My Non Political Father Just Called Me

[redstate_democrat]

and said he watched Palin's speech last night and found her to be evil. He also asked whether or not I noticed something strange during her speech. He said that within 5 minutes of her speech, the father handed the baby to the little girl. He found that strange. He said if a father is supposed to be so loving and family oriented and taking care of the family, why hand the baby off to another child within 5 minutes. He found that strange and thinks the father has something against the child. He also said he was thrown off when Palin said that the Iraq war was an act of god. He is very religious but found that remark to be troubling to him. He also said he sees something in them that isn't right, maybe evil. He also said that he believes McCain can't be trusted. He says everytime he watches McCain, he feels like he is being lied to. He said much more, but I am just in shock because my dad and I have never really talked politics.

He is a Jehovah's Witness. They're not even supposed to talk politics.

[Arkansas Granny]

1. I think everyone held that baby last night. I believe I even saw Cindy McCain holding him.

[ensho]

6. are there that many Downs babies that the neo cons are courting

their parent's votes?

or will the Downs baby appeal to all parents with disabled children?

they didn't pass around and show off the baby for naught.

anybody know the talk in the Downs/disabled community?

[yardwork]

16. Palin cut the budget for special needs services by more than 60%

even though Alaska is running a surplus.

[FatDave]

36. Democrats hug the public's babies.

Republicans have to supply their own. Seriously, would you trust your baby in the hands of a republican?

[Turn CO Blue]

10. They passed that baby around like a Christmas ham!

Read that comment on a blog somewhere.

[yardwork]

19. Cindy McCain held the baby longer than the baby's father did.

[renate]

39. in all seriousness, that was kind of cool of her

I didn't see what she was wearing, but I'm sure it was hella expensive, and you never know what babies are going to extrude with no warning. I always get a little nervous holding a baby if I'm wearing nice clothes--even though all my clothes are washable, unlike Cindy's.

[bigscott]

33. to show how compassionate

they are - while they cut funding to actually help the kid

[ensho]

2. wow. interesting - americans are getting stirred up

nt

[writes3000]

3. Wow, go, Dad. Audiences do pay attention to the small details of behavior.

And since we don't know this family beyond the headlines, the baby passing was a mistake.

[redstate_democrat]

8. I was shocked I was actually talking to my father.

He always tells me not to get worked up about politics but even he is a fan of Obama and was extremely bothered by Palin. He said he just doesn't like her and found her to be too sarcastic and mean spirited. I was like :wow:

[writes3000]

13. Obama has consistently been positive, above board and respectful.

I believe Sarah Palin shot herself in the foot last night.

[AuntPatsy]

4. Threads like this are great and you know why? Proof positive that this election year

the people are finaly paying attention and its terrfying to those that have nothing else to offer except more lies..

[ShortnFiery]

5. Kudos to your Father for his spot-on insight. eom

[gordianot]

7. Daddy passed the baby off just before he stood up to take a bow.

The next youngest held from that time on. She then proceeded to groom his hair with her spit. My wife thought that was cute, I did not many children with Downs have immunity problems. He was being used as a prop and it is not cute nor is it fair to the next youngest child.

[redstate_democrat]

My dad thought it was highly peculiar and strange

He thinks that family is evil incarnate now.

[gordianot]

24. I agree it was strange. At least he was not used to cover the sisters pregnancy.

There is something odd and creepy about that Father. As a Special Education teacher/administrator I am appalled at the callous manner they cared for that child and is what I was watching the entire speech. Since experience seems to be a point of contention I have 35 years of experience in such matters and did not like how that baby was cared for.

[Barack_America]

14. My God how he rocketed out of his seat...

Did you notice that?

[KathieG]

22. I noticed the little girl using her spit to fix the baby's hair too...classy! I agree it's not

a good idea considering the baby may have immune problems due to the DS. The camera moved away from her quickly when that happened.

