The McCain-Palin Bait-and-Switch on Rape and Women

[Stop Cornyn]

If elected, McCain would be the oldest person ever inaugurated President of the United States.

McCain has a long medical history of significant concern for a 72 year old.

Given that McCain has sought to appeal to moderates and independents, McCain's choice of an extremist right-wing running mate with out-of-the-mainstream views on rape and women's rights is a deceitful bait-and-switch trick on the voting population.

For example:

Palin disagrees with McCain on whether a woman who has been raped should be allowed to choose to terminate a rape-induced pregnancy.

Palin disagrees with McCain on whether a woman carrying a pregnancy which is likely to cause her to suffer a serious permanent disability as a result of carrying the pregnancy to term should be allowed to choose to terminate the pregnancy.

While Palin would severely limit other women’s rights to choose their own health care options with respect to their own pregnancies, Palin made a series of disastrously poor judgments with respect to her own most recent pregnancy. She was 44 at the time (so it was a high risk AMA pregnancy), and she knew she was carrying a child with a chromosomal atypicality (which increased the risk), and yet she chose to take an 11 hour flight from Alaska to Texas to give a career-boosting speech in her 8th month of pregnancy without disclosing her pregnancy to the public airline she flew on (many airlines require disclosure and a doctor’s consent as a prerequisite to such flights, and few doctors would consent to such folly). In Texas, her water broke hours before she was scheduled to give her political speech (and since her water broke in the 8th month, the prematurity of the birth again greatly magnified the already extreme risk), but instead of going the hospital right away, she stayed and gave her speech. After her political speech, instead of going the hospital right away, she got on another 11 hour public flight from Dallas to Anchorage with a switch in Seattle, and – again – she did not disclose her pregnancy or the fact that he water had broken hours earlier to the airline. Palin made these dubious choices about her pregnancy, yet she would limit other woman to exercise their full panoply of constitutionally-protected health care choices during pregnancy.

Palin disagrees with McCain in the related issue of stem cell research, which she vehemently opposes.

McCain's media embargo seeking to hide Palin from honest disclosure must not be perpetrated without vociferous objection from every one of us who knows what an extremist Palin is.

[enough]

1. I keep stressing also the fact that the Republicans' official platform passed at the convention

wants to outlaw all abortion even in cases of rape and incest.

You are so right, this battle needs to be joined NOW. They must not be allowed to obfuscate.

[Stop Cornyn]

2. Exactly. How is Palin a "maverick" when she stands squarely on the party line?

[central scrutinizer]

4. rapist's bill of rights

Nothing shall interfere with a rapist's choice of the mother of his child

[Stop Cornyn]

10. Amen!

[Stop Cornyn]

3. The McCain-Palin Bait-and-Switch on Pork-Barrel Politics as Usual

McCain has made of career of pretending to oppose earmarks and pork-barrel politics (although he doesn't generally vote against these Republican pork projects -- he votes for them and then expresses his crocodile tear of regret afterward).

McCain's ultimate insincerity on this issue is well illustrated by his selection of Sarah "Pork-Barrel" Palin as his running mate.

Palin supported the earmarked “bridge to nowhere” which she now falsely claims she didn’t support.

Palin has said “"The federal budget, in its various manifestations, is incredibly important to us, and congressional earmarks are one aspect of this relationship."

In 2001, McCain expressly criticized a $500,000 earmark for a public transportation project in Wasilla which Palin sought.

In 2002, McCain expressly criticized Palin’s $1,000,000 earmark for a redundant communications center in Wasilla.

Again in 2002, McCain also expressly criticized Palin’s $450,000 earmark for an agricultural processing facility in Wasilla.

Wasilla received $11.9 million in earmarks from 2000 to 2003; that's about $2,000 in pork for each resident of Wasilla. Palin is truly the queen of pork-barrel politics as usual

[sunnystarr]

5. The Palin handlers have now put out the word that she

left her church in 2002. Yet in various articles she was still considered a member. Are they afraid that her Evangelical church would turn off Independents and the rest of main stream Americans? Seems to me they are reinventing her and scrubbing any potential back lash. While her church had mpg's of their sermons on their website, they have removed them over the past few days.

This is scary stuff.

[Stop Cornyn]

12. How could any candidate ever get into controversy over statements by their former preacher?

[BeFree]

6. Methinks

The fundies made Mcsame some kind of offer he couldn't refuse, but he'll wish he had once we get done with her.

