Daughter Dearest,
It is with great pain and a certain measure of shame that I write you this note. Having grown up in the '60s and watched, sometimes at glaringly close range, the emergence of the women's liberation movement, I had always harbored great dreams and aspirations for you.
But as I listened to Governor Sarah Palin address the nation the other night, I had to confess that -- as your father -- I have clearly failed. Honey, you will never be able to achieve the greatness of being nominated for vice president of the United States. Forget about it.
And for this sad reality, I accept all blame. 'Twas I who steered you wrong.
Here you are, almost 25, with what your mother and I believed was a solid education behind you, and yet you are nothing but a common community organizer. Yes, the labor union you work for represents nearly 2 million service workers -- about three times the population of Alaska. But, alas, as Governor Palin pointed out, you have no real responsibilities. By helping janitors, security guards, nursing aides and orderlies gain a living wage, paid health care insurance and a retirement fund, you have only robbed them of the personal initiative to go out there and make something better of themselves. You have rendered them feebly dependent on Big Labor and tax-and-spend Big Government -- and all in their own crass self-interest in survival.
I'm not sure when I helped nudge you on to such a mistaken road. Probably sometime while you were attending that government-run high school in which we enrolled you. You could have joined the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, as Ms. Palin did. Instead, I pushed you to become a columnist on the school paper. You could have spent your afternoons becoming the local barracuda on the courts. But, nope, your mom and I indulged your trivial passions for staging and directing the plays of Shakespeare. You could have competed to be Miss Woodland Hills or even Miss Congenial California, but -- no -- there were your mom and dad encouraging you to finish writing your first play. Sorry.
From there, the mistakes only multiplied. Read the rest of this post here.
Nah...
By the way what did those thousands of SERVICE signs people waved at the GOP convention mean? ................... WERE THEY SIGNALLING TO WAITERS AND WAITRESSES TO BRING THEM ANOTHER DRINK? ..........................
Because speaker after speaker (INCLUDING PALIN) mocked the value of COMMUNITY ORGANIZING, which is COMMUNITY SERVICE.
Simply another example of AxelRove's spin strategy.
that's the problem with you neo-cons; you pick and choose what you want to whine about.
And I thought it was always Bush's fault.
It's just inevitable that 30 years after easily the worst administration in American history, there will be a smattering of people sitting around coffee shops talking about what a raw deal poor old Bush got from the liberal media. Just like there are still people talking about Nixon and Agnew that way, or Bork, or David Duke, or whoever.
My concerns as a citizen are as follows:
1.John McCain is an aging EX-POW
2.JM may suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder/Flashbacks--a war related mental illness
3.Upon returning from Vietnam, did he receive mental health or anger Mgmt. counseling from a
military psychiatrist?
4.As a result of counseling was JM prescribed psychotropic drugs?
5.What about the long term effect of captivity on his cognitive skills?
6. Does he rely on psychotropic drugs, to date?
To even think of trusting this man with the security of our country, without focusing on his mental stability, will create another national disaster.
The signs of PTSD Post-traumatic Stress Disorder are obvious. His judgment is impaired and he is not by any means in touch with reality. He has become a Rove Robot.
You can see by the way he moves that he is in physical pain. And don't forget the numerous bouts with cancer.
Anyone who votes for this man is just as out of touch with reality as he is. His running mate is dangerous and needs to be impeached by the Alaskan legislature for abuse of power not to mention that she has done a lousy job as a mother.
All this time I thought I was being a responsible parent insisting that homework be done, that basketball and soccer practice not be missed because "you're a little sore" and sitting in the living room sharpening my (already sharpened) machete while scowling at the young men who were waiting for you.
oh, by the way - since you're using it so pejoratively, you might not have realized that very few children name themselves. if they did, they'd probably not use the name "John" then, would they?
"Do not despair! Just remember, Jesus was a community organizer, Pontius Pilate was a governor..."
Comment by Annette Hong from Oakland, CA on Sep 11th, 2008, 11:45 am
Best post! Thank you Annette, you made my day.
Not sure if that's the real definition of "ironic," but you get the idea.
No one looks down on small towns, but folks in small towns sure look down on big cities. But make your weakness a strength, some total lunatic once said.
Of course, if you point out that Matthew Shepard was murdered in a small town, you're an elitist. If you mention that James Byrd was lynched in a small town, you're uppity.
How do they get away with this? The culture way is being fought by one side that has made up an enemy, and one side that doesn't even realize it's fighting.
But absolutely, yeah--now we're under the tyranny of this backwards elitism, where small-town people are more moral and more American than the rest of us. And they'll tell you about it all day, if you'll listen.
And Republicans own the nation, all the images of 9/11, the right to broadcast images of coffins of fallen soldiers only when it suits them (at their convention, for instance), and the entire military.
I just wish more people were pissed about the way this country has been hijacked.