John McCain and his VP pick, Sarah Palin

I'm supposed to be working on a paper for a class I'm taking this semester. Ironically enough, the class is titled "Gender, Power and Relationships". I can't get my mind off John McCain's VP pick of Sarah Palin though. I'm hoping that if I write about her now, I can get my mind off of the issue and back onto my class assignment.

I'm a proud supporter of Barack Obama. I have always felt that Hillary, simply because her last name is Clinton, would be polarizing and divisive. This country needs someone who is capable of bringing Americans together in addition to rebuilding our image overseas. Obama is a fresh face and I'm confident about his commitment to women's issues. If Hillary had won the Democratic nomination I would have supported her, but ultimately I'm happier with Obama. I thought that his selection of Joe Biden as his VP running mate was sensible. He has plenty of experience, he represents most of my views on the issues and again, he supports women's issues. Of particular note, Biden's office drafted the original Violence Against Women Act in 1994. He's also chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee-not too shabby!

Enter GOP nominee McCain. I thought he was ok in 2000, but I could never get past his anti-choice stance on abortion. I would have difficulty voting for anyone who is anti-choice; that is a deal breaker for me. I don't like his stance on the war in Iraq and I take issue with the fact that he is one of the Keating Five. We are in the middle of a recession that has been largely affected by deregulation of the banking and mortgage industry. We can thank Mr. McCain's buddy Phil Gramm for that one. Why on earth would anyone want to elect one of the Keating Five as president?! Our current recession is worse than the 1990-1991 one, caused by the Savings and Loan Scandal and it's going to get even deeper. Americans are going to pay a huge price in rebuilding the economy and I think it's going to be slow and painful. Yet McCain has consistently referred to himself as a "de-regulator". He's completely out of touch. In short, I can no longer tolerate him and I think he is an exceptionally bad choice for the US.

Yesterday he announced Alaskan governor, Sarah Palin as his running mate. Palin is anti-choice and belongs to an organization called "Feminists For Life". I checked out their official website. I can't see anything that remotely suggests their organization supports women's issues. Their sole issue is anti-abortion/anti-choice. They say "pre-conception" issues fall outside of their "mission", yet their FAQ page makes reference to "non-abortifacient contraception". That kind of language is loaded and speaks volumes. It means that they do not approve of any kind of chemical/hormonal birth control or IUD's.

While I could never see eye to eye on their anti-choice baloney, I can respect their right to hold those views. I am a bit disturbed by their complete ignorance regarding the need to prevent unwanted pregnancies in the first place. How on earth can an organization claim to be feminist when they completely ignore women's health concerns, and YES contraceptives are a health concern.

The mother in me is appalled that Ms. Palin returned to work 3 days after giving birth...to a baby with Down Syndrome none the less! Women have worked far too long and hard to get maternity leave to have someone who ignored it represent us. She's still nursing and yet she's heading out on a major political campaign. I breastfed my son for 2 1/2 years. Hey Sarah-*NEWSFLASH* have you ever heard of mastitis? It's extremely painful. Stress and over working yourself are the easiest ways to bring it on. If you spread yourself too thin you will make yourself sick and will be of no use to the American people. To fail to recognize such a simple and basic principle is irresponsible and neglectful.

She was mayor of a tiny Alaskan town (which she drove into debt) and she's been governor for less than 2 years. Alaska's entire population is smaller than that of most major US cities. If Rudy Giuliani didn't have the skills to pay the bills after running the city of New York and handling 9-11 and its aftermath, why would McCain think this woman is ready? Oh wait-that's right...she's a "maverick". She opposed the "bridge to nowhere". (Oops.)

How does this extremist, evangelical, Christian supposedly represent the average American woman? Regardless of what fundamentalist Christian's would have us believe about contraceptives, most American women use them or have used them. How does she stand for us? She is not our friend. She is not the kind of woman who is going to "break the glass ceiling".

