Obama & his daughters v. Palin & her daughters
During the "ad" on Wednesday night we learned Obama read the entire Harry Potter series with daughter Malika and he calls the girls almost every night to talk as long as they need. Michelle told Jay Leno that Malika was concerned her dad's special might interrupt Nick at Nite and was very pleased it would not. She is not in awe of his running for president. What well-balanced kids the Obama's have and what seemingly terrific parents they are.
Contrast this with Sarah Palin the family values Hockey mom who has taken her youngest girls out of school for two month and along with their baby brother parades them on stage day after day in front of increasingly rabid crowds. What an example she is setting: use sarcasm, enuendo, and a sly wink to raise resoundingly thunderous cries of "boos" and chants of revenge.
wow.
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No kidding. Does anyone here know anything about Downs Syndrome babies? I mean it cannot be good for a healthy 5 month old, let alone a special needs baby, to have roaring crowds and flashing lights all around him. Then add in that the poor kid is up way past 11pm at some rallies. The topper is she hardly ever holds this poor little guy (except when it is a photo op).
In the style of Fred Rogers:
"Can you say 'Sarah the Narcissist?' I knew you could."
What a difference indeed. If you haven't gotten a chance, read Obama's book The Audacity of Hope where he shares more of his one on one moments with his daughters. The authenticity really shines through.
October 30, 2008 12:32 AM | Reply | Permalink
Tonight on Charlie Gibson's interview, Obama was asked what he'll do right after November 4 if he wins, and what he'll feel.
Barack answered that he will feel relieved that he no longer has to travel around, packing, unpacking....but can go home to his family and once again enjoy those mornings when his daughters jump into bed with him and Michelle and talk about their plans for their school day, and then go downstairs to eat breakfast together.
Sweet.
October 30, 2008 12:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
Are any of Palin's children in school? Supposedly Bristol was out of school for 6 months last year because of -air quotes- MONO, and now she isn't going either.
Anyone who thinks education is a priority with Sarah Palin need look no further than her own family.
October 30, 2008 12:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm fairly surprised that she doesn't homeschool them. After all, she probably considers public education a form of socialism, and then there's all that nasty exposure to science and other non-Christian evils.
October 30, 2008 4:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Palin has no boundaries. She can't separate her needs from the needs of her children. The children all need to live lives. They are missing out on peer relationships. They are not getting adequate parenting. The baby certainly isn't bonding with it's mother or caretaker. A lack of routine is not good for kids. Lack of friends is not good for kids.
I've worked with retarded individuals. I can say that when they grow up in loving families, with a routine and appropriate kinds of care and education, they are the most beautiful, the most loving and wonderful people. But those who grow up without love and care and a routine become mentally ill and unable to manage emotions or handle much at all in life. They are very, very hard to care for. Often become severely mentally ill on top of retarded. And I hate to say it, but this poor baby seems like it will never get the care and love and attention and routine, that are vital for a special needs child.
In our state there is child abuse and there is child neglect. And if parents are neglecting a child the state can step in. If children are in need of services and they are not getting them, then the parents are neglectful. I think we can see this before our very eyes.
The Obama children are getting everything children need. Obama has great boundaries. He knows he's a parent, not there for children to adore him, but there to love and teach and listen. His children have friends and sports and parents and love and discipline.
October 30, 2008 1:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Often become severely mentally ill on top of retarded
I'd be willing to bet that the main reason for that is excessive "boundaries" that you are pushing as beneficial. They get over-protected from social interaction, hidden away from usual society in small environs, get less neural stimulation, their socialization limited. Then when they have to interact with the world, you see signs of mental illness.
I deeply wish my parents had not be so protective of my forty-something retarded brother as a child. Even over the last decade, I have seen signs of all kinds of brain growth in him as he is challenged by new things on his own with people other than his family (examples: his ability to use complex language, loss of stammering, all related to more stimuli and yes, even stress, stress is good for growth with him.) It makes me sad what could have been if they hadn't protected him so much from the outside world when he was little.
October 31, 2008 2:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
If I was running for vp I would absolutely take my kids out of school and bring them along. It would be the learning experience of a lifetime much more valuable than 3 months of school.
October 30, 2008 11:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh sure, I bet you'd also be supportive of a divorced hippie mom dragging her six-year-old kid from Hawaii to the dirty, noisy, poverty-striken Jakarta of the 1960's, and sticking him in a low-quality public school there, and dragging him out of bed at 4am for home-schooled English lessons. Bet you think a kid like that could turn out all right. :-)
October 31, 2008 1:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh, did I miss another episode of Goofus and Gallant? My bad. Let's see, "Obama goes to Washington for most of the week and leaves the kids back in Chicago, while Palin got her governors' digs moved to her home to give her more quality time".
Fact is that women typically can't toss their kids onto their partner for days at a time. One of those basic gender differences of life.
And yes, dragging the kids around for 3 months of a national VP tour will probably be more interesting and educational than almost anything that might chance upon them in Wasilla. You would hope that would be obvious.
October 31, 2008 12:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Good point about school in Wasilla. Thinking on that, I'd be willing to bet that one is going to see a very liberal Piper Palin emerge in 20 years. If she was back in school in Wasilla, I'd be willing to bet she'd turn out just like her Mom did. You can't keep 'em down on the farm once they've seen the big city.
October 31, 2008 1:22 PM | Reply | Permalink