I am insulted that Sarah Palin plans on using her speech to talk about being a working mother. What we want to know is what on Earth qualifies her to be president. What does being a working mother have to do with the price of gas, or the situation in Georgia, Iraq, or Afghanistan? What does Sarah Palin know about how the Treasury Department works? How about the Intelligence Community? How about Fannie Mae?
By using her time to talk about being a working mother she is setting up the argument that the Democrats are opposed to working mothers. See how mean the Democrats are to me just because I decided to have a family? The Democratic Party is responsible for what little support working mothers have. You want to know who was responsible for the Family and Medical Leave Act? Sen. Chris Dodd wrote it and President Bill Clinton signed it. Twenty-five Republicans and two southern DINOs voted against it. Here they are:
Bennett (R-UT), Brown (R-CO), Cochran (R-MS), Coverdell (R-GA), Craig (R-ID), Dole (R-KS), Domenici (R-NM), Faircloth (R-NC), Gorton (R-WA), Gramm (R-TX), Grassley (R-IA), Gregg (R-NH), Hatch (R-UT), Heflin (D-AL), Helms (R-NC)
Hollings (D-SC), Kassebaum (R-KS), Kempthorne (R-ID), Lott (R-MS), Lugar (R-IN), Mack (R-FL)
McConnell (R-KY), Nickles (R-OK), Pressler (R-SD)
Simpson (R-WY), Smith (R-NH), Warner (R-VA)
Do you recognize any of those idiots? Most Republicans in the House voted against it, too. Just like they always vote against raising the minimum wage. Most working mothers don’t own three homes and lead the nation in securing earmarks for their home state. Do you know what the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 provides for? It provides for twelve weeks of leave from work for anyone (man or woman) who has a new child (even if adopted) or an illness in their family. Please note: twelve weeks is longer than three days. Three days is how long Sarah Palin took off from work after she gave birth to Trig this past spring. I don’t care about her decision to go back to work. It’s none of my business. But I would note that it was the Democratic Party that passed a law enabling her to take off for twelve weeks if she wanted to.
Let me remind you of something else. From the April 24, 2008 edition of the New York Times:
WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked a measure intended to overturn a Supreme Court decision limiting pay discrimination suits in a politically charged vote certain to be replayed in the presidential and Congressional campaigns.
By a vote of 56 to 42, the Senate fell four votes short of the 60 required to begin consideration of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, named for an Alabama woman who lost a case against the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company when the court found she not did file her complaint in time. Ms. Ledbetter had been paid as much as 40 percent less than her male counterparts doing the same job, according to her allies.
That’s right. The Republicans filibustered equal pay for equal work this year. And what did John McCain have to say about it?
Mr. McCain, who was campaigning in Louisiana, skipped the vote but told reporters he would have opposed the bill since it could contribute to frivolous lawsuits harmful to businesses.
It’s always, always, always about protecting businesses from frivolous lawsuits and never, never, never about sticking up for working mothers. That’s what the Republican Party stands for and always has stood for. I don’t want to hear a lecture from Sarah Palin and her surrogates about how the Democrats are disrespecting working mothers. There can be no greater disrespect than refusing to raise the minimum wage, refusing the pay them equally to men, and refusing to grant them time off to care for their newborn babies. God…I really hate the Republican Party.
Simply beautiful post. Reading this brought out my inner Clark W. Griswold:
Hallelujah! Holy shit! Where’s the Tylenol?
The hypocrisy of the way the rethugs are playing this is really enough to make a person loony. I sent the following to a friend earlier today:
“I hate g-damn motherf’ing rethuglicans so much it makes my head hurt”
Count to Ten.
Deep Breaths.
I’m getting worried about your blood pressure.
is it showing?
yes it is. I was about to write you an email.
At the risk of making myself a parody, when you write in a front page article “Sarah palin can go fuck herself” you’re sounding like me. I don’t know if you want to go there.
Have a cuppa tea, or a beer. if you’re at home go out on the deck and take a deep breath.
And then do a post about how Joe Biden, who I don’t like, championed the Violence Against Women Act, and is a true standard bearer for women. You’ll feel a lot better.
That’s some good advice.
okay. I’ll edit it out.
who woulda thought I’d be the voice of reason and moderation!
I’d better go write something awful, and quickly, if I want to restore my reputation.
i second the recommendation for a beer.
and this is a change from the sop of the RATpub / Rovian playbook?
hell, rick davis came out and admitted what the strategy is:
the arrogance, and yes, ignorance, of that statement is appalling, and obama responded today in ohio:
mcstain/palin and the RATpub’s are goin’ down:
crash #6
the 28%’rs aren’t going to be enough to save them.
An attack ad against Obama!
Play it loud:
YouTube of Todd, Murphy and Noonan ridiculing McCain off camera with the mics still live.
she say’s it’s “political bullshit”
Maybe this is the elixer BooMan needed today, I know it works for me.
Next thing you know the Republicans will be cloaking themselves in feminism . . . oh wait.
Frivolous is actually the great word to describe all this . . . and I’m not referring to lawsuits.
Seriously. The pixie dust the GOP is throwing in the air is maddening.
I can hear the chants now. P-O-W! WOMAN! P-O-W! WOMAN!
I can’t praise this post enough.
Way to tell it, BooMan.
You’re on fire today, booman. I have copied this article for future reference, if you don’t mind. Full credit to you, of course.
I’m so tired. I am tired of the bullshit and spinning and outright lies by the Republicans. This is exhausting!
Not only I am insulted by this, but as a mom, I’m really offended that she would not protect her child from this type of scrutiny but rather further her political ambitions by exploiting it. I’d go to the ends of the earth to keep my child from experiencing this, but for them, it seems to be a celebration. I’ll bet anything among regular moms she is now seen in a much less favorable light (for me she never was in a favorable light) but nonetheless what achievements she may have accomplished are all forgotten when you realize this was done for political gain.
From the Corner:
“Another Incredible Allegation” — What The Enquirer Is Saying About Palin [Byron York]
Concerning the allegations in the new National Enquirer of an extramarital affair involving Sarah Palin, I called the tabloid this afternoon and asked for a copy of the new story. They obliged, and here is the portion of the story dealing with the alleged affair:
Another incredible allegation emerging from the family war is that Palin, a mother of five, had an affair with a former business associate of her fisherman husband, Todd.
“Todd discovered the affair and quickly dissolved his friendship and his business associations with the guy,” charges an enemy. “Many people in Alaska are talking about the rumor and say Todd swept it under the rug.”