[Bread and Circus]

9. Hmmm....I wonder what in the world he might have against that child....

[redstate_democrat]

17. You know we talked about that too.

I told him about the rumor of that child not really being HIS and also about the Enquirer article. He was, needless to say, more disgusted and fed up.

[yorkiemommie1]

11. My JW neighbor ....

wastes no time slamming Bush and the GOP! she has HAD IT!

[feddup]

12. I noticed they didn't smile very much

I thought her family (especially the older girls) didn't look thrilled to be there or put on display. (Have to admit, the little girl was totally cute, though...)

[yardwork]

15. I thought that Sarah Palin was evil when I first started reading about her last Friday.

She believes in shooting wolves from helicopters. She hid scientific evidence about the polar bear extinction to keep them from being listed as endangered. She constantly lies about her record. She slashed state funding for services that help teenage moms and special needs children, even thought the gas prices gave the state a huge surplus. She fired the police chief in her town because he wanted to close the bars between 2 am and 5 am to reduce drunk driving accidents. She took money from the liquor lobby for that. She's fired dozens of people without cause just out of spite. She's vindictive - people in Alaska say they're afraid of her because she ruins people's lives.

She says that she's against government waste but she left her little town more than $20 million in debt. She says she's against government handouts but she has $27 million in federal earmarks coming into Alaska this year alone - which she's bragged about. She says that she "put a stop to" the Bridge to Nowhere but she kept the money. She says she's for ethics reform but she was part of Steven's special interest group.

She says that mayors have to work and community organizers do nothing, but she hired a full-time town manager to run the day-to-day operations of her town of 5,000 people.

She wanted to ban books from the town's public library and fired the librarian when she wouldn't go along.

Her kids' lives are a mess and this isn't sexism. I'd say the same if she were their father. Why isn't she taking care of them? They need help. Her sixteen year old daughter is a pregnant high school dropout. The daughter's boyfriend is a dropout. Her son's dreams of playing college hockey went down in flames with his D average, and now he's headed to Iraq. She has a Down Syndrome baby she never seems to pay any attention to. What about the middle girls? Is anyone paying any attention to them?

I could go on and on. Yes, she is evil.

[redstate_democrat]

20. Oh yeah, my father also mentioned the fact that she fired her brother in law

over a family spat. He was disgusted by that. Then he said it wouldn't surprise him if the brother in law came out and put all of her personal business in the open for the world to see. He said that would be his payback. I couldn't believe it.

[Sanity Claws]

18. I used to do trial work

Jurors often made their decision based on little things, that the attorneys never focused on. By little, I don't mean unimportant but things like body language and how witnesses interacted with others, not the so-called facts at issue in the trial. I think the voters are like jurors and making their decision based on little things, that the pundits don't focus on. Your father making a judgment based on the father's actions and similar things is a perfect example.

[redstate_democrat]

21. Yes, my dad is like that. He picks up on things I never would even pay attention to.

It's amazing. But he noticed that and it didn't sit right with him. Tells you a lot.

[grasswire]

23. your dad's instincts are good

Yes, there is something evil in Sarah and her husband. I suspect it's related to religion. And it could be a heartbeat away from the presidency, soon. I hate to say it, but the possibility exists that the election could go their way and then McCain could be exterminated by the religious nuts so that a Dominionist (Sarah/Todd) controls our nuclear arsenal. McCain and the GOP are playing with the devil.

[glitch]

30. "McCain and the GOP are playing with the devil." I agree. nt

[OneGrassRoot]

25. Hold up, I missed something big....

I didn't watch her speech. The nausea was too much two minutes into Rudy's.

I know she's used the Iraq War/God line before, but she used it LAST NIGHT?

[Cha]

26. Guess what? You're father is right..they

are "evil"..in the vilest sense of the word and that makes the corporatemediawhore$ who promote their shit..just as evil.

[Cha]

27. Guess what? Your father is right..they

are "evil"..in the vilest sense of the word and that makes the corporatemediawhore$ who promote their shit..just as evil.

