MY view as a mother

Yes, I'm STILL wound up about dear Sarah...just ask The Reenactor. Don't say the word "Sarah" in my house unless you want a diatribe complete with foaming mouth and much stomping about. My newest rant though is just how oblivious the far right is to their own hypocrisy. I for one am very alarmed that a woman who gave birth to a special needs child just a few months ago, thinks in her family-values world that taking on this all-consuming job of campaigning (and heaven forbid she's the winner) the 24/7 job of vice president is a great idea. Yes, Daddy Palin in theory can help with the baby, but the point is that BOTH parents need to be focusing as much time and energy as possible into their baby and HIS needs right now.

Having a baby is exhausting--ask any new parent. Having a special needs baby adds even more time both parents should be spending seeing to his needs. Now, add into that mix the news that your teenage daughter is pregnant. For any regular family this would be considered a pretty complicated year....one where I feel like MOST families would feel they need to close ranks and focus on working through all the new changes and challenges in their lives. Oh, but wait a minute...forget all that...now Mom decides she should spend the next few months (please not years) running for national office...yeah...GREAT idea!

I am certainly not saying that women should give up their careers to raise their families. But MOST women don't have to choose to take on this type of career move at a time in their families' lives where they are most needed. And most professional women don't make a point of standing on a stage preaching how pro-family they are at a time when their own families need them the most. Sarah made a choice. Granted, she was already governor when she got pregnant with--and gave birth to--her fifth baby. She was already in a high-stress, high-demand job. But the fact that she has made a point of adding even more stress and demand on HER time in the first year of his life makes me question HER family values. And the fact that she knew what a bright light of negative energy was going to glare on her teenage daughter at a time when she least needs it also makes me question just how seriously she takes her role not just as a mother, but as a PARENT.

And finally...all you Dobson-lovin' family values folks out there...why is it when one of your own comes up short on the "value-o-meter" it is a good thing, but heaven help the "liberal" who has a lapse in judgment? I promise you...and think about this...had this been one of Obama's beautiful daughters (as teenagers) can you imagine the indignation that would ensue from the righty talkers? The rants that would come from radios and televisions across the country about black teenagers getting pregnant? Can you imagine even if it were Chelsea who was pregnant? How it would be just like someone raised by Bill and Hillary to get pregnant out of wedlock?

And one more "finally" that has been getting to me. Sarah has been called a "hero" for not aborting Trig...even though she knew before he was born that he had Downs Syndrome. She isn't a hero...she is a mother. These days most parents DO know before the child is born if there are health issues. Personally, this was something The Reenactor and I were aware of that could be a possibility before our own T1 and T2 were born. We had multiple tests to check their health status (including an amnio), and even before we had the tests done I KNEW, and so did my husband, that there was no way we would abort...even if they had been a D.S. baby. We were already too in love with them. We were already parents. Being a parent means accepting and loving the baby God blesses you with. Making a choice to keep your Downs Syndrome baby doesn't make you heroic...thousands of people make this decision every year. Being a responsible parent after the baby is born and sacrificing your own interests to see that they get the best care...THAT makes you a hero. I question whether Sarah is truly doing that.

My heart breaks for any mother or father who is faced with this, or with other health issues that are life-threatening to their unborn child, or to the health of the mother. I know people for whom this has been a wrenching decision. None of this....NONE of this should be a factor that is trumpeted from the political stage as making one candidate superior to another.

And please, Sarah, and the evangelical base who support you, please don't dare suggest you are more "pro-family" than I am.