Why I Started This Blog

Today is Saturday, September 13, 2008. I am starting this blog for three reasons:

1. I am terrified at the prospect that a President Palin could have her fingers on our nuclear codes.

2. I feel like I am living in a bad nightmare where a collective madness has overtaken public discourse and the media is leading the charge.

3. I am tired of being put into "white woman" boxes that don't fit.

Who I am: I am a 49-year old "white woman" living outside Washington, D.C. I have been married for 16 years and have a 14-year old son and 12-year old daughter. I have worked for the Federal Government - Department of State - for 24 years. I am very proud of my public service to my country. I have also been a soccer and baseball mom, Girl Scout and PTA mom, and attend church weekly. My family has its "history" as do others. One of my children is a cancer survivor and that has profoundly changed my life. My friends and colleagues would tell you that I am a well-balanced, compassionate professional working mother with many interests and an abiding desire to make the world a better place. I care passionately about many things. I ardently support Barack Obama and Joe Biden. This is who I am.

Honestly, I have fallen into deep despair since John McCain chose Sarah Palin as his running mate. My initial reaction, of course, was that it must be a joke. Sadly, it's not. My incredulity has yielded to despair. I have been watching her interviews on ABC, reading everything I can and trying to keep an open mind.

But the bottom line is this: I fear deeply for my country and my children if McCain-Palin are elected.

They will start wars in Iran (or encourage Israel to do so); they will fight Russia; they will do nothing on climate change and alternative energy; they will overturn Roe v. Wade and stack the Supreme Court with right wing extremists; they will cater to the rich; and continue to drain the Treasury to fight their wars while selling our country to China and other "sovereign wealth" funds. Palin is utterly, totally and dangerously unqualified to be Vice President. McCain has turned back on everything he once stood for (I actually liked him in 2000). He will do absolutely anything to win power.

Can any rational, thinking person believe otherwise?

And I cannot understand why the American electorate seems to be "falling for it."

Yes, I confess that I a highly educated, well-informed, well-traveled professional woman. I am one of the loathesome "educated, Eastern elite." How is it that in the current madness, being smart, informed, thoughtful and intellectually curious have become liabilities?

What I am beginning to realize, to my horror, is that vast pieces of the American electorate (according to polls, "white women") have fallen for the hoax on American citizens that is Sarah Palin. Men even admit they will vote for her "because she is hot."

Is it remotely conceivable that in this day and age an extreme right wing , uninformed, uneducated, inexperienced, unthinking ("I never blinked") woman could be thrust into the White House? It's like a bad movie plot, but it's real. People are buying this.

Is it that we have become a country that evaluates the world from a "reality show" perspective? Do they think electing the next President of the United States is equivalent to choosing the next "American Idol?"

To me, this is terrifying. Can people truly believe that "fighting" (McCain's favorite word) for change will make it so? Hello - Who has been in charge the last 8 years? Or that having experience and credibility are liabilites? Or that NOT HAVING EXPERIENCE OR JUDGMENT IS A GOOD THING? God help us. The madness is overwhelming.

Look at where we are after 8 years of Republicans: 2 wars without end; a financial system in meltdown; joblessness; homelessness; the world hates us and no longer respects us; our own country's infrastructure is crumbling while we spend billions of dollars in Iraq because Bush-McCain think there can be "victory" in their war of choice. The Republicans have trashed our Constitution, turned us into an Orwellian state, destroyed our image in the world and any ideals and values (such as respect for human rights) that other countries once admired about the United States. Corruption scandals, sex scandals, humiliation (Alberto Gonzalez, Larry Craig, Mark Foley, Abramoff); making us believe that torture is legitimate, that the Vice President is not part of the Executive Branch and therefore free to run amok?? The list goes on...

How can the average American not understand what Bush, Cheney (and Rumsfeld in his time) have wrought? They are a disgrace and a very clear and present danger. Bush should have been impeached years ago. How can Americans not understand the dangerous course chosen by Bush in the post 9-11 world? Why does he think "they hate us??" McCain Palin are MORE OF THE SAME. 4 MORE YEARS! Be afraid, be very afraid.

And now John McCain (in another Orwellian slam dunk) is trying to convince voters he is an agent of "change?" He believes in everything Bush believes in. And Palin takes it further.

So: what can we do? We must speak out. We must protest in our communities. We must write letters to the editor (I do and have been published). We must be visible and loud and get some attention! We must shake the electorate out of its STUPOR! We must inform and educate.

We need to start a movement called "Stop the Madness." The American electorate needs to open its eyes and clear its head. We need to tell the media to STOP idolizing the wolf in sheep's clothing that is Palin. People need to be reminded of WHAT IS AT STAKE. This is absolutely the most consequential election of my lifetime and yours. It is about the world my children will inherit.

I would like to start a movement called "THINKING WOMEN FOR OBAMA!" I am sick and tired of polls and the media assuming I should like Palin because we share similar anatomy. I am sick and tired of being lumped into a category like sheep. WOMEN HAVE BRAINS!

Let's make a playbook. Let's make a plan.

Let's find a way to get into our communities across the country to say: ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! America: WE NEED A NEW WAY. DON'T BE FOOLED. The future of our country, and indeed the world, is at stake.

So there you have it. That is why I have started this blog. Please join me. Let's raise our voice as THINKING WOMEN FOR OBAMA!

I welcome your thoughts.