dr.e

(Whoo! – - – Allah!)

Sarah you gotta let us know
Should you stay or should you go?
If you say that you are mine,
You should be in State 49.
I know we have a lot of snow,
But do you really have to go?

Its always me, me, me
Loved your selection for A.G.
Another po-lit-i-cal hack
Beware if you are gay or black
Well come on and let us know
Do you really have to go?

Should she stay or should she go now?
Should she stay or should she go now?
If she goes to Indiana,
Will it next be to Montana?
Don’t we pay you enough dough?

Your poor decisions boggle me
You’re just a lightweight G.O.P.
Pranked that time by fake Sarkozy
Embarrassed by Levi on T.V.
Come on and let us know,
Are you brain-dead or is it show?

(split)

Should she stay or should she go now?
Should she stay or should she go now?
If she goes, future’s in trouble,
And if she stays, laughs will be doubled
We just hope that if she goes…
She takes her best friend “Plumber Joe”

Should she stay or should she go now?
If she goes, future’s in trouble,
And if she stays, laughs will be doubled
We just hope that if she goes
She takes along her “Sixpack Joes”

From Joe: I'm not going to respond to comments like some of those left above. TMV doesn't make a ton of money and was never set up as a money maker. Please READ THE GUIDELINES BELOW on commenting. As many readers on the right, left, center know if you have an idea about a post on an issue you can send it to me as a Guest Voice. Guest Voices don't attract any extra traffic. I've offered them since starting TMV as way to get extra viewpoints on the site — and have had readers say they wont' return if I keep running Michael Reagan and some others on the left. And we continue to run Guest Voices. When threads turn into attacks on the site or the writer as opposed to the issue raised by the writer its time to suggest that discussion needs to fit the guidelines below. Most of this thread does discuss the issue.

One thing. Jwest's comments are not the type we encourage on TMV and if you read our comment threads, we don't do that here. You can EMAIL me personally with such charges — if emailing a “villain” is not difficult. We used to moderate comments but no one has the time to do so. So what we do is if it goes over the top we leave one polite reminder to read our guidelines on commenting, which are enforced. Once again: if comments continue on this, the discussion should be on the validity or lack of validity of the issue raised in this post. If people have problems with me or don't like TMV, they can email me, although abusive emails are all put in the spam box. Comments are set up for comments on posts.

In a more general way to express my grievance, I'll just say that I think in most aspects of our lives, we encounter situations where we feel the need to correct a wrong but then as we choose our response we ought to make sure that we don't become part of the problem. This is most obvious, say, for police officers or soldiers/commanders who should continually evaluate their own performance to ensure that they're not using their authority to commit acts which are immoral or unethical- the ends do not justify those means. And writers/journalists/bloggers, in my view, have a sort of authority of their own which should be kept in check- so that when they speak out against a perceived injustice or act of wrongdoing they should recognize responsibility for treating the subject of the criticism with a sense of justice as well- and then even more so, treating the innocent bystanders surrounding that subject with the utmost of care and not excusing themselves for 'collateral damage.'

That's the sort of thing I see happening when those who speak out against the hypocrisy of a politician/parent with regard to his/her children, and using the offense of that parent as a rationale for focusing on a child that otherwise they'd have considered under a protective shield of decency. I think everyone involved in the discussion yesterday felt the same sense of concern for the adolescents and babies who are at the center of controversy- but the one adult who is blamed for putting them there isn't the only one who's responsible if we also continue the attention on the story. Our sense of outrage, IMO, is best channelled into a quick response and then looking away from the family's private matters- I don't accept the excuse that the public will gawk once the mother puts her family into the public venue, as we too have responsibilities. If we feel the mother has failed in her duty to protect, that makes it even more important for us to do what we feel she should have done.

And I too, have those feelings of distaste when I perceive that a parent may be putting self interest ahead of his/her children's. I think I do have a sense though, that I'm not worthy of judging other parents when I too make mistakes- hopefully none that are too serious or permanent, but nonetheless- I'm pretty averse to publicly condemning another parent without at least wondering whether the mistakes were bungled attempts to do what the parent thought was best vs. callous disregard for what the child needs (consider, for example, two hypothetical parents- one is spanking a child because he/she believes this is an appropriate teaching method, and the other is engaging in physical abuse of a child as an outlet for rage. I consider both acts wrong but I have a very different emotional response and judgment for the parent in each case.)

Re: Columbine- bless you for the healing work that you do. My daughter's high school recently had a scare as two kids brought guns to school, so this hit close to home for me. I'm wondering if you're familiar with the novel “Nineteen Minutes” by Jodi Picoult? She's a favorite 'page turner' author of mine because of her ability to weave issues of societal ethics into compelling stories. I imagine that when you work with victims of attacks like that, and talk to other people about them, it's probably difficult to also help people feel compassion for the perpetrators, and I felt that this book might facilitate that for some readers.

