Hurricane Ike and Sarah Palin

Here's a hurricane update from the west side of Houston. We are currently preparing the house for lots of rain and wind. All patio furniture is either in the house or secured outside. The husband is getting the sump pump and generator ready just in case we get downpours that our drainage system can't handle. I had the opportunity to talk to many of my neighbors as I walked the dog this morning and most are staying at home or with other neighbors/family.

The evacuation of the low lying areas in and near Galveston has been going smoothly, mostly because of lessons learned three years ago from Rita and Katrina. Even though this storm will be a major impact on property the city governments have been doing a great job protecting people and keeping them out of harm's way. It's up to those individuals to do what they feel is right for them.

Now back to politics. The more I read about Sarah Palin and John McCain the more I feel they must not be voted into office. She stated in a recent interview with Charles Gibson:

"They're our next door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska."

So that makes her qualified to be an expert on foreign policy? I understand that Republican standards are pretty low, but this is absurdly bottom of the barrel. I still haven't read anywhere that she's actually been to Russia or met their leaders in any capacity.

Another thing that worries me about McCain's choice for VP is how she feels about sex education. While I know that education is a state issue, the fact that she advocates for abstinence only sex education and at the same time her 17 year old daughter becomes pregnant on her watch should inform her that this way of teaching doesn't work. She is letting her religious dogma cloud her reason and her ability to think this problem though. This is not a quality I want a leader of this country to have. We need a leader that can think out of the box. She has proven incapable of doing so.

Her position on her particular brand of Christian dogmatic morality on women is not in our (women's) best interest. It is not reasonable to criminalize abortion and burden our overtaxed justice system with the job of sending poor women to prison for taking control of their lives. Abortions are a terrible thing but making it a crime will not solve this problem. Responsible sex-ed for teenagers is the answer and not the kind Palin thinks we should have. Sex happens and we should be teaching our children responsibility, not religious dogma.

And what's this about a possibility of a war with Russia? Is she insane? We can't even afford the wars we're in right now. We owe so much money to China they practically own us. Do we want to further cripple our country and our economy? I believe McCain feels that war is the answer. Our involvement in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. (I can't name them all) should be enough evidence to prove that it isn't always the answer. (WWII was an exception.)

Please, please think about these issues and the long range consequences they have for our children and grandchildren. I cannot vote for 4 more years of business as usual. I hope you can't either.

Constructive comments are encouraged and welcome.