Utterly Meaningless

Now, Daryl. Don’t you know that is a private matter. Between a woman and her doctor. Because anything to do with sex is private unless it is something the Rs choose to stick their noses into.

And, of course, we all have private doctors who will leap to help us in this unfortunate (R: “she probably asked for it”) situation.

And this is all in the past. The standard way to deal with any bad decision is: “we can’t comment about ongoing legal matters,” “we stopped doing that” and, finally, “it’s time to move on, that’s in the past.”

Nance

To be fair, federal regulators have had Americans paying for our own rape for years.

Maybe America’s national security budget should buy us all some abuse-victim counseling?

North Carolina has only recently ended its policy of billing rape victims for their rape kit exams: dailyt...?p=235

Having said that, the issue in Alaska would appear to be that Wallisa, under Palin’s leadership, was the *only* town in the state using such a policy at the time. I’d want to know if this was a Palin policy or one that existed before she became mayor. And , how was Wallisa able to continue charging with the new law in place in Alaska?

I agree with Nance, if this is a cynical political question. I agree with Toni, if it’s about secular governance, a nonpartisan policy concern about law and rule, and the rule of law.

But Spunky’s orientation like Palin’s seems to be neither politics nor policy, except within the context of the evangelical mother’s certitude that god has a plan, makes everything happen for a reason. Ours is not to question why people suffer and die, just believe and obey as you do it. Rape and incest included

” Ours is not to question why people suffer and die, just believe and obey as you do it. Rape and incest included”
—

So, rape victims pay twice right away, first as victim of a crime and then as victim of an punitive town policy. Then, if it is God’s will, they may be victimized yet again if they become pregnant as a result of that rape- at least if they were to want an abortion and were forbidden that option by law– the evangelical way?

Toni has this figured out imo!

To some moms like me, here’s why this matters more to who we are as a nation, than the wearying lies about lipsticked pork and whose children are being attacked:

Since 1976, Alaska has ranked in the top five states in the nation for the highest rate of reported rape per capita. . .Alaska has 6 times the national average of reported child sexual assault. One in 4 girls before the age of 12 and 1 in 6 boys before the age of 18 nationally will be sexually assaulted.

Fairbanks Health Center surveyed 419 clients over a 3-week period and found that 24% reported physical abuse in the past 6 months while 39% reported some form of sexual abuse (1995).

In 3 out of 4 reported cases, the victim knew the offender, the most commonly reported type of sexual abuse is a father who commits incest with his daughter–usually the eldest daughter.

As many as 4 out of 5 offenders were sexually assaulted as children. One-third of incest victims’ mothers were sexually abused as children.

Alaska’s rape rate is 2.2 times the national average overall.

Lsst night in Palin’s first-ever honest-to-god news media interview about who she is as a national candidate, she declared herself ready to go “help” Georgia if it’s attacked, by declaring war on Russia. Wouldn’t even blink! Just do it.

So where’s her outrage, where’s that same unblinking pitbullish help from this barracuda mother who would be president, for the children and families she serves, with whom she enjoys such populist popularity.

Has she any “actual responsibilities” in her view of public service, for innocent abused children, for teenage daughters molested, raped and impregnated by men and boys in their own small towns, and even in their own homes, for all the victimized women who suffered in silence as kids and grow up to join the PTA and pass it on?

Even if as evangelical, woman and mother she feels no personal obligation– which would be monstrous imo — surely any intelligent, reasonably competent governor is practical enough to see how abuse perpetuates itself, breeding its own anti-social syndromes and pathologies that the public mustl pay for again and again unless and until it is finally, ahem, REFORMED by someone worthy of her boasts as a state-level reformer.

Or not, fiddle-dee-dee.

No.

But why ask me? I’m not a McCain/Palin supporter. But I’m flattered that when you read something like this your first question is what do I think about it.

But why ask me?

Because you were pushing the Biden is a gaffe machine meme the other day. If there’s a VP who is not ready for prime time, it’s Palin.

BTW, she’s ready to declare war on Russia. And she’s the foremost expert in the US on energy issues.

Wow! I really must say MEOW it’s really getting ugly over here & just about everywhere on the blogosphere nowadays!

I honestly can’t wait until Nov & all this election stuff is over and please let’s not still be counting votes into the holiday season.

Yes, I do believe in freedom of speech but it is really sad that there is so much of it being spent on such personal attacks & It seems to be not just about those running for office now.

Like it or not one side or the other will be in office come January. I just hope that we don’t come to a civil war over the outcome when it is done.

I don’t think either party has all the answers & I am not seeing any politician that I trust to be looking out for anyone but their own personal interests. My head is just spinning!!!!!!!

I’ve good friends on both sides of the aisle & wouldn’t dream of having them over for coffee at the same time right now.

