tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1763883859696167228.post4981928070578330852..comments2023-11-03T03:37:02.548-05:00Comments on WEBSTER'S BLOGSPOT: What is Conservatism?Terry Morrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00166609562028309038noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1763883859696167228.post-42886498846022309592008-09-14T13:05:00.000-05:002008-09-14T13:05:00.000-05:00That would have surely ended with charges of batte...<I>That would have surely ended with charges of battery, libel, intimidation, personal injury, mental cruelty and whatever the American law (with which I am not familiar) can offer all the wimps into which the average male has turned.</I><BR/><BR/>Nora, with respect to American Law, you're not that far off base. In fact, the charges leveled could have just as easily (or in some cases as likely, or more likely) come from the daughter in our hypothetical example, as from the young man in question. That is not unheard of in our society.<BR/><BR/>However, if anyone, including the DHS, is working under the delusion that that's going to deter me from protecting my daughters, they're dead wrong.<BR/><BR/>I'll give Todd Palin this much, it's a bit more difficult for an Alaskan like Todd to exercise that kind of paternal discipline and authority over his children than it is for an Okie like myself to do it...Terry Morrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00166609562028309038noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1763883859696167228.post-81625864588080228102008-09-14T09:55:00.000-05:002008-09-14T09:55:00.000-05:00The bottom line for me is that Mrs. Palin should n...<I>The bottom line for me is that Mrs. Palin should not have pursued a political career with four minor children at home. And I'm speaking here of her Governorship of Alaska. I'm not sure where you draw the line, though. Should she have run for Mayor of Wasilla, a city with a population of less than ten thousand? My gut tells me no.<BR/>...<BR/>The point, however, is that Bristol's condition was known by the Palins before Sarah accepted McCain's offer. Sarah is the reason Bristol's situation became national news.<BR/>...<BR/>I can see no good reason, nor justification, for parading Levi Johnston around at the RNC in any case. Wasilla resident and friend of the family, Mrs. Kania, said that her suspicion was that he was taken to the convention as a protective measure -- to keep him from being interviewed by a Connie Chung style reporter. That may be so, but why the need to parade him around at the convention? He could have been left at the hotel under supervision.<BR/>...<BR/>Also, I said in another post that I'm not necessarily in favor of pressuring the offending kids into marriage as a way, or the way, to rectify their wrong... But if Todd Palin had put the fear of God into that boy when he began seeing Bristol, I imagine we wouldn't be discussing it right now.</I><BR/><BR/>But Terry! That would have been disgustingly <I>macho</I>. Can you imagine that, given the extent of the process of emasculation even superficially "tough guys" like Todd Palin have undergone, a father could "put the fear of God" into a young man with whom his daughter is going out? That would have surely ended with charges of battery, libel, intimidation, personal injury, mental cruelty and whatever the American law (with which I am not familiar) can offer all the wimps into which the average male has turned.<BR/><BR/>That said, I totally agree with everything you said.<BR/><BR/>Btw, I have put up the first of our mutual discussions at my blog. I'll proceed in chronological order.The_Editrixhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07529769143608862966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1763883859696167228.post-47998442624499734482008-09-12T04:51:00.000-05:002008-09-12T04:51:00.000-05:00VA, I appreciate your perspective on this.The bott...VA, I appreciate your perspective on this.<BR/><BR/>The bottom line for me is that Mrs. Palin should not have pursued a political career with four minor children at home. And I'm speaking here of her Governorship of Alaska. I'm not sure where you draw the line, though. Should she have run for Mayor of Wasilla, a city with a population of less than ten thousand? My gut tells me no. I would not permit my wife to do something like that, not that she's a political talent like Sarah Palin, but she has been asked onto certain boards and councils before, even to head them, the same way Sarah Palin got her career started. She even accepted one position like that without my knowledge, but when I learned of it I raised a big stink, citing the fact that we have five minor children yet to be raised, at which point she withdrew. To me, our initial decision to have a moderate sized family meant a committment to see it through to its raising. That's really the bottom line for me; that's where I'm coming from.<BR/><BR/>As far as Bristol's indiscretions being made public goes, I probably didn't word that exactly right in the article. The point, however, is that Bristol's condition was known by the Palins before Sarah accepted McCain's offer. Sarah is the reason Bristol's situation became national news. Virtually no one in the lower forty eight states gives a hoot about Alaskan politics. So had Sarah rejected McCain's offer Bristol's situation would have remained in Alaska, population: less than 700,000. And let's say for the sake of argument that McCain's interest in Sarah Palin would have eventually brought Bristol's situation to the fore in national news, Sarah Palin would have still been on more solid ground, particularly from a conservative perspective, had she said to McCain, to cite her own words, "thanks but no thanks," on the grounds that she has extenuating family issues that need to be resolved.<BR/><BR/>I can see no good reason, nor justification, for parading Levi Johnston around at the RNC in any case. Wasilla resident and friend of the family, Mrs. Kania, said that her suspicion was that he was taken to the convention as a protective measure -- to keep him from being interviewed by a Connie Chung style reporter. That may be so, but why the need to parade him around at the convention? He could have been left at the hotel under supervision.