Comments on: My superficial objections to Sarah Palin

By: Seripa

Seripa — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 23:09:43 +0000

Screaming Eagle is about the most awesome name I have ever heard of. The only thing that could make it better is if the person in question insisted that “Big Chief” be added to the beginning.

That said, I would feel sorry for someone named “Salmon”.

By: John Doe

John Doe — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 02:13:07 +0000

Thank you Eric. It is hypocritical for a party to claim high moral standards and then fall short of them. I just don’t see Palin’s daughter as relevant to that. If Palin had an affair, or was a pregnant teen, or something like that then it’s cool. Make fun of her all you want. I just don’t like dragging a child through the mud because of her parents.

Isn’t it funny though, that yours is the party of forgiveness and second chances and looking after the little guy/girl? The one that’s there for women when they are pregnant and help lift them up through the tough times? The party of compassion and good vibes for all, even terrorists who flew planes into buildings and killed thousands of people. Why did that suddenly stop when the victim was merely related to a Republican?

Also, I don’t necessarily think it’s bad taste to make fun of a pregnant teen. But the circumstances matter. Jamie Lynn Spears: make fun of her all you want. She wanted the spot-light and she’s mugging it for all it’s worth. Palin’s daughter: didn’t ask for the spotlight, probably doesn’t want it. If you want the world to know your dirty laundry, then you’re asking for it. If the world went searching through your private life and aired your dirty laundry without your consent, then made fun of you and your family for it, then it’s just wrong.

By: Eric D. Snider

Eric D. Snider — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 03:55:24 +0000

P.S. I agree that it’s not very nice to make fun of pregnant teenagers (which isn’t to say I won’t do it), and it’s certainly not fair to hold their parents politically accountable for their actions. I don’t think Gov. Palin is a bad parent for having a pregnant daughter, and I’m not sure it would be relevant to her candidacy anyway. Being a good parent and being a good vice president are probably different skill sets.

By: Eric D. Snider

Eric D. Snider — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 03:45:49 +0000

John: Yes, actually, that’s a big part of it. When a significant portion of your party’s platform is talking about “family values” and focusing on moral issues (abortion, homosexuality, etc.), you set yourself up to look like hypocrites when one of your own screws up. Everyone knows that nobody’s perfect, and that even people who espouse high morals sometimes make mistakes — but still, it’s hard not to notice the apparently irony.

Of course, if the alternative is to just never claim to have high moral standards in the first place, then I’m not sure that’s any better.

By: John Doe

John Doe — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 03:26:06 +0000

I just want to make sure I get this straight: Is its ok to make fun of children, or just republican children? Hardly seems fair to hold a parent responsible for a child having sex unless you can prove to me Chelsea never did, or Obama or Biden have perfect family. Or is merely because republicans claim to have standards?

By: ClobberGirl

ClobberGirl — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 19:58:02 +0000

That’s neat Amp. My mother wanted to name me Jennifer and my father wanted to name me Bridget, and they disagreed on it up until the moment I was born. While my mother was still recovering from the delivery, my father hunted down the birth certificate and slapped “Bridget” on it, so my mother was outta luck. Six years later, Mom got her Jennifer, but I am grateful to have dodged that bullet of naming mediocrity. Sorry all you Jennifers, the #1 girl’s name in the country from 1970 to 1984(!).

I didn’t like the name growing up, but I like it much more as an adult. It means “exalted” or “goddess;” what’s not to love about that?

By: Amp

Amp — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 15:26:45 +0000

Clobbergirl, I have a daughter named Bridget! I love that name. My first name is not that unusual, but not that common either, and way too easy to mispronounce or misspell (or both, frequently). So we went with names that were not especially common, but hard to mispronounce and/or misspell. Except boy names. We went traditional because with boy names, either they’re common, or they’re weird.

By: Alaska Boy

Alaska Boy — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 15:08:01 +0000

Being from Alaska (hence the moniker), I can testify that Palin’s kid’s names are nothing all that unusual (I went to school with Star, Forest, Sunshine, and Salmon). For that matter, neither is the fact that one of her daughter’s is pregnant out of wedlock–Alaska has the highest rate of teen pregnancy in the country. The sexism from the hypocritical left evident in the comments here and elsewhere staggers me, and the accusations of lacking experience are laughable considering how much more Palin has done than Obama. It’s about time an Alaskan got some national screentime–and I’m glad it’s one with as much integrity and ability as gov. Palin!

By: mrs b roth

mrs b roth — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 05:44:03 +0000

As the mother of sons, Crichton and Canon,and daughter Sagan – I LIKE Palin’s kids names … we can’t all be erics, jennifers, and christinas.

By: ClobberGirl

ClobberGirl — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 05:12:47 +0000

“And I�m willing to bet money that if Joe Biden had a pregnant, unwed teenage daughter, James Dobson and other evangelical leaders would not be giving him the kind of support they�re giving the Palin family.”

Funny, I thought Democrats were against preemptive strikes. ; )

One thing about baby names is that often people who get saddled with overly common names (and wind up being one of 3 Johns or Sarahs in every classroom they have growing up) will look to unusual baby names for their kids. “Sarah” has been in the top 20 since 1974; it was only ranked about 94th when Palin was born, but skyrocketed to popularity as Palin was growing up. Todd was ranked 28th when Todd Palin was born and didn’t drop out of the top 100 until 1986. My husband and I come from families of five children each with horribly common names–my siblings were Christopher, Matthew, Steven and Jennifer, and the kids in his family were John, Paul, Adam, Alex and Sarah. My real name, Bridget, is the only one in the batch that isn’t top 100 material. So my husband and I look to unusual names, having named our first daughter Harley so far, because we hate how boring and common all the names in our families were. I want my kids to have names where they’ll be the only one in their classroom who has that name.

Track, Bristol, Trig, Willow and Piper? Yeah, they’re weird, but not insanely weird. At least they didn’t name any of their kids “Talula Does The Hula.”

And the whole point of my wall o’ text here? Names that have been run into the ground like John and Sarah should be illegal for 50 years at least. Sorry all you Johns and Sarahs.