People I know with general good sense that I would look to for guidance in trying to understand who they support & why– all now seem to be in this blood fever over how right they are & wrong is the other side.

One thing I do know is that I plan on (no matter who wins) is continuing to to expect to have take care of my own family & those I care about as best I can because we really can ‘t count on government to solve anything, save us from personal or natural disasters or spend the tax dollars we pay in wisely.

In the end we only have ourselves so I have no expectations from our elected leaders except to be mostly disappointed.

A sun-blotting-out fear of one individual her lizard brain believes beyond all reason to be a bad father, baby-killer and most recently a communist sympathizer, would explain everything Spunky has written about every candidate pro or con.

Occam’s Razor.

Spunky’s law (Corollary to Godwin’s Law)

“As a Usenet discussion on a given topic grows longer between Spunky and a disagreeing commenter, the probability that spunky becomes the topic of conversation and not the issue approaches one.”

ROFL – I like it!

“BTW, she’s ready to declare war on Russia. And she’s the foremost expert in the US on energy issues.”

I saw the clip, it didn’t sound like a declaration of war. Here’s a news story about this that I thought was fairly accurate.

Asked during the interview whether the United States would have to go to war with Russia if it invaded Georgia and the country was part of NATO, said: “Perhaps so.

“I mean, that is the agreement when you are a NATO ally, is if another country is attacked, you’re going to be expected to be called upon and help,” she said.”

The NATO agreement says that member nations will come to the defense of member nations. If Georgia is a member of NATO the other nations would have to go to war against the agressor, which in this case would be Russia.

Article 5 of the NATO Charter says that an attack on any member shall be considered to be an attack on all.

Any president of the United States who offered a different response than Palin would be admitting that they would not honor their commitment to NATO.

That should be “presidential candidate” not President in the last sentence.

For the record the Obama supports a membership plan for Georgia to join NATO.

“I have consistently called for deepening relations between Georgia and transatlantic institutions, including a Membership Action Plan for NATO, and we must continue to press for that deeper relationship. ”

So if as President he would support their membership into NATO, he would be just as obligated to come to their defense if attacked by Russia.

So there appears to be no story here given the question asked and if we’re going to say that Palin is ready to declare war based on her answer, we’re going to have to say that Obama is also ready to declare war as well.

She’s the only one who wants to bring Georgia into NATO immediately.

Quote please.

A shooting war with Russia over Georgia might have to wait til she singlehandedly invades Pakistan though —

A MAP lasts about 10 years before membership in NATO is offered. Obama is not calling for Georgia inclusion in NATO.

She did.

I’m still waiting for a quote from you, but in the mean time the first step to joining NATO would be to develop a MAP. from the NATO website,

“Aspirant countries are expected to participate in the Membership Action Plan to prepare for potential membership and demonstrate their ability to meet the obligations and commitments of possible future membership. They must then be officially invited by NATO to begin accession talks with the Alliance.”

You have to participate in a MAP to be considered for membership, which Obama supports. Palin supports membership which means they must participate in a MAP. The timetable would be set by the protocol for inclusion. On the website there was no mention of the length of the procedure as it was described. The timetable for inclusion appeared to be dictated by a potential members ability to demonstrate that they have fulfiled certain requirements and potential reforms.

nato.i...e.html

So Obama and Palin (depending on what she actually said) appear to be saying the same thing in a different way.

Obama supports a MAP which means they are on the path to inclusion; Palin supports inlcusion, which means she supports a MAP which would make that possible.

I a search for more information, I came across this about NATO and Georgia,

“The 26-member alliance, which already includes the three former Soviet Baltic states, will convene in December to decide whether to grant Georgia a road map to accession, known as a Membership Action Plan.

NATO has promised Georgia, which Russia’s considers part of its traditional sphere of influence, that it will one day be admitted to the alliance. But opposition from some European member states has prevented it setting any timeframe.”

So a timetable isn’t known, but it appears that NATO has already made some sort of commitment to bring Georgia into the alliance.

So you know enough about that question to be a credible candidate — but what about her? Did you see the interview? She’s well-trained, I’ll giver her that but she’s not well-educated.

Obama at a rally said about his Iraq plan as President….

” I’m going to call in the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and give them a new mission, and that is to bring the war in Iraq to a close. We are going to get out.”

The only problem is that the joint chiefs are, by statue, not in command of our military that is CENTCOM governed by Petraeus. The Joint Chiefs serve as advisors to the President and can’t bring a single soldier home.

I’m not a McCain/Palin supporter (do I need to say it again?) but Palin’s performance was not bad. Especially if you consider that Obama couldn’t even remember that he was a Christian and had to be prompted Stephanopoulos for a correction. And this wasn’t nearly as tough an interview as Palin’s and he’s had much more time to prepare. Remember Obama minus a teleprompter with a prepared speech is not that impressive either.

