Some Questions for our Fair-Minded Friends on the Left

This is the usual BS coming from the republicans...... they are the first to judge people based on what they consider moral....... get a life!

The late William F. Buckley once said something to the effect of:

Liberals say that they are willing to entertain other opinions and are then shocked and offended to discover that there are other opinions.

Sarah Palin is an evangelic Christian. Why did she have five children if she intended to pursue ever more demanding full time jobs? Has she caught a clue now from her own family experience that "abstinence only" sex education doesn't work very well? She is Nixonian in her pursuit of enemies. Do I think her husband's 20+ year old DUI is relevant? As a liberal, no, not at all. I think her hypocrisy, extremist views, and vindictiveness is extremely relevant. She scares the hell out of me, and should scare any thinking person.

The republican cadre is "proud" of the nominees ability to "reach across the isle" Yet at every juncture he reaches for an attack of his opponent - rather than an explanation of his strengths. So much promise - so little discipline.

Sorry, dude, but you have left me laughing quite hard. Where was your indignation when your side was laying into Obama? And you actually repeat some of those completely false charges right here in your testy little whine!

Sorry, but take a look in the mirror some time. perhaps you'll have the wisdom to see that the enemy you fear the most is none other than yourself.

Typical right-wing garbage; falsehoods and miss-leading comments. You people have made a modern-day science of your deceitful propaganda. None of you have the integrity, grits or nuts to face the issues head-on. Is it now alright for my children and grand-children to get pregnant before marriage; who picks up the pieces? What do you think will happen to the teenage pregnancy rates if the god fearing republicans are returned to office?

Over the last 7 years I've come to believe there are no liberal members of the media.

I am liberal and I believe in anti-abortion (it is not a anti-baby tool) but I leave doing her own "sin" up to the mother who can decide over her own body, I am against weapons but not against the right on to hold a weapon because it is up to the person who holds to pull the trigger commit a crime and sin. I am a pacifist and against war but I believe the right of self defense but I believe not in preemptive killing. I am against the death penalty because only God can make this judgment. So please look at yourself because you make a judgment before you point the finger on us. Just luck at your role model Rush Limbaugh who wrote the true patriotic sentence about hurricane Gustav : "Jindal dashes Democrat dreams of destruction." I say just: Judge Not Lest Ye Be Judged!

Judge Not Lest Ye Be Judged

Judge Not Lest Ye Be Judged

I'm a leftie and I couln't give a rip about Palin's pregnant daughter. In fact, we're the party that doesn't care...It's just chuckle-worthy to poke you uptight righties and watch you over-react, and you are doing some CHAMPIONSHIP over-reacting. How typically hypocritical of you as well...you can seed your post with harsh attacks on Obama, having all the subtlety of a rhinoceros in a field of daisies, and in the same breath, you decry the similarly harsh criticisms of Ms. Palin. It's like a bizarre reverse sexism. Got news for you...she isn't any more above such attacks than Obama is. So...gonna speak out about the shameful treatment of Sarah Palin? How about as soon as you speak out about the shameful treatment of Obama

Dude, you sound friggin' crazy! How does this show up on google news? I'm up here in Canada and I've got a few things to point out. First, what you call the "left" is hardly left leaning. Pretty moderate, if you ask me. Second, from what I see all over the place it's the Republican's who are pushing her family out to the front and centre, and then they say "what? D'you have a problem?!?"

VP married to a guy that wants to seperate his state from the Union.
-Valid news.

Everyone breaks the law at one point, but admitting it of your own volition is different than being cuffed for it after endangering others' well-being.
-Valid news.

Annenberg.
-Valid news. Because once a terrorist, always a terrorist. Once a drunk driver always a drunk driver. That is logical, right?

Third, and most important is the fact that her daughter is proof of the lack of success that goes with the Abstinence Only approach to sex-ed, which is what Sarah Palin supports. I believe that I've read that in her high school, this is what they teach. Well, people have sex. A lot. All people, essentially. And many people have pre-marital sex. Teach kids about condoms and birth-control and then little girls won't end up with babies nearly so frequently.
And finally, her husband got a DUI like 20 years ago. Who friggin' cares? Who cares if Obama or Clinton or GWB tried pot or blow when they were young? Does it affect their judgment at this point? No. So what's the problem. It's always the Republicans who throw that BS around. Grow up.

