Gov. Mom

Gov. Mom
The Land of the Midnight Sun's New Claim To Fame:

Being Led by a 24-Hour Mother

Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 2, 2008; Page A21

It's quite a compelling image: An accomplished -- even glamorous -- working mother, projecting to the world that she can and does have it all: five children, a successful career and a husband who doesn't mind being Mr. Mom. Oh, and she's going to be a grandmother, and her infant has special needs, and she's running for vice president.

The facts of life for Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin are fascinating and seem, frankly, exhausting. Her children range in age from 18 years to 4 months. Track, the oldest, recently enlisted in the Army and is headed for Iraq. Daughter Willow, 14, is in high school, and Piper is 7. The baby, Trig, was born in April with Down syndrome. Daughter Bristol, 17, is pregnant and is going to get married, her parents announced yesterday. That news added fuel to an already heated debate on blogs and in the street about the appropriate balance between child-rearing and working -- and whether Palin can balance the extraordinary demands of both without shortchanging either.

Within two hours of The Washington Post reporting news of the pregnancy on its Web site, more than 1,000 people had weighed in, arguing back and forth about whether Palin, 44, is placing her own political ambition above the needs of her family.

"She should not be held to a different standard than the Democratic nominee," said McCain senior adviser Steve Schmidt yesterday. "No male candidate would ever be asked that question. . . . I think women in America are likely to be angered by the double standards. This isn't the 1950s."

In Michigan yesterday, Sen. Barack Obama told reporters: "How a family deals with issues and teenage children, that shouldn't be the topic of our politics."

Palin has carefully portrayed herself throughout her career as someone committed to both family and profession -- and tough enough to handle both. She made a show of dismissing the chef at the governor's mansion saying she wanted to do her own cooking, and that the kids were old enough to make their own sandwiches. And no one can recall her ever having a full-time babysitter.

"You walk into her office and Piper is sitting there, the baby is in the crib -- that's just the way it is. This is how she lives her life. Someone who was in a meeting with her recently said she was discreetly nursing Trig," said Palin's biographer Kaylene Johnson.

From interviews with those closest to Palin emerges a description of a hectic lifestyle, but one in which the hominess and rural community of Alaska have enabled her to have her kids around her while she works and have offered a deep bench of family and friends for child-care support. She has shown up to meetings and news conferences carrying Trig in a baby pouch.

She and her husband kept their family house in the small town of Wasilla, where her parents, three siblings and closest friends live. Most of the year, she is able to commute back and forth from Anchorage daily, except when the legislature is in session in Juneau. Todd Palin is currently on leave from his job as an oil field worker, making it possible for him to be a full-time dad, said two friends. Sarah Palin's mother said in an interview Sunday that Palin's two youngest girls, Willow and Piper, attended school in Juneau for the second semester last year when the legislature was in session to be near their mother. The baby was also with Palin.

Even in the story of Trig's birth, Palin paints herself as feisty and fearless. She told the local media that she noticed her amniotic fluid was leaking right before she gave a speech in Texas last April. After her keynote address to the National Governors Association, and obtaining the consent of her doctor, Palin boarded an eight-hour flight to Anchorage. She never told the airline she was in labor. She and her husband drove 45 minutes to her hometown medical center; the baby was born seven hours later.

The McCain campaign said it could not confirm that Palin was still breastfeeding Trig, but the governor said as much in a interview with People magazine on Friday. "What I've had to do . . . is, in the middle of the night, put down the BlackBerrys and pick up the breast pump," she worked into an answer to a question about whether she was a morning person.

Palin kept her pregnancy secret for seven months, stunning even her staff with the announcement. She pointedly said at the time she would not miss work. "I had Piper on a Monday, and I was back to work on a Tuesday. I even brought her to work with me," she said, referring to the birth of her daughter.

And, in fact, after Trig's birth, she was at her desk within a few days, baby in tow and crib in her office. Johnson said the governor waited to reveal her pregnancy to avoid exactly what is going on now -- judgments from strangers saying, "How can you bring a baby into the world knowing how much energy it takes and still think you can run a state?"

"She's heard that her whole life -- the challenges of being a female and mother in the workforce," Palin's husband, Todd, said in the same interview with People a few days ago. "I remember the first time she ran for mayor one of her fellow council members told her you can't run because you've got three negatives: Track, Bristol and Willow. Those are the three kids we had at the time. So when you tell her that kind of stuff, she just gets fired up."

Although a clear majority of mothers today are in the workforce, studies show that the pendulum has swung back, and most are skeptical about mothers working full time; they see part-time jobs as the ideal. A recent survey by Pew Research reported that only 11 percent of working mothers believe it's good for children when the mother works full time.

Kristi Hamrick, a spokeswoman for the conservative Campaign for Family Values, dismissed as "stupid" any suggestions that Palin's family choices or her daughter's pregnancy would make her unsuitable to conservative voters. "This is an American family out there living out their values and doing the best job they can. Values voters understand that women who are mothers make family a priority but that many of us need to work and want to work," she said.

