Why Women Are Against Palin…

A friend just turned me on to a new site called, “Women Against Palin.” It’s an excellent site that’s worth checking out. I’ve added their blog to my blogroll, in case you’re interested in checking it out.

I also have a few videos to share with you that provide some insight into some of the reasons I’m against Governor Palin:

This Site, the 411

Dear Readers:

I have just started this site to focus on my political postings. With fewer than 60 days left before the 2008 presidential election, I feel it is more important than ever for those of us who are paying attention to highlight and analyze relevant issues.

In order to get the ball rolling here, I’ve imported several posts from my other blog. I’ve only included those with political content, but it should offer some background regarding how I think and where I stand on issues. In case you didn’t realize from the title, “Beyond the Palin,” I’m operating from the perspective of a progressive Democrat. I am an Obama supporter and proud of it. That said, I believe myself to be a thoughtful and analytical consumer of the news and media in general. Furthermore, while there are things I believe that vary from the Democratic platform, on the whole I know Barack Obama and Joe Biden to be the best choice to lead our country forward.

I have already set up several categories, and expect more to come as I go forward. I also hope to invite other friends to post their thoughts to this site, so look for other authors in the future as well.

Following is a description of each of the categories as the stand now:

• Politics: Anything that has political content, with a few subcategories:
  • Campaign ’08: Anything that deals with any race in 2008, including congressional and presidential.
  • Barack Obama: Anything that focuses on Barack Obama.
  • Joe Biden: Anything that focuses on Joe Biden, Barack Obama’s running mate.
  • John McCain: Anything that focuses on John McCain.
  • Sarah Palin: Anything that focuses on Sarah Palin, John McCain’s running mate.
  • Hillary Clinton: Anything that focuses on Hillary Clinton.
  • PUMA: Anything that focuses on those identifying themselves as disgruntled Hillary Clinton supporters.
• Humor: Anything that I find amusing…you don’t have to and may not find these funny, but if I’ve labeled it with “humor,” it’s something that made me laugh. Checking out what amuses me might be a good way to learn just how twisted I can be at times.
• Musings & Observations: My general thoughts and observations about this and that.
• Rants: The same as musings and observationals, but expressed with angry zeal.
• Words: I love words; this is a place to share some of my favorites with you.
• Quotes: I love quotes; this is a place to share any with you that make me laugh or think or both.
• It’s All About Me: Anything that speaks to who I am. That vague enough? I do have one subcategory called Diary of a Mad eDater. I have several posts that predate finding a wonderful man, with whom I am very happy and have been for over two years now. These posts are about some of my experiences with eDating before my current relationship. I’ve included them both because they are funny and because they contain some of my best political commentary.
• 411: Bits of information about this blog or the world around us.
• Religion: Anything that focuses on religion, especially its role in our public discourse.
• Old Media: As an avid consumer of both print and televised media, the things I read or watch sometimes inspire me to comment. This category covers such posts. I have included a couple of subcategories here as well.
• Blogs: This is for posts commenting on or recommending other blogs.

Most of my posts are listed in multiple categories, as I find that categories are an easy way for readers to navigate to posts that interest them. When I first started posting, it wasn’t possible to “tag” my posts, so I tended to use categories more like tags. I will be tagging my posts as well, in order to avoid putting all my comments in every category. It’s a process, but, it should be an interesting journey…at least for me =-)

That’s it for now. Please feel free to comment on any post and; let me know if you are interested in becoming a regular author.

Best,

Noetical

An Alaskan’s Perspective on Politics and Sarah Palin

I wanted to recommend a post called “What is McCain Thinking?” (digg story)

The site is called “Mudflats” and following is a brief description of the blog and the writer:

Mudflats has been a long time coming. Until now it’s been written in my head, where posts repeated themselves incessantly until they were set free and inflicted verbally upon friends, coworkers and my spouse. I think they all must be secretly relieved I have a new outlet. The thing that drove me over the edge, and into the blogosphere? Alaska Representative Don Young and the Republican Party voting against Mother’s Day (See my very first post). So, a nod to my muse, Don Young. Go figure.

I have worked as a promotional writer and editor in the magazine industry, marketing, advertising, and blogging for my business. This is the first time I’m writing from my own perspective without trying to sell something. I like it.

My political background? I am a citizen who is paying attention. I’ve had the good fortune to have had people in my life who were engaged, and aware, and dragged me along until I became engaged and aware too. I am also fortunate to count as my friends some of those who hold elected office in this state, and remind me by example that there are good people out there in our state and city government who are intelligent, diligent, ethical, and working hard for the best interest of Alaska.

Personal background? I grew up on the East Coast and attended an ivy-covered New England liberal arts college. After graduating, and diving in to the business world, I decided to flee the NYC area and take a two year adventure to Alaska. When I arrived in Anchorage in February of 1991 without knowing a soul, only one month rent paid and $300 to my name, I looked out the window at the snow falling in the dark and wondered what I had done. By the time my two years were up, I was hooked.

I’ve put down deep roots here, and consider Alaska my home in every sense. I see it as a place of tremendous potential for business, for energy, for innovative thinking, and for citizen activists to be able to make a tangible difference in their local and state government.

Thanks for checking in, and I hope you enjoy the blog,

AKMuckraker

This is an excellent and down-to-earth description of Sarah Palin’s time as Alaska’s Governor. It’s got background about her executive experience and her ethics investigation. The title: “What is McCain Thinking?” pretty much sums it up. I highly recommend both this post and the entire site!

My Thought for the Day…

The other day I was listening to an interview with John Crawford, author of The Last True Story I’ll Ever Tell: An Accidental Soldier’s Account of the War in Iraq
on the Al Franken Show. When asked about dealing with the fear of getting blown up while on tour in Iraq, he explained that he couldn’t really go around actively thinking about the danger he was in or he wouldn’t have been able to function. Instead, he explained, it was more like walking around with that nagging feeling you get when you’re driving too fast and you know it’s dangerous.

Well, I certainly don’t have the kind of daily danger in my life that a soldier in Iraq does. Nonetheless, this metaphor seems apt for the way I feel sometimes, in a world where I believe our leaders are at best idiotic, incompetent, negligent and obtuse and at worst, corrupt, opportunistic, malevolent, depraved and repressive. Each day a new issue riles, irritates or terrifies me. These feelings have become this generalized anxiety that I live with, like I’m in a car that’s going a bit too fast…and unfortunately my idiotic tenth cousin once removed (yes, I’m really related to Bush, but I didn’t vote for him) is the driver. That said, I am mostly sanguine about the world and its future.

I find that talking about the issues that bother me helps me to diffuse the anxiety, as it allows me to feel that I’ve made some active contribution to changing that which I fear or dislike. I know we don’t usually think of discussion as being an act of change, but it really can be. Whenever I engage in public discourse, whether it’s in someone’s living room or here on this little slice of cyberspace, I think of myself as being a part of this giant forge in which we all heat, hammer and shape our thoughts. I believe in this process, even though most of the dents we each make in the communal metal are imperceptible.

In addition to reading the news each day in the New York Times, I also consume a variety of opinions each day from talk radio, the Times Op-ed section, various blogs, magazines and cable news shows. We live in an age where there are so many voices contributing to the public dialogue that it can sometimes seem like a meaningless cacophony. While this may be overwhelming sometimes, I consider this superfluity of opinion to be a quality problem that I’m happy to have. I don’t agree with every opinion I read, but each helps me to see an issue from a new perspective and helps me to test or temper my own.

And that’s my thought for the day =-)