Okay, this is about as disturbing as it gets. I came across this thread on the Democratic Underground website:
Source: AFP
Agence France-Presse
BAGHDAD -- US troops are holding nearly 950 children and teenagers in a military prison at a Baghdad base, some as young as 10, a top commander said Monday.
Brigadier General Michael Nevin of US military police said many of these youngsters, mainly 15, 16 or 17 years of age are illiterate and have been detained for planting bombs and even for "picking up a gun and firefighting."
...
"These juveniles have been involved in something that is perceived as a security threat to Iraq or coalition forces," Nevin told Agence France-Presse during a tour of Camp Cropper.
...
"In January we had around 100 juveniles. Now we have around 950," Nevin said.
...
One of the commanders at Camp Cropper, Lieutenant Colonel Malcolm McMullen, said the juveniles were now part of a wide-ranging educational program launched by the military.
"Many of them come from broken homes with no education," he said.
So, curious as to what type of educational program launched by the military, as I thought it funny this little tibit of information was left out, I came across this:
Fox News did report this week about a military man whose family was murdered, wife and children while he was out working. That's awful, that's terror. When I hear stories like that I do think of the terror the people are experiencing due to this war, but they did have it bad under Sadaam. They're in a catch 22. Iraqi death toll....sm
See link for full article below.
*According to the graph, Iraqi civilians and security forces were killed and wounded by insurgents at a rate of about 26 a day early in 2004, and at a rate of about 40 a day later that year. The rate increased in 2005 to about 51 a day, and by the end of August had jumped to about 63 a day.
Extrapolating the daily averages over the months from Jan. 1, 2004, to Sept. 16 of this year results in a total of 25,902 Iraqi civilians and security forces killed and wounded by insurgents.*
This is not Vietnam. We are not trying to stop communism from spreading (not that I would have agreed with that then). This is supposedly to stop WMD, then to spread democracy to the Iraqi people, and now because there was a connection to al Queda.
The loss of live was tremendous in Vietnam compared to the Iraqi war. If we had lost the number of troops we did in Vietnam, I would be in Washington sitting on the lawn myself.
Not sure this answered your question, you have to explain your question further??
Iraqi terrorist training camps?
Links between Saddam's regime and al-Qaeda, as claimed by the Bush Administration (which formed a crucial part of the WMD justification for the Iraq invasion), were non-existent or exaggerated, according to the report of both the United States Government's 9/11 Commissionand the Pentagon. There was never any real proof of training camps in Iraq. As far as terrorists having been in Iraq at one time or another....it's a middle eastern country.....they were way down toward the bottom of the list of terrorist hang-outs.
Iraqi Soldiers Speak Out in Favor of Murtha
On January 5, 2006, Congressman Murtha held a town hall meeting with Cong. Jim Moran (D-VA 08).
The soldier who asked the first question served in Afghanistan and said that morale among troops is high and that he would gladly serve in Iraq today. His comment was the only one replayed by Fox News the next day.
But the majority of soldiers in attendance spoke out against the current policy. Fox News did not broadcast their remarks.
Here are some excerpts.
John Brumes, Infantry Sgt. US Army:
Everything that the Bush Adminstration told us about that mission in Iraq is absolutely incorrect. Furthermore, I'd like to say ... I came home to no job, no health insurance. Until we take care of this war, we can't take care of the problems that matter like health care.
I've witnessed both ends... Congressman Murtha, I implore you to keep doing what you're doing.
John Powers, Capt. 1st Armored Division, served 12 months in Iraq:
The thing that hits me the most is the accountability. ... Where is the accountability for those men [who took us to war], as well as where is the accountability for Paul Bremmer, who misplaced millions of dollars and claims to keep accountability in the war zone?... I know that if we lost $500 we would be court marshaled. So where is the accountability for this leadership?
Garin Reppenhagen, served as a sniper in Iraq for a year in the First Infantry Division:
My question is also about accountability. The soldiers that you see, Congressman Murtha, at the hospitals... those are my friends. After coming back, being a veteran, my question is why? Why did we go to this war, why the hell did it happen, why are we in this condition. A lot of soldiers are debating whether this war was fraudulent to begin with. And there doesn't seem to be a clear answer. A lot of Americans now are debating the fact over whether or not the war was fraudulent in the first place. How come there hasn't been an investigation on the fraudulent lead up to the war by this Administration?
