POLITICS: ZONE OF PRIVACY?

Does it matter that Sarah Palin’s teenage daughter got knocked up by a high school hockey stud? Should we be concerned that her husband got busted on a DIU charge way back when he was 22? Did Sarah really pressure an underling to fire her wife beating former brother in law from the Alaska State Police force? I really don’t know how much weight these things will have on the way people decide how to cast their votes in November. But at the very least they’re interesting. It brings big shot politicians down to my level, a dude who’s far from perfect and comes from a family that’s great, but abundant with black sheep and not anything like the folks on the Donna Reed Show.

Here’s what I think about Sarah’s family problems: Hey, they’re handling the daughter’s pregnancy with maturity, love and support for young Bristol and her boyfriend. I do wonder about Sarah’s constant preaching about public schools just teaching abstinence as a form of birth control. I assume that’s what Sarah has been telling her daughters for years. But, heck, it didn’t work in Bristol’s case. At the same rate, the girl is not getting an abortion and says she will marry the baby’s father. You may agree or not with Sarah’s values, but at least Bristol is adhering to her parents’  “right to life” beliefs.

I don’t have much to say about her husband’s arrest for drunken driving. It’s wrong to drive under the influence. But it happened a long time ago and, as far as I know, the guy’s been a pretty good dude since then.

Did Sarah really try to get her scumbag former brother in law fired? It’s being investigated and maybe she acted wrongly. But I can understand why she would be pissed off at this guy who beat up her sister.

Does any of this make any difference as to how I will vote in November? No. At least not from what I know now. I won’t tell you what I think about Sarah’s political views. Suffice it to say that, from a political viewpoint I’m not crazy about Mc Cain, Sarah, Obama or Biden. I do identify with them as human beings who face various personal and family problems like we all do.

Good kids, like Sarah’s daughter, who sometimes go astray? Been there, done that.

McCain’s roving eye and divorce after he got out of a Vietnamese dungeon? His wife’s problems with prescriptions drugs and her recovery? Don’t we all know people who’ve gone through that?

Obama’s childhood as the son of a single mom, his wild teenage years? Sounds like a lot of people I know.

Maybe it’s a good thing that the media reports on these things. It brings politicians down a few knotches.

They may complain about loss of privacy, but, right or wrong, that goes with the territory when you seek high public office. As for me, at least in these cases, these problems makes me feel empathy for Sarah, Mc Cain and Obama as human beings who make mistakes and deal with family crisis just like we all do, even though I may not like their politics. Regarding Biden, I haven’t heard much about his private life. I’m sure it’s just a matter time.