I have a suspicion that these decisions are pretty easy for Palin because she feels no actual love for anyone, especially her children. The children are props, not people. I know the type (alas, some of my friends have mothers like this) and besides, look at how she actually treats them.

Which isn't to say that I think her decisions are the wrong ones. I was a little surprised that it's been the supposedly LIBERAL women who are freaking out at the idea that a woman with five kids can be vice president. WTF, people? Palin is the last person who would be able to comfort or care for a family; let her spend her days at the office and leave the job to someone more qualified.

Like life itself, you only get one time around with each of your kids. When all is said and done, when you're old and gray and the kids are grown and gone, there will be the reckening.

There's never only one path, but all paths lead to the reckening. You can distract yourself and lie to yourself every step along the way, but some day in the not too distant future, good or bad, in a moment of quiet, or many moments of quiet, will come the the reckening.

It will reside as truth in your grown child's eyes and its darker regrets will fester in your soul until the day you die.

(Is Todd staying at home? It seems like he's been on the campaign trail with her a lot of the time.)

15 years ago I took the lesser path--easier work, given my qualifications--so I could support my child and my husband, who left us in year three anyway. In middle age, I find myself wondering about my choices. But, maybe the next few years will offer me new opportunities--if not economic ruin.

I don't like Palin--not because she's pursuing her ambitions but because she seems inauthentic, opportunistic, hypocritical, and mean-spirited. If we worked together, I would feel no affinity for her and I wouldn't trust her for any watercooler gossip.

And I do wonder how it would be to have her as V-P when her still-unmarried daughter gives birth in December. And would Todd give up fishing for the next four to eight years or would he stay anchored down in Wasilla with the younger children while Palin, like McCain for so many years, commuted home on weekends?

Sarah Palin's husband Todd is not staying hoe with the children. He and the children are in fact is traveling with Sarah. Why aren't they school. Why isn't one asking this questions? I am so sick of them exploiting their baby. Palin never seem very loving to her children. They are just props

Men and women both want to be "right" in their choices. A couple of generations ago, we didn't have as many choices about fundamental decisions in life, now we do. Thus we have whole new universes to explore in which we can sneer at ourselves or others over the decisions made.

You see, if I make any decision then I want to believe there is some necessity behind it. That makes it easier to accept the (inevitable) downside of my choice. If other people are doing differently, then I want to know that they are either miserable (preferred) or immoral (fall back). That makes me feel better about myself.

"Different strokes for different folks" may sound like a nice slogan, but, if we believe that then we can't especially justify our random decisions except in terms of what we felt like at the time. Life starts to seem pretty meaningless and random after a while if we do that. Much better to obsess over whether we did the "right" thing and pillory others for their "wrong" behavior.

We're considering her for a job, not thinking about marrying her. I mean, I would never vote for that ticket. But, really, from the point of view of a purely selfish potential "employer" isn't ambition over family kind of an advantage (which is why asking about such things during a job interview is illegal)? If we were, say, a law firm, the fact that she'd be burning the midnight oil instead of taking care of her special needs infant or figuring out what to do about her pregnant 17 year old would certainly increase her chances of making partner. (I don't pass judgment on that situation... I'm just comparing another high-pressure job situation. People set their own priorities and then live with the results, and I don't think there's anything inherently unfair about that.)

What we _should_ care about is the fact that she wouldn't really give a damn about policies that would benefit a family in her family's situation, but with fewer financial resources.

Except for the fact that she's fraudulently trading on her mommyhood to make herself sympathetic to the very voters whose interests she would help the least, the mommy issue is a red herring.

I have a suspicion that these decisions are pretty easy for Palin because she feels no actual love for anyone, especially her children.

How can you possibly judge a person's soul like that? Where you a Grand Inquisitor or Puritan Father in a former life?

I mean, geesh, I think she's a lousy candidate and, arguably, a corrupt politician. But you're describing her as a sociopath. I suspect even Mafia chieftans are capable of feeling love for family and friends. Way to overdramatise.

Look, if every woman (if not every human) had the same amount of overweening hubris, matched with an utter lack of self-awareness, qualifications and experience, that Sarah Palin has, they'd ALL be running for high office.

Palin is a freak. A living Tracy Flick who--by virtue of being annointed by GOPAC and for no other reason--has insinuated herself into a place where she has no business being. And I'd say the exact same thing were she a man.

Anyone somehow comparing their situation to hers is doomed to confusion, because she's an irresponsible fool. Not everyone is an irresponsible fool of this magnitude, although, god knows, we try.