Even though Meghan isn't the "sharpest knife in the drawer," I'd still vote for her over Palin, were they the only alternatives. Now, she's abstaining from politics, I don't lean the same way on most issues and hopefully, I would never be subject to such a scenario - but I think she has a refreshingly open mind for someone who has been so immersed in circle of Republican "royalty." She's likely not the heir to the prowess of William Buckley, but she's no Ann Coulter, either.
In many ways, I hope the Republicans (Dems, too) can be less of a platform-party and more of a party of issues; If 3rd parties can never fully realize strength in America, the next best thing, to me, would be a variety of individuals in each party that held integrity, compassion, justice, intelligence, and objectivity in high esteem.
@Jack_Burton: Our system is necessarily a race to the middle, especially with the oligarchical and rurally dominant senate and the immense power o the executive. I'm hot and cold on the magnitude of the power of the exec branch, but a unicameral legislature would be much more populist and active. #womeninpolitics
I have the hardest time feeling anything positive about Meghan McCain. Even when she says things halfway intelligent like this, my instant response is, "And it took you how many years to figure this out?"
A hyperrich white young attractive blonde woman who got an instant platform in the national media because her father is a conservative Republican Senator realizes that some women have it hard. News at 11! #womeninpolitics
@yvanehtnioj: i think your assessment of meghan mccain is a tad judgmental. she may have gotten a pulpit through no work of her own, other than campaigning relentlessly for her father, but she is an intelligent and compassionate moderate republican. she has been attacked to no end by conservatives for her unwavering support of gay marriage and the gay community. though i may disagree with her politics for the most part, i respect that she has her own mind and her own voice, despite all of the forces trying to put her in a different box - labeled CONSERVATIVE.
@yvanehtnioj: I don't know your age, but speaking from the standpoint of a 20 year old girl, it is a bit of a realization that women have to work harder than men to get half as far. We are taught in school that women have achieved equality, and it really isn't until our first foray into the "real world" that we get slapped with the reality that women have not come as far as your high school history teacher would have you believe, particularly if you come from an upper middle class background. Most of my girlfriends in college still haven't realized how much harder the workforce will be for them. I only realized it in its entirety when I took a year off between high school and college to move to New York City to work (for Hillary Clinton's campaign, no less).
@emerson.ellie: I love your comment, and actually, even though I'm about 10 years older than you, I had a similar awakening upon entering the workforce. I had absorbed similar messages from school and parents about equality being a done deal.
Also, I know you may not feel like one, but please: you're 20 years old. You're a woman. Not a girl. Referring to yourself as a girl is probably unconscious, but think about how that impacts how people perceive you, and other 20-year-old women. #womeninpolitics
@emerson.ellie: But that's exactly my point. I think it's normal for people to buy into the whole "This is America, you can do whatever!" mentality until they get into the real world (although it's also very common for people that are politically aware / sensitive to see through that earlier), but the fact that she's 25 and just now getting a glimpse (emphasis on glimpse) of the real world is an example of her privilege. Most people are done with college by 21, and a huge percentage start work before that. She still doesn't have to "work" (you know, with interviews and bosses and such); her career is to be a blogger without having done any previous writing work or time in the trenches learning the craft because of who her dad is, while many talented and experienced writers are out of work due to the economy and death of print media and whatnot. I really just can't dredge up any sympathy.
@amandavmead: Nothing you just said is inconsistent with anything I said. So, um, okay? Yes I do judge her. #womeninpolitics
@yvanehtnioj: I agree with emerson.ellie -- in school, many people get a sense that all these "struggles" and such are in the past, that feminism isn't in the news so much, so it must be over. I've been a feminist for a long time, and I still had a bit of a rude awakening since leaving college. (Maybe I thought it "wouldn't happen to me"?)
While MM definitely speaks from a place of (largely unexamined) privilege, you can see she's trying to leave her shelter and slowly get a grip on the world (the world world, not the world invented by the likes of Michelle Bachmann, R-Crazytown) -- even if she's not straying too far from the tent.
I think she's a ninny, but I have to admit I sort of stand behind her stated mission to reform (or at least youngify) the GOP from within. Not that I think it will work. But it's like when my parents wouldn't pull my brother out of Boy Scouts over the gay scoutmaster case, because they reasoned that if all the liberals left the BSA in protest, the organization would have no one left interested in changing its policies. #womeninpolitics
@bumbleleaf: But this is exactly my point: She's having these realizations like 5 years behind her peers because she's so. danged. privileged (which is annoying). And sure it's a somewhat natural progression to come to these realizations, but watching her interact with reality for apparently the first time ever just drives home the point that she has no business having this national platform. It's just another reminder that she hasn't earned our attention, she's inherited it.