And 19 Republican senators and a conservative poster crashing this this board think that monsters like this should receive amnesty for killing our soldiers. Unbelievable.
Iraqi colleagues killed U.S. soldiers, military says
SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) -- Two California soldiers shot to death in Iraq were murdered by Iraqi civil-defense officers patrolling with them, military investigators have found.
The deaths of Army Spc. Patrick R. McCaffrey Sr. and 1st Lt. Andre D. Tyson were originally attributed to an ambush during a patrol near Balad, Iraq, on June 22, 2004.
But the Army's Criminal Investigation Command found that one or more of the Iraqis attached to the American soldiers on patrol fired at them, a military official said Tuesday. (Watch a mother's quest for truth -- 1:26)
A Pentagon spokesman knew of no other similar incident, calling it extremely rare.
The Army has conducted an extensive investigation into the deaths but declined to provide details out of respect for relatives of the soldiers, spokesman Paul Boyce said Tuesday evening.
It was unclear whether the investigators had established a motive or arrested any suspects.
The families of McCaffrey and Tyson were to be briefed on the report's conclusions Tuesday and Wednesday by Brig. Gen. Oscar Hilman, the soldiers' commander at the time, and three other officers.
When they come I have my list of questions ready, and I want these answers and I don't want lies, McCaffrey's mother, Nadia McCaffrey, said.
Soldiers who witnessed the attack have told her that two Iraqi patrolmen opened fire on her son's unit. The witnesses also said a third gunman simultaneously drove up to the American unit in a van, climbed onto the vehicle and fired at the Americans, she said.
Nothing is clear. Nothing is clear, she said. Her son was shot eight times by bullets of various calibers, some of which penetrated his body armor, she said. She believes he bled to death.
Nadia McCaffrey has become a vocal critic of the war in Iraq, and said her son had reservations about it, too, though he served well and was promoted posthumously to sergeant.
I really want this story to come out; I want people to know what happened to my son, she said. There is no doubt to me that this (ambushes by attached Iraqi units) is still happening to soldiers today, but our chain of command is awfully reckless; they don't seem to give a damn about what's happening to soldiers.
Iraqi forces who had trained with the Americans had fired at them twice before the incident that killed Patrick McCaffrey, and he had reported it to his superiors, she said.
Boyce said the U.S. military remained confident in its operations with Iraqis.
We continue to have confidence in our operations with Iraqi soldiers and have witnessed the evolution of a stronger fighting army for the Iraqi people, he said.
Patrick McCaffrey joined the National Guard the day after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, his mother said.
Tyson's family could not be located, and a message left with his former unit was not immediately returned.
McCaffrey, 34, and Tyson, 33, were members of the California National Guard. Both were assigned to the Army National Guard's 579th Engineer Battalion, based in Petaluma.
Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-California, pressed the Pentagon for answers about the case when Nadia McCaffrey was unsatisfied by explanations from the military.
Mrs. McCaffrey is set to receive a briefing from Pentagon officials (Wednesday) afternoon in California, during which we hope they will provide her with a full report of the facts surrounding Sgt. McCaffrey's death, said Natalie Ravitz, a Boxer spokeswoman.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Find this article at: http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/06/21/soldiers.ambushed.ap/index.html
Raped Iraqi woman feared US troops...sm
I don't usually post reports of the bad side of US soldiers in Iraq because I believe the most of them are doing their jobs with integrity, so even after reading this it is still hard to believe. Thanks to the brave soldiers who spoke out against their comrades. This story reminds me of some of the bad stories I've heard of Vietnam.
Please somebody say it aint so...
------------------------------------------
Raped Iraqi woman feared US troops: report
Mon Jul 3, 2006 07:06 AM ET
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A woman apparently at the center of a rape-murder probe by the U.S. military in Iraq was only 15 and voiced fears about soldiers' advances before she and her family were killed in March, the Washington Post said on Monday.
Quoting the mayor of Mahmudiya, near Baghdad, an unnamed hospital official and neighbors of the alleged victims, the newspaper named the woman, her parents and 7-year-old sister as having been killed in their home in the town on March 11.
The paper did not affirm the woman, Abeer Qasim Hamza, was killed by Americans, but local people quoted appeared to believe the dead family was the one involved in the U.S. investigation.
