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Sarah Palin's speech was brilliant!
Sarah Palin's speech was brilliant!
"This is a man who can give an entire speech about the wars America is fighting, and never use the word "victory" except when he's talking about his own campaign. But when the cloud of rhetoric has passed ... when the roar of the crowd fades away ... when the stadium lights go out, and those Styrofoam Greek columns are hauled back to some studio lot - what exactly is our opponent's plan?"
Sarah Palin September 2, St. Paul, MN
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19 comments:
I dread to think that some people do not grasp that we fight wars to win. Its just too tragic a cost.
No kidding!!! Oh we were so wowed last night!
Running off to the Republican headquarters in town with my sleeves rolled up!
Hugs!
Ebeth
I agree. I was able to stream most of the evening's activities via my local news affiliate. I thought she was cool, articulate, and downright classy. I'm actually going to call the county GOP hq this morning to try to get some signs for my yard - the first time I have ever done such a thing.
The remark about the Greek columns made me laugh so hard. Just like Obama those columns look good from the outside but have no substance on the inside.
Idaho, Alaska and the USA can be very,very proud.
Adrienne, your blog has been one of my favorites. Your series on the 12 steps was brilliant.
But I think you should know that between masses I start my day with the "Office of Readings" followed by the meditation from "Word Among Us". Then I read through a series of carefully selected Catholic blogs (yours among them) for further inspiration. I do not read a newspaper, I never watch TV, especially the "news".
Adrienne, something has gone wrong with this plan. You know that the church and politics are incompatible -- I've included the early church's perspective in my comments before. Yet recently your blog suddenly has become "too busy trying to make God's Church a wholly owned subsidiary of the morally bankrupt Party of Mammon" (quoting another respected blogger near and dear to both of us). (For fairness, it is important to observe that in the USA there are two such parties, equal enough that only the most incisive theologian ever could hope to tell them apart.)
Your gushing over an irresponsible female politician who played Russian roulette with her children's lives and lost twice is most disturbing. It seems the only Catholic value which she has upheld was the prohibition against abortion -- and she did so only after injuring that child. And yet you have given much space on your "Catholic Corner" to praising this sinner.
Adrienne, I hope you can be persuaded to spurn politics and rejoin religion. The Catholic church has need of your mind.
Irene, please explain to us how she injured her child. If you mean that there was something she did during pregnancy that resulted in Down Syndrome, then you are mistaken. It is a chromosone abnormality that occurs at conception. As for the Church and politics, the sacrament of Baptism imparts on us the requirement to be priest, prophet and king. As I see it, a prophet is to proclaim the Good News. To be happy and blog about a national figure in the United States who finally will stand up and be unequivocal about the dignity of human life, in words AND actions, is something certainly worth being happy to proclaim.
Wow, I have Irene seems to have some information that the rest of us aren't privy to regarding Sarah Palin's private life. Where is this information coming from?
As for the Church and politics -- the idea that the Church's principles and ideas have no place in the public square is a direct repudiation of such Catholic authorities as Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Leo XIII, John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul I, and John Paul II. We are called to live the Gospel in all aspects of our lives. And that includes our lives as citizens.
As for Adrienne's initial post, I think that Palin's nomination is very good news -- and her speech was magnificent. She hit just the right tone and projected the exact persona she needed to protect. She showed style -- and she showed that she was Alaska tough!
I wouldn't be surprised if Adrienne put comment mod on and then deleted stupid comments.
rjw --
(1) Certainly. It is well known (at least in medical circles) that as a woman ages, the proportion of defective eggs in her ovaries increases -- especially towards the end of her fertility. Therefore, after the age of 40, if a woman becomes pregnant, the child is very likely to be disabled/handicapped. Down's syndrome is a common and poignant example of this. Ms. Palin choose to become pregnant after the age of 40 (pro-choice, right?). Therefore, she played a form of Russian roulette with her last child, and the child indeed was injured. While not aborting him and choosing to care for him for the rest of her life are admirable by themselves, the first choice was immoral.
(2) Indeed all Catholics are absolutely required to proclaim the Good News. This is not the definition of a prophet, or a priest, or a king; calling yourself by one of those titles not only would be arrogant, it would be in direct contradiction of Catholic teaching (unless you have been ordained or crowned).
(3) Talking the talk is not the same as walking the walk. According to the media, Ms. Palin does oppose abortion. However, she does not support any other Catholic values -- why should she? She is not and does not claim to be Catholic.
mark in spokane --
(1) I have absolutely zero personal knowledge of Ms. Palin's "private life". Everything I know about her is hearsay which the media have rather pushed at me. For the record, I do not consider hearsay to be admissable evidence.
(2) I never said that "the Church's principles and ideas have no place in the public square". I totally agree that "We are called to live the Gospel in all aspects of our lives." What I did was to quote the early church: "Quid est imperatori cum ecclesia?" In other words, politics and the church do not mix. While it is true that some later Catholics chose to forget this principle, I choose to follow the example of St. Francis.
adrienne --
Again, please return to dealing with the church, and leave the world to those who are of the world.
Irene,
Are you saying that Palin should have actively undertaken efforts to make sure she didn't become pregnant? How could such an action be concordant with the teaching of the Church in Humanae Vitae and Casti Connubi?
Also, the Church has an obligation to speak out on political issues and to address questions of justice in the social and political spheres. When confronted by the slaughter of unborn children -- a slaughter that the Democratic Party applauds and seeks to subsidize through taxpayer funding -- the Church must speak out, must teach, and must discipline.
Gee, good thing that St. Elizabeth didn't say no to having a child in her old age. And really good that Abraham and Sarah worked with God's plan too.
