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While campaigning in Indianapolis for her mother, Chelsea Clinton was asked by a male student if her mother’s [Hilary] credibility had been hurt as a result of the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Chelsea had this to say:

“Wow, you’re the first person actually that’s ever asked me that question, in the, maybe 70 college campuses that I’ve been to,” Clinton bitterly said at Butler University. “And I don’t think that’s any of your business.” (source)

I suggest you read the article, the comments left on it are amusing as hell. Now for my two cents. Was this something that should be asked, let alone asked to the daughter? Does it have any bearing on the situation at hand?

While I found it to be admittedly tacky that the question was asked to the daughter, the fact remains that she is a twenty-eight year old woman who should have had the grace to either calmly put the question to the side or give it the attention it deserved. Chelsea Clinton, welcome to the big league. If you want to go on the campaign trail for your mother to show that “family support” that the Clintons are said to have, then you have to accept the responsibility that goes with it. You are going to be asked the questions you do not want to answer, that’s a proven fact. Your parents have done a remarkable job of shielding you from the press, while allowing you to dance in the limelight at your leisure - a double standard that few celebrities have been able to manage for their children. If you want to step up on stage then be prepared for the consequences.

With regards to the question, I do feel it had merit. Hilary is a public figure, and how she handles situations is imperative to know when selecting a leader. Not to mention, I’d say it’s fair play considering how her staff simply would not let go of the Rev. Wright matter. Talk about a dog with an old bone!

Chelsea, you need to learn when you’re out of your league and when to bow out gracefully. That’s all there is to it. Instead of looking like the 28 year old woman and Oxford graduate that you are you came off as a childish brat throwing a tantrum. Instead of the snippy retorts trying taking a page from Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’ book.

LYNCHBURG, Va. - The Rev. Jerry Falwell, the television evangelist who founded the Moral Majority and used it to mold the religious right into a political force, died Tuesday shortly after being found unconscious in his office at Liberty University. He was 73.

(full article)

In all honesty I can’t say I’m really sad to hear this man is gone. Death is a tragedy, yet it happens to us all. This might make me sound callous but I can’t help but see good in this. I am one who has always firmly believed that religion and politics should not be mixed. With Falwell’s death there is a possibility that the religious political community might falter and hopefully lose a lot of their momentum and power. Hey it’s a dream.

Of course if everyone shared the mindset of one of my friends we really wouldn’t have to worry about this. He’s of the opinion that the elderly (apparently anyone over 45) belongs in a nursing home. Since the majority of our troublesome politicians fit that age range we could always opt to place them in a Lubock, Miami, or Brooklyn nursing home and be done with them. This is the man that sees conspiracies under every rock though so I don’t think his ideas have much merit mind you.

What are your thoughts? Do politics and religion belong together? Can a person trully determine what is right for a country and its people when they are attempting to mold the government to fit their own religious beliefs?