A U.S. military official in Baghdad told Reuters details of the incident they described were at odds with U.S. documents in the 10-day-old investigation of at least three soldiers. U.S. officials had the rape victim's age as 20, he said. However, he added, he was not aware of any other such cases in the area.
The U.S. military has given few details publicly. Officials say at least three soldiers are under investigation over the alleged rape of a woman and the killing of three relatives, including a child, in their home at Mahmudiya on March 12.
Two are suspected of rape and one of these, since discharged from the army, is also suspected of murder, officials said.
The Washington Post quoted Omar Janabi, who said he was a neighbor, saying Abeer Qasim's mother had told him on March 10 that the young woman had complained repeatedly about advances made toward her by U.S. soldiers at a nearby checkpoint.
Janabi told the newspaper he was one of the first people to arrive at the family house after the attack. He said he found Abeer sprawled dead in a corner, her hair and a pillow next to her consumed by fire, and her dress pushed up to her neck.
DEATH CERTIFICATES
The paper said death certificates from Mahmudiya hospital identified the victims as Abeer Qasim Hamza, 15, shot in the head and burned; her mother Fakhriyah Taha Muhsin, 34, killed by gunshots to her head; her father Qasim Hamza Raheem, 45, whose head was smashed by bullets; and Hadeel Qasim Hamza, 7.
The inquiry was launched after two soldiers from the 502nd Infantry Regiment came forward last month to make allegations about comrades. The killings had previously been recorded by the military as the work of guerrillas, U.S. officers say.
Local residents and officials in the area, one of the most dangerous and violent in Iraq, have offered Reuters reporters conflicting accounts of incidents involving U.S. troops.
Two years after the scandal over U.S. prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib jail and coming after a string of murder charges against U.S. troops and accusations over the killing of 24 people in the western city of Haditha, the rape allegation is potentially incendiary in Iraq's conservative Muslim society.
Iraq's main organization of Sunni Muslim clerics, long hostile to the U.S. occupation, said on Sunday the Mahmudiya case revealed the real, ugly face of America.
In recent months, officials say, commanders have cracked down on rogue soldiers in a bid to gain the trust of ordinary Iraqis and of their new government after three years of growing resentment that U.S. officers say risks fuelling the insurgency.
Iraqi PM says Reckles soldiers should stay home.
So much for all that *winning their hearts and minds* talk.
Iraq's prime minister urged the U.S. military on Thursday to keep reckless troops from serving in Iraq in order to prevent abuses like the alleged rape and murder of a teenager and her family by U.S. soldiers in March.
Expanding on calls for an independent inquiry and a review of foreign troops' immunity from Iraqi law, Nuri al-Maliki said commanders should do a better job in preparing their soldiers.
There needs to be a plan to educate and train soldiers, and those who are brought to serve in Iraq shouldn't bear prejudices nor be reckless toward people's honor, Maliki said.
The U.S. military is investigating a group of its soldiers over the rape and killing of a family of four in Mahmudiya, south of the capital, in a case that has strained relations between Washington and Baghdad.
Former private Steven Green, 21, has been charged with rape and murder in a U.S. federal court. He had been discharged from the army because of a personality disorder before the case came to light.
At least three other soldiers are being investigated in the case.
The Mahmudiya incident and other incidents before that ... produce sadness, pain and condemnation from Iraqis, Maliki said.
IMMUNITY
Maliki, facing pressure from Shi'ites and Sunnis to hold Americans accountable, has slammed a U.S. occupation authority decree that grants immunity from Iraqi law for the 140,000 or so foreign troops in Iraq, saying it emboldens soldiers.
I think this matter has become necessary to review and solve, either by reviewing the issue of immunity or reviewing the nature of the investigating committees, he told reporters in Baghdad, a day after he first called for a review of the law.
The rape and murder case is the fifth in a high-profile series of U.S. inquiries into killings of Iraqi civilians in recent months and has outraged Iraqis.
American commanders, keen to repair the military's tarnished image after three years of complaints from Iraqis that U.S. abuses go unpunished, pressed murder charges against 12 military personnel last month. Marines are under investigation for the killing of 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha.
Iraqis have complained of Americans' lack of cultural sensitivity -- including searching women's rooms during raids or not taking their boots off when entering. Commanders say they are improving such procedures.
Though heavily dependent on America's military muscle, Maliki faces delicate negotiations with its main ally Washington over how to regulate the presence of the U.S.-led forces in Iraq, now under a U.N. mandate that expires in December.