Look, the fundies are a step away from ruling the free world... that is after the electronic voting machines have their way with our votes.

[Stop Cornyn]

13. I suspect the RNC made McLame take Palin over his choice (Lieberman) because they have given up on

winning the moderates and have switched to a get-out-the-base strategy because it works better downballot and the RNC fears a downballot catastrophe of historic proportions.

[APPLE_PIE]

7. MC CAIN'S TWO TERM CHANCE OF DYING IS 37%

MC CAIN'S FIRST TERM CHANCE OF DYING 15.19%

AGE--------DYING PROBABILITY
72  	      0.032978
73 	      0.036086
74 	      0.039506
75 	      0.043415
   TOTAL      0.151985

MC CAIN'S SECOND TERM CHANCE OF DYING 22.04%

AGE--------DYING PROBABILITY
76 	   0.047789
77 	   0.052464
78 	   0.057413
79 	   0.062789 
   TOTAL   0.220455


THE ABOVE IS FROM A STANDARD ACTUARIAL TABLE OF LIFE
EXPECTANCY. 
THE FACTS ARE THAT THERE IS A 37% CHANCE OF MC CAIN DYING IN
OFFICE 
AND PALIN WOULD HAVE 2 CHANCES IN 5 OF BECOMING PRESIDENT BY
ASSUMING
THE PRESIDENCY


BTW ( THE WEB SITE WWW.BUSHPALIN.COM ) IS AVAILABLE


APPLE_PIE

EXCUSE THE CAPITALS - I HAVE BAD EYESIGHT

[unblock]

8. YOU CAN'T JUST ADD THE PROBABILITIES TOGETHER

(PARDON THE CAPS, RUMOR HAS IT YOU HAVE BAD EYESIGHT....)

THE PROBABILITY OF DYING IS 1 MINUS THE PROBABILITY OF SURVIVING 8 YEARS .

THE PROBABILITY OF SURVIVING 8 YEARS IS THE PRODUCT OF SURVIVING EACH OF THE 8 YEARS.

THE PROBABILITY OF SURVIVING EACH OF THE 8 YEARS IS (1 - 0.32978) * (1 - 0.036086) * ... * (1 - 0.062789) = 0.682523

SO THE PROBABILITY OF DYING IN 2 TERMS IS (1 - 0.682523) = 0.317377

SO THE PROBILITY OF PALIN BECOMING PRESIDENT WITHIN 8 YEARS WOULD BE ABOUT 32% OR JUST UNDER 1 IN 3.

OF COURSE, THIS ASSUMES MCCAIN WINS AND, IF HE SURVIVES THE FIRST TERM, RUNS AND WINS REELECTION. IT ALSO PRESUMES THAT PALIN SURVIVES (SHE HAS ABOUT A 3.5% CHANCE OF DYING WITHIN 8 YEARS) AND ALSO THAT SHE SURVIVES POLITICALLY (E.G., MCLAME DOESN'T DUMP HER WHEN HE RUNS FOR RE-ELECTION.)

FINALLY, ALL THIS ALSO PRESUMES THAT THE STANDARD GOVERNMENT ACTUARIAL TABLES ARE RELEVANT TO A PRESIDENT MCLAME. ALL BETS ARE OFF, NOT ONLY BECAUSE OF HIS PARTICULAR MEDICAL HISTORY, BUT ALSO BECAUSE OF THE UNIQUE STRESSES AND RISKS OF THE PRESIDENCY AND, ON THE OTHER HAND, THE UNIQUE ACCESS TO PHENOMENAL MEDICAL CARE AND RESPONSE TIME.

[Iris]

9. In the case of her high-risk pregnancy, why should she take precautions?

After all, her beliefs seem to indicate that she considers pregnancy an inevitable part of life and something she can't stop, so why would she stop just to have a baby? At any rate, this is a clear case of caring more for a fetus than the child after he is born. Her baby is 4 months old. Parents I know who have special needs children are still in the research stages of what is going to be the best way to make the child's life as productive as it can be at this point.

[SeattleGirl]

11. Palin is a complete hypocrite when it comes to the issue of choice.

She doesn't think women should have a choice where pregnancy is concerned, especially if that pregnancy was the result of rape or incest.

YET, have you noticed how much she and McSame and the other Repukes are touting her CHOICE to carry Trig to term? And how Bristol CHOSE to do the same?

Apparently, she and her daughter get to choose, but the rest of us should have the same freedom.