Sarah Palin and Todd took issue with jokes David Letterman told about their daughter. A few nights later, David Letterman clarified his jokes. He thought he was making a joke about Bristol, the adult daughter and not the 14 year old. Now there are discussions going on as to whether or not the jokes were tasteless, offensive, or even fair game. My 11 year old and I had a lively conversation about it and I was very impressed with the position she took and how she defended it. But, that is not what I want to blog about. There is a bigger issue for me here.
Governor Palin and The First Dude, were poised in the position to be our country’s Vice President and First VP Dude. As Vice President, Governor Palin would be facing tremendously important issues. There is strife in the middle east. Our nation’s health care is non existent, the economy has all but fallen apart, and unemployment is at all time low… you know, heavy, serious, life altering problems. Our children’s children will be reading this on their online history text books years from now!  Yes, our country is in dire straights and it takes strong leaders to guide us through. Leaders who have their personal lives in check. Leaders who have spouses and children who handle responsibility and pressure. Leaders who demonstrate with their family that they can encourage and support family members to become dependable people. Leaders who don’t take advantage of the media by showcasing flavor of the week issues to enhance their own political careers.
Sarah Palin and Todd in office?  Could you even imagine the reality tv show this country would be forced to watch if the Palin family was the VP family? Sarah, how could you be second in command of the most powerful country if you are going to buckle and take issue with a late night joke?!  Was the joke in bad taste? Probably. I will give her that. Was it fair, it is my personal position that jokes about innocent children are never fair. But that’s not the issue in this blog. The issue for me is that this tells me that Sarah Palin doesn’t know how to pick her battles. Are our children important and therefore worthy of a battle? Yes of course they are! But if Sarah Palin was the VP she would have faced mammoth battles that involved the livelihood of all Americans. I, for one, am relieved that she was not elected to such a high position. To watch her lose her composure on national television when defending this issue was uncomfortable enough without imagining how she would handle herself with a leader from a foreign country when aired?
Again, let me set the table here; Sarah Palin trotted those children out and exposed their personal lives for all to see. You can’t control the general public and their comments. Isn’t there anything else going on in Alaska that requires Gov. Palin’s attention right now? Now she is claiming that David Letterman is contributing to the male perversity of young women! If this was a heartfelt issue for her to begin with, where was it on the campaign trail? Where was this cause when she was a beauty queen and had the forum to speak out about sexual imaging and degradation of women?
I continue to see Sarah Palin as a politician who continues to play the media to her advantage and choosing her battles based on what gets her more face time. If this was an issue she brought to the campaign trail, she would have had a huge audience and garnered so much attention. Women are mistreated in many countries and this mistreatment is causing our world to suffer a loss of HUMANITY.
As a mother, I understand her hurt. As a mother, I would have suffered a great deal if my child were humiliated. Like a mother bear, I would have protected my cub; by keeping her in the cave while she was vulnerable… not trotting her out in front of hunters!
As an American woman and mother of daughters, I would have loved for Sarah Palin to have defended women when it was a concern for all of us, not just when she felt it was knocking at her door.