Saturday, September 13, 2008

Character still matters...(to me)

I've never had to deal with or forgive a spouse who was unfaithful to me like Hillary Clinton has. So I don't really know too much about that. I remember when it happened, I was all over Bill Clinton and so were most conservative people I talked to. As bad as a situation like that is, it was his lying afterward that nearly cost him his job and buried him in a lot of peoples eyes. What I can talk about with some personal experience is what it's like to have to forgive one of your parents for being absent from your life, or for being preoccupied with either work or other activities. My parents divorced when I was nine, as a child this event left me vulnerable to anything I could find to fill the void...I chose drugs. For the next twenty plus years that's what I did. I feel as though I could also forgive Sarah Palin for what I see as a similar situation within her family, but unlike Bill Clinton she's being held to a much different standard by the Christian right and either just doesn't feel as though it's any of our business , hasn't had Ken Starr to hold her accountable, or who knows? Maybe it's just never been "the right time" for her to be able to discuss it without being ripped to shreds...I can understand that I suppose. For my own personal reasons I see what she has done to be quite a bit worse that what Billy did, and her holding onto the mantle of conservatism a curious thing given that most real conservative women don't run for office,they support men that do, they raise their children and give them wise council. Here's another curious thing, that it takes about four years for us as American people to forget the previous lies that we were told by politicians and that we're all ready to not just hear some more but to believe them...again! It's pretty confusing to figure out who's telling us the bigger lies so I don't bother, I just look at who they are as people, the judgments they have shown in their public life but also in their personal life... I believe in forgiveness, mostly for the sake of the one doing the forgiving, but also to the degree that I sense peoples sorrow or regret. I'd like to support Sarah Palin, but I need her to at least acknowledge this thing so that I can defend her and wholeheartedly support her. We're the party of character,accountability and responsibility and it does still matter....to me.

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