"the child is very likely to be disabled/handicapped."
How about some stats? All you've done is make a sweeping generalization.
And my grandma was only 35 when she had my uncle who had Down's - she was NOT over 40.
Irene
If you noticed, I purposely did not capitilize the words priest, prophet and king. To do so would imply ordination or coronation. None the less, the Catechism states:
1267 Baptism makes us members of the Body of Christ: "Therefore . . . we are members one of another." Baptism incorporates us into the Church. From the baptismal fonts is born the one People of God of the New Covenant, which transcends all the natural or human limits of nations, cultures, races, and sexes: "For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body."
1268
The baptized have become "living stones" to be "built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood." By Baptism they share in the priesthood of Christ, in his prophetic and royal mission. They are "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, that [they] may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called [them] out of darkness into his marvelous light." Baptism gives a share in the common priesthood of all believers.
Therefore, I maintain my original premise regarding our duties as Catholic Christians.
As for her injuring her child, I have a nephew with holoproencepholy, caused by a chromosone defect. His mother was 31. It can happen to anyone. As the MSM has quite ably reported during the alleged "Bristol is Trig's mother" story, 90% of Down Syndrome childeren are born to mothers under 40.
Her speech was very impressive full of substance.
I loved the part where she disected obamagod's plan for his presidency.
I heart Sarah Palin and her family.
"[W]hat exactly is our opponent's plan?"
Well, I know more the name Obama than about Obama's policy plans on any given thing. Except, of coarse, a strong proponent of abortion on demand. So much so I think he would have one himself just to appease his party.
Irene - it disturbed quite a bit to have you refer to Mrs. Palin (or any woman over the age of 40) as irresponsible for becoming pregnant. Since we have all existed for all eternity in the mind of God, it seems to me that Sarah Palin was just cooperating in some small way with the will of God. Some of these things are mysteries that will be revealed to us when we pass from this life on earth. Until then we need to place our hope and trust in God.
Fact or fiction:
Children with Down’s syndrome are only born to older parents.
Fiction: 80 % of children with Down’s syndrome are born to women younger than 35. However, the likelihood of having a child with Down’s syndrome does increase with the age of the mother.
It also implies there is “something wrong” with her son. Many Down’s syndrome people lead full and wonderful lives. They have jobs, friends, and are very often able to live on their own.
As to calling Mrs. Palin a sinner. Trust me. I’m probably way more sinful than she is and since I haven’t noticed Jesus running for President (or Vice President), I guess I’ll settle for casting my vote for a plain ‘ol sinner like me.
adrienne -
Please consider that I have significant professional experience in this area. I worked with people with Down's syndrome and other similar issues throughout a long career, and taught medical students and psychiatric residents throughout that career. Furthermore, my sister (3 years younger) has Down's syndrome. So please excuse me if I feel it a bit presumptuous for you to lecture me on the topic.
Your argument that Sarah Palin was "was just cooperating in some small way with the will of God" also is presumptuous. Some 30 years ago my young cousin was killed by a drunk driver. Would you be willing to say that that driver "was just cooperating in some small way with the will of God"? Or more spectacularly, that Hitler "was just cooperating in some small way with the will of God"? That kind of reasoning is called sophistry, and would excuse any evil that ever has been done. Hope and trust in God are certainly needed, but taking chances with other people's lives is called "tempting God".
Your "Fact or Fiction" section suffers from the handicap that isolated statistics are not capable of proving anything. I could respond by completing the statistics, but this is not a medical forum.
"Something wrong" with her son?" No, the son has committed no sin and has done nothing immoral. However, even though he is innocent of any wrong, he and those around him including the community (Catholic principle: the common good) will suffer repeatedly during his life because of his Down's syndrome.
Sin. Of course you and Ms. Palin -- as well as yours truly -- all are sinners. From what I know of you (that is, just what's in your blog) I can't believe you are one of the outstanding sinners of the world -- yes you are a (recovering) alcoholic. But how many people have you killed? How many -- well, it would be rude to list other egregious sins, because I doubt that you have committed any of them. On the other hand, Ms. Palin has played Russian roulette with a human life -- why? I don't know, there well may be mitigating factors, though I would think those would have been publicized. Again, not the most egregious sin I can conceive of -- but it is serious, and well might beat any of yours.
Of course I can't stop you from voting for Ms. Palin, but I hope you will do a lot of serious praying and meditating in your lovely prayer corner about this situation.
Sorry for the long post, but you covered a lot of ground in your comment.
Irene, I cannot for the life of me follow your logic.
I play Russian roulette on a near daily basis. I live in an area that has a highway system that is significantly under sized to handle the capacity of vehicles that travel on a daily basis. Even though I could have stayed home today, I made a choice to venture out to attend Mass and then visit with extended family. Not a very responsible choice given the high incidence of auto accidents in our area. (In fact, a 16 year old was killed two nights ago in the rural part of our area.) Yesterday was worse. I intentionally risked my children's lives by taking them to evening Mass after a day of running to soccer games. We could easily have been injured or killed. My point is that anything we do can have risks. That does not mean we are to stop living our lives. We attempt to make the best decisions we can at any particular moment with the information we are given. It is easy in hindsight to judge whether our actions were right and proper. But that does not change the outcome. We can only continue to move forward, with God's help, to hopefully reach the outcome desired by Him. I certainly appreciate your viewpoints and respect them without agreeing with all of them. As well, I appreciate, respect and defend Adrienne's right to post what she wishes to say on her own blog, whether you, I or anyone else agrees or aproves. Repectfully, Rob
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