Look, I don't hate the woman, she's not the antichrist, she's not the worst Republican of the bunch, and I hope to heaven that she can convince some of those nutjobs of basic things like "gay people deserve human rights". But I don't like her, and I find that every time she makes the news she speaks from a position of such oblivious, blind privilege that it sets my teeth on edge. #womeninpolitics
@yvanehtnioj: I wouldn't say that I exactly bought into a "you can do whatever you want in America" mentality," and I resent your implying that I was not politically aware or sensitive (um, hello...I worked for Hillary Clinton beginning right after my 18th birthday). I'm simply saying this girl should be villanized for coming from a position of privilege. She certainly didn't choose it, and she seems to be trying to pop that "bubble" that you are referring to. Perhaps she is behind (although I think you are overestimating a significant portion of the population), but she's getting there. Should we begrudge her for trying?
@emerson.ellie: I think resentment might be a bit of an overreaction, given that I was working from your own description that it was a surprise to discover that life was not as your high school history teacher described. But even still, I'm saying it's a common problem.
More importantly, there's nothing at all about Meghan McCain that says she's trying to pop the "bubble" of her privilege. Where did you get that idea? The way she fell ass-backward into her sinecure? Her self-appointed position as Important Republican Voice? (As much as the Rs do need better voices and serious reform, it takes a hell of a lot of chutzpah to think of yourself as the go-to person to reform one of America's two major political parties before you've ever even held down a job.) Her privilege is entirely unexamined. Realizing that there is such a thing as sexism is not the same as examining your own privilege. And yes, if you are among the most privileged people in the world and don't ever take the time to reflect on that reality or acknowledge its benefits, I will be tempted to villify you. That's the kind of attitude that allows blatant disregard for the less fortunate, and "she didn't ask to be a billionairess" doesn't negate the need for self-awareness with me.
And lastly, I was talking about entry into the real world when I said she's at least 5 years behind her cohort. We both know that there're many people who never think about sexism (though these people are very rarely women), so I surely didn't mean to imply that everyone is an informed feminist by 25. But when you factor in people that start working straight out of high school and people that work their way through community college and/or college, yes. She's very far behind her peers in re: dealing with the real world. #womeninpolitics
@yvanehtnioj: Unfortunately, they probably do. They don't account for massive abnormalities, every organism has the right to live according to what they believe. Sorry, I'm just a little sick of the right-to-lifers and their whole belief system. #babies
I'm revealing my ignorance here, but I had no idea that the US banned people with HIV from entering the country. This shocked me more than anything else in the post. A little googling reveals that the other 11 countries with similar bans are: Armenia, Brunei, Iraq, Libya, Moldova, Oman, Qatar, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Sudan. ([www.washingtonpost.com])
I didn't realize there was a ban on people with HIV entering the country. You must be able to get exceptions, since I can think of several people who have adopted kids with HIV from Africa.
I'm glad the ban will be reversed. Why next year, though? Does it take a long time to do something like that? #babies
@Plate2.18: You can get a waiver but it's expensive and time-consuming. Hey, it's the same for Nazis! Except there's no waiver. (As far as I know. I'm a defense lawyer and the hubs does immigration.) #babies
@Plate2.18: Oh, and it terms of "next year" it will go into affect the first few weeks of January. It's in the middle of a mandatory waiting/comment period - the process started back in June I believe (which, in terms of "acting fast" in Washington, 6 months is pretty much as good as it gets) #babies
@thebootyfaerie: To be fair, after I read an article and learned about all the anti-hate speech laws that are enacted around the world, I was pretty shocked.
Don't get me wrong- I absolutely despise the world's hatemongers- but I also hate censorship.
The only problem was that so many of these religious leaders didn't just worry that they'd be charged with crime for preaching against homosexuality- they said it would happen (when there was nothing in the bill at all saying so). #babies
@thebootyfaerie: A ridiculous fear, by the way, considering that incitement to violence is one of the hardest things to prove under First Amendment law. A dude gave a speech at a KKK rally encouraging people to seek "revengeance" and THAT speech was considered protected under the First Amendment.
The people who cry "free speech" in response to hate crimes legislation are ignorant tools. But you already knew that. #babies
@allie.homziak: Kinda ironic when you consider the nearby Ben & Jerry's HQ and Magic Hat Brewery... I visited 10 years ago - beautiful place, great cheese, maple syrup, nice people too! #babies
@lalie (apologetic mess): That's kind of what a lot of these studies feel like... "SCIENTISTS HAVE FOUND NO ONE LIKES YOU." "RESEARCHERS FOUND THAT HAVING SEX WITH YOU IS AN UNAPPEALING PROSPECT TO 98.4% OF THE PEOPLE YOU MEET."
