Sunday, September 14, 2008

regarding sarah palin



I could not be more disturbed or disheartened by the sudden popularity of Sarah Palin based on nothing more than a fairly good speech and this whole very constructed and very calculated Alaska hockey mom/ pioneer woman/ fierce momma persona. I could not be more disturbed by news stories about women who voted for Hillary Clinton and who are now going to vote for John McCain because of Palin. Any woman who supported Hillary should have supported Hillary for her ideas and policies. And nothing about Sarah Palin comes close to what Hillary Clinton or the Democratic party stands for. But whenever Palin comes up, I get so frustrated and so angry that I turn into a mumbling, inarticulate ball of fury. I can't even string together a complete sentence and just start muttering about Ms. Palin's dangerous and very narrows views on evolution, sex education, global warming, etc. and etc. I try to explain how insane it is that we're taking this person seriously as a potential LEADER OF THE FREE WORLD when she doesn't know what the Bush Doctrine is, thinks Alaska's physical proximity to Russia counts for experience in foreign policy and has the audacity and the ignorance to tell soldiers going off to Iraq that they are going to go fight the people who planned and carried out the 9/11 attacks. All of the things I want to say, all of my comments on how outraged Americans should be by the fact that McCain picked a running mate for primarily political reasons (rather than, you know, picking someone who would best lead our country in case something happens to him) suddenly turn into mush in my mouth and I'm only able to fume and grit my teeth. So because my fury prevents me from being very articulate, I'm going to let some much more articulate writers do my talking for me. If you have the time, please read. You may completely disagree, but at the very least these writers are going to be wittier and more understandable than my nonsensical raving. But before I go, I'm going to come right out and say something. As a woman, I think that John McCain's choice only firms up that glass ceiling of ours. This is definitely an opinion, but in my (very opinionated) opinion, John McCain picked Palin largely to woo (moderate or liberal) women voters away from Obama. And in doing that he's making the assumption that women have so little political intelligence that we would vote for someone regardless of their policies or opinions but based solely on whether or not they wear a skirt. And for that reason alone, I hope his "bold" VP pick comes back and bites him in the ass come November, when all of us liberal ladies vote for someone who shares our political ideas, not just our X chromosomes.

"For those who haven’t noticed, we’re electing a president and vice president, not selecting a winner on 'American Idol.'"

"An Arctic blast of action has swept into the 2008 race, making thinking passé. We don’t really need to hurt our brains studying the world; we just need the world to know we’re capable of bringing a world of hurt to the world if the world continues to be hell-bent on misbehaving."


Annnd please oh please watch the SNL skit at the top. Never has my love for Tina Fey been so pure as when she is putting everything I feel about Sarah Palin into glorious satirical perfection.

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