Hunter's Canvas: Gay Rights

John McCain and Sarah Palin are simply a disgrace to this country. They think Americans are stupid and do not deserve to be treated with the least bit of respect. All he cares about is getting elected - he just doesn't give a damn about anyone else but himself and his cronies.

OK, here we go:

1) This is FAUX FEMINISM AT ITS WORST. McCain picked Sarah Palin as his VP because he thinks we will vote for her simply because she has a VAGINA and BREASTS. And though I think both are wonderful things to have and enjoy, we need just a LITTLE bit more from someone to be qualified to be VP. McCain thinks that Hillary supporters simply were supporting a vagina/breasts instead of the fact that she's smart, tough, and would have made a just as good a president as Obama. We are smarter than that, thank you very much!

2) Palin has no respect for women, the environment, reason, or humanity, just like McCain - she's a Republican extremist's dream. Take a look:

Palin is strongly anti-choice, opposing abortion even in the case of rape or incest⁽¹⁾

She supported right-wing extremist Pat Buchanan for president in 2000⁽²⁾

Palin thinks creationism should be taught in public schools⁽³⁾

She's doesn't think humans are the cause of climate change⁽⁴⁾

She's solidly in line with John McCain's "Big Oil first" energy policy. She's pushed hard for more oil drilling and says renewables won't be ready for years. She also sued the Bush administration for listing polar bears as an endangered species—she was worried it would interfere with more oil drilling in Alaska.^{(5, 6, 7)}

3) Sarah Palin is a HOCKEY MOM, people. A HOCKEY MOM! How DARE McCain criticize Obama in the least for being inexperienced when up until a year and half ago, his VP pick was the mayor of Wasilla, AK - a town of 9,000 people. 9,000 people! Foreign policy experience anyone?⁽⁸⁾

4) Before McCain chose Palin to potentially be second in command, he met her ONCE and spoke on the phone with her ONE other time.⁽⁹⁾

5) According to the sister of a fellow Long Islander who is a longtime resident of Wasilla, Alaska:

"Sarah Palin is a nice lady but you might just as well go out and offer the job to any soccer mom on the street. She is constantly being rescued from hot water because she goofs things up. Right now she is under investigation for firing the chief of the state police because he wouldn't fire her brother-in-law who is in a nasty divorce battle with her sister. She has the state attorney general suing the federal government for listing polar bears as endangered, even though every one knows they are, because she doesn't want it to interfere with off shore drilling. She opposed an initiative to stop hunters from shooting wolves and polar bears from airplanes and another initiative that said big mines can't dump toxins in salmon streams. She is very bad news."

6) Palin, a former Miss Alaska, has made choices as a woman to have a large family - she has FIVE kids. Her husband is an oil production operator for BP and a champion long-distance snowmobiler. Dare I ask who is going to take care of children?

- Son Track is 19 and is being deployed to Iraq in September

- Son Trig Paxon Van Palin is 4 months old, born with Down syndrome, and named as an homage to Van Halen

- Daughter Bristol is 17, pregnant and marrying the father

- Daughters Willow, 14, and Piper, 7

I'm sorry but if I had such a large family with children who clearly need the support of their parents at the moment, I would be quitting politics completely and maybe not doing photo shoots for Vogue. How selfish of her to pursue her career over her family. What kind of role model is she?^{(10, 11, 12)}

We, as Americans, need to get very angry about this. McCain is taking us for fools.

1. "McCain Selects Anti-Choice Sarah Palin as Running Mate," NARAL Pro-Choice America, August 29, 2008

2. "Sarah Palin, Buchananite," The Nation, August 29, 2008

3. "'Creation science' enters the race," Anchorage Daily News, October 27, 2006

4. "Palin buys climate denial PR spin—ignores science," Huffington Post, August 29, 2008

5. "McCain VP Pick Completes Shift to Bush Energy Policy," Sierra Club, August 29, 2008

6. "Choice of Palin Promises Failed Energy Policies of the Past," League of Conservation Voters, August 29, 2008

7. "Protecting polar bears gets in way of drilling for oil, says governor," The Times of London, May 23, 2008

8. "Sarah Palin," Wikipedia, Accessed August 29, 2008

9. "McCain met Palin once before yesterday," MSNBC, August 29, 2008

10. "McCain makes history with choice of running mate," Associated Press, August 30, 2008

11. "Governor Palin's Biography," Website of the State of Alaska, accessed September 1, 2008

12. "Sarah Palin," Wikipedia, September 1, 2008

Much of the information for this post was found on MoveOn.org.

Dear Abby (Jeanne Phillips, daughter of the original Dear Abby) was recently interviewed by the AP on her advice to readers regarding gays. She's so reasonable and caring - qualities so many people lack in this country. Here are some highlights:

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"I believe if two people want to commit to each other, God bless 'em," the syndicated advice columnist told The Associated Press. "That is the highest form of commitment, for heaven's sake.

"If gay Americans are not allowed to get married and have all the benefits that American citizens are entitled to by the Bill of Rights, they should get one hell of a tax break. That is my opinion," said Phillips, who speaks with the no-nonsense tone of someone who is used to settling debates.

"Right now, Abby, as Phillips prefers to be called, is working on a reply to a woman who wanted to know whether she should include childhood photographs of her transgender brother-in-law in a family album. The woman is worried what she will tell her children when they see pictures of their uncle as a little girl.

Phillips' guidance to Worried Reader will be simple, she said: Include the photos, of course. Silence is the enemy. Answer any questions the kids have honestly — Uncle John was born with a body of the wrong sex, so even when he was called Jane he was really John inside."

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It's so refreshing to hear someone advocating openness! What a concept! We need to start talking about human qualities that scare so many of us in this country. And though I think I would advise the reader with a transgender brother-in-law to ask him what he wanted, the fact that her response is forcing a discussion and acceptance, I'm all for it.

What are people so afraid of in this country?? Gays, poor people, blacks, immigrants - this list is too long! We need to move this society in a new direction.

Thanks for the link Lauren! CRED for pic.