Palin Under the Microscope

I sit and listen to newsflash after newsflash erupting over the life and times of Sarah Palin. First, her admission to smoking pot, then her husbands DUI from years ago comes to light followed by the bombshell of her eldest daughter's pregnancy and upcoming nuptials. Wow, and we wonder why nothing but ego-centric, power-hungry types are all we have to choose from in our politicians? Knowing not only your own foibles but the intimate details of your entire family will be advertised, exploited, mis-reported and judged by every mental midget of the world, what decent person and their family could stand up and endure all of this? Speaking as a person who values my privacy, "Fahgitaboutit!"

But the fact is, fair or unfair, the examination has begun. Ironically, the judgments are proving more interesting than the newsflashes themselves. Apparently the secular progressives know less about practicing Christians than I realized. Tony Washington Liberal gadflies read the Palin daughter's pregnancy as a sure turn-off for the Christian Right, for nothing could be more distasteful to Christian Conservatives than pre-marital sex resulting in a pregnancy out of wedlock, "Oh the horrors!" These educated elites determine surely the righteous Right will recoil from Sarah Palin and the sinful ways of her clan, sinking McCain and delivering "Obama The Great" to his rightful place on the Throne of Smartypantsdom. Here's another newsflash, Washington limousine libs are amiss, incorrect, dare I say it, wrong! The point of being a Christian and practicing our faith is based on the simple fact that we acknowledge we are imperfect with loads of weaknesses and sin but through the example and forgiveness of Jesus we can get back on the right course if we want to and support other people who want our help to do the same.

Didn't those overrated college professors teach you secular progressives the first rule of battle? Know your opponent. Allow me to clue you in, a young unwed mother-to-be is the last person a practicing Christian would turn their back on. Maybe a secular progressive would be sickened and dismayed by a young pregnant woman choosing to have her baby but Christians tend to support such people and applaud the courage of a girl accepting the consequences of her actions. For me, when I heard the news, I at first was saddened not by the fact Palin's daughter was pregnant but by the fact the world was privy to such a private matter. I then remembered back to my own mother who assured me if I ever found myself in such a predicament that she and my father would help me with the baby, hitting home the fact that if I became pregnant that little being would be our flesh and blood who must be cared for as we were cared for. Luckily I never had to live that promise of my mother out but I knew that life is precious and the innocent should all be given the chance to come into this world with loving arms to hold them no matter what brings them here. Seems like that is exactly what the Palin's are doing for their daughter and grandchild. I see this personal challenge the Palin family is going through in such a public manner as another example of how Palin will resonate even stronger with Christians both Conservative and Independent. The Liberal bloggers can spew all they want. The only minds they are changing are those turning toward the McCain/Palin ticket. Talk about a cloud with a silver lining!

I will acknowledge a recent point Liz Trotta made on Fox News is, at first blush, understandable however, not valid. Trotta believes Palin appears hypocritical to some Conservatives. Trotta's argument stated Conservatives hold that children should have a mother at home, not running a town, state or for that matter serving as Vice President of the United States. Trotta feels Palin is having it both ways by touting Conservative ideals while living her own life in conflict with these ideals by being a working mother. I believe Trotta's point on a simplistic level has merit but when all facts are taken into account I believe she sells many Conservative women and men short whose family set-up veers from a Leave It To Beaver storyline. My personal choice was to not work outside the home in order to raise my children but I also know of other women whose set-up relies on their husbands whose schedules allow parenting time and attention. Enlisting grandparents to step in where the mother and/or father are unable to due to careers is also a scenario some families I know have decided upon. For these families the priority remains that the children are loved and tended to by the family at all times. Whether the main care-giver is the mother or the father or a grandparent, the fact is, the child is being raised within the family unit with all of the family's personal histories, values, personalities and traits handed down in a way no daycare or nanny could.

The Liberals and even some Conservatives are seizing on Palin's personal choices and analyzing them out the wahzoo which is to be expected. I only wish they had the same concern over the raising of the Obama children. Both of the Obama's are high-powered professionals who work outside the home, serving on numerous boards and committees. Don't the Obama children deserve the same vetting of their parents, analyzing the time spent with them as the Palin children have received? I do not need to defend Sarah Palin's organization of her family structure, Sarah can do that herself. I am simply making a case that there is more than one way to live as a Conservative individual and still remain true to one's ideals and beliefs. Though the traditional recipe of a family consisting of a wife staying home, husband going to work, kids growing up happy and well-adjusted is one we all can digest without trouble, there are recipes that may require a bit more chewing before swallowing on our part but in the long run may prove good and good for us.