There are, obviously, two outrages in her story.  One is that she injured herself and tried to blame an Obama supporter, the second is that he was black.  Her race baiting means that McCain is going to have to be extra careful in the next week and a half, because he cannot afford to let people connect his rhetoric or behavior to this young woman.

Now, in defense of McCain… I have said in the past, that you cannot let the behavior of a candidate’s most extreme supporters reflect on the candidate.  Many crazy things have been posted to YouTube by supporters of Obama.  McCain cannot be held responsible for this young woman’s actions unless he, in any way supported her actions (showing sympathy before the lie was exposed doesn’t count), which I am certain he did not, or if he directly or indirectly incited this kind of behavior from his supporters (that one is up for a debate).  Personally, I don’t think that he has done enough to quell the violent, racist and hateful things shouted at some of his rallies and the rallies of his running mate, but I don’t think that makes him completely culpable here.

I don’t think that a candidate has to apologize for everything that people do in their name (who would have the time), but I do think that McCain needs to (and probably will) make a statement renouncing her actions as she was a volunteer for his campaign.  If he doesn’t, it will be another case of him not doing enough to quell this sort of behavior.

Also, it remains to be seen whether Ashley Todd has mental health problems.  The police are likely to have her examined before she is released.  If she does, then I hope she can get the help she needs.  If she doesn’t, then she is a horrible racist liar and deserves to suffer the full consequences that the law can bring against her.

This week, PETA sent a letter to the ice cream makers, Ben and Jerry’s, urging them to use human milk in their ice cream.  A Ben and Jerry’s spokesman appropriately and snidely replied that “a mother’s milk is best used for her child.”  Now, it doesn’t take a genius to realize that what PETA is doing is pure idiotic grandstanding.  They want you to pay attention to them so that they can berate you for how every lick of that delicious ice cream comes at the terrible price of stealing a cow’s precious milk.  

These self-righteous assholes get up on their high horse, throwing around insane demands and claiming that anyone that doesn’t follow them must hate animals.  Meanwhile, their shelters kill 90% of the animals that come through.  In other words, if you take an animal, even a healthy one, to PETA for adoption, there is a 9 in 10 chance that the animal will never make it out alive.  This rate is much higher than normal “kill” shelters.

Make no mistake, PETA is making a difference.  They are turning people off to the issue of animal cruelty.  It is too easy to see PETA pulling outrageous stunts like the Ben and Jerry’s letter or protests with pointlessly gorey displays and think that all people who care about animals are lunatics.  In PETA’s case, you might be correct in that assumption.  If you care about animals, learn how to tackle these problems in a responsible way and stop grandstanding.

In 1997, new mayor Sarah Palin fired Wasilla police chief Stambaugh. In his budget, he had included funds for rape kits so that the victims would not have to pay for the collection of evidence after a rape. Charlie Fannon, the new police chief and friend and supporter of Sarah Palin decided that he would shave $5000 to $14000 off his annual budget by removing the rape kit money.  For the next three years, Palin stood by as the town charged each rape victim $300 to $1200 for their exams following a rape.  Let me repeat that…

Under Sarah Palin, Wasilla charged RAPE VICTIMS for their rape kits.

The police chief claimed that he didn’t want the tax payers to have to pay for rape kits that most of them weren’t even going to use.  Instead, he wanted to charge the insurance companies.  Here’s one problem with that argument: taxpayers with health insurance pay for their health insurance.  If the cost of the health care provided goes up, so do the insurance premiums.  Here’s another problem: he apparently forgot that working class citizens often have a hard time affording sufficient health insurance (if they have any at all).

Fannon felt so strongly about the subject that in 2000, when the Alaska state legislature passed a bill to require the local governments to pay for the exams, he protested the bill saying that they’d have to find money to pay for it.  That bill was passed to target the one Alaskan municipality that observed this practice… Wasilla.

Now, to be fair, there are other places in the United States where rape victims are still charged.  In North Carolina, three thousand rape victims have to pay to some extent or another every year.  Most places have adopted a much more progressive stance however.  In my home state of Illinois, I’m proud to say that in 2001, an Illinois state senator filed a bill that got passed into state law so that not only are rape kits free, but victims can receive reimbursement for counseling and loss of income as a result of the rape.  His name? Barack Obama.

Now I ask you.  How does charging for rape kits fall under the Republican party’s self-proclaimed focus on “family values”?  Perhaps her views and lack of compassion or decency are not typical of the party, but they’re the ones who put her out there as the Vice Presidential nominee.  All I know is this… those aren’t the values of my family.

AlaskaReport article that most facts were taken from, though you will see them repeated across the web: Life begins at rape… ask Mayor Sarah Palin

Maybe I’m reading too much into this, but if your political party affiliation ever comes before your duty to the country and to your fellow citizens, you have serious problems.  I know it was probably meant as a line to show that the Republican party is committed to helping out people in need, but I think it expresses the reason that our country is so screwed up right now.  The people in the path of a hurricane don’t care about what hat you’re wearing.

Before he was president, Reagan spent 8 years as the Governor of California.  He then took a break for two years before taking office as president.  Before he was governor?  Mostly acting.  He was president of the Screen Actors Guild for a few 1 year terms.  High qualifications to be president?  Maybe not.

Obama, on the other hand, spent 12 years teaching constitutional law at the University of Chicago.  Then he spent 11 years at a law firm specializing in civil rights and neighborhood economic development.  These times overlap with eachother slightly and also include his 7 years in the Illinois State Senate.  Now he is closing in on 4 years in the United States Senate.

I realize that people who harp on experience are only doing it because they think it will win them the election.  Here’s a tip: every other serious contender for the Democratic nomination also accused him of being inexperienced.  Look where that got them.