Republican « Sarah Baram

September 21, 2010

Never, Ever Lie

Talk about irony. There are not moments like this, at least not often enough, where a candidate for a Government position gets themselves mixed in to such a comical sort of mess. The influxes of video clips that have been floating through the media this week and last are hysterical. They create that sort of picture you do not often see about a political candidate. You know, their bedroom practices, or those shady characters they hung around with after high school biology. That sort of thing. Then again, none other than Sarah Palin supports Christine O’Donnell… So who wouldn’t expect something a little nutty?

If you have not seen these viral video clips, well, take a gander:

Now, what have you learned?

1. AIDS comes from sexual relations outside of marriage.

2. Masturbation takes away the necessity of pleasing each other. Why play with someone else when you can play alone?

3. Masturbation is adultery… Why? Because it is lustful.

And, what else?

1. You can dabble in witchcraft.

2. A good date can involve a satanic alter… Picnic included.

By the way, there are twenty-two episodes with clips featuring Christine O’Donnell from Bill Maher’s Politically Incorrect that promise this same type of goodness.

Of course, these clips are all good and fun, as they do not reveal much about O’Donnell politically. Even O’Donnell has taken to laughing at her witchcraft related remarks. Could these clips even hurt O’Donnell’s campaign goals? Well, probably not.

2 comments

July 20, 2010

What Bristol Palin Says About American Families… And ‘Mama Grizzlies’

Two years ago Bristol Palin was an irresistible voice for teenage pregnancy. She followed in the steps behind her mother, Sarah Palin, supporting her candidacy as a vice presidential nominee. At 17 years old, she was vibrant, and looked like what a stereotypical teen should look like; she was realistic, yet pregnant. The McCain camp never tried to hide Bristol’s pregnancy, or her rugged self proclaimed “fuckin’ redneck” fiancé either; it was just a fact that the Republican nominee for vice president had a young pregnant daughter. That fact then became the notion that the Palin family was just like modern families today, suffering all the traditional woes of teens engaging in sexual intercourse improperly. Forget angst, where are the condoms?

Then something happened. Barack Obama won the presidency, and before the American public knew it, Sarah Palin resigned as Governor of Alaska. Then? Bristol Palin left home, with Tripp of course, but without Levi… Tripp’s father.

The young Palin is now coming in to her own as a sort of media necessity. But, it did not start that way. It began with Bristol Palin working with the Candie’s Foundation to tell teens that teen pregnancy does have negative consequences, despite what they may think. Now, Palin is simply on a speaker’s circuit. The cost of her coming is horribly steep: $15,000 to $30,000.

Now Bristol Palin, Levi Johnson and the young Tripp have graced the cover of Us Weekly. This time they are not speaking out against teenage pregnancy, or engaging in safe sexual practices. Instead, they were announcing their engagement to the world. And by world, they were announcing the engagement to everyone for the first time, even their parents. Needless to say, this cover story was a bold move, even immature and distasteful.

The traditional engagement, most often involves the father and mother of the soon to be possible bride giving the man asking her hand permission to propose to their daughter. Then comes the proposal, and the frantic phone calls to each family member to say “We’re getting married!” So far, Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston have shown us they are not forging on the traditional route, but another one. A route much less traveled, and much more publicized.

For Levi Johnston this media move does not say much different about him than we already know. We have heard him publicly bash the Palin family, then apologize, and we have even seen him sprawled out in the nude for Playgirl. Of all the things Levi Johnston has partaken in these past two years, this may be the most mild, yet still a whirlwind in the media journey of a young man.

But for Bristol, this says something much different about her than the norm. And not just about her, but her mother too. With the recent ‘Mama Grizzlies’ campaign and Bristol Palin’s unwillingness to reveal her engagement to her mother out of fear of her reaction, should ‘Mama Grizzlies’ forewarn us of mean conservative mothers instead of mother’s protective of their “cubs”?

The fear Bristol Palin has of her mother shows us something. The Palin family may resemble an every day family, but why is Bristol Palin that scared? Is there a side of Sarah Palin that the American public is missing out on? Bristol Palin said of the wide reveal and her mother: “It is intimidating and scary just to think about what her reaction is going to be. Hopefully she will jump on board.” Then came this statement from Todd and Sarah Palin both: “Bristol at 19 is now a young adult. We obviously want what’s best for our children. Bristol believes in redemption and forgiveness to a degree most of us struggle to put in practice in our lives.”

