First impression--Sarah Palin

She is going to get eaten alive, that is my first impression...

When I listened to new GOP Vice Presidential contender, Sarah Palin, make her acceptance speech, I heard her less-than-exciting speaking style, and her words and listed credentials and thought, "I feel so like I am being patronized by Republicans trotting out the anti-Hillary!"

Then I decided that may be kind of knee jerk response, I should research her and give her a chance.

So I did that. It is all rather interesting.

I'm not sure what I think of her personally--I really don't know her yet. She seems nice enough as a person. Even if someone is not liberal leaning like me, they can be a good, stand-up person to admire. Mostly, I get the impression she is not fully formed as a political entity. I wonder if she will get a chance--this may be a debacle. Again, this is my first impression.

Right now I say her lack of national or international experience is scary to me. I would liken it to being a freshman class president of a small rural high school, and suddenly being promoted to superintendent of the the largest school system in the country. She just doesn't have the experience to know what is going on, and the learning curve will be ridiculous. At best, she is being set up to fail. It makes her in danger of being even easier to control by a hawkish cabinet than George W., which may be just what the powers that be are after. A year and a few months of being governor in a small (in population) state and a mayor and city council member of a small town before that...that isn't enough. It makes Obama look grandly experienced.

She and I do not see eye to eye on basic issues. Her credentials list that she is anti-abortion even in case of rape or incest, an NRA member (but is a hunter, not a gun nut), she is all for drilling in Alaska, is against protection for polar bears, and does not think global warming is a man made crisis. She is a proponent of creationism being taught in schools. A neocon's dream.

Actually, overall she out of touch with anything that I would consider remotely presidential material. And we have to think that way--presidential-- McCain's age and the world political climate make the presidency a chancy business. Whoever takes this position has to be more prepared to step into the presidency than anyone ever before, not just the usual funerals and light duties.

I'll be interested in seeing if she may have potential later in the political arena, or if this sudden immersion in the national spotlight will doom her. Politically, I wonder if the Republicans thought this through or are just throwing something out there out of desperation and hoping that it sticks. Look, it's young! It's white but it isn't a man and she's purty! We have DIVERSITY! (There are other more experienced women in the Republican party to choose from...aren't there? Please name me one? I don't care if she isn't pretty...)

I wonder if the neocons of the Republican party are hoping for a pretty and pliable doll to trot out and pretend that they care about the "Hillary women" (though how she could appeal to them, I don't know since she seems okay with the current party platform that is designed to continue to try to take women's reproductive rights away, block legislation for equal pay for equal work, and make it hard for working class people to make a living, afford healthcare and also pay for decent child care.)

And let's be real--just because she didn't go ahead with the Alaska "Bridge to Nowhere" doesn't make her a maverick, either--just sensible, especially since her state still got to keep the money earmarked for it for other uses, from what I understand.

Did McCain really think this out? Are they counting on women who are Independents to bring out the "It's got a Vagina!" vote? Do the Republicans really think women are that stupid?

And I wonder...if she does end up getting the job, will neocons connive make sure she is paid less for it than a man? And will McCain suggest she gets more education and job training to equalize that?

Middle School...Like, OMG

My oldest son now at his first day of middle school. He got on the bus at an ungodly early hour for a growing adolescent, going to school even though he has a bad cold. He did not want to miss the first day, because that is when they tell you everything--like where is your locker, who your teachers are, what do you need to bring to class with you, etc. The change is stressful enough, no need to fall behind if you are still ambulatory.

Watching him get on the bus, I felt my own anxiety, remembering how middle school was 2 of the toughest years of my education, mostly because of my peers. I am hoping that he will make friends and keep the ones he has, and not be singled out as prey by that inevitable group that makes life hell for everyone else. If they try him out, I hope that he will stand up for himself, and his friends stand with him.

Schools try harder to stop bullying than they did when I was in school, but you cannot underestimate the wiles of the adolescent mind. They have a lot more tools to work with too, like the internet and texting, camera phones, video phones, etc.

From an informal poll of my friends, 100% remembered getting bullied by someone in middle school. All of us can also remember some kid who was the focus of most of the intense bullying, who had no one to stand up for him (often because we were scared the focus would then come to us), whose life was scarred forever because he didn't know how to stand up for himself. In my middle school years, the poor kid's name was Pete. He was a nice boy, but he did not stand up for himself, and the lowlife druggie kids would gang up on him. I don't think he graduated with us. I will always feel I failed him, because maybe all it would have taken was rallying the other kids in the class to stand up and tell the low life kids none of us were going to take it from them anymore. There were so many more of us than there were of them. We talked amongst ourselves about how horrible it was, but we were too chicken to take a stand against them.

