Interesting times

It seems the old Chinese curse is true. "Interesting times" can be a bit much. Investment accounts tanking, rapidly rising food costs, daycare costs rising, private education costs, etc. And then there's the willful blindness of people, or at least, a predeliction for having selectively closed eyes.

Take, for instance, oh, say POLITICS. Now, I'm not saying either side is a perfect, 100% YES vote. But I'm not following the MSM viewpoint that "teh One" can do no wrong while the older warrior is down for the count. Or that the Palin 'scandals' overshadow or are more significant than Obama's truly significant problems.

I think the problem the MSM and indeed, most people identifying as 'liberal' have with Sarah Palin is that 1) she is a poster-woman for the liberated, go-for-it/do-it-all women of the present; and 2) (gasp!) she's definitely center-right. Oh, so now unless you're identifying as 'liberal' or 'progressive,' you can't be a feminist.

Ok, actually, according to most in the 'feminist' camp-- No. Just ask Phyllis Chesler, who has seen friends of decades turn on her once she began pointing out the dangers of islam to the West in general and women in particular. You'd think the McCain campaign would be taking a lot more heat from rank & file Repub. men about this decision. (Personally, I think some of the Repub guys are imagining going moose hunting with such a woman-- ok, I know this might be totally un-pc, but its my opinion & doesn't hurt or change a thing.)

So. On the one hand, we have a relative newbie on the political scene, someone who has made some questionable moves, but has also fought her own party over ethics violations and tightening the standards of ethics. She's started local and moved up as she's gained experience. All while having and raising five children with the same man.

On the other hand, there's a man who has lied about his academic career, doesn't know a LOT about stuff he should, as a DC insider, has taken credit for writing not his own, etc. And keeps spreading falsehoods about the man involved in the crash that killed family members.

Hmmm.

I'm not even going to compare the other two candidates-- in my mind, there just isn't the point. Right now, you're in the tank who you're in the tank for, and in discussions with friends and family, nothing I could point out here would make the slightest bit of difference.

With Palin, however, the rub seems to be that the active, bright, liberated woman has chosen to be (oh, the horror) a Republican. So much for freedom of thought-- I guess you're not supposed to do that.

I saw a quote of Winston Churchill's some time ago that I'm really liking, as it seems to have some amount of accuracy: "If you're not a liberal at 20, you have no heart. If you're not a conservative by 40, you have no brain."

Maybe not all the time, but I certainly am not going to buy into the whole victim-culture thing. Bad things happen in life, sometimes through our own choices, sometimes through events and other things we cannot control. But that doesn't mean that anyone 'owes' me or you anything.