Maybe the ‘Mama Grizzlies’ campaign should stay a political thing, and be pushed from the relationship it could have within the Palin family. But personally, I think Bristol Palin’s move to go straight to the media with her engagement and not her family first is enlightening.

Now, the rumors are that Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston are shopping reality shows. Their rep is denying this rumor, but wouldn’t it make sense? Sarah Palin went from Governor of Alaska to a Fox commentator. If the apple does not fall far from the tree then Bristol may be pushing the same career path as her infamous and much sought after mother.

If the rekindled romance is fact, and not a stunt, then a ‘Best of Luck’ is in order for the young couple that due to statistics may suffer a failed marriage. We have seen the couple crash and burn once before, correct? And the burning was so awful. Who knows, maybe this time things will be different especially with Bristol Palin’s fantastic ability to forgive.

10 comments

May 18, 2010

Got Diversity?

At fifteen years old, I chose to take a fusion class of American History and American Literature known as American Studies. In a touch of modest irony, the class involved much more than American Culture, it was a fusion of all those cultures that have come to serve as the foundation of the United States of America. I found the course enlightening, and did not understand why so little of my classmates had opted to take the course. It taught me much more than an appreciation of our country’s history and it’s literature. American Studies taught me that the United States truly is that melting pot you learn about in elementary school, and that our country is founded on a mutually understanding of diversity and respect for that diversity.
Now, back to Arizona, and their ever so knowledgeable Jan Brewer. Something tells me she went to a school headed by those with a very small mind, and narrow perspective.

What is her newest bill? Arizona House Bill 2281. This down to earth winner prohibits ethnically biased classes. In other words, if a class concerns one race, it is prohibited from being taught. Here is the breakdown, courtesy of 2281:

-       Promote the overthrow of the United States government.

-       Promote resentment toward a race or class of people.

-       Are designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group.

-       Advocate ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals.

Sadly, this bill is nothing new in Arizona. State school chief, and attorney general candidate, Tom Thorne has been pushing the bill for years. Thorne believes classes concerning other ethnicities and cultures harbored a type of “ethnic chauvinism” and taught students that whites, in the United States, are responsible for suppressing minorities. What a backwards way of justifying prohibiting classes that teach diversity. Thoughts, anyone? I taste irony.

One might understand a bill such as this passing if it had some basis in reality. Yes, various school districts in Arizona do offer classes and programs geared towards African-Americans, Latinos, Asians, and Native Americans. These classes teach students the history and literature of different races and cultures, but successfully manage to relate the class’s subject matter back to American history, giving it a sort of American perspective. Where is the chauvinism?

This bill does have a clear and present target seen in a Tucson Unified School District, with a particular aim at the Mexican American Studies Department. As the program claims, however, it relies on hegemony as a basis of its creation.

It baffles me, personally, that a sane person could sit down and willfully sign away a student’s right to education. A student will gain from knowing mathematical equations, they will gain with an expanded vocabulary, and a student will gain tremendous amounts if they are well versed in the many cultures that come to stitch our country together. Signing away a student’s right to that type of education merely signs away part of their right to appreciate the diversity living within their home country.

After Jan Brewer’s second controversial bill in the past month, it is safe to say: Jan Brewer, you must be a racist with an agenda and a transparent Trojan horse. I feel that is far from judgmental, clearly this woman is using her spot to put down minorities, primarily Mexicans, right to live in America, and the right of students to learn about the different cultures of minorities, particularly Mexican culture and history.

Governor Jan Brewer’s bill has not been enforced with a proper and vocal bashing. The United Nations human rights experts expressed a great deal of concern sprouting from Arizona’s new educational reform. They believe what all other opposing people do:

“The state superintendent of schools, the primary state official who promoted this legislation, has repeatedly stated that the law is aimed at eradicating particular existing ethnic studies programs that provide instruction featuring the history, social dynamics, and cultural patterns of Mexican-Americans in the United States.