Where was the concern of anyone when Saddam was killing the Iraqi people?
I must say, this is one of the most egregious of all arguments that is made in this country, or any country. Saddam tortured, killed, maimed and raped his own people for decades and not a word was said. Now with a chance for a free Iraq, this concern surfaces. Where was it all these years?
Afghanistan - war on Al Quaeda and Taliban; Iraqi FREEDOM - kill Saddam Hussein
Two different wars based on entirely different premises.........
We are all God's children. nm
.
My children.
My children are grown now, well into their 40s. I have four wonderful grandchildren, whom I adore, the oldest just turned 18. Our nuclear family puts God first and we follow his teachings. Abortion would never be something any one of us would contemplate for even the slightest bit of time. My children and grandchildren do not do this out of fear of reaction from the family but out of love for God and his creations. We consider abortion murder. It isn't something we would ever do. I know that the left spins this daily as being fear of retribution. It's too bad that they have lost the ability to see that there are those of us who grieve for the loss of human life, no matter what stage it is in when it ends.
i certainly would. I f you do that to children then you s/m
should have NO rights at all.
do you have children?
christians are not perfect. I don't know of one who claims to be. Yes, things do start at home but that does not mean that adults and children don't make poor choices. I've not heard anyone in the McCain campaign say they are "very religious." Besides, being "religious" doesn't necessarily mean Christian and being a Christian does not mean perfect.
Also, I was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth, far from it actually, but I have worked for what I have. I don't expect someone to provide my health insurance or pay my mortgage. I'm supporting McCain.
Tell me what do YOU consider a WONDERFUL FAMILY?
so how do you think that children
have abortions without the parents ever finding out, if they receive a bill in the mail? It has to be paid for by someone other than the parents, or else they would know about it. perhaps not your particular clinic, but it happens.
Wow, children, get over it already...
it's a cartoon, plain and simple. You are the ones making something out of nothing. Find something else to rant and rave over.
Most had their children taken...
away from them and were shot when they tried to escape......it was a horrific event without a doubt. Some couldn't bear to watch their children die so the opted to die to. BUT, I refuse to have someone tell me what I can say and what I can't say because it offends them.
May I ask how many children do you have?..nm
nm
Neither can little children, and look how many have
nm
I actually have 2 children....
And I happen to believe that there is alot more to a relationship than sex.
What about the children
who have been killed by homosexuals and they get very little press? You feel this way because of your son. As a Christian we are to speak out against this, even if it is our children doing it. My children understood when they were young that this was wrong and it was their choice if they did do it. I would NEVER support that choice. This has nothing to do with my head in the sand. It has to do with reality and doing the right thing. Most people who have family members who commit this sin choose to have their head in the sand and ignore what Christ tells us. I won't be one of them.
So you are actually saying that children are not autonomous. sm
That's absurd. And of course, we hear so many cries for Johnson's daughters to join when we were in Vietnam. Not. Because Republicans don't do things like that. Liberals do. That entire thread is one big joke.
They are his children, grown or not. sm
It is their choice and I don't think they should sign up because of the security reasons, just my opinion. And, yes I think he would talk them out of it.
Abuse of children and the right
Hold on just a minute....from your post you are making it sound like conservatives and the right condone molestation of children. If that is what you were implying you are absolutely wrong. Please, please, please do not categorize all Christians and conservatives with the wacko extreme cults that dare do these things to children. I believe a few weeks ago there was a long thread on the C-board about child molestation. Personally, I think anyone who hurts a child should die...period. If it's sexual molestation the very least that should happen to a male offender is castration...I'd prefer the death penalty...
Again, this implied generalization that all conservatives are racists, homophobes, and child molesters is absolutely wrong.
actually what you name your children speaks
What about the lady that named her daughter Emer Gency because that's the sign she saw going into the hospital? Sure this may be folklore but if you are an MT you know like I do people make really poor choices when it comes to naming thier kids and I would never elect one of those braniacs VP!!!
Duh yourself. Every time I have seen her, her children ...
are standing behind her. WHen Michelle Obama is at work, she ain't with her children. Duh. You think if Obama is elected she is going to knit sweaters and raise her kids? The White House has a huge staff. I don;t think she will be firing them and cooking for her kids like Palin did in Alaska.