<BR/><BR/>Also, I said in another post that I'm not necessarily in favor of pressuring the offending kids into marriage as a way, or the way, to rectify their wrong. I know of a lot of situations that are very similar to Bristol's in which this was done, which eventually turned into a big nightmare for the entire family. Not that I'm saying they're being forced into marriage, maybe they already had plans to marry. I can't know one way or the other. But if Todd Palin had put the fear of God into that boy when he began seeing Bristol, I imagine we wouldn't be discussing it right now.Terry Morrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00166609562028309038noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1763883859696167228.post-41016300878511312382008-09-12T04:15:00.000-05:002008-09-12T04:15:00.000-05:00I think the Palins are measured by a different yar...I think the Palins are measured by a different yardstick because they consider themselves conservatives. If a child of a liberal is a failure, that is, to put it bluntly, only what one would expect.<BR/><BR/>One can't be at the forefront of a movement and then not live by its rules.The_Editrixhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07529769143608862966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1763883859696167228.post-34861819205768408062008-09-11T22:45:00.000-05:002008-09-11T22:45:00.000-05:00Terry - as regards Mrs. Palin's candidacy preventi...Terry - as regards Mrs. Palin's candidacy preventing the family from keeping Bristol's pregnancy from the public eye -- she was already governor of Alaska, and the news would be made public anyway. So her candidacy is not the reason why the family's ''dirty linen'' is being aired publicly. <BR/><BR/>And if she had remained only governor and not a VP candidate, should she have then resigned, knowing that Bristol's pregnancy would be publicized?<BR/><BR/>If she had resigned, as conservatives seem to think she was duty-bound to do, would the 'scandal' not still have made the papers? "Ex-governor's daughter pregnant, unwed" or 'Palin's daughter in hasty marriage''? Even if she had resigned, it would have been talked about, if only by her political enemies.<BR/><BR/>Remember, too, that the left (Daily Kos, et al) had already spread scurrilous rumors about Bristol being Trig's mother, so that rumor had to be addressed; there was no way it could go unanswered. So there is the family's privacy compromised right there. Sarah Palin was put into a position of having to put the truth out there. What else does a ''conservative'' do but tell the truth?<BR/><BR/>Why, I am wondering, was there no comparable outrage and no denunciation of Dick and Lynne Cheney as parental failures because of their openly gay daughter and her sperm-donor pregnancy? I don't remember any outrage about that. And I don't see why the Palin situation is so much worse. I truly don't. Biblically, homosexuality is much more serious than unmarried pregnancy, which is dealt with by having the couple marry, as long as the father is not already married.<BR/>-VAVanishing Americanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07723746944036650219noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1763883859696167228.post-26378162160418978672008-09-10T10:25:00.000-05:002008-09-10T10:25:00.000-05:00Howard,I almost forgot to respond before leaving. ...Howard,<BR/><BR/>I almost forgot to respond before leaving. I don't have time right now to answer you, but I did want to at least acknowledge you as is proper.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment. I'll answer you later tonight.<BR/><BR/>-Terry<BR/><BR/>P.S. Glad you caught the name error. :-)Terry Morrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00166609562028309038noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1763883859696167228.post-88394155096475107242008-09-09T22:41:00.000-05:002008-09-09T22:41:00.000-05:00My previous comment not only typoed the adjective ...My previous comment not only typoed the adjective <EM>chronological</EM> (perhaps among other words) but also inadvertently exchanged Piper Palin's name with Bristol's. But I suppose that the comment's point will come through nonetheless.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for the platform.Howard J. Harrisonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17107528208467150644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1763883859696167228.post-55609040697124728042008-09-09T22:32:00.000-05:002008-09-09T22:32:00.000-05:00This is a well written, cogently argued piece. Ho...This is a well written, cogently argued piece. However, it seems to me that your logic is just a little too hard when you write,<BR/><BR/><EM>Or to put it another way, the responsibility for this falls squarely on Sarah Palin's shoulders.</EM><BR/><BR/>Are you sure? Does it not rather fall squarely on Piper Palin's shoulders?<BR/><BR/>It is sensational to see a pregnant Piper in public with her child's father, but what, exactly, would you have the Palins do under the circumstance?<BR/><BR/>You have already answered the question, of course, but consider: Might there be no reason that Piper has not yet married the fellow in question other than a desire to avoid the legal red tape associated with marrying before her eighteenth birthday? Premarital sex is clearly wrong but, once the kids have married one another, reasonable folks will perceive no enduring scandal. Not in such a case as this. Had the father been a thirty year-old divorce, it would be different. In this case, the kids, probably under the influence of alcohol, who might well have married anyway, got carried away and made a mistake.<BR/><BR/>Piper is a big girl. She can take responsibility for, live with and make amends for her own mistake. Now it's a national story rather than the statewide story it would have been, but imagine if Piper had had to live lifelong with the guilt that she had sunk her mother's one chance at the vice presidency.<BR/><BR/>To retire from national politics because your daughter has gotten pregnancy and marriage slightly out of chronigical order seems an overreaction to me.<BR/><BR/>I want to make clear, nonetheless: I see your point. I think that you are right. The disagreement is not over the propriety of the factors involved but over their relative proper weight. Life can be messy, sometimes. Maybe they shouldn't have put the kid, Levi Johnston, on the Convention stage, but then maybe there was no really good answer.<BR/><BR/>I will say this, though. I would be more concerned if Mrs. Palin had a daughter, with children, who had divorced, than I am in Piper's actual case.<BR/><BR/><EM>Howard</EM>Howard J. Harrisonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17107528208467150644noreply@blogger.com