Trig Paxton Van Palin could end up being the best-traveled infant in America. Campaign sources said that the baby would be with his mother a good part of the time, and that arrangements are being made to have a babysitter travel with them. Confirms grandmother Sally Heath, "I can't imagine she would leave him behind."

Welcome Back, Dad

This is my new all time favorite article about Sarah. I was too young to appreciate Ronald Reagan's presidency but from what I read and hear, it was terrific. So, to have Sarah compared to him - especially by his own son seems to be very high praise indeed.

---------------------------

Welcome Back, Dad

By Michael Reagan

I’ve been trying to convince my fellow conservatives that they have been wasting their time in a fruitless quest for a new Ronald Reagan to emerge and lead our party and our nation. I insisted that we’d never see his like again because he was one of a kind.

I was wrong!

Wednesday night I watched the Republican National Convention on television and there, before my very eyes, I saw my Dad reborn; only this time he's a she.

And what a she!

In one blockbuster of a speech, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin resurrected my Dad’s indomitable spirit and sent it soaring above the convention center, shooting shock waves through the cynical media’s assigned spaces and electrifying the huge audience with the kind of inspiring rhetoric we haven’t heard since my Dad left the scene.

This was Ronald Reagan at his best -- the same Ronald Reagan who made the address known now solely as “The Speech,” which during the Goldwater campaign set the tone and the agenda for the rebirth of the traditional conservative movement that later sent him to the White House for eight years and revived the moribund GOP.

Last night was an extraordinary event. Widely seen beforehand as a make-or-break effort -- either an opportunity for Sarah Palin to show that she was the happy warrior that John McCain assured us she was, or a disaster that would dash McCain’s presidential hopes and send her back to Alaska, sadder but wiser.

Obviously un-intimidated by either the savage onslaught to which the left-leaning media had subjected her, or the incredible challenge she faced -- and oozing with confidence -- she strode defiantly to the podium and proved she was everything and even more than John McCain told us.

Much has been made of the fact that she is a woman. What we saw last night, however, was something much more than a just a woman accomplishing something no Republican woman has ever achieved. What we saw was a red-blooded American with that rare, God-given ability to rally her dispirited fellow Republicans and take up the daunting task of leading them -- and all her fellow Americans -- on a pilgrimage to that shining city on the hill my father envisioned as our nation’s real destination.

In a few words she managed to rip the mask from the faces of her Democratic rivals and reveal them for what they are -- a pair of old-fashioned liberals making promises that cannot be kept without bankrupting the nation and reducing most Americans to the status of mendicants begging for their daily bread at the feet of an all-powerful government.

Most important, by comparing her own stunning record of achievement with his, she showed Barack Obama for the sham that he is, a man without any solid accomplishments beyond conspicuous self-aggrandizement.

Like Ronald Reagan, Sarah Palin is one of us. She knows how most of us live because that’s the way she lives. She shares our homespun values and our beliefs, and she glories in her status as a small-town woman who put her shoulder to the wheel and made life better for her neighbors.

Her astonishing rise up from the grass-roots, her total lack of self-importance, and her ordinary American values and modest lifestyle reveal her to be the kind of hard-working, optimistic, ordinary American who made this country the greatest, most powerful nation on the face of the earth.

As hard as you might try, you won’t find that kind of plain-spoken, down-to-earth, self-reliant American in the upper ranks of the liberal-infested, elitist Democratic Party, or in the Obama campaign.

Sarah Palin didn’t go to Harvard, or fiddle around in urban neighborhood leftist activism while engaging in opportunism within the ranks of one of the nation’s most corrupt political machines, never challenging it and going along to get along, like Barack Obama.

Instead she took on the corrupt establishment in Alaska and beat it, rising to the governorship while bringing reforms to every level of government she served in on her way up the ladder.

Welcome back, Dad, even if you’re wearing a dress and bearing children this time around.

Mr. Reagan is a syndicated radio talk-show host and the son of former President Ronald Reagan.

http://blogsforjohnmccain.com/trackback/2436

Another Article You Must Read!!

Here is yet another fantastic article about Sarah Palin. It is well worth your time!!

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,416102,00.html

Thanks to Mark & Nancy Burcaw for sharing!!

Some interesting facts I've gleaned from reading this afternoon (most of my info came from http://www.thrfeed.com/2008/09/palin-ratings-s.html and a small bit from misc sources mostly trailing from http://www.drudgereport.com/):

FACT: Sarah Palin had 37 million people watch her speech.
FACT: Obama had a little over 38 million watch.

FACT: Only 6 networks showed Sarah's speech.
This means that each network had an AVERAGE of over 6 million viewers.

FACT: 10 networks showed Obama's speech.
This means that each network had an average of 3.8 million viewers.

You do the math. Sarah's a winner!

Does it seem odd to anyone besides me that she is only a V.P. candidate and comparing her totals to the opposing party's PRESIDENTIAL candidate seems a bit disingenuous? Shouldn't they compare her totals to those of Joe Biden?

Go Sarah!!

BREAKING: Sarah Palin "Winged" Her Speech Because of "Broken" Teleprompter
Posted by: Erick Erickson
Thursday, September 4, 2008 at 01:00AM

Halfway through Sarah Palin's speech tonight at the RNC, people following the speech noticed she was deviating from the prepared text.

