Pageant Hair? Really?

Although I am critical of Sarah Palin as a candidate for vice president, I find it exciting the Republicans will actually have a woman running as a vice presidential candidate.

And while I hesitate to comment on anyone woman politician's appearance, because I think that we are too obsessed with looks when we should be concerned with character, values, and what they're going to do as a leader, I just can't keep quiet any more.

Someone get the woman a stylist and get rid of that pageant hair! Even when she WAS in the pageant system, her hair was shorter and more contemporary. (Well, for the 1980s, anyway.)

Governor Palin dresses very well (except, perhaps, for that fur), but the hair is in a time warp and has to change.

Please, McCain campaign, I'm sure there are plenty of talented Republican hair stylists who would be delighted to update her look....

I Supported Hillary Clinton, and you, Sarah Palin, Are No Hillary

If Sarah Palin (seen here sporting a fur collar!) thinks that she is going to get Hillary Clinton's supporters to vote for John McCain because she is a woman vice presidential candidate, she has another thing coming.

If she thinks that those 18 million people voted for Hillary because she was a woman, she really needs to read up on Hillary Clinton.

People voted for Hillary for the same reason that that people voted for Barack Obama: because they're fed up with how things are. Both candidates offered solid, sensible, workable (although not easy) long-term solutions. Although they differed somewhat, their vision is the same: to end the war in Iraq, to bring affordable health care to every American, to end our dependence on foreign fuel sources, to stop global warming and save our Earth, and to end discrimination of all kinds, to improve education for every child, to restore our cred with the rest of the world, and to restore our standing as the greatest nation in the world.

We are disappointed, of course, that Hillary came in second, and a little disappointed that she is not the vice presidential candidate. But having Barack Obama as the candidate instead of Hillary Clinton is like having Tom Seaver pitching instead of Roger Clemens. Yes, thank you.

So if Sarah Palin thinks she's anything like Hillary Clinton, she has another thing coming.

Oh, wait! There is one way they are the same! They both know what it is like to be the subject of a criminal investigation. The difference is, of course, Hillary Clinton wasn't investigated for improper conduct while in public office.

Good luck, Sarah trying to get those votes: you're going to need it.

Obama for President

I just finished watching Barack Obama deliver his stirring acceptance speech for the nomination as the Democrats' candidate for president in the fall election.

I am a firm and steadfast Hillary Clinton supporter. I think she would be beyond outstanding as president. But there is no doubt in my mind that Barack Obama is just as outstanding.

Not only is he smart, well-grounded, and confident, he has the ability to renew the hope in people, and inspire them to go out and work to make this country fulfill its potential. In 1992 Bill Clinton had that vision, and he almost succeeded, in spite of the constant barrage of attacks from a divisive Republican Congress.

Perhaps after generations of career politicians as president, it is time to have someone fresh, less steeped in the political game, to be president. Someone who is more like the "career politicians" were when they started out and were more idealistic and dedicated to public service, before the game wore them down and became the center instead of the country.

It is a shame that George Bush undid what was accomplished in the '90s under Bill Clinton. But if there was any lingering nostalgia for the '80s and the Reagan policies, the Bush Administration with a Republican majority in Congress proved that those policies are not good for the country, but just for certain people.

That is not the promise of America.

Barack Obama said tonight that this campaign has never been about him, but about the people and the desire for change for the better. His vision is big, ambitious, and far-reaching. But why not? Our Founding Fathers envisioned a radical new nation, and didn't even know if it would succeed when they started. But they didn't let doubt stop them, and we are still here, 232 years later.

I cannot be prouder tonight to be a Democrat.

Life goes on long after 64

Paul McCartney wrote, "Will you still need me/will you still feed me/when I'm 64?" Even though 64 seems young (it certainly seemed that way when my mother died at 64 from breast cancer), it echoes the reality of aging.


My dad, who is 78, just got out of surgery today, to remove a couple of lumps from his throat. It may be Hodgkins disease, it may be some other kind of cancer. It may be another type of cancer. It may be isolated to the throat; it may have spread. Right now, all anyone can do is wait for test results, and pray.


When I was 8, I used to walk the three blocks from our house on West Stadium in West Lafayette, Ind., to the corner of Northwestern Ave. (I wasn't allowed to cross it by myself) and wait to meet my dad, walking home from work at Purdue. He always greeted me with a hearty, warm laugh and hug, and patiently listened to me tell him about the minutia of my day.


When I was 26, my dad flew to Minneapolis from Ohio to help me move from one apartment to another. We snapped and snarled all day at each other, and I was relaxed and happy when we were done. My mother remarked, when I told her, "That's because your dad understands that you need to do that. I would have tried to make you feel better, and made things worse."


When I was 34, my dad "gave me away" at my wedding. Just before we started down the pathway of the beautiful formal garden, I was irritable and weepy. He gave me his arm, warm, solid and reassuring, and said just the right thing to make me feel calm and happy.


When our first child was born, he sent flowers -- the same Osiana roses he had asked me to include in my bridal bouquet at my wedding. He followed it up a few days later with a visit, where he sat and sang "Um Ya Ya" to her while he held her as they sat on our patio.

And when we had our daughters baptized, he came for both ceremonies and took photos, singing heartily on all the hymns, even as he declared that he wasn't comfortable darkening the doors of a church any more.


Now my dad is showing signs of aging and mortality, and I'm not ready for it. Maybe I was spoiled, watching my grandparents live well until they were in their 90s. Or, maybe with my mom gone, I'm not ready yet for my dad to get old. I guess I'm just selfish, but this is one time I just don't want to be practical or realistic or pragmatic. I just want to be Daddy's little girl a little longer.