[bushisanidiot]

28. McPalin is igniting people to vote agains them.

keep on yappin' you hateful elitist repukes! you're helping our poll numbers.. not that we didn't ALREADY HAVE 50%. hahahahaha!!

[Zech Marquis The 2nd]

29. it's not GW part 3

This was more like the real face of the GOP wingnuts revealing themselves in the personna of Palin :puke: This was absolute EVIL!!! :nuke: And Im sure any well educated person with real faith and an brain saw that as well.

[goodgd_yall]

31. The father was getting ready to stand up

Sarah Palin was talking about him and he knew his queue to stand up was coming. He didn't want to stand with the baby in her arms for some reason. But I basically agree with your father's assessment.

[jobycom]

32. I skipped the speech, but a co-worker commented on the God thing.

He was upset about Palin being chosen in the first place, because, in his words, "why'd they pick a woman?" I questioned him a little on this, and it doesn't seem to be gender he's upset with (he even said he wouldn't have a problem with Margaret Thatcher or Hillary Clinton), but the fact that McCain picked a woman just because she was a woman, not because she was qualified. I get the idea he was planning to vote for McCain, but that the Palin choice bothers him. He's a good guy, older, always smiles, not confrontational, smart but not overly curious outside of his job. He believes the emails circulating about Obama, but if you explain to him that they are wrong, he doesn't cling to them. Pretty much typical voter, I think. Learns as much as the evening news will tell him.

Anyway, he asks me first thing this morning about the speech, and about her saying the Iraq war being god's will, or whatever she said. He seemed disgusted by this, rolling his eyes as he said it. I joked that God finally had a spokesperson, and he laughed about it.

So I think, from what I've heard so far, that Palin came across as very strong, almost fierce, but I think she turned off a lot of the middle voters McCain needs to reach. Too agressive, too partisan. And though I hate it, I think the same sexism that made so many people dislike Clinton is going to work against Palin. Her speech played into all those stereotypes. That part makes me sick--I hate bigotry on every level--but I think that's how her speech played to the crucial swing voters out there. This co-worker considers gender, and she rubbed him the wrong way.

Just my observations. We don't see politicians here the way the average voter sees them. We look for someone to reflect our outrage. But many voters want someone to reflect their desire for stability and peace. And I don't think Palin did that.

[barack the house]

34. ...

....

[RaleighNCDUer]

35. Sounds to me like he's NOT talking politics -he's evaluating character.

And correctly, too.

[Phoonzang]

37. Her speech worked masterfully to rally the base but....

I have a hunch that it's going to turn off independents big-time.

[starroute]

38. People can be oriented towards power, freedom, or love

I figured that distinction out years ago when I was trying to understand what drove the plotlines of various authors. But it applies to politics just as well.

Liberals tend to be love-based -- helping, caring, compassion, bringing people together, peace-making. All of that.

Libertarians tend to be freedom-based. From a liberal point of view, they can get a bit obnoxious about it -- but they're also a valuable counter-balance to the liberal tendency to get a bit smothering or busybody-ishy.

Conservatives are power-based. At best, they see life in terms of a military model -- clear lines of authority, assigning roles in order to get things done efficiently, and so forth. But all too often, they're just about domination, control, and random ass-kicking.

Like the balance of powers among the three branches of government, each type is useful to offset the weaknesses and limitations of the others. The problem is that right now, our society has gotten out of balance, with the worst kind of conservative power-trippers exercising disproportionate influence.

But there's something beyond that going on with Palin. That is, she's making appeals to both the love thing (handing the baby around) and the freedom thing (the whole mooseburger trip) -- but you just know that down at her core she's about nothing but power. That falsity may be why she can come across as evil.

[WhiteTara]

40. my mom watched as the 4 year old was

holding the baby and she said that the little girl would spit on her hand and then wipe the baby's head and sometimes spit on the baby's head and wiped its hair. She said the camera stayed on the scene for a very long time. I didn't watch...I was pretty nauseated.

[curious one]

41. I agree with your father. T. Palin does not seem to care for the baby. This family scares the shit

out of me more than McSame's family.