According to sources close to the McCain campaign, the teleprompter continued scrolling during applause breaks. As a result, half way through the speech, the speech had scrolled significantly from where Governor Palin was in the speech. The malfunction also occurred during Rudy Giuliani's speech, explaining his significant deviations from his speech.

Unfazed, Governor Palin continued, from memory, to deliver her speech without the teleprompter cued to the appropriate point in her speech.

Contrast this to Barack Obama who, when last his teleprompter malfunctioned, was left stuttering before a crowd unable to advance his speech until the problem was resolved.

Sarah Palin. Winner.

------------------------------------------------

Here's a comment left by a reader from web land that totally made me almost spit out my drink...

"Broke" is MSDNC's code word for "We took a pair of scissors to the power cord because she was making our candidate look bad"

From Ann Coulter - BRILLIANT article

Ok, I'm well aware that you all can dig and find these articles yourself. However, I don't want you to waste one precious second digging. This article is positively brilliant and incredibly well written. So, without further ado, I present to you, Ann Coulter....

THE BEST MAN TURNED OUT TO BE A WOMAN

September 3, 2008

John McCain's choice of Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska, as his running mate finally gave Republicans a reason to vote for him -- a reason, that is, other than B. Hussein Obama.

The media are hopping mad about McCain's vice presidential selection, but they're really furious over at MSNBC. After drawing "Keith + Obama" hearts on their denim notebooks, Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews stayed up all night last Thursday, writing jokes about Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, the presumed vice presidential pick. Now they can't use any of them.

So the media are taking it out on our brave Sarah and her 17-year-old daughter.

They claimed Palin was chosen only because she's a woman. In fact, Palin was chosen because she's pro-life, pro-gun, pro-drilling and pro-tax cuts. She's fought both Republicans and Democrats on public corruption and does not have hair plugs like some other vice presidential candidate I could mention. In other words, she's a "Republican."

As a right-winger, Palin will appeal to the narrow 59 percent of Americans who voted for another former small-market sportscaster: Ronald Reagan. Our motto: Sarah Palin is only a heartbeat away!

If you're going to say Palin was chosen because she's a woman, you're going to have to demonstrate that the runners-up were more qualified. Gov. Tim Pawlenty seems like a terrific fellow and fine governor, but he is not obviously more qualified than Palin.

As for former governor of Pennsylvania Tom Ridge and Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman, the other also-rans, I can think of at least 40 million unborn reasons she's better than either of them. Within the first few hours after Palin's name was announced, McCain raised $4 million in campaign donations online, reaching $10 million within the next two days. Which shortlist vice presidential pick could have beaten that?

The media hysterically denounced Palin as "inexperienced." But then people started to notice that she has more executive experience than B. Hussein Obama -- the guy at the top of the Democrats' ticket.

They tried to create a "Troopergate" for Palin, indignantly demanding to know why she wanted to get her ex-brother-in-law removed as a state trooper. Again, public corruption is not a good issue for someone like Obama, Chicago pol and noted friend of Syrian National/convicted felon Antonin Rezko.

For the cherry on top, then we found out Palin's ex-brother-in-law had Tasered his own 10-year-old stepson. Defend that, Democrats.

The bien-pensant criticized Palin, saying it's irresponsible for a woman with five children to run for vice president. Liberals' new talking point: Sarah Palin: Only five abortions away from the presidency.

They claimed her newborn wasn't her child, but the child of her 17-year-old daughter. That turned out to be a lie.

Then they attacked her daughter, who actually is pregnant now, for being unmarried. When liberals start acting like they're opposed to pre-marital sex and mothers having careers, you know McCain's vice presidential choice has knocked them back on their heels.

But at least liberal reporters had finally found someone their own size to pick on: a 17-year-old girl.

Speaking of Democrats with newborn children, the media weren't particularly concerned about John Edwards running for president despite his having a mistress with a newborn child.

While the difficult circumstances of Palin's pregnant daughter are being covered like a terrorist attack on the nation, with leering accounts of the 18-year-old father, the media remain resolutely uninterested in the parentage of Edwards' mistress's love child. Except, that is, the hardworking reporters at the National Enquirer, who say Edwards is the father.

As this goes to press, the latest media-invented scandal about Palin is that McCain didn't know her well before choosing her as his running mate. He knew her well enough, though admittedly, not as well as Obama knows William Ayers.

John F. Kennedy, who was -- from what the media tell me -- America's most beloved president, detested his vice president, Lyndon Johnson.

Until Clinton interviewed Al Gore one time before choosing him as his vice presidential candidate, he had met Gore only one other time: when Gore was running for president in 1988 and flew to Little Rock seeking Clinton's endorsement. Clinton turned him down.

To this day, there's no proof that Bill Clinton ever met one-on-one with his CIA director, James Woolsey, other than a brief chat after midnight the night before Woolsey's nomination was announced.

