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Why I Hate Palin.

Governor Palin has a Down's syndrome kid.

I know, I know, that doesn't seem like a reason for me to hate her. After all, I grew up with a handicapped sister, taught special ed kids, and am generally highly in favor of rights for disabled people.

But the thing is, Palin doesn't just have a Down's kid. She chose to have one. Early screening meant that she was warned that her baby had Down's syndrome but due to her stance on abortion, she decided to go ahead and have the child anyway.

STUPID. Stupid, stupid, stupid and selfish. So you're pro-life and refuse to abort this kid on principle? Congratulations, you've doomed him to a lifetime of suffering. A short lifetime, mind you, because most Down's kids have shorter lifespans and are highly susceptible to anything going around, but it's still pretty much a given that they're going to suffer for as long as they live. They won't be able to keep up with the other kids, they'll be developmentally stunted both physically and mentally and it's all your fault for having brought said kid into the world, knowing what he'd have to face.

In the class I taught, one girl called Sandy had Down's syndrome and about a month after I finished with her class, she died of pneumonia. Before that, she had to wear diapers all the time, and the aides had to take her into the bathroom to change her and wipe her ass, because she couldn't even manage that on her own. She couldn't talk normally, she was short and highly obese and even in the classroom full of special needs kids, she stuck out as even more hopeless than most. Sandy was 22 when she died, but she was about at the developmental stage of a 2-year-old, if that.

And this is the sort of child that Governor Palin thinks is a gift from God. This is the sort of life that she's going to cause the boy to lead, because she's too selfish to put aside her own views and think about what's honestly best for the child.

Apart from which, you know what? She has no business running for VP if she has a disabled kid.

Nobody with a disabled kid should be taking on a public office job that has a huge time commitment, because there's no way that they can do that and take care of their child at the same time. My parents both worked full-time, had a live-in nurse, a live-in maid and an older daughter who took care of herself (me), and even they worked themselves to the bone to take care of my sister. I refuse to believe that Palin can juggle four kids, a Down's syndrome kid, and the job of being VP all at once; there's no way she can manage it and still give her kids the attention they need, especially the disabled one.

Obama's choice of VP is 'meh', because for a guy who talks about CHANGE all the time, he went with a really traditional Old White Male choice.

McCain's choice? Thoroughly despicable. Even putting aside the anti-abortion, anti-contraception (wtf, has she never heard of AIDS?) issues, I have no respect for anyone who would deliberately bring a child into the world, knowing that child's life will be filled with nothing but suffering. No respect AT ALL.

Edit: If you want to know more about the political stances that Palin has, check out

ilyena_sylph's post here where she lays out on the line all the reasons why no liberal female should think that Palin's likely to be on their side.

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because she's too selfish to put aside her own views and think about what's honestly best for the child.

Put aside her views? Put aside her views? Honestly, when have you ever done that? You write that with such glib ease, as though one's views are just clothes we pick up, put on, then discard when we feel they're out of fashion (which can happen, but is thankfully not the leading rule). She has made a judgement call on the value of life and the quality of life the child is likely to live, and decided that living in pain is better than not living. (And given her religious views has additionally probably factored in that life is sacred and god-given and it isn't her choice to make. I don't know what went through her head - and neither do you). While you may not agree with this, many people do. Do NOT be so close-minded as to say that just because someone has a different opinion than you (and YES it's one that affects someone else) she is being 'selfish and stupid, stupid, stupid'.

Pro-choice are we? The women's right to choose what happens in her body is paramount? Yeah, great, how well that view has held fast, hm?

I happen to think that the pain the child would be in would be sufficient to say it shouldn't have been born, but I do not know. There is sufficient uncertainty about the life that anyone leads, the awareness they have, the enjoyment they get out of anything that I have doubts. On balance I would probably come up with the conclusion that quality of life would be too low and would probably abort, but it is not fucking black and white and someone who makes the 'wrong' choice isn't necessarily selfish!

The only thing about your post I agree with is that I don't like the sound of her neglecting the child, though again I DO NOT know the circumstances and neither do you - I imagine as a prominent political figure she is able to afford some pretty sweet help. Oh, and I also don't want her to be VP, but for other reasons.

I do love you, and it's great that you actually speak out about things you care about and raise awareness, but for fuck's sake think about the other side before you make extremely judgemental assumptions.

I am weirdly stunned that you commented here and not my dj post. That aside, I am capable of putting aside my personal views when it comes to my sister and I did -- I dealt with the idea of euthanasia for her, even though I hate it, and managed to accept that yes, my parents probably know best about that and my reaction was a purely personal one and that it would be cruel to make her keep living when she couldn't even be unhooked from the machines.

Judgment call there, about what would make me feel better versus what would be best for her.

Whatever might make Palin feel good about herself about having stuck to her views and made a tough decision is NOT worth the pain that the kid would be in. Her body, her choice, and I'm not pushing for compulsory abortion of fetuses that test as disabled, just because that'd be too far in the other direction and there's a HUGE range of what disabled can mean, but FUCK, it is selfish to bring a child into the world knowing you're dooming for a life of pain.