My personal bullies were a couple of girls, Jill and Stella, who made teasing me a personal challenge in 7th grade. I was miserable. Then sometime between 7th and 8th grade, I had spent a lot of time with some older friends and realized that I could take Jill and Stella's power away from them by 1) not acknowledging their teasing, 2) pretending they were by best friends and being super friendly to them. They walked into my Spanish II class and grinned evilly to each other, but the grins faded to confusion when I greeted them with great excitement and enthusiasm. I totally ignored when they tried some stuff that used to agitate me, and they were flummoxed. I was no fun anymore. They stopped bullying me immediately. Later, when we were in college, Stella apologized to me, and expressed she felt great shame that she ever acted like that, even 6 years later. Stella, I knew, had her own bullies to deal with, and thank goodness, most of us outgrow middle school. I forgave her long before she forgave herself!

Eighth grade was hard because I tried out a few new personalities that were not me, and highly annoying to others, apparently. I lost a few friends with that phase. A small group of girls singled me out for teasing because I had breasts and they did not. They spread the rumor that I stuffed my bra. I protested, but I was not about to expose myself even in the girls locker room to prove it false, because then they would spread the rumor I was gay. I had a boy ask me to "go with" him, and I was so excited! Finally a boy was paying attention to me! We held hands once in the hallway, and we got a lot of attention. Mean girl attention. That made me so nervous, and I avoided him and even hid from him for 3 weeks until he cornered me and said we should break up.

The next adolescent relationship was with a boy who professed his crush on me and then within weeks moved to New Hampshire. We carried on a pen pal relationship for many years, and it was easy to remain 100% faithful, because really, I was not ready for anything else. I highly recommend pen pal relationships during early high school. They allow for introspection, communication, and no physical involvement to screw up your life or health.

Yes, as I watch my son go off to middle school, I know he will have probably just as miserable of a time as everyone else. He will make his own mistakes, change his own behavior, and learn to deal with difficult people. He will be confused by girls. He will worry about his peers. But in the end, hopefully, he will come out whole and enjoy his high school years having already gone through the hard part.

Go Masters Women Athletes!

Of all the Olympic athletes who are competing in the Olympics, I am proudest of Dara Torres, 41, Oksana Chusovitina, 33, and Constantina Tomescu-Dita, 38.

Torres still got the second fastest world time ever and came within 1/100th of a second of the gold in the 50 m. She also did amazingly in the medley relay that won the US the Silver. She may even be a contender in London--she will only be 45.

Oksana Chusovitina is 33 and still a contender in vault in gymnastics! Incredible, when most of her competition is half her age or less. Addendum: She won the SILVER medal! Go Oksana!

And Constantina Tomescu-Dita won the gold in the Women's Marathon by a huge margin. Her athleticism and experience and high altitude training in Boulder, CO made her a kick butt force and an inspiration to all women runners. Having run several marathons myself, I am in awe of someone who can do such amazing time and look good doing it.

These women show that with great training and refusal to take seriously the expectations of age, they can excel in their passions and competitive spirit.

I am inspired. I am going for a nice long run now.

Sunday Musings

The Beijing Olympic Opening Ceremonies were the coolest, most beautiful, artistic and tasteful I have ever seen. I usually get bored, or start laughing at something garish or tacky or just plain weird. This time, I was wondering what was going to happen next. The torch lighting was sublime. Kudos to the artists who brought that about. Cynically, I could crab about how that money could have gone to better causes, but damn, it was just about worth it...

Bob Costas' mostly commented on the countries coming about how much trouble we are having with each country, and how our relationships with them have suffered. He seemed a bit dour throughout all the fanfare. George W. and his wife were in the stands, looking bored and George was repeatedly whacking a little American flag against his leg in an agitated manner. He should stick to wearing it on his lapel--it will get less wear and tear, and he can pretend he has any respect for it whatsoever. Oh, yes, he is so easy to pick on...but he is on vacation for the next 6 months, so whatever...

--Gymnastics is my favorite event at the summer Olympics. When I was younger, I used to cheer for the USA and only begrudgingly cheer for excellence on any other team. The older I get though, the more I just look at every gymnast and feel like cheering, "Hooray, amazing human bodies! Go, humans! " USA still rocks, but I begrudge no one my amazement.

I have yet to catch Olympic Badminton. I wonder if any of the announcers will start giggling at the word, "shuttlecock." They probably have to get that out of their systems ahead of time...

Even in my dreams, I am losing my idealism.

Last night, I dreamt vividly that I was trying to convince some young, earnest theatre friends of mine that starting an organic farm co-op to fund their theatre company was a terrible business plan and a poor use of time. I was giving them handfuls of disposable diapers as we discussed this.

In a strange way, it makes so much sense...