Barring some all-new, trivial and probably false story about Palin -- her former hairdresser got a parking ticket in 1978! -- the media apparently intend to keep being hysterical about McCain's alleged failure to "vet" Palin properly. The problem with this argument is that it presupposes that everyone is asking: "HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?"

No one's saying that.

Attacks on McCain's "vetting" process require the media to keep claiming that Palin has a lot of problems. But she doesn't have any problems. Remember? Those were all blind alleys.

Unfortunately, for the ordinary TV viewer hearing nonstop hysteria about nonspecific "problems," it takes a lot of effort to figure out that every attack liberals have launched against Palin turned out to be a lie.

It's as if a basketball player made the winning shot in the last three seconds of the game and liberals demand that we have a week-long discussion about whether the player should have taken that shot. WHAT IF HE MISSED?

With Palin, McCain didn't miss.

COPYRIGHT 2008 ANN COULTER DISTRIBUTED BY UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE

Excerpt from Peggy Noonan

I just read an article by Peggy Noonan (http://online.wsj.com/article/declarations.html) that I found to be both interesting at times and boring at others. However this paragraph hit me over the head.

And when you forget you're a Bubblehead you get in trouble, you misjudge things. For one thing, you assume evangelical Christians will be appalled and left agitated by the circumstances of Mrs. Palin's daughter. But modern American evangelicals are among the last people who'd judge her harshly. It is the left that is about to go crazy with Puritan judgments; it is the right that is about to show what mellow looks like. Religious conservatives know something's wrong with us, that man's a mess. They are not left dazed by the latest applications of this fact. "This just in – there's a lot of sinning going on out there" is not a headline they'd understand to be news.

So the media's going to wait for the Christian right to rise up and condemn Mrs. Palin, and they're not going to do it because it's not their way, and in any case her problems are their problems. Christians lived through the second half of the 20th century, and the first years of the 21st. They weren't immune from the culture, they just eventually broke from it, or came to hold themselves in some ways apart from it. I think the media will explain the lack of condemnation as "Republican loyalty" and "talking points." But that's not what it will be.

Wow!!! Are we truly living up to this? Obviously the vast majority of evangelicals in society are if Ms. Noonan put it in print. However, in the last 5 days I've heard and read allot of very un Christlike comments about Sarah Palin coming from conservative holiness people. People, this is so much bigger than us. So much bigger than our petty little agendas. Yes, I happen to be hugely in favor of Sarah as the next VP. But, more importantly, I think that if we all could see the bigger picture we'd be RUSHING to buy McCain/Palin yard signs, bumper stickers, etc.

Ok... enough for now.

Conservative's!!! Please Read!!

I am bumping this back to the top of my blog. I feel this is SO important for everyone to read.

Warning: I am about to get up on my soapbox.

It's been 3 days since Sarah Palin was appointed by John McCain. In those 3 days I've already heard MORE than enough ranting from conservative women about how WRONG it is for Sarah to be even considering running as McCain's VP because she has an infant.

Today I ran across this blog entry by Elizabeth Foss. She is a Catholic homeschooling mother of eight children, author of Real Learning: Education in the Heart of the Home, and a longtime columnist for the Arlington Catholic Herald and Catholic Exchange.

This article totally says it all. I have bolded the major important parts.

Eating Our Own
Well that didn't take long.

Dear Elizabeth,
I can't tell you how disappointed I am that a former editor of Welcome Home would write such strong support for Sarah Palin. Don't you think that Mrs. Palin should be home with her children, particularly since she has a new baby with Down Syndrome? Shame on you!

Holly ( a longtime reader)

Dear Holly, thanks for writing. You really are a longtime reader! Because of your note, I spent a pleasant evening reminiscing fondly about my days at Welcome Home. I wrote my first published piece for that wonderful magazine when I was twenty-five years old and had one child. I was honored and grateful to be the managing editor until after I'd had my third baby. I was blessed by the professional mentoring I found there--bright women who were articulate and savvy about the publishing business shared freely from the wealth of their knowledge and experience and encouraged me unabashedly. It was a truly beautiful place to learn and grow. More than the professional experience, though, I will always, always treasure the mothering wisdom I learned from some of the best mothers on the planet.Welcome Home shaped me in so many, many ways--all of them good.

I think that you, Holly, might not understand fully the mission of Welcome Home and the Mothers at Home organization. It was never, ever to judge or condemn mothers who chose to work outside their homes. Instead, it was to encourage mothers (or fathers) who had made the decision to be at home with their families. That's a big difference in purpose. Mother at Home staunchly refused to enter into the "Mommy Wars" when media outlets persistently called for interviews and asked if we'd go on record disagreeing with the choice to be employed outside the home. It was the belief of the organization that it is counterproductive for all of us to sit in judgment over one another. Far better that we should encourage one another and build each other up. (see 1 Thessalonians 5:11)

We stand here at a precipice. We can elect a president who believes that babies who don't die in the course of abortion should be left to die alone on a dirty shelf in a hospital. Or we can elect a solidly pro-life team of candidates. The truth is, Christian women can make or break this election and the appointment of the next justices to the Supreme Court. It greatly disturbs me to read the buzz out there. We need to come to our senses. Christian women who are threatening to stay at home instead of voting for a woman who has a baby and growing family are really missing a valuable point. And it's a point we miss again and again on large and small scales.

