O.K., to re-introduce myself: I am an ex-PUMA, Hillary Clinton-respecting 44 year old female who recently rejoined the DKos fold.
I also have a couple of teenagers (19 and 16) and a real job (two, actually: doing science outreach to public schools and freelance science writing).
I've been a feminist since 1973, when I was told that little girls couldn't be altar boys at my local Catholic church - but the second-grade boy, who lit cats on fire and beat up his baby sister - could serve Communion, no problem.
I've worked for 30 years, taken my knocks in the workplace, and I'm here to tell Sarah Palin, in the nicest way possible:
There is WAY too damn much on your plate.
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When I was in grad school, one of my advisors (an early-40s biophysicist from Berkeley with a baby) had a huge banner in her office.
It read, "JUST SAY NO".
"NO", in her case, meant that she declined a lot of "face time", meaningless appointments to faculty committees. "NO", in her case, also meant that she went in to her lab/office every morning at 7 a.m. and left at 6 p.m. on the dot. "NO" on her wall meant that, if you wandered into her office with a fuzzy question and expected her to patiently wait for you to pull it together - she was going to show you the door, pronto.
She was/is a formidable woman, who had her priorities straight, knew when to say "NO", and filled her plate with just enough work/family/personal responsibilities to feel fulfilled, but not frantic.
I use her example as a role model in my life today.
It isn't anti-feminist to point out that Sarah Palin has, as of this writing:
- - A highly visible, demanding job as Governor,
- - an ongoing ethics investigation,
- - a husband who works a one week-on, one week-off job,
- - five kids, one of them a special-needs child,
- - a highly demanding national campaign schedule,
- - a sister in crisis, and
- - a pregnant teenage daughter.
I was fortunate enough to work with people who bluntly told me, "You've got too damn much on your plate!" and advised me to cut back, cut back, cut back some more.
Now I'm telling Sarah Palin this: as one 44-year-old working woman to another - as it stands right now, you have WAY too damn much going on to serve your country well.
There's a point where you've got to stop collecting bright shiny things and take a good, hard, honest look at how you're managing your life.
Are you really capable of performing this new position - one heartbeat away from the Presidency - as you should? Will you REALLY be able to buckle down, to play catch-up and learn everything you've got to do - AND deal with the family matters you're facing now?
In my opinion, Sarah, our country deserves better. And you do, too.