‘The independent experts noted that “such law and attitude are at odds with the State’s responsibility to respect the right of everyone to have access to his or her own cultural and linguistic heritage and to participate in cultural life. Everyone has the right to seek and develop cultural knowledge and to know and understand his or her own culture and that of others through education and information.”

Eugene Robinson, a brilliant writer from The Washington Post, brings up a great point that remained virtually untouched by other media outlets. Does this law then, in turn, abolish the ability to teach basic history?

“More than half the students in the Tucson Unified School District are Latino, the great majority of them Mexican-American. The land that is now Arizona once belonged to Mexico. Might teaching that fact “promote resentment” among students of Mexican descent? What about a class that taught students how activists fought to end discrimination against Latinos in Arizona and other Western states? Would that illegally encourage students to resent the way their parents and grandparents were treated?”

There is clearly a basket of unresolved issues present in Arizona. It is true that certain parts of Arizona are suffering from illegal immigrants, but not to the extent of deserving the newest immigration law. There is also no uncertainty in my mind, and many other’s that educational reform is entirely unneeded and just another bigoted move.

6 comments

April 26, 2010

Confessions of an Unregistered Voter

I have been called a liberal. I have been called a Democratic. I have been called a Republican. I have also been called every variation thereof, even variations that sprinkle nasty words before and after the specific party chosen in the sentence. These words sometimes include the following: misinformed, stupid, dumb, naïve, young, and blah, blah, blah.

I am two of those things: young and sometimes naïve, therefore, I have strayed the path and decided it not best for me to associate myself with a particular political party at this juncture in my life. I am in no whereabouts to say exactly what I believe, I’ll admit… I just do not know enough.

Yes, my publicly provided education has gifted me with some insight of the inner political workings of the United States. But, the media has also handed me articles, upon articles of untrustworthy politicians and those who just want to wage a war… On anyone or anything that disagrees with their ideals. So, where does that leave my twenty-year old, politically confused self?

Unregistered.

There once was a time when I was a registered voter. The afternoon I turned eighteen, my parents brought me to register, and to obtain an American passport. I stood in our town hall’s lobby and checked ‘Independent’ on the voter registration card. It seemed easy enough, it meant not affiliation with either party, I could be no one but myself, and it seemed fail proof.

That right of passage took place in 2007, almost one full year before the 2008 Barack Obama, John McCain Presidential election. It also took place, almost down to the day, one year before the day I would move from my home state to another. For two months I was without a permanent mailing address. College dormitories do not count as permanent residencies, I was told.

On November 4^th, 2008, I missed both my first opportunity to vote and the ability to have voted in a milestone type election. I missed voting for either a Democratic black Presidential candidate, or a typical white Presidential candidate unusually accompanied by a woman Vice Presidential candidate.

Now, almost two years later, I remained unregistered and undecided on a political party. I know what you must be thinking. I should just check ‘Independent’ once again, and give myself the ability to vote for every which party. But, why? Why should I rush in to something I just cannot commit to? I am not rushing to getting married, or to bear a child, so why rush this too? I refuse, not until I can name every last belief I hold.

Until then, this is what I have shakily decided on so far:

I am pro-choice, it is always a woman’s right to choose whether or not she would prefer to carry her child to term or abort the fetus before it is too developed. That right should never be infringed upon by anyone on the local, state or federal level.

I believe in allowing homosexual males and females to engage in marriage. This including the ability to adopt children, obtain occupational benefits and visit one another if one is in the hospital. Overall, I believe a gay couple should be given every last one of the same rights a straight couple benefits from… Even divorce.

I do not believe in welfare, and at the very least would like it restricted. Social Security also creates a problem for me. I have watched my Father work very hard at his job, and earn a considerable fortune that has allowed us to live the lifestyle that we do. Being so proud of his accomplishments, I do not personally enjoy knowing that the taxes he must pay on his salary go towards programs that often fund those who abuse them.

I have now been of voting age for two years, and been unregistered for one. I have found some political stance, but not enough of one to affiliate myself with an entire political party. Since the day I have been of age to vote, I must say, I have made a journey out of deciding where I lie politically. From attending now President Barack Obama’s inauguration, to political forums and even a rally every now and then I rest assured that I am sure to land on something… At some point.

5 comments

Tag: Republican