Ugh! I’ve been avoiding any political discussions lately. (Though President Obama’s Miyagi-like mad fly-killing skillz were very impressive!)

Anyhow, I just received a forward about the evils of Bill S909 – the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act. According to the email, it will protect people who commit incest, pedophiles, and other creepy folks, and make it impossible for people to speak freely and quote the Bible, pray, or express contrary opinions on homosexuality (plus many other free speech topics). First off, I now identify myself as a Christian. However, I still think that these accusations are confused, so I wanted to read the original text of the Bill before making a decision to talk to my representatives (always a good idea – read the fine print!)

Do these people ever actually read the text of Bills before they send these emails? The one I received said (in part):

On the other hand, guess what WILL NOT BE TOLERATED and will be considered a hate crime and YOU WILL GO TO JAIL…..

1. Praying In Jesus’ Name in ANY PUBLIC VENUE–that includes church buildings

2. Preaching against SIN in general that could in some way be considered hateful by those who don’t want to be told they sin or their behavior is sinful
3. Quoting the Bible in church as that is offensive and considered hateful speech by some

I’m not a lawyer (nor have I ever played one on TV…), but my father is, and I have done a lot of paralegal-type work for him, so I have read a lot of bills and other legal documents. In reading Bill S909, I don’t see anything that would indicate the above is accurate. In fact, there is even a section which says:

Section 10: RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.
For purposes of construing this Act and the amendments made by this Act the following shall apply:
…
(4) FREE EXPRESSION- Nothing in this Act shall be construed to allow prosecution based solely upon an individual’s expression of racial, religious, political, or other beliefs or solely upon an individual’s membership in a group advocating or espousing such beliefs.

So, you can express your beliefs all you want. What you can’t do if this Bill is passed is hurt/kill someone or incite others to hurt/kill someone. Saying “straight white men are evil, and sex outside procreation is sinful” would be OK. Saying “we all know straight white men are evil sex outside procreation is sinful, so we must kill all straight white men who have sex outside of procreation – here is how we should accomplish this…” would not be OK, especially if you or your followers then follow through on it.

However, the Bill only is in effect if someone is actually injured:

‘(2) OFFENSES INVOLVING ACTUAL OR PERCEIVED RELIGION, NATIONAL ORIGIN, GENDER, SEXUAL ORIENTATION, GENDER IDENTITY, OR DISABILITY-
‘(A) IN GENERAL- Whoever, whether or not acting under color of law, in any circumstance described in subparagraph (B) or paragraph (3), willfully causes bodily injury to any person or, through the use of fire, a firearm, a dangerous weapon, or an explosive or incendiary device, attempts to cause bodily injury to any person, because of the actual or perceived religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability of any person–

Emotional or psychological injury doesn’t count:

‘(1) the term ‘bodily injury’ has the meaning given such term in section 1365(h)(4) of this title, but does not include solely emotional or psychological harm to the victim;

I, personally, think the bill sounds like a good idea. But, if you disagree with me, please at least read the Bill and offer a reasonable, educated argument. And please don’t send me any more emails that aren’t well researched, and rely only on biased media reports! Thanks in advance!

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What an amazing nation I live in – a nation that has changed so much in the past century. I am so proud that we elected Barack Obama as our 44th president, and I am optimistic for the next 4 years.

Meanwhile, we celebrated New President Day with more packing! That’s Change, right?

We also celebrated by having guests over for dinner – we had issued a Brussels Sprout Challenge a couple months ago, and we were finally able to serve up the Roasted Brussels Sprouts tonight.

The verdict? Two people who swore “I don’t like brussels sprouts” ate seconds. I win! I’ve converted so many people over to the joy that is Roasted Brussels Sprouts after a childhood of eating refusing to eat mediocre steamed brussels sprouts.

So, let’s believe in change, let’s celebrate change, let’s find joy in unexpected places. Let’s do our best to have hope for the future – hope for the little things (like yummy food) and hope for our futures.

