Anyone Can Become President

When my five-year-old kept talking about what he would do when he became president I always ended the conversation saying, "all you have to do is study hard and if you want it, anyone can become president." Of course I never believed that. I knew a week later he would want to be an actor or a scientist so I thought that was the easiest way to go on to another conversation. But Sarah Palin proved me wrong. ANYONE can now be president.

I like Sarah Palin's public speaking ability. I think she is fun to look at, certainly the hottest vice presidential candidate in history. But I looked up some facts. The United States has 10,000 nuclear weapons, 100 aircraft carriers, 3,000,000 people in the armed forces, and ten trillion dollars of debt.

I am now hearing from the Karl Roves of the world that having a 17-year-old daughter pregnant out of wedlock will make Palin sympathetic to millions of Americans who know the pain of that situation. But my question is WHERE WAS THE ADVICE? Do we want a president who cannot communicate to their own child that possibly having a baby a year after you get your driver's license is not the smartest thing to do? Is this the new way for women to break the glass ceiling? To have their daughters throw their babies at it? I want my president to control their children, then they can tell the Navy what to do.

Read more reaction from HuffPost bloggers to John McCain's selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate

Comments

[5150]

Sarah Palin believes a governor should be able to get a civil service state trooper fired. So ask Sarah Palin what she thinks of the unitary executive and the firing of the U.S. Attorneys. Unitary Executive.

[Clairvoyance]

Great article. I too find it awfully telling that a woman who espouses the virtues of abstinence, who potentially will have millions of young teenage ears listening to her advice and she can't even influence her own child as to what is right! She has that right, as a mother to make that choice. But teaching abstinence in schools (CNN reported STDs are up in Alaska among teens, go figure), saying NO to condemns, trying to legislate religious principles (by picking next Supreme Court Judges) is just plain stupid and here's the proof. What a joke.

[yaznaioutibia]

Who was the father of the two babies. Look closely. This is a sick family

[Rusty1]

"Who was the father of the two babies. Look closely. This is a sick family"

So her husband is now a child molester as well? This is why democrats lose elections. I have never seen so much hate in one place. I am an Obama fan and will vote for him and will debate the issues. I do not need to spew hatred for this woman or any other woman. This is the same as the right wing nuts with Hillary and talking about how ugly Chelsey was.

[indypete]

Gotta make a correction on you there, it's "condoms" the righties say no to.... as far as I can tell, they love to "condemn".

[judyc]

How can she influence her daughter? It sounds like she's never at home.

[michiganvoter]

I disagree with your premise. While I think Karl Rove's comments highlight the hypocrisy of those conservatives who tout abstinence-only education instead of comprehensive sex education, I would not blame the parents for a teen pregnancy. Even under the best circumstances, every family is at risk that one of our children could find themselves in the same situation.

I do think that there are ways that we, as parents, can reduce the likelihood of a teen pregnancy for our children (comprehensive sex education, being a good listener, having clear and consistent rules which minimize opportunity for teens to be alone and unsupervised, and modeling respect and fidelity for our spouse).

As for the first part of your essay, sadly it seems to be true.

[angel42]

they need to put a muzzle on him.

[deepthoughts]

Brilliant!

[Notthistime08]

As a mother, she should have spoken honestly with her teenage daughter about sex. I have a teen son and of course I hope and pray that he waits, but I have also prepared him in the event that he doesnt. Apparently, her daughter did not feel that she would have been open enough for her to discuss her urges....

[justobserve]

Speaking honestly wouldn't do. Do we have less or more unwanted or teen pregnancies now and before we have sex education? As long as we view it's acceptable for satisfying sexual urge without commitment or responsibility on the part of the two people involved, we will continue to have teen's or unwanted pregnancies. That leads to the question: abortion or not. The consequence is much bigger for daughters than sons. They are the ones who have to live with the consequences.

[megacephalus]

has no one here heard of 'the pill'?

[faithfully]

17 year olds don't think-that's why they need good methods of birth control.

[Brillig]

My 3 sons, none of them gay, and all of them in their mid 20's were very careful to manage their sexual lives.

Once they understood that only 2 sexually active persons would be under our roof at anyone time - they got the picture, and I am proud to say, lived it.

No illicit teenage sex for them - not having girls, I taught them to value themselves just as I would expect my daughters to value themselves.

They have all told me how happy they are that they got that advice - I am happy they took it...I do believe that children try to please parents and consciously or unconsciously act out the parents value system OR deliberately go against it to show displeasure.

If your kids love you, they don't make those mistakes! And it is important for parents to show that sex, while great, is of greater value in a meaningful relationship - it is not a SPORT!

[momforbetterworld]

Sarah Palin needs to be a real mother to her kids, teaches them the truth about life including the respect of all living things, real Christian values (responsibilities and consequences). I am a mother in a committed marriage with an Ivy league educated husband, it's my CHOICE to educate and lead by good examples. Her management of her own kids showed me that she's not the right person to lead this country as a VP. I am a business executive with real world financial responsibilities, an executive who is not open to ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS is not a visionary leader and will not bring change to our racially and socially diverse country called The United States of America.