We eat our own. We make up litmus tests and then level judgments. Does she dress the way a Christian woman should? Does she wear her hair the way a Christian woman should? Does she go to the "right" parish? Does she manage her finances the "right' way? Use the "right" curriculum? Spend her time the "right" way? Does she have enough children and are they spaced the "right" way? If the answers don't fit what we've decided--in our opinions--constitute holiness, we chew the woman up and spit her out in disgust.

And we become women of opinion, not conviction, to use a phrase coined by Colleen Mitchell. We become women who are so preoccupied by judging and condemning that we tear down our own homes with our own hands. The spirit of condemnation pervades the very being of the woman and erodes at the gentleness, peacefulness, and goodness her family deserves. She becomes a bitter women and her life bears bitter fruit.

I appreciate the trip down memory lane, Holly. I was the youngest member of the staff by far in my Welcome Home days. I learned so much from the women with whom I worked. Now, with the benefit of time and experience, I appreciate even more the "policy" Mothers at Home always had regarding women employed outside the home. It's a policy that we should extend to all our relationships.

I can't imagine being Vice President. I can't even imagine being the managing editor of a magazine, working from home, any more. And you know, I can't imagine running a lacemaking business from my home either. But Zelie Martin did. And she will be canonized a month from now. I can't imagine being a busy doctor while caring for several young children. But St. Gianna Molla did. I can't imagine starting a ministry with my husband, involving my children in it, and moving countless times as necessary to see it grow. But Sally Clarkson did. I can't imagine having to enroll my children in school and resume a professional career because my husband is gravely ill. But one of the holiest women I know did exactly that. And in every case, those women did what was right for their families. In every case, the fact that mom had a job was part of their family culture. In every case, these women and their husbands raised great kids. Every one of those women is heroic. Every one of those women was an intimate friend of God and listened to and followed His call, no matter how daunting it seemed. And God blessed that courage and conviction and discipline. God is big, very big, much bigger than our narrow notions of how women should look if they are holy women. God has big ideas for women.

We have an opportunity now to shape the future of our culture, an opportunity to ensure that our children and our grandchildren are safe in a culture of life. We have an opportunity as mothers, wives, and women to effect change: meaningful, positive change. And you can bet that the forces of evil would like nothing better than for us to be sidetracked by judging Sarah Palin's "fitness" as a Christian woman. We are the voting block that can turn the tide in this country.

I've thought almost incessantly in the past twenty-fours about how in the world Mrs. Palin can possibly accomplish all she does. I want her time management skills. I bet she doesn't waste one precious second peering into other women's homes and marriages and families and judging how they should be living out their vocations. Instead, she hears the call of her Maker. She keeps her eyes on her own work. He's asking her to make a huge sacrifice for His kingdom. He's asking her to take on a daunting task for the culture of life. He's asking her to act as a woman of conviction. Instead of wasting time worrying about the intimate details of her family, maybe we all should spend our time in prayer for her and for our country.

And then we should roll up our sleeves and help get her elected.

To All My Conservative Mom Friends

Warning: I am about to get up on my soapbox.

It's been 3 days since Sarah Palin was appointed by John McCain. In those 3 days I've already heard MORE than enough ranting from conservative women about how WRONG it is for Sarah to be even considering running as McCain's VP because she has an infant.

Today I ran across this blog entry by Elizabeth Foss. She is a Catholic homeschooling mother of eight children, author of Real Learning: Education in the Heart of the Home, and a longtime columnist for the Arlington Catholic Herald and Catholic Exchange.

This article totally says it all. I have bolded the major important parts.

Eating Our Own
Well that didn't take long.

Dear Elizabeth,
I can't tell you how disappointed I am that a former editor of Welcome Home would write such strong support for Sarah Palin. Don't you think that Mrs. Palin should be home with her children, particularly since she has a new baby with Down Syndrome? Shame on you!

Holly ( a longtime reader)

Dear Holly, thanks for writing. You really are a longtime reader! Because of your note, I spent a pleasant evening reminiscing fondly about my days at Welcome Home. I wrote my first published piece for that wonderful magazine when I was twenty-five years old and had one child. I was honored and grateful to be the managing editor until after I'd had my third baby. I was blessed by the professional mentoring I found there--bright women who were articulate and savvy about the publishing business shared freely from the wealth of their knowledge and experience and encouraged me unabashedly. It was a truly beautiful place to learn and grow. More than the professional experience, though, I will always, always treasure the mothering wisdom I learned from some of the best mothers on the planet.Welcome Home shaped me in so many, many ways--all of them good.