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I am one person, mom, attachment-parenting person, writer, blogger, friend, church-goer, dog-owner, sister, aunt, cat-lady, homeschooler, daughter, grand-daughter, geek, person with chronic illnesses who voted for Obama and is thrilled for his inauguration! Watching his speech Sunday warmed my heart and brought tears to my eyes. All of his speeches seem to have that effect on me, and that’s part of why I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s festivities. I am also looking forward to reading Dreams from My Father when I’m staying at my mother’s house (my step-dad has a copy).

I was also excited to find out that I have a link to President-elect Obama! My step-father started a folk music coffee house the year before I was born. One of the people who came to perform there was Pete Seeger, and we ended up having dinner with him before the concert. So about 20 years ago Pete Seeger had dinner with me, and now he’s performing with Bruce Springsteen in a concert for President-elect Barack Obama!

I remember playing debate bingo when we were watching Gov. Palin and Sen. Biden in the VP debate, and it was far too much fun. If you are thinking of a bingo or drinking game for tomorrow, check out this bingo/drinking game for the Inauguration.

On a more serious note, one of my dearest friends from Austin has written a great post about President-elect Obama’s Inauguration and the comments she has heard from conservatives. Is it OK to show how happy we are? Or do we need to be sensitive to those whose candidate didn’t win? Well, I’m quite happy, and not afraid to say it. I highly recommend reading and pondering Suna’s wonderful entry.

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A woman on the ballot for VP??? My first thought was that it sounded too good to be true! I remember as a kid when we named our cat for Geraldine Ferraro, Walter Mondale’s running mate in 1984. I wasn’t expecting a female VP this election cycle, so I was really surprised when a friend told me about John McCain naming Sarah Palin as his VP choice. The choice made sense, though, choosing a woman could pander to the upset Hillary Clinton supporters, and possibly swing female voters to McCain.

When I first started reading about Sarah Palin, I was impressed: she’s an active and involved mom of 5, she calls herself a hockey mom (I think that’s the Alaskan version of a soccer mom), she enjoys outdoor winter sports such as ice fishing and snowmobiling, she’s well-loved in the community (85% approval rating!), she’s been an active partner in her husband’s fishing business, and she became involved in government – city council, mayor, and then governor partly to clear out the corruption and excessive spending in the Alaskan government. She’s type of woman that mothers of daughters want to point at – you can do whatever you set your mind to do! Sarah Palin sounds like someone I’d like to have coffee or lunch with – definitely a strong, unique, and fascinating woman. (Even if her office has a the skin of a grizzly bear her father shot on the sofa)

After I got over my initial “oh wow! a woman!” excitement, I looked at her stand on issues that are key for me. Any remote possibility of me supporting her politically disappeared completely at that point. I am hoping more people look beyond her gender, hotness, and affability, and look at the issues. I also hope that the Reuters article about Sarah Palin is correct, and she will galvanize the liberals against the McCain/Palin ticket as much as she will galvanize the Evangelicals for her. I really don’t want 4 more years of leadership that is backed by the religious right!

Several friends and I have chatted about Sarah Palin’s hotness, and that she’s even a VPilf (newly coined word alert!). Her hotness is so well-established at this point, even her father talks about it:

Since his daughter took office last December, Heath has received several T-shirts proclaiming his daughter the best-looking political figure around. “One says, ‘My governor is hotter than your governor,’ and the other one says ‘Alaska: the coldest state with the hottest governor,’ ” Heath said, laughing.

I definitely think that the more people who think someone with glasses and long brown hair = hot, the better! Her hotness credentials include being runner up to Miss Alaska, winning “Miss Congeniality”, and being named “Hottest Governor” by Vogue Magazine. This is fun and all, but it doesn’t help us learn anything about her political beliefs, and we probably shouldn’t vote for someone based on hotness alone (and for a true hotness ticket, I would vote Obama/Palin…).

When I took a closer look at what Sarah Palin stands for, I found that she is so vehemently anti-choice, she doesn’t support exceptions in cases of rape and incest, though she does make exceptions to save the life of the pregnant woman. In fact, Palin has gone on to say that even if one of her daughters became pregnant after a rape she would “choose life”. The “Pro-Life” movement is making a big deal about her choice to continue her 5th pregnancy, a baby born with Downs Syndrome, but every Pro-Choice woman I know would also have continued the pregnancy. Downs is well-researched and well-known, a diagnosis that has established Early Intervention protocols, a wealth of information, and many parent support groups. Downs is also a diagnosis that can mean very delayed or only mildly delayed, and there are so many resources available for medical and developmental issues. In addition to her stance on abortion, unlike McCain, Palin is against stem-cell research, which could help other children with special needs.