I'm sorry if it doesn't sit well with you (although I have to say, it seems to me that you are just posturing) but if you put someone forward for one of the most important political positions in the country that almost no one in the country knows, how can you possibly complain that the good the bad and the ugly of his or her background is dug up and publicized all at once? The dirt on other politicians in the mix for this election has been revealed over years or decades, and it is pathetic and insulting that Republicans are pretending the media is being unfair on this or that this has something to do with gender simply because Palin has been sprung on everyone from out of the blue. Give it a break.

What's up with the Republicans this year? Now the tough-talkin', red-meat party of the Rush Limbaughs, Bill O'Reilly's has gone all sensitive, crying and whining at the least bit of criticism, or any of the other kind of "isms" that they're so fond of making fun of. Wow-- what a bunch of babies! Oh, let's not forget about the vile Swift Boat Veteran lies on a decorated war hero. Can't take what you've been dishing out for the last decade? Go home crying to your mommy-- oooh, I'm sorry, that was sexist-- 'parents'...

OK, I'll answer some of the questions: Obama was not married to William Ayers for 20 years. Sarah Palin admitted smoking dope and no one is calling her on that. Palin, through her conservative Christian policies of "abstinence-only" sex education is getting a dose of the results up close. And the Republicans have taken political advantage of the Palin "family trouble" more than anyone, they just can't take the heat when it gets dished back to them.

I, too, am irritated at some of the things that my fellow liberals are saying about the teen. What I ask is to not count us in the same boat, and we will not count you in the same boat. I am not only "un-shocked" and "un-offended" to hear of other opinions...I really don't mind if the opinions are out there, so long as they don't encroach on my home life.

Here is my problem with Palin's family situation. As a mother, I cannot imagine knowing that my teen was pregnant and making a conscious decision to run for VP and subject her to the scrutiny of the entire nation. Being a pregnant teen is hard enough (being pregnant is hard, period, trust me). The pressure that boy feels must be awful, as well. I think that I would have had a tad more respect for her if she had passed on the nomination until next time. There are some wonderful female republicans out there that he could have picked and didn't.

Now, just because someone bore 5 children does not make the person a good parent. With a disabled child and other children clearly needing guidance, I do not respect her decision to spend this much time away from the home, at least for now. I'm willing to venture a guess that not even my liberal friends will agree with me on that point, but I'm old fashioned, so it is what it is.

I agree that the discussion about the daughter can be, at times, disgusting. However, because she believes in abstinence-only education, and is anti-abortion, both of which could affect my child's life, I do believe it is fair game to discuss how those beliefs are playing out in her own home. If she did not make it part of her platform to want to impart those guidelines on my child, then I would not feel that there was any reason to discuss how those guidelines played out in her home.

As for speaking out against the dirt that the media dredges up on Palin. Come on. The media dredges up dirt on everyone. Why does anyone need to speak out about any candidate's dirt being dredged up and discussed? That's just silly. We could go in circles asking for apologies. For every republican whose past was picked over, there is a democrat with the same thing going on. That's politics in 2008. I don't like it, but it is what it is.

Is this a serious newspaper? Are you forgetting George Bush's cocaine and alcohol problem?

Yea, I have no sympathy for Sarah Palin. To have sympathy for her would be sexist, no? She came off as cynical and condescending (like most Republican politicians).

She paraded her family out and used them as a tool. She and the McCain camp played the victim, and then had her come out swinging. A Rocky type moment. Unfortunately, the American people don't want the drama. They don't want attacks.

They want a better economy and smarter foreign policy.

Republican hypocrisy knows no limits. Apparently, it's perfectly fine to lie and swiftboat Obama or Kerry, but revealing facts about Palin is "shameful treatment."

God, the republicans are sickening.

Extraordinary! Not much else to say. Sarah Palin nailed it tonight. Not really important to depate what nail it means since I'm not interested in jumping onto the medias "pundent" wagon. "Hey, is the mike on?". Opinions are like ,,,,,,,,, anyway. Perhaps Biden layed it out pretty well last week when he said, "It starts in my gut, goes to my heart, and then to my head". All you members of the opposite sex should be proud tonight. Macho, Macho, man/men got it and I would imagine that's good but watch out when the Pit Bulls start wearing lip stick too.

The "Horror".

Palin's daughter's pregnancy is partially a consequence of religious fanaticism applied to sex education; certainly, no one needs to scrutinize her daughter, and her daughter should be left alone, but the topic of the pregnancy is a magnifying glass that sheds light on the practical consequence of poor policy.

