Darth Fedora wrote:I agreed with Portia on this one.
That’s too bad, Darth.
Last night I had an interesting discussion with my wife about Sarah Palin. I told her that someone had asked the 100 Hour Board what they thought about Sarah Palin.
“What did the 100 Hour Board say?†she asked.
“Well, one writer was in support of Sarah Palin, and two were not.†[Checking today I see that there were actually three who were not. My mistake.]
Her eyes got wide. “Why would a BYU student not support Sarah Palin?â€
“I don’t remember what one of the negative ones said, but as I recall Portia found certain things Sarah Palin believed were incompatible with Portia’s personal beliefs.â€
“Like what, for heavens sake?â€
“According to Portia, Sarah Palin believes that abortion should not be legal even in the case of rape, and that goes against the teachings of the LDS church. Furthermore that women in Wasilla had to pay for rape kits, and that Sarah Palin thought invading Russia is a great idea.†[In point of fact Portia said: “I find her stances on abortion (she does not believe it should be legal even in cases of rape--a position I do not find to be compatible with the teachings of the LDS church for starters; also, women in Wasilla had to pay for rape kits), war (yeah, I'm sure invading Russia is a great idea), and the economy (and she contradicts herself in the course of one paragraph!) to be incompatible with my personal beliefs.â€]
“Where do they get this garbage from?†she asked me.
“Well, Portia did give some sources, like opinions in liberal newspapers such as the San Francisco Chronicle, and the Huffington Report.â€
“The Huffington Post? Doesn’t she know that sources like that are totally unreliable? You can’t believe anything they say. They misrepresent the truth. They are disingenuous, to say the least. They are horribly biased, and unreliable. Isn’t there some way you can write a rebuttal?â€
“Well, I could write a comment, which may or may not get published. And I could write a response in the discussion board, but I’m not sure how many people would see that.â€
“I think you should write a letter to BYU asking that Portia be fired. If this is the quality of her answers…. If this is the kind of sources she uses…. I believe in reading both sides of the issue, but then you should give an unbiased report.â€
“Well, you know, they aren’t exactly hired by BYU….â€
“Yes, I know, but they represent BYU.â€
“They state that they don’t represent BYU….â€
“Yes, but they
do!â€
“It sounds to me that Sarah Palin’s views on abortion are the same as those of Spencer W. Kimball,†my wife went on a few minutes later. “Sure, President Kimball made allowances for abortion in cases of rape, but you can tell by the way he counseled us that he opposed it even then. ‘Wouldn’t it be better to give that baby a life?’ he asked.â€
“That does sound like Sarah Palin’s view,†I said. “She was asked that if her daughter was raped would she make an exception to abortion. Sarah Palin replied that she ‘would choose life.’ She made it clear that if Roe vs. Wade were overthrown that it would be up to the people in her state to decide on the law. But her personal belief was like that of Spencer W. Kimball.â€
“And that thing about the women paying for the rape kits is just a media lie,†my wife went on. “The truth is that it was the rapists who had to pay for the tests, not the victims.â€
“Really? I hadn’t heard that.â€
“Oh yes. I’ve heard that from a number of sources. The truth has just been twisted and distorted in some reports.â€
“And what’s this about Palin thinking invading Russia is a great idea?†my wife quizzed me. “That sounds ridiculous.â€
“Well, according to the source Portia gave, Palin said that she favors making Georgia a NATO country. When asked if that didn’t mean the United States might have to go to war with Russia then Palin responded with “perhaps so.†Palin said that when you have a NATO ally, and another country attacks that ally, then you can expect to be called upon to help.â€
“Of course!†my wife exclaimed. “How else can you answer that question? ‘Ah, go ahead Russia and attack our NATO allies, because we aren’t going to do anything about it?’â€
Well, the conversation went on for some time more, until my wife said, “I’m really, really upset by this.†And I could tell she was. Her hands were shaking, and there were tears in her eyes. My wife hardly ever cries.