Any feminist who votes for McCain/Palin is ignoring the issues. I think the vast majority of democrats who supported Hillary will give their support to Obama/Biden. The ones that vote for McCain/Palin either have their heads up their butts or won't vote for Obama because he's black. McCain is sickeningly pandering to women. It's insulting and condescending, not to mention insincere.

Michelle Obama

Tonight was the first night of the Democratic National Convention. I knew Michelle Obama was going to be the keynote speaker this evening, but I didn't know what time she was scheduled to speak. I came out of the shower and she was smack in the middle of her speech. Can I just say, that woman is a CLASS ACT! She is incredibly warm, articulate, down to earth and beautiful. She is a fantastic public speaker. I will go so far as to say that I cannot remember any politician (at least since I registered to vote at 18) ever giving such a stirring speech. She represents the Democratic party in the best possible light. How could anyone listen to Michelle speak and then choose the ice princess we all know as Cindy McCain over her? Even Fox Noise (thanks for that nickname Keith Olbermann) couldn't say anything negative about it.

At the end of the speech Obama's daughters came on stage and I thought they were great. Michelle Obama's speech is probably going to go down in political history.

I really like where I live, but...

We live in a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom condo with 1400 square feet. It has an open, split bedroom floor plan, with large rooms. It feels big and airy. We have a lovely view of a picturesque canal and a quiet golf course. Our canal is frequently visited by all manner of native Floridian birds. My biggest gripe is that condo rules do not allow washing machines and dryers inside the units, so we have to use the building's communal laundry facilities. We probably only spend a few hundred dollars a year on laundry; not a big deal.

Our community is culturally diverse. That was a draw for us. We have people from a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds. We like living in an area that is reflective of the world community. In a way it's kind of like curry. Thai, Indian, and Jamaican curries are all complex and rich, yet completely different and I like them all.

We love this place. We remodeled the kitchen and the bathrooms and we have this place just the way we want it. It feels like home and it's a wonderful place to come home to...and the schools are CRAP. Therein lies our problem. After a great deal of worrying and going through all the proper channels, the school district did not come through. Little Man started kindergarten at a charter school last week. It's good; certainly a huge improvement over our zoned school. But ultimately I'm not sure it's the best fit for him. I don't think anyone should have to move in order to receive quality education. Everyone in the district should have equal access to quality education. That's not how it works though.

My husband and I are now at the beginning stages of discussing moving a few miles to the north-west. I don't want to move and I resent the school district's lack of real options. The whole situation is depressing.

Incompetence and or underhanded behavior

Little Man started kindergarten today. He was supposed to start 2 days ago on Monday, but a tropical storm postponed everything a bit. This morning I walked him to his class so I could drop off all of his supplies. It was funny though, because he wanted me to just drop him off at the curb. "Mom, you can just drop me off here. I can walk to class by myself!" I'm proud of that independent streak, but I can't quite figure out how it popped up so soon. He was great this morning, from the time he woke up, until the time I left his classroom.

We have him at a charter school because the school we're zoned for is, to put it bluntly, incredibly crappy. I have plenty of issues with both the school and the principal. Here's where the sneaky stuff comes into play (and I'm not sure if it's gross incompetence or outright underhandedness). The zoned school pulled our paperwork from the charter and withdrew him. We didn't find out about it until Friday evening-well over a month after everything went down. The county allows this kind of stuff to happen due to convoluted district rules.

Fortunately it was obvious in the charter school's computer system that we weren't the ones who had withdrawn him-it had been the other school. The charter school secretary told me that was the second time that day they had the same exact problem with that particular school. Fortunately they were able to let us re-register him.

I want to call up the district office and file an official complaint. This is not my first gripe with the school. I had dealings with the principal a few months ago. This incident just added to my frustration. But really, what will it accomplish? The district likely won't do a darn thing. I'm just thankful I was able to get my son into a decent charter!