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Sarah Palin

This is my first posting ever that will comment on Sarah Palin. I never jumped on the bandwagon of “crap on Sarah because it’s easy” when it rolled through the blogosphere and even the mainstream media to an extent, because I just didn’t see the point. From the moment she was picked to be McCain’s running mate I thought,  “well, she has a folksy down-home way about her when public speaking, but she’s risen to high office in her state of Alaska, which isn’t exactly known for being progressive, so there must be something about her character and capabilities that most people just weren’t seeing.”

And as the campaign went on I found much more interesting–and important–issues to focus on between the candidates far removed from Palin’s shopping or winking habit.

But today I believe there is something about Sarah that’s worth mentioning, at least as long as she’s going to continue to be in the public eye and dialogue–it’s that she’s a quitter. And just like the unknown character traits I assumed she had early on to help her rise to power in Alaska, this is a character trait as well, and it’s worth talking about because there are young women in this country looking up to Sarah Palin right now… which means there are young women in this country admiring and celebritizing a quitter.

To be clear, I’m not judging Palin by any means. Some people stick out their commitments no matter what, and some people don’t; and in either case it’s the person’s right to follow their own path. So, I don’t think it’s fair to judge someone for their chosen path.

But I do think it’s absolutely fair for one’s actions to dictate whether or not they are viewed as a worthy role model–and while I admit that I’m slower than most to change with the times, I just find it hard to believe that so much has changed that the majority might find quitting to be an acceptable trait in the people our children are looking up to these days.

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