I need a scientific study that boosts my self esteem, dammit. #babies
@lalie (apologetic mess): the upside is, sounds like you could be a model. didn't proust say something like "let's leave the obviously pretty women to men with no imagination"? or did someone just tell me that to make me feel better? nevermind, let's take it as true. #babies
11/09/09
In many ways, I hope the Republicans (Dems, too) can be less of a platform-party and more of a party of issues; If 3rd parties can never fully realize strength in America, the next best thing, to me, would be a variety of individuals in each party that held integrity, compassion, justice, intelligence, and objectivity in high esteem.
I know... Keep dreaming. #womeninpolitics
11/09/09
11/09/09
A hyperrich white young attractive blonde woman who got an instant platform in the national media because her father is a conservative Republican Senator realizes that some women have it hard. News at 11! #womeninpolitics
11/09/09
11/09/09
11/09/09
Also, I know you may not feel like one, but please: you're 20 years old. You're a woman. Not a girl. Referring to yourself as a girl is probably unconscious, but think about how that impacts how people perceive you, and other 20-year-old women. #womeninpolitics
11/09/09
@amandavmead: Nothing you just said is inconsistent with anything I said. So, um, okay? Yes I do judge her. #womeninpolitics
11/09/09
While MM definitely speaks from a place of (largely unexamined) privilege, you can see she's trying to leave her shelter and slowly get a grip on the world (the world world, not the world invented by the likes of Michelle Bachmann, R-Crazytown) -- even if she's not straying too far from the tent.
I think she's a ninny, but I have to admit I sort of stand behind her stated mission to reform (or at least youngify) the GOP from within. Not that I think it will work. But it's like when my parents wouldn't pull my brother out of Boy Scouts over the gay scoutmaster case, because they reasoned that if all the liberals left the BSA in protest, the organization would have no one left interested in changing its policies. #womeninpolitics
11/09/09
Look, I don't hate the woman, she's not the antichrist, she's not the worst Republican of the bunch, and I hope to heaven that she can convince some of those nutjobs of basic things like "gay people deserve human rights". But I don't like her, and I find that every time she makes the news she speaks from a position of such oblivious, blind privilege that it sets my teeth on edge. #womeninpolitics
11/09/09
11/09/09
11/10/09
11/10/09
More importantly, there's nothing at all about Meghan McCain that says she's trying to pop the "bubble" of her privilege. Where did you get that idea? The way she fell ass-backward into her sinecure? Her self-appointed position as Important Republican Voice? (As much as the Rs do need better voices and serious reform, it takes a hell of a lot of chutzpah to think of yourself as the go-to person to reform one of America's two major political parties before you've ever even held down a job.) Her privilege is entirely unexamined. Realizing that there is such a thing as sexism is not the same as examining your own privilege. And yes, if you are among the most privileged people in the world and don't ever take the time to reflect on that reality or acknowledge its benefits, I will be tempted to villify you. That's the kind of attitude that allows blatant disregard for the less fortunate, and "she didn't ask to be a billionairess" doesn't negate the need for self-awareness with me.
And lastly, I was talking about entry into the real world when I said she's at least 5 years behind her cohort. We both know that there're many people who never think about sexism (though these people are very rarely women), so I surely didn't mean to imply that everyone is an informed feminist by 25. But when you factor in people that start working straight out of high school and people that work their way through community college and/or college, yes. She's very far behind her peers in re: dealing with the real world. #womeninpolitics
10/31/09
10/30/09
10/30/09
10/30/09
10/30/09
10/30/09
Sad. #babies
10/30/09
I'm glad the ban will be reversed. Why next year, though? Does it take a long time to do something like that? #babies
10/30/09
10/30/09
10/30/09
10/30/09
So... when are they doing the "Thou Shalt Not Kill" lessons? #babies
10/30/09
Don't get me wrong- I absolutely despise the world's hatemongers- but I also hate censorship.
The only problem was that so many of these religious leaders didn't just worry that they'd be charged with crime for preaching against homosexuality- they said it would happen (when there was nothing in the bill at all saying so). #babies
10/31/09
The people who cry "free speech" in response to hate crimes legislation are ignorant tools. But you already knew that. #babies
10/30/09
10/30/09
10/30/09
10/30/09
10/30/09
10/30/09
Definite WTF moment of the day. #babies
10/31/09
10/30/09
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10/30/09
Add that to that recently posted study that men don't like un-curvy thin women, and I'm 0 for 2 here. #babies
10/30/09
I need a scientific study that boosts my self esteem, dammit. #babies
10/30/09
10/30/09
Hasn't this been around for awhile? They made a joke about it on Glee. #babies
10/30/09
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10/30/09