All that being said, you are being really petty and bringing up stuff that has nothing to do with her ability to be VP, or President should that happen. You are insinuating a woman is not capabale. I believe she is.
And also...you should be very careful about being so judgmental about teenage pregnancies and family values and responsibility and judgment attached to it...You are alienating, demeaning, and slandering a huge portion of your candidate's base. Do you think they would be happy to hear your assessment of their families having no values or judgment?
well educating children
about S-E-X at an appropriate age level IS the right thing to do. Unless your body is d-i-r-t-y. Unless you have dirty pillows under your blouse. Da doop.
health care plans. My husband pays a portion just like everyone else. We hardly use the health coverage, only for minor sinus infections, and I did have a hysterectomy last year.
There are others walking around that have had multiple surgeries including bypass, and they pay the same amount towards the plan.
How is that fair? I feel the contribution should be paid on the usage, per se, and not so much (everyone is equal) because we are not. I had a friend that had a lap band (fully covered), thyroid surgery, neck surgery, and goes the doctor every other week for something or other. So, when we worked together, we both paid the same; yet, I did not go to the doctor or have any surgeries.
Is that fair? Why not look at something like that for cost effectiveness? Would this turn people away from receiving the healthcare they need (not likely)?
were energized by the election. Even if they had political views different from mine and my live-in BF, they would not be afraid to tell me. I allow them to think for themselves.
my children are citizens
they were born in Germany yet they are US citizens and German citizens. They have dual citizenship. they are US citizens and they have a born abroad certificate which is the proof of their US citizenship which is exactly the same as a b/c. you guys crack me up. and no i am not an O fan, but i think that this would have been the FIRST thing that McCain and Palin would have pointed out had all this crap been true.
I have children and I can understand
women who give birth to a child conceived in rape. I certainly could understand their wanting to give the child up for adoption and then again, I could understand why they would find the love in their hearts to keep the child.
.......Then there was the recent move to end a long-established practice in the Defense Department of selling fired brass ammunition casings to companies that remanufacture them into ammo for sale to law enforcement and private gun owners. The new policy required the military cartridge brass to be destroyed.
The Defense Logistics Agency, the Pentagon’s largest combat support agency and the organization that helps dispose of materiel and equipment no longer needed by the military, classified small-arms cartridge cases as "sensitive munitions" as part of an overall effort to make sure national security is not jeopardized by the sale of any Defense property.
Given that this administration is all abuzz with going green, crushing a perfectly recyclable product runs afoul of the "reduce, reuse, recycle" mantra of environmentalists. It’s difficult not to assume that someone new in Defense wanted to reduce the national supply of ammunition by removing the ability to reuse fired brass.
Gun owners across the country have been hard-pressed to find ammo — and that’s not just survivalists who are into hoarding (although some of that is undoubtedly going on). Texas hunters and ranchers, for example, who use .223 and .308 ammo to rid their property of destructive feral hogs — trust me, you don’t want to go after one of these with a .22 — were scrambling to find it and then, when they could locate some, the price was outrageous
Hilter's children
s/l this volunteerism is like Hilter's children. He did the same thing. Put children in camps to be better ayrans. How do I know this? Every bit of it is on the History channel! Not a new plan by any means by Obama. Just rewired.
going to "protect" them and how are you going to handle when they tell you they are gay? Don't think it will happen to you? Are you in their classrooms listening and approving of what they are taught, which is that homosexual "love" is normal? How are you going to "protect" them when they made their choice when they tell you they have AIDS?
What's love got to do with it? Do you have any understanding how many relationships a "gay" person will have over a lifetime? Is that what you call love? How do you protect your child when you approve of perversion?
I don't know if the law changed, but the mother is also in Mexico. Don't know if she went voluntarily or if she was deported, too. If she went voluntarily, then I feel she really didn't put her children first.
Like I said in my earlier post, I think the children should have gone with them even though they are American citizens. Why let the eldest take care of the younger ones, I think ages 15 and 11.
I actually agree with you, I don't think the president's children should
sign up, or fight in Iraq, this would be a terrorist dream to have the president's daughters as a hostage...BUT the truth is there are usually few if any, on the left or right, who are willing to sacrifice their children for the things that they think are soooo noble enough for our children to sacrifice themselves for. I think this is the whole point. My thing is don't ask your countrymen to do anything that you wouldn't do yourself, left or right.
They are not children. They are grown women.
