth control, the pro-choice platform, environmental protection, alternative energy development, freedom of speech (as mayor she wanted to ban books and attempted to fire the librarian who stood against her), gun control, the separation of church and state, and polar bears. To say nothing of her complete lack of real preparation to become the second-most-powerful person on the planet.

We want to clarify that we are not against Sarah Palin as a woman, a mother, or, for that matter, a parent of a pregnant teenager, but solely as a rash, incompetent, and all together devastating choice for Vice President. Ms. Palin's political views are in every way a slap in the face to the accomplishments that our mothers and grandmothers and great-grandmothers so fiercely fought for, and that we've so demonstrably benefited from.

First and foremost, Ms. Palin does not represent us. She does not demonstrate or uphold our interests as American women. It is presumed that the inclusion of a woman on the Republican ticket could win over women voters. We want to disagree, publicly.

Therefore, we invite you to reply here with a short, succinct message about why you, as a woman living in this country, do not support this candidate as second-in-command for our nation.

Please include your name (last initial is fine), age, and place of residence.

We will post your responses on a blog called "Women Against Sarah Palin," which we intend to publicize as widely as possible. Please send us your reply at your earliest conveniencethe greater the volume of responses we receive, the stronger our message will be.

Thank you for your time and action.

VIVA!

Sincerely,

Quinn Latimer and Lyra Kilston
New York, NY
womensaynopalin@gmail.com

**PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY! If you send this to 20 women in the next hour, you could be blessed with a country that takes your concerns seriously. Stranger things have happened.

Cleans Up Nice

I know, Barak, families are off limits. The media should indeed spare the innocent offspring of candidates. No scrutiny. No judging. No labels.
But what about the fiction that is being concocted before our eyes, as Levi Johnston morphs from hot-blooded hockey teen to first family pawn. What is going on here?
"Just play nice and get married, kids."
"You can still get into good schools, we will take care of that for you."
"Put this ring on before the cameras arrive."
"Better get on a plane and meet Momma's new boss."

For most of the other unwanted pregnancies in this country, the outcome will not look so bright. No marriage. No sparkly ring. No makeover and White House trip. No school. No career. No cute Juno (odd coincidence, Alaska's capitol and hit film) type ending. No support. No nanny. No forgiveness.
And many teenage girls do indeed find themselves pregnant. According to The Guttmacher Institute, almost 750,000 teenage women aged 15–19 a year in this country.
For some reason, teen pregnancy rates are much higher in the United States than in many other developed countries--twice as high as in England and Wales or Canada, and nine times as high as in the Netherlands or Japan.
We cannot assume all teen pregnancies are unintended.
Some girls get pregnant to make their partners happy. Some girls carry the mistaken belief that the babies will give them love and nurturance. And some want to get pregnant because they see other girls in their social circles getting increased attention and what seems to them increased material benefit by being mothers.
But we can help those who don't want to get married or raise a child in poverty. They certainly need more help than we are offering.
According to the CDC, efforts to decrease unintended pregnancy include finding better forms of contraception, and increasing contraceptive use and adherence.
We should be able to at least talk to our children about these things. Sex is depicted so often in advertising and entertainment, yet consequences rarely.
A pregnancy changes lives, and not always for the best.
That said, blessings on the new family.