Just to mention again C., i am sometimes still bewildered by the
blogosphere, not always understanding tone, intent. Even though I
understand far more easily the goodness of so many. As I've mentioned
at TMV on that particular article you were commenting at/on, as a
mother, grandmother and woman, I have deeply held beliefs about
protecting offspring, in this case, Bristol, Levi and child. But
then, I despised what the media did to Princess Anne, Amy Carter…
when certain media men found them 'ugly,' and likewise what was done
to the Bush twins, to Chelsea, and I know seeing how various have
gone after John McCain's daughter, and also Sarah Palin's childr
Trig, including Bristol.

There is much to be said against this ongoing dragging of the
children because of what their parents are imagined to be/do….
acccording to people in the media.

Please write feel free to write to Joe and inquire as you feel guided C.

I just got home from a gathering of Columbine High School teachers…
it is the 10th anniversary in 5 days and we meet for dinner… and
more mending… they are such outstanding souls… and then I made a
trip to hospice, and now… dear bed at last

with kindest regards,
dr.e

Jeez Louise. I think I need to get new contact lenses. :-

I have no idea if that's a real emoticon, but my dyslexic fingers created it, and i liked it.

Just by way of further picture: There've been three major upgrades to the site since I've been here (two years,) and many of us pitched in substantial dollars for those too even though we arent paid. Those upgrades cost a great deal of money. Too, Tyrone has given hundreds if not thousands of hours also, gratis, to keep comments, mend glitches, the site itself which occasionally gets overloaded, running accurately, and in a timely way… and so have others who are behind the scenes in design and etc, although some are paid for their work on the web design.

And that's often when you will see a pledge drive. I could be wrong, but I think having corresponded with many who write regularly for TMV, and I think it could be said fairly, as others here have pointed out, that all sometimes write 'off base' …but also write many things that arent 'off base.'

The topic being discussed here is a loaded one, and I have my own opinions about it, as I mentioned before, as a woman, mother and grandmother.

I will however, later tonight when I get home from working mission, (it'll be past midnight I'm afraid) tell Joe you asked about various Jwest. I have heard you. So have others here too.

dr.e

I enjoyed your comment. Touche.

And now, the end is near;
To all of you, I’m glad I met ya’
Alaskans, let’s make it clear,
Did I fool you?, Oh yeah, “ya betcha!”

You’ve met Todd, the “First Dude”,
His snowmachine is in the driveway.
Is he drunk? My God, he’s blitzed,
The D.U.I. way.

Regrets, I’ve had a few;
More than most, I will remember.
My lipstick and my hair-do
But most of all, 4th of November.

Each day since then has been
Another never-ending whine and cry day,
And I’ve been told by Newt Gingrich,
To hit the high-way.

Yes, there were times, that now you know
I failed to declare “per diem” dough.
What’s this about “stimulus funds”?
Let’s just cling to, our God and guns.
Oh, I just winked and then I blinked;
And did it my way.

Nicknames, I’ve had a few
There’s “Caribou” and “Barracuda”
Now I’m known as “Sarah Who?”
Cuz Tina Fey is so much cuter.

To think I’m a has been;
And I can’t see – beyond next Friday
Woe, oh woe is me,
I won’t have my day.

For what is a gal, what has she got?
When her career, has gone to pot.
How to appear on nightly news;
When she’s inept at interviews.
She’s still exposed despite those clothes –
See – You – Next – Tuesday!

…

You said: “But Bristol Palin is a public figure, and her sex life became a public issue during the campaign.”

I don't think I agree with the statement that Bristol Palin is a public figure. Her mother is a public figure.

Probably not a lot, but I am particularly repulsed and appalled by Sarah Palin's having instructed her spokesperson to phone up a senior editor or the editor-in-chief at People magazine and read off to them a specific, written-out official statement from Palin about what a bad father Levi Johnston is and how little he cares about his child and how irresponsible he is and how Bristol now realizes that it was a mistake ever to be involved with him. There is a cold, calculating maliciousness in that — and the fact that it was People magazine, which I'm guessing is the highest circulation celebrity/gossip magazine in the country makes that cold calculating aspect even more obvious.

You don't do something like that on impulse out of a misguided emotional concern for your child. This was an extremely hurtful thing to do to both Levi and Bristol — and I repeat, Levi is essentially nothing more than a vulnerable, hurting, confused kid. He's a KID, flailing out, trying to defend himself and his family, the way a kid would, not thinking about the best, most mature way to do that. For Palin to deliberately and publicly humiliate and hurt Levi and her daughter, which I believe is what she did, is inexcusable. It doesn't make her a monster or evil, but it is reprehensible.

When you say I 'lost you' about using bigoted terms like “white trash” do you mean your conceding that point, that that shouldn't be acceptible political discourse?

No, because I never argued or implied that it was. Maybe I'm missing something. Did Shaun call someone “white trash” in his post?