It's their choice. Can you say with certainty that if one of them or both of them came to George Bush and said I am joining the Marines he would talk them out of it? I just don't see it that way. At any rate, again, they have a mind of their own.
Careful what you say, God's children might be listening!
The religious right's version of freedom of speech. Scary, huh?
LAWRENCE, Kansas, Dec. 6, 2005 (AP) A Kansas professor whose planned course on creationism and intelligent design was canceled after he sent e-mails deriding Christian conservatives was taken to the hospital Monday following what he said was a beating.
University of Kansas religious studies professor Paul Mirecki told the Lawrence Journal-World that two men who beat him were making references to the class that was to be offered for the first time this coming spring. Originally called Special Topics in Religion: Intelligent Design, Creationism and other Religious Mythologies, the course was canceled last week at Mirecki's request.
The class was added after the Kansas Board of Education decided to include more criticism of evolution in science standards for elementary and secondary students.
I didn't know them, Mirecki said of his alleged assailants, but I'm sure they knew me.
One recent e-mail from Mirecki to members of a student organization referred to religious conservatives as fundies, and said a course describing intelligent design as mythology would be a nice slap in their big fat face. Mirecki has apologized for those comments.
Lt. Kari Wempe, a spokeswoman for the Douglas County Sheriff's Department, said a deputy was dispatched to Lawrence Memorial Hospital after receiving a call around 7 a.m. regarding a battery.
She said Mirecki reported he was attacked around 6:40 a.m. in rural Douglas County south of Lawrence. Mirecki told the Journal-World he was driving to breakfast when he noticed the men tailgating him in a pickup truck.
I just pulled over hoping they would pass, and then they pulled up real close behind, he said. They got out, and I made the mistake of getting out.
He said the men beat him on the head, shoulders and back with their fists, and possibly a metal object.
Wempe said Mirecki drove himself to the hospital.
Mirecki told the student newspaper, The University Daily Kansan, that he spent between three and four hours at the hospital. He said his injuries included a broken tooth.
I'm mostly shaken up, and I got some bruises and sore spots, he told the Journal-World.
Wempe said Mirecki described the suspects as two white men between 30 and 40 years of age. One of the men was described as wearing a red visor-like ball cap and wool gloves. Mirecki said the men left in a large pickup truck.
Wempe said the department will investigate every aspect, but couldn't discuss specifics.
Andrew Stangl, president of the Society for Open Minded Atheists and Agnostics at the university, described the attack as bizarre and terrifying. He said Mirecki, who is the group's faculty adviser, is adamant that the alleged beating is related to the recently canceled course.
That absolutely shocked me, he said, because people don't do that in a civilized society.
Sen. Kay O'Connor, a Mirecki critic, said there is no excuse for someone physically assaulting the professor - regardless of their politics.
I have zero tolerance for thugs, she said. There is never an excuse to behave in such a manner. This was just thugs. They used a flimsy excuse, if they had one, to behave as thugs. They can talk about the ID (intelligent design) course if they want to, but that's not an excuse.
I don't know whether you are a Republican or Democrat (or neither), but I have found that many Republicans are against this bill. The ironic thing to me is that many Republicans are pro-life. Many care so much about saviing the babies in the womb, but where is the concern for little children who are suffering? I think it's hypocritical for one to say that they care so much about bringing this life into the world and giving it a chance to live, and yet if that same child gets leukemia it's on it's own because God forbid our taxes might get raised or something.
Sometimes you just have to DO THE RIGHT THING. I believe the right thing is health insurance for all American children. What would Jesus do?
Obama's and Palin's. They are young and this is a different world now than it was when JFK was in and Carter too.
Though, I would think being a mother to very young children and being a VP is going to be a whole different situation than being the Governor. I would think there is going to be a lot more travel involved with a VP than Gov., but I might be wrong. Never having done either job, I can't really say.
I'm not saying that Obama's kids are going to be better off if he is elected either. I just don't know how used to their mom being away that Palin's kids are as opposed to Obama's kids. They've had a little more time to adjust. And, as sexist as it is, most people still believe that the primary parenting duty is on the mother. I am not saying that is what I think (it's 50/50 IMO), but I do believe the majority feel that way.
Hmm, pictures I saw showed her children there with her.
There are people who travel for business and take their families with them, but they don't bring the family to their business meetings. DUH? What grade are you in? If you're going to get into a battle of wits, please at least come armed.
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