I think that you, Holly, might not understand fully the mission of Welcome Home and the Mothers at Home organization. It was never, ever to judge or condemn mothers who chose to work outside their homes. Instead, it was to encourage mothers (or fathers) who had made the decision to be at home with their families. That's a big difference in purpose. Mother at Home staunchly refused to enter into the "Mommy Wars" when media outlets persistently called for interviews and asked if we'd go on record disagreeing with the choice to be employed outside the home. It was the belief of the organization that it is counterproductive for all of us to sit in judgment over one another. Far better that we should encourage one another and build each other up. (see 1 Thessalonians 5:11)

We stand here at a precipice. We can elect a president who believes that babies who don't die in the course of abortion should be left to die alone on a dirty shelf in a hospital. Or we can elect a solidly pro-life team of candidates. The truth is, Christian women can make or break this election and the appointment of the next justices to the Supreme Court. It greatly disturbs me to read the buzz out there. We need to come to our senses. Christian women who are threatening to stay at home instead of voting for a woman who has a baby and growing family are really missing a valuable point. And it's a point we miss again and again on large and small scales.

We eat our own. We make up litmus tests and then level judgments. Does she dress the way a Christian woman should? Does she wear her hair the way a Christian woman should? Does she go to the "right" parish? Does she manage her finances the "right' way? Use the "right" curriculum? Spend her time the "right" way? Does she have enough children and are they spaced the "right" way? If the answers don't fit what we've decided--in our opinions--constitute holiness, we chew the woman up and spit her out in disgust.

And we become women of opinion, not conviction, to use a phrase coined by Colleen Mitchell. We become women who are so preoccupied by judging and condemning that we tear down our own homes with our own hands. The spirit of condemnation pervades the very being of the woman and erodes at the gentleness, peacefulness, and goodness her family deserves. She becomes a bitter women and her life bears bitter fruit.

I appreciate the trip down memory lane, Holly. I was the youngest member of the staff by far in my Welcome Home days. I learned so much from the women with whom I worked. Now, with the benefit of time and experience, I appreciate even more the "policy" Mothers at Home always had regarding women employed outside the home. It's a policy that we should extend to all our relationships.

I can't imagine being Vice President. I can't even imagine being the managing editor of a magazine, working from home, any more. And you know, I can't imagine running a lacemaking business from my home either. But Zelie Martin did. And she will be canonized a month from now. I can't imagine being a busy doctor while caring for several young children. But St. Gianna Molla did. I can't imagine starting a ministry with my husband, involving my children in it, and moving countless times as necessary to see it grow. But Sally Clarkson did. I can't imagine having to enroll my children in school and resume a professional career because my husband is gravely ill. But one of the holiest women I know did exactly that. And in every case, those women did what was right for their families. In every case, the fact that mom had a job was part of their family culture. In every case, these women and their husbands raised great kids. Every one of those women is heroic. Every one of those women was an intimate friend of God and listened to and followed His call, no matter how daunting it seemed. And God blessed that courage and conviction and discipline. God is big, very big, much bigger than our narrow notions of how women should look if they are holy women. God has big ideas for women.

We have an opportunity now to shape the future of our culture, an opportunity to ensure that our children and our grandchildren are safe in a culture of life. We have an opportunity as mothers, wives, and women to effect change: meaningful, positive change. And you can bet that the forces of evil would like nothing better than for us to be sidetracked by judging Sarah Palin's "fitness" as a Christian woman. We are the voting block that can turn the tide in this country.

I've thought almost incessantly in the past twenty-fours about how in the world Mrs. Palin can possibly accomplish all she does. I want her time management skills. I bet she doesn't waste one precious second peering into other women's homes and marriages and families and judging how they should be living out their vocations. Instead, she hears the call of her Maker. She keeps her eyes on her own work. He's asking her to make a huge sacrifice for His kingdom. He's asking her to take on a daunting task for the culture of life. He's asking her to act as a woman of conviction. Instead of wasting time worrying about the intimate details of her family, maybe we all should spend our time in prayer for her and for our country.

And then we should roll up our sleeves and help get her elected.

The Base Hearts Sarah Palin

by James P Pinkerton (Fox news political contributor)

The Base will love Sarah Palin—the Republican base that is. Rush Limbaugh has been openly arguing for her on his show, and John McCain was evidently listening. But I think that she has great potential to win over swing voters in the middle, too.

She’s a governor, which is obviously an asset in governing. She’s pro-gun, and she is pro-life. And not just pro-life in practice: Her youngest child is a Down’s Syndrome baby. “Perfect in my eyes,” she said, clear as a bell. That’s what The Base wants to hear—she talks the talk, and then walks the walk.

And speaking of walking, did I mention that she is authentic hunter and outdoorswoman—she and her whole family?

And of course, she has a son who enlisted in the Army and is on his way to Iraq. That’s walking the walk, too.

She’s also something of a reformer: She took on the entrenched Republican hierarchs in Alaska, and beat them to get where she is now, governor of Alaska.

Speaking for myself, I think that Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, would have been the best choice for McCain. I think he would have made The Base happy, too, but he has had much more executive experience and is a proven campaigner—after all, he won the Iowa Caucuses earlier this year. McCain has many great attributes, but as President, he will need the steadiest of energetic executive hands when it comes to the management of the federal government and dealing with the 50 states. Something to think about, in particular, as Hurricane Gustav bears down on Louisiana.

But that’s all moot now. Palin is a strong choice for McCain. The Base loves her, and I expect that America will, too.

