Monday, June 13, 2011

A Few of My Favorite Things.

1.  Recently, For the past three years, Sarah Palin has been tarred and feathered by the media. With her entire e-mail history floating around the internet everyone seems to have an opinion.  As I was reading up on the debacle I stumbled upon one particularly misleading article that I thought would be an objective review of what the e-mails mean in respect to the current political scene, but instead it was an unnecessary diatribe detailing everything this author thought she had done wrong with e-mail quotes to prove it.  At the end of his article he creates a list of quotes organized by their context.  One of the many quotes that he has judiciously pulled from hundreds of thousands of e-mails in order to slander Mrs. Palin is a comment by Palin on the guidance she receives from God.

On God's guidance
"I have been praying for wisdom on this ... God will have to show me what to do on the people's budget because I don't yet know the right path ... He will show me though."
 

Oh, the horror!  A politician turns to God for financial advice?! Wait, you mean the same way that so many families turn to God for guidance in every facet of their lives?  You mean, she's actually using the divine resources that 2.1 billion people on the planet believe in to solve a political issue? 

I think the anonymous person, who doesn't even have the guts to put their own name on their article, should take his personal opinions and shove them somewhere that is completely un-Christian of me to mention.  This is number one on my list of favorite things today because its one of the the first times I really have true respect for Sarah Palin.   I don't believe women should be allowed to be President, and I don't believe she's doing right by her family to be working constantly.  But anyone who consults God for their decisions has my respect.  And people who quote those God-fearing people as if their beliefs can be used against them can go to Hell.  

2.  I know little to nothing about Mr. Pawlenty.  I know he is from Minnesota, I know he has a last name that is hard to pronounce and I know he is running for president.  However, this quote from an interview with Bill O'Reilly shows more about his character than any fact sheet.

""I'm not running for comedian- in-chief, or entertainer-in-chief. If people want that, they should go to the ball park or Broadway play or a Las Vegas show. ... Being strong is not the same as being loud. ... So, if you want the clown-in-chief, vote for somebody else. That's not me."

Amen.  Mr. Pawlenty is calling out all of the politicians who think their smile and charm will get them through anything, all of the politicians who think they can do a little song and dance for the American people and with the other hand rob us of our rights. (Read the link about being robbed of our rights, its about the 5 freedoms Obama's healthcare legislation completely strips from us.)  Mr. Pawlenty, you have my attention.

3.  Last, but most certainly not least, a very good friend introduced my to Laura Wood's blog recently.  The Thinking Housewife is brilliant for a number of reasons.  First, she has an amazing mind.  She is objective and succinct, all while being considerate and polite.  Secondly, she has the gall to stand up for what she believes in, no wavering, no platform changes, no "that depends on what the definition of is is."  Finally, she forces you to review your own position, forces you to actually use the brain God gave you.  

As you know, I am a fairly opinionated person and Mrs. Wood's blog has succeeded in inspiring me, making my heart race and causing me to groan with frustration.  But through the whole journey she is causing me to check my premises.  While Ayn Rand and Mrs. Wood have little to nothing in common I believe that their dedication to the highest moral standard and the most objective assessment possible put them on common ground.  At the very least they both hold a very high position in my mind for their inimitable dedication and philosophy.  I'd also like to note, if Ms. Rand and Mrs. Wood were to have a tea party with the other women who I respect as much, they would be in very good company.
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In Other News, things in Doha are going quite well.  No job yet but I have gone on a few interviews.  I've been baking a lot and going to the gym, it's too hot out to lay by the pool (the pool, by the way, heats up to about 104 F so it isn't exactly refreshing).  I've gotten some really great reading in (mostly Mrs. Wood's blog) and my floors are clean so life is good.  Doha has been practically empty when we go out at night.  Everyone is 'on holiday' for the summer since its too hot to hang around.  Despite the lack of company, it is really nice being able to get a parking spot when we head to dinner without having to walk a quarter-mile.

I'd also like to note, while we're listing favorite things, I'm in love... again.  (See here, here, and here for previous lovings.)


6 comments:

Audrey said...

I love bows too! <3 Glad your floors are clean and you guys are going out at night!

Anonymous said...