Palin never even speaks about that side of it. She always talks about how "We've both been very vocal about being pro-life. We understand that every innocent life has wonderful potential." (http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=1144) Or let's look at the statement she made right after Trig (kid in question) was born.

"Trig is beautiful and already adored by us. We knew through early testing he would face special challenges, and we feel privileged that God would entrust us with this gift and allow us unspeakable joy as he entered our lives. We have faith that every baby is created for good purpose and has potential to make this world a better place. We are truly blessed."

I get that this is a media statement and she can't be honest about the hell that the kid is going to endure, but honestly, God entrusted you with a gift?! This is a KID. A child! A living person, a human being, someone who is going to face a lifetime of misery and suffering and rely on you all the while and it seems so obscene to me that on top of everything the kid is going to have to go through, it'll be dependent on the people responsible for causing it.

Also, I don't know if being VP means she has such great care for the kids. There's no mention of it in any of the articles I read, though there are photos of her holding the kid and she claims that her husband is ready to be Mr. Mom and they have a great support network of extended family. I still don't buy that. People magazine even asked about it in an interview with McCain and Palin clans combined:

Mr. Palin, you have this tiny baby with special needs. Do you worry that people may wonder if she'll be giving short shrift to her family?
TODD: She's heard that her whole life – the challenges of being a female and mother in the work force. I remember the first time she ran for mayor one of her fellow council members told her you can't run because you've got three negatives: Track, Bristol and Willow. Those are the three kids we had at the time. So when you tell her that kind of stuff, she just gets fired up. We're an Alaska family that adapts.
CINDY: I disagree with anyone who would say she can't do both. Any woman who's been in a situation where they are working and have children know that you give 300 percent; no one will be slighted in any of this, least of all her baby. She has a lot of energy, she's a woman with great drive and great vision.

Please note that neither of them directly address the special needs issue. They just talk about children in general. Also, no, that's not how it works. A kid with special needs is a lifetime drain on your energy. You CAN'T give 300% and think that's enough because Trig is going to need that full 300% and anything you have to spare. Even having the best help doesn't guarantee anything -- Esti's brother died when he was four, after all, and there's no way that I believe that Esti's mom would've been giving anything other than her best and all the help they can afford, which would've been a lot since that family's pretty loaded.

I love you too, obviously. And yes, there are definitely other reasons to not vote Palin (anyone that's on record as anti-contraceptive makes me go all "BUT WHAT ABOUT AIDS AND STDS?!") but this is the one that I had the most instant, visceral gut reaction to it. I think I called it evil to the guy I was ranting to at the time, because I've seen politicians before with stances I disliked but this is the first time that I've encountered someone who did something that I find so profoundly and personally cruel. Calling her stupid is at least giving her the benefit of the doubt and assuming she didn't deliberately decide to trade in on the 'this is my stance!' value of not aborting a DS kid.

It's black and white to me because I've lived with it, and I've seen a lot of kids with DS. If Governor Palin actually had experience with DS kids, I think she might've been less likely to stick on principle, knowing what she'd be bringing Trig into.

Also, speaking of causes/awareness raising -- My Sister's Friends House (http://mysisterfriendshouse.blogspot.com/) -- It's like Little Bird Woman House, a domestic violence shelter for women of Native American descent, or those who live around those communities. They're going to be shut down if they can't raise 35K for operating expenses for 3 months, which'll give them enough breathing room to apply for federal grants and the like. Go spread the word! I will actually make a proper post about it, but I want to wait until I've activated my new card (had to cancel the old one after someone snagged the numbers and started ordering stuff, boo sucks), and managed to make a donation myself.

btw, where did you hear that she is anti-contraception?

Wikipedia says she's pro-contraception...Wiki can't be wrong! :p

*coughs* (http://www.journalfen.net/community/political_wank/24423.html) You may not want to believe everything that Wiki says, seeing as it's apparently in the middle of an editing war at the moment.

As for the anti-contraception, I got it from a comment to someone else's entry but doing a quick Google search has me wondering why she's being listed as pro-contraception when other sites are saying:

"Palin is adamantly opposed to reproductive rights. She opposes abortion including in cases of rape and incest. She opposes birth control, emergency contraception and just like McCain, is all about abstinence-only education."

Apart from birth control and emergency contraception, what sort of contraception is she talking about? Condoms? The rhythm method? Is she saying that SOME sorts of contraception are okay but not others?

Ok, just checking. Don't know your sources, but it definitely seems plausible.

Yikes, sorry that I forgot to include the details:

http://menstrualpoetry.com/sarah-palin-feminist

There. The site name made me think of you.

???
Menstrual poetry makes you think of me?? I feel...strangely flattered :D

I remember you had that whole campaign about how menstruation shouldn't be thought of as dirty, and those lyrics to the Ani song about blood in a boardroom, and you're the only person I know who uses a moon cup, so, you know, frank discourse about menstruation = Kathy! In my head, anyway. XD

I stopped using the mooncup. It started hurting :( It was brilliant while it lasted, though, so I still advocate it (after all, tampons hurt some people too, everyone should try things out to see what works).

I'm planning on buying a new one to see if that was just a bad make - or maybe I just have an odd vagina.

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Why I Hate Palin.

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