A Ticket I Can Support

Ok, most know that I can't find much to like about John McCain. However, I LOVE his Vice Presidential pic. Way to go McCain/Palin!!! You have my vote!!!

New Election Poll

A new poll showed that if the presidential election were held today...........







Most people would be confused because its usually held in November.



Sorry everyone but this just totally made my day.

Obama - I don't want my daughters "punished with a baby"

I need some of Jon Earls duct tape.

Go PA!!!

Penn. judge: Learn English or go to jail
Chad Groening - OneNewsNow - 4/1/2008 4:00:00 AM

An English language advocate is praising a Pennsylvania judge for ordering three convicted criminals to learn English or go to jail.

Recently four men who could not speak English were brought before Luzerne County Judge Peter Paul Olszewski to plead guilty on charges of criminal conspiracy to commit robbery. All four men needed translators during the proceedings, and Olszewski sentenced them jail terms of 24 months. However, he gave three of them parole with the stipulation that if they learn to read and write English, earn their GEDs, and get full-time jobs, they can remain out of jail.

Jim Boulet, executive director of English First, calls this judgment a "tremendous outbreak of common sense in Pennsylvania." But while he considers the judge's ruling right on the mark, he says believes the problem is the result of the government pushing "multiculturalism" and not insisting people learn English.

"They're given a bilingual education program, maybe with some multicultural history about how the United States robbed Mexico of its patrimony," he continues. "So [immigrants] come out ... uneducated. They don't speak English and they're making a living [by] robbing people. There's the triumph of multicultural education right there."

Boulet believes it is a good development that the judge is giving the men a second chance. The attorney for one of the defendants even suggested that the ruling was good for his client.

I miss the good ole days

You know, the days when you could call a company and actually understand the person you spoke to? Today I had to call the phone company. Our LOCAL phone company. The person who answered my call had as much trouble understanding me (read: English) as I had understanding her (read: heavy foreign accent). The whole conversation would have taken 50% less time had she been able to speak English at least remotely well. Then again, with the way things are headed in our country I'll probably have better experiences in future such calls if I learn the 2nd language.

(ok, vent over)

A bit too late, unfortunately

Just was perusing fellow bloggers sites and found this that I thought was interesting - but a bit late. Rev. Hilling had posted this.....

Paul Weyrich, a founder of the Heritage Foundation, the Moral Majority, and the Council for National Policy, said recently, "Friends, before all of you and before almighty God, I want to say I was wrong."

In a quiet, brief, but passionate speech, Weyrich essentially confessed that he and the other leaders should have backed Huckabee, a candidate who shared their values more fully than any other candidate in a generation. He agreed with Farris that many conservative leaders had blown it. By chasing other candidates with greater visibility, they failed to see what many of their supporters in the trenches saw clearly: Huckabee was their guy.

Here is the rest of the article.

What Mike Huckabee has Taught Me

I just saw this on another blog and she said said exactly what I feel. She and her family were involved heavily in campaigning with and for Gov. Huckabee. Please take the time to read this because it really is very accurate.

There are so many things I could write about Mike Huckabee. He has taught me so very many great lessons. Following are just a few of these invaluable truths:

-Message matters more than money.
In early 2007, I remember keeping up with the presidential polls with my brother. Rudy Giuliani and John McCain were at the top, of course, with other candidates trailing them by double digits. Mike Huckabee was always at the very bottom, and his name was followed by "*" or "-"...less than 1%. I also remember reading in the WORLD Magazine around the same time that in order for a candidate to stay in the race for 2008, he would have to raise at least $50,000 a day. Gov. Huckabee was not raising close to that much, and I truly didn't think he had a chance.

But it all changed...simply because Gov. Huckabee had a message that he was passionate about, a message that conservatives were hungry for, and a message that didn't change from one state to another. Each time he gave a speech, spoke at a debate, visited with supporters, or did an interview with the media, he did so without a shred of notes - no script, no teleprompter. Why? Because he had the same message, kept the same values, and stuck with what he believed, no matter what. He wasn't just repeating or quoting something abstract or inspirational...he was sharing his heart. He was defending and supporting issues that meant something to him and that were very personal to him. I used to think that a candidate had to have incredible amounts of money to run a campaign. Mike Huckabee has taught me that the message is really what matters.

-Don't vote unless you can vote FOR something.
There are a lot of people who vote for a candidate, not because they really like him, but because he's better than the alternative - the "lesser-of-two-evils" idea. Gov. Huckabee has taught me to never settle for status quo and to never vote for a candidate unless there are reasons I can vote FOR him.

-It is possible to run a positive campaign.
Gov. Huckabee has taught me a lot about vertical politics vs. horizontal politics. In a time of intense divisions and anger between the political parties, he stood up to say that we should be working together instead of against each other, working to take our country up, and not down. As Governor of Arkansas, he learned to work civilly with the Democrats, treating them with respect and dignity. If Mike Huckabee had been the Republican nominee, I think we would have had the most civil general election our country has ever seen.
When an opponent ran negative ads against him, Gov. Huckabee almost gave in to his staff's pleadings to counter-attack with the truth in a negative ad of his own, but at the last minute he pulled it. His action set a standard for the rest of the candidates, and no one else stooped to running negative ads for the duration of the campaign. As Gov. Huckabee so often said, a candidate should have more to say about why he should be President than why the others should not be President. That's vertical politics!