*Palin has never been a traditional conservative. Please read the words below.*

From a conservative blogger:

With Palin we get the worst of both worlds. We get the tinny appearance of a hardline right-winger, with the gun rhetoric, the lust for killing animals, and all the rest of it; and we get the concrete actuality of a feminist liberal who has allied herself with the homosexualist lobby. On the level of symbols, Palin is a rightist; the right loves her for it, and the left hates her--and hates all conservatives--for it. On the level of reality, she's a social liberal. All that right-wing excitement, all that left-wing fear and loathing, all that passion tearing our political society apart, and it's all about nothing, it's all about an illusion.

Why do I say that Palin gives us the worst of both worlds? Because with her we get the redoubled liberal demonization of conservatives as dangerous extremists, and we get the actual transformation of conservatism into social liberalism.

Anonymous said...

A discussion on Palin from amnation.com/vfr:

LA replies:

Yes. The liberal mainstream media sees the statement "Islam does not belong in Germany" as horrible and wicked, while serious opponents of Islam in the West see it as inspiring and hopeful. But both groups are operating under an illusion, for the simple reason that Friedrich didn't say it.
How many of our controversies today are just like that? Take Sarah Palin. Many conservatives absolutely love her, because they see her as a "real conservative," while people on the left absolutely loathe her, for exactly the same reason. But both sides are wrong, because in so many ways Palin is not a real conservative. For example, the left thinks that she's a Torquemada on abortion, when, in reality, she has never proposed any restrictions on abortion and has always expressed her opposition to abortion in terms of her personal beliefs while indicating tolerance for people with different beliefs.

Similarly, many liberals, amazingly, have called Palin a white racist, while some race-conscious conservatives have considered her at least a representative of whiteness. In reality, Palin has never emitted the slightest hint that she opposes the current liberal racial order or would do anything as president to undercut it.

Thus the whole passionate, hate-filled fight between left and right over Sarah Palin is based on illusions, driven by overcharged but misleading symbols rather than by anything real.

In the same way, every time some European political figure issues some patently equivocal statement criticizing multiculturalism, the left reacts in panic, and the right reacts with joy, both sides believing that the rule of multiculturalism has been rejected and is imminently threatened, when in reality, multiculturalism is deeply ensconsed in Europe.

What is the underlying reality that creates the susceptibility to these and similar illusions?

The left psychologicially needs a conservative enemy who threatens to defeat liberalism. The right psychologically needs a conservative champion who promises to defeat liberalism. In reality, no such conservative leader exists today; in reality, there is nothing on the scene today that poses an immediate threat to the reign of liberalism. But both sides, for their own internal reasons, need to believe that the reign of liberalism is threatened, and so they believe it.


Daniel S. replies:


I would wholeheartedly agree with that assessment. The way liberals spend their every waking minute attacking and demonizing "conservatives" like Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and Bill O'reilly as if they were some sort of real threat to the reign of liberalism. In turn, the bulk of self-described conservatives rally around these same figures as if they were the saviors of America who would, like a sort of modern Republican St. Patrick, drive the snakes of liberalism from our shores. The truth is that Palin, Beck, and the rest are not any sort of threat to the dominance of liberalism, because they are themselves infected with a mindset very much shaped by liberalism.

Anonymous said...

In short: The media is so far-left that it sincerely believes liberal conservatives are far-right.

All regards. Cheers. Great blog.

Lusia said...

Good post.

While Ayn Rand and Mrs. Wood have little to nothing in common I believe that their dedication to the highest moral standard and the most objective assessment possible put them on common ground.

Ayn Rand and Mrs. Wood are vastly different in their ideologies and belief systems. Ayn Rand was devouted to libertarianism and atheism while Laura Wood is devouted to traditional conservatism and transcendence.

Emily Grace said...

I believe all of your assessments of Palin and her political affiliations are spot on I'm wondering if you just read the first sentence I wrote and went on a tangent. In a number of other places on my blog I state, rather unequivocally, that I am not a Palin fan in any way. I simply was appalled that some leftist, self-important reporter decided to try and use her faith in God as a negative mark against her. To be honest, that's about the only thing I do like about her... she has faith.

And as far as comparing Rand and Wood, I apologize for not being more complete with my words. You are correct in stating that they are polar opposites and believe in ideals that are perfectly juxtaposed; however, they both strive to maintain the highest moral standard (despite the fact that they have different standards) and both believe that reason and logic are indispensable, and not often enough used.

Thank you all so much for your feedback. I really do enjoy your points. I hope you'll find other things I've written to be thought provoking and will come back and give me something to read!