So while Palin’s inteview had some problems and rough spots there were no glaring problems and no stutters. Which as I read transcrtipts of Obama’s interviews, ums and uhs, appear all over the place. If that’s what Harvard’s producing these days, it just doesn’t seem to be worth the tuition.

And about watcching the interview, I don’t watch TV. I haven’t in 20 years. I read the transcipt (available at ABC website) and then ran through the clips on YouTube. That’s typically how I follow all politics, I read through it first without all the distractions of voice to get the ideas down and then go to the tapes to listen to them say they words. I find that is usually the best way for me to understand and retain what is being said. Most news shows provide transcripts online shortly after the show is aired.

So your argument is that Palin is qualified to lead this nation in international affairs because of something a different candidate (you detest as a baby kille), said?

I rest my Occam’s razor.

JJ, I just noticed your comment about Pakistan. You said,

“A shooting war with Russia over Georgia might have to wait til she singlehandedly invades Pakistan though –”

Who said this?

“I understand that President Musharraf has his own challenges. But let me make this clear. There are terrorists holed up in those mountains who murdered 3,000 Americans. They are plotting to strike again. It was a terrible mistake to fail to act when we had a chance to take out an al Qaeda leadership meeting in 2005. If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf won’t act, we will. ”

Barack Obama.

If you read the transcript of Palin with Gibson, you’ll notice that it isn’t that much different. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad. I don’t know enough about the issue.

“So your argument is that Palin is qualified to lead this nation in international affairs because of something a different candidate (you detest as a baby kille), said? ”

Where have I made the argument that Palin is qualified to lead?

Spunky, it’s not the words. It’s the quality of the understanding and the thinking behind them. You make fun of Obama for not speaking simply and without hesitating or pausing, and Isee him as a first-rate intellect at work. Palin has very little to recommend her policy-wise, only politically. We’re not seriously disagreeing about that, are we?

How you see Obama isn’t in question. How I write about Obama isn’t relevant. You said,

““So your argument is that Palin is qualified to lead this nation in international affairs because of something a different candidate (you detest as a baby kille), said? ”

The question is where have made the argument that Palin is qualifed? Once I understand the basis for your question, I’ll be be better able to answer it.

But we weren’t supposed to talk about you either, right?

You sought clarification of my argument by restating it. You said,

““So your argument is that Palin is qualified to lead this nation in international affairs because of something a different candidate (you detest as a baby kille), said? ”

I am merely asking for the basis by which you arrived at this restatement. That isn’t talking about me, if after this comment exchange this is what you thought I was discussing, I’m trying to understand how you arrived at it, so I can answer it.

You lost me but that’s fine. Have a good night.

Daryl,

You said that Palin is ready to declare war with Russia over Georgia.

Here’s the transcript of Palin with Gibson

GIBSON: And you think it would be worth it to the United States, Georgia is worth it to the United States to go to war if Russia were to invade.

PALIN: And we have got to be vigilant. We have got to show the support, in this case, for Georgia. The support that we can show is economic sanctions perhaps against Russia, if this is what it leads to.

It doesn’t have to lead to war and it doesn’t have to lead, as I said, to a Cold War, but economic sanctions, diplomatic pressure, again, counting on our allies to help us do that in this mission of keeping our eye on Russia and Putin and some of his desire to control and to control much more than smaller democratic countries.”

She specifically said it doesn’t have to lead to war. That certainly doesn’t sound like a declaration to me.

Traci: In the end we only have ourselves so I have no expectations from our elected leaders except to be mostly disappointed.

*******

Exactly Obama’s point when he made his infamous “bitter” comment. It has been spun to mean something else, but this is what he was saying. Many people have lost all confidence in their government and feel that their vote makes no difference on large issues like the economy and so they focus on small issues to help them decide between candidates. Or whether to vote at all.

Nance

Spunky: I’m not a McCain/Palin supporter (do I need to say it again?)

***

You can say it as many times as you like. Doesn’t make it credible but you can say it.

Nance

Note to self: New blog revenue plan

1. Mention Spunky in blog post
2. Load comment page with ads
3. Profit!

So thanks to thiks blog post now we have developed Spunky’s Law and Spunky’s Economic Plan and learned that I’m not credible in anything I say. Gee, I feel just like a politician.

If the shoe fits. . .

Nance

Okay Nance, you’ve convinced me. I’m in.

Here’s my new campaign slogan,

Spunky the blog you’ve been waiting for.

Oh and COD, my first act if elected is to pass a tax on all windfall profit from the use of my name.

Well, Spunky, I’m not sure I’d be spending all those tax dollars yet. Just this morning I got my Paypal deposit from BlogAds for the last three months. Including the Spunky post it came to a grand total of $86.