-It is possible to run a national campaign and not compromise Christian principles.
As a believer in Christ and a man with very strong spiritual convictions, Mike Huckabee came under a lot of fire. When the media talked about him, almost invariably someone would say, "the former Baptist minister" with a mixture of condescension and scorn. Pundits, politicians and reporters alike opined that this was a negative thing and often asked him questions, trying to catch him saying something that they could use to paint him as an intolerant, religious fanatic. While they refused to ask Mitt Romney questions about his religion, the press repeatedly asked Gov. Huckabee questions about his faith. Time after time he answered the questions with wisdom and tact and, if anything, these attacks helped him, as Americans realized that he wouldn't compromise his convictions for political correctness. Gov. Huckabee isn't afraid to quote Scripture in his speeches, to talk candidly about his faith, to attribute his success in the CNN YouTube debate to meditation on Scripture, or to believe in Creation. And he's shown me that it's possible for a national candidate to do these things without committing political suicide.

-Grassroots supporters are the most effective network.
Both Gov. Huckabee and Ron Paul had huge grassroots teams that propelled their candidacy to greater levels than anyone would have thought possible. Staff and organization are helpful, but with a limited budget, Gov. Huckabee couldn't invest in many staffers. Instead, he relied upon an army of volunteers -- conservative Republicans, homeschoolers, fair-taxers, small business owners, bloggers, pastors, college students, and every-day people who believed in his message and were willing to share it with others. With tools like Huck's Army and Meetup, his supporters were able to team with other supporters and work together to accomplish great things. Gov. Huckabee involved his supporters with his campaign in a very personal way, calling on us to send hundreds of emails, raise funds, make thousands of phone calls, and most importantly, talk to the people we meet every day. Instead of coming out of this campaign feeling discouraged, I feel very optimistic about the future. If we could get this far, we can do it again, not just nationally, but in our states and counties. And while there are many different ways of getting votes, we've discovered that the most effective way is simply to open your mouth and talk to your friends, relatives, and neighbors. There weren't a lot of signs, TV ads, or rallies in our county, but it went to Huckabee 2 to 1 over McCain because of locals who talked to locals.

Can't Believe Our Party Has Come to This

I watch this video clip and then I think to myself... "and THIS is what I am expected to vote for in November?" I honestly don't know if I can. I might still vote for Mike Huckabee. If McCain is already so willing to lie to the American public, I can't expect him to change once he becomes president. The phrase, "a wolf in sheeps skin" comes to mind every time I think of McCain.

When Did We Forget To Add God To the Equation?

So Romney packed up his toys and went home. (Well, actually I guess he kept his toys/delegates since he simply suspended rather and quit.)

The media is scratching their head(s) trying to figure out how their "2 man race" all the sudden IS a "2 man race" but with the "wrong" 2nd man.

And McCain is already proclaiming victory.

Oh, and we conservatives? We've already started planning what life is going to be like with Obama in the White House.

WAKE UP EVERYONE!!!

I'm sitting here helping my kids with a project that they are clearly wanting to do on their own - without my help. I'm sitting here listening to them squabble and bicker because they know they aren't getting the job done as good as it could be - or even how they want it to be. I just hollered out to them (they are in the other room) and asked them if they wanted my help. Guess what they said, "No mom - we can do it ourselves!"

So, here I sit. I am totally capable of making the project perfect and right. But, because they think they can do it themselves I am not able to step in and help them.

Does that little scenario sound even vaguely familiar? Yeah. That's what I thought too. I can just see our Heavenly Father sitting up in Heaven looking down at us shaking His head. He's probably thinking something like this, "If my children would just stop trying to figure this out all by themselves and stop thinking like children - I'd be able to move mountains. But while they hurry and scurry around like frantic mice and forget to let me be in charge, I must sit back and let them try to solve their own battles."

You know, here's the thing... all conservatives can see is Hillary or Obama in the White House so they are FRANTIC to get a nominee in who would SEEM to be the better one to win against the dems. HOWEVER... what everyone seems to be forgetting is that "where seems to be no way, God can make a way". I am appalled at the lack of faith in God's power to put into leadership a moral man and one who - while not perfect - would at least be "clean".

Everyone needs to quit surrendering the battle and start fighting for goodness sakes. If you don't like McCain - FIGHT. Its not like he's the only choice.

Gov. Huckabee's campaign has been one miracle after another and its only been because of God. Surely there is some purpose behind that. Mike Huckabee joined the race because he felt God told Him too. I'm sure there will be some that will say, "yeah, that just makes it sound better for him" - but I'm willing to take him at his word. So, if God called him to run. I'm kinda thinking that perhaps it wouldn't hurt us to see if we have been called to vote for him?

It just seems so elementary to me and I can't comprehend why the CHM is giving up so early in the battle.