The Right Change, but a Steep Price

I have mused over the Barack Obama campaign message focused on change. The more I read of the things he wants to change, the more I believe that we spent 45 years from the end of WWII until 1990 fighting the 'changes' he is putting forward. Mainly his change is to turn the US into a socialist society. While I would be the first to admit that change is needed in the way our country is run, he is going exactly the opposite direction of where we need to be. More government is not the answer. It never will be. Our current need is for statesmen (not politicians) to come forward with ideas to lead America. Which reminds me of a cartoon I saw recently.


I was very surprised last week at John McCain's announcement that he had selected Gov. Sarah Palin (R. - Alaska) to be his vice presidential running mate. I had hoped for Mitt Romney as he is probably the smartest and most qualified person to really change America for the better of any candidate from any party since Ronald Reagan. He is also an adequately fiscal and social conservative. When I read up on Gov. Palin's background I was relatively impressed and felt she represented the type of change needed -- not a Washington insider, someone willing to buck the status quo to effect change, one with true conservative values.

The one thing that bothered me most about Gov. Palin, was one of the things that I admired about her credentials. She is a mother of five children. She understands intimately the issues and challenges facing families in today's world. One of those challenges involves mothers 'being there' for their children as they grow up. This, unfortunately, is a paradox that faces families in modern society. Most people with family values are so busy with their family obligations that they don't have time to participate in the political forum.

And as a society, we need more active participation from them.

This paradox was illustrated vividly with the revelation over the weekend that Gov. Palin's teenage daughter, Bristol, is pregnant. While in most respects it is not the public's business, it does show the price that is paid by families where the mother is involved heavily in activities outside the home. I don't know what type of mother Gov. Palin has been. By all accounts she is very attentive to her family and strives to teach them correct principles. Yet I wonder if this situation would have been different with a mother in the home full time.

Again, it is a paradox that has no easy answer. We need more Sarah Palin's in public service. We need more Sarah Palin's at home with their children.