Liberalguy

Sarah Palin Ought to be a Feminist Heroine
By Heather Robinson (bio)

An interesting element of liberals’ and the mainstream media’s reactions to Sarah Palin is the way they attack her for the very things–such as balancing a high-powered career and her obligations as a mother, daughter, and sister–that feminists would normally champion.

According to the AP, Palin has charged the state of Alaska taxpayers over $20,000 for her three daughters to travel with her to attend some state functions.

How scandalous! Here we have, like “Troopergate,” an “investigation” by Queens and Kings of Small Things. In both cases, Palin broke no laws. And in both cases, she appears to have done nothing lacking in common sense or decency, except in the minds of complete partisans and small-minded nitpickers. How else to explain their failure to see, in either case, the big picture, or understand the significance of multiple considerations?

It is obvious that this Wooten character (the Alaska state trooper) desperately needs to be fired. Can anyone actually argue with a straight face that this man, who repeatedly violated highway safety laws, used a taser on a child, etc., ought to be entrusted with policing others? The fact that Palin’s family’s tribulations reinforce exactly the picture of this bad actor that his state trooper’s record does should not be held against Palin. The job of any leader is first and foremost to protect the public safety; the man is clearly a serious liability to his department and a threat to public safety. Had Palin failed to do all she legally could to get him canned she would have been remiss. It appears the reason he is still on the job is that we live in a world where virtually no union employee can be fired for any reason.

Give that Wooten allegedly threated Palin’s father and intimidated her sister, and Palin did what she could to protect not only the public safety but also her family against a man who sounds verbally abusive and reckless, ought to make her a heroine to feminists. But alas, abortion rights trump protection of not only the unborn but the born in their value system. Personally, I am pro-choice (with some reservations about abortion-on-demand), and don’t agree with Palin’s absolutist position on the issue. But it troubles me that so few feminists or liberals of any stripe seem to consider this woman fairly, or to evaluate her record or her actions with any sense of proportion.

As far as travel expenses for her children, people–especially liberal feminists–ought to be embarrassed to criticize her for wanting to be with her children and for spending what amounts to a pittance of taxpayer money to do so, compared to the millions she saved Alaska by selling the Governor’s private jet.

Let’s employ some sense of proportion in evaluating this Governor and VP candidate.