And Todd was not the only AIP member; Sarah was a member herself, and attended their convention in the mid 90s. I'd be willing to believe a lot of her dramatic pro-Alaska rhetoric was just that, but let's call a spade a spade - she was never a nationalist until last week when her extreme pro-Alaska agenda made her look a little ridiculous nationally.

You failed to mention probably the most un-American and frightening thing reported about Palin: that she sought out a way to force the library to ban certain books, and threatened to can the librarian if she didn't get the cooperation she wanted. I can't think of anything more un-American than trying to burn books.

Ultimately, the real issue is this: until 20 months ago, Sarah Palin's only experience was as Mayor of Mayberry, and she was unpopular enough as Mayor that a serious effort to recall her was mounted. Statistically speaking, the average 72 year old has a 30.4% risk of mortality by age 80. Given that McCain is President - a stressful, risky job - and has faced multiple bouts with skin cancer, Palin's probably has a better than 1/3 chance of becoming President if McCain is elected. The Republicans are relentlessly inflating her experience and attacking Obama's because they have to: his prescient wisdom in advocating advancement in our energy policy and his spot-on prediction of what would happen in the Iraq War makes it obvious he has much better insight into the world than McCain or Palin. Palin herself professed that she was ignorant of Iraq even recently, and Palin ran up a huge deficit (turning around a surplus) in her time as Mayor. Add that to McCain - who admitted during the Republican debates that he didn't understand the economy - and you have a recipe for mismanagement.

And that, ultimately, is what this is about - the capability to lead. Not with ideological fanaticism, which Palin can certainly provide in spades - but with solid decision making, balanced policy, and well-informed government, something we've sorely lacked for the last 8 years, and something we would lack from McCain and Palin by their own admissions.

It isn't that they don't have good qualities. McCain's refusal to accept earmarks is admirable. Palin's small town background is fabulous. I'd love some more small-town sensibility in Washington. But not Palin.

Matt,

There may be fair minded liberals, but apparently not many that post comments between 11:00pm and 1:30am on Boston.com

I thought they were decent questions personally.

Hi Right Wing,

Your poster girl for Family Values spoke tonight. In the audience was her vulnerable and pregnant 17 year old daughter seated next to an extremely nervous kid in a suit. It seems to escape your attention that a mother who is a GOOD mother might never put her child under media scrutiny like that---nor pistol-whip an unwilling boyfriend into fatherhood. (His MySpace page did say he was "in a committed relationship" but "didn't want children".)

The thing that other people notice about Republicans is the unrelenting blind eye they turn on themselves. If this had been Obama's child, you'd have been screaming from the rafters, banner news, 24/7, isn't he a MONSTER?! He gave you a big break this last week, insisting your VP's child be left out of it. He's a gentleman and a great man.

Your pin-up girl came out swinging against him tonight, though. Full of lies and insults. The contrast did not escape us. Nor, would I imagine, many other moderate, intelligent individuals out there. You've become the Party of Mean.
I pray you fall under the weight of your own unreality so we can get our good name back in the world---and recover what's left of the American soul.

"Are any Democrats willing to publically speak out against the shameful treatment of Sarah Palin, and address the blatant double standard with which she and her family are being attacked?"

Yes. Obama spoke out against it on day one. Get your facts straight.

i agree with post #20. all these responses came from angry liberals who can't seem to come to terms with Sarah Palin and how her selection has changed the entire race and muddled Obama's message. Obviously, all these posters live alone and spend their nights on blogs since no one will listen to them during the day.

These partisan hacks are so predictable; it's as if their brains are on auto-pilot. Yes, Obama showed terrible judgment in cavorting with an unrepentant terrorist and associating with a nut case preacher who lines his own pockets while hating everything U. S. stands for. He also should have known to keep his distance from a slime-bag like Tony Rezko who got rich exploiting the very people about whome the Democrats claim to care so much. And yes, the choice of Sarah Palin is a bit hypocritical for a party that claims to value experience and to promote family values. They also don't seem to be in much of a hurry to raise taxes to support all of the Down's syndrome babies, Karen Ann Quinlens and Teri Sheivos they claim to want to save. On the other hand, is it really worth worrying about 20 year old drug admissions and drunk driving convictions? At least there are two people (John McCain and Joe Biden) in this race, who show some sign of shame when they're caught lying.