Her family is an example of handling the situation the right way, without the government or taxpayers dollars getting involved.
Good for them. Places like Covenant House (the organization whose funding she cut) aren't really directed at the needs of those with strong careers, intact traditional families, and the resouces to handle things the "right way" so much. Bristol Palin isn't going to need to need those services, and more power to her and her family because of it. It's great for them that they can do it, for sure. Be nice if there was some concern for giving other pregnant teens something more than a speech about bootstraps to help them do that too.
Or a determination to let the family and/or church handle it instead of having the government get involved. Her family is an example of handling the situation the right way, without the government or taxpayers dollars getting involved.
Yeah. It's bitchy as hell, but its not inconsistent.
Game Show Network is running the Ken Jennings episode of Jeopardy. It's kind of sad, watching him completely steam-roller his opponents. One poor woman got two chances to answer a question, and she got them both wrong.
She should have stocked up on reference books at the annual Oxford UP summer sale: [link] !
One poor woman got two chances to answer a question, and she got them both wrong.
Did they give her a year's supply of Turtle Wax?
I was reading a NYTimes article this morning where it was reported that when she was mayor of Wasilla, no city employees were allowed to speak to the media without her express permission. Apparently, this was a huge shock to the local paper which had a very, "let's speak to Jim and get his opinion on how things are going," approach.
Admittedly, I'm a Luddite WRT to how gov't works at individual city levels, but isn't that essentially impinging on her constituents First Amendment rights, even if they were city employees?
They gave her $1000. She didn't even get to Final Jeopardy. The other woman got the question wrong and ended up with no money. For being in second place, she got $2000. Ken Jennings ended up with $50,000.
I suppose the verb form of steam-roller would in fact be "steamroll." Look at my willpower in not going back to edit.
but isn't that essentially impinging on her constituents First Amendment rights, even if they were city employees?
Very generally, one can only exercise 1st Amendment rights as a private citizen. When you're acting as a public employee, you're not insulated by the 1st Amendment.
So, if Joe talks to the press as private citizen, he's protected, but if he's commenting on how the mayor is trying to ban books in his library, he's probably speaking as the librarian and the mayor could take action.
but if he's commenting on how the mayor is trying to ban books in his library, he's probably speaking as the librarian and the mayor could take action.
Got it. And she did take action. She fired the librarian who dared question her "rhetorical questions" about banning books. And the fun just keeps on coming.
ETA: From galleycat, a link to the Time Magazine article that references this incident as well, along with an alleged sampling of the books Palin tried to have banned.
- A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
- Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
- Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
- Anything by Stephen King
- Everything by J.K. Rowling
- Most of William Shakespeare's work
- Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary by the Merriam-Webster Editorial Staff