Palin has some wonderful qualities, she’s a Viking, someone willing to look silly, and she may look like a Battlestar Gallactica character. Palin isn’t a girly-girl, preferring sports to shopping, and causes to clothes. She also looked great competing for Miss Alaska and was a leader of her high school basketball team, but like her hotness, these aren’t necessarily what we are looking for in a VP candidate.

The former mayor of a small town, and a person who says she has “small town values”, Sarah Palin’s small town values seem completely different from my own small town values. Palin has taken a pro book-banning stand, tried to have her ex-brother-in-law fired following his divorce from her sister, dismissed the Public Safety Commissioner because he wouldn’t fire her ex-brother-in-law, and she has pushed to have creationism or intelligent design taught in the public schools.

A lifetime member of the NRA, Palin grew up hunting with her father and still hunts regularly, and frequently eats moose burgers and moose stew. While I’m glad that she eats the meat after hunting, her position on gun control, hunting, and animal welfare disturbs me.

A longtime member of the National Rifle Association, she told USA Today when she was running for governor as a Republican in 2006 that “We hunt as much as we can, and I’m proud to say our freezer is full of wild game we harvested here in Alaska.” (cite)

She has been further quoted in a press release saying, “I am proud to join the State of Texas in support of the Second Amendment,” Governor Palin said. “We need to send a strong message that law-abiding citizens have a right to own firearms, for personal protection, for hunting and for any other lawful purpose.” Having lived in Texas, where you are legally allowed to carry a gun into buildings unless they state “no guns allowed”, I’m leery of anyone wanting to follow Texas’s lead on gun control.

Palin is, like Obama, a charismatic speaker, and so I chose to look for print media sources about her politics so I wouldn’t be swayed by her appearance or charisma. While researching her energy and environment stances, and found that not only does she support drilling in the National Wildlife Refuge, she is suing to take polar bears off the endangered species list despite their many risks as sea ice melts, Palin backs the shooting of wolves from helicopters, and “opposes strengthening protections for beluga whales” due to oil and natural gas opportunities in Alaska’s Cook Inlet. As a result of her history of environmental decision, several environmentalists have named her the “killa from Wasilla”. Additionally, unlike McCain and much of the rest of the world, she doesn’t believe that Global Warming is the result of human activity, responding to an in interview: A changing environment will affect Alaska more than any other state, because of our location. I’m not one though who would attribute it to being man-made..

I have some cognitive dissonance related to Sarah Palin and her political views. Palin’s says“The legislature should do all it can to protect human life” when discussing abortion, and yet she is a staunch supporter of the death penalty. Her abstinence-only education stance also looks a bit ironic now that her teenage daughter is pregnant…

She has opposed funding what she calls “explicit” sex-education programs in Alaska and supports abstinence-only programs, which urge teens to refrain from sex until marriage. (cite)

Another conundrum is that even though she has participated in several beauty pageants, she says she is a member of Feminists For Life; I don’t know anyone who labels herself a feminist who likes beauty pageants.

I keep being surprised by what Sarah Palin has said and done while in office, as I disagree with almost everything she stands for, but I really want to like her. While Palin vetoed a bill that would’ve kept health care benefits from the same-sex partners of state employees, she didn’t win over any GLBT activists, as she only did so because the Alaska Supreme Court had ruled the bill as unconstitutional. Additionally Palin backs all bills to define marriage as being between a man and a women, is against spousal benefits for gay couples, and her church is part of the “pray away the gay” movement. My mind is boggled – this is so incredibly different from the GLBT Welcoming Congregations of my own UU religious affiliation.

I’m interested in seeing what other information we learn about Sarah Palin, as I am writing this only 9 days after her nomination was announced. I’m looking forward to learning more about her and watching her speak more often, as she is fascinating to watch. I still hope that she won’t be working in the White house next year, though!

(I welcome comments on this entry, but please keep your comments polite or they will be deleted)

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