Well, that was insulting
*due to popular demand, I've made this entry public. There is a lot of scary going on here, so please feel free to share.
I woke up this morning to the news of McCain's VP pick. "Who???" My second thought was, "I have no idea who this is, but that was well-played. The Dems might be screwed...."
It wasn't until I got to the computer and started doing research on Sarah Palin that I became insulted. Incredibly insulted, in fact. I don't consider myself a "feminist", per se. I'm an egalitarian, aware of gender or racial politics, but preferring to ignore both in favor of other merits.
Still, this choice left me absolutely incensed as a woman. Not only was I personally offended, I knew that this was an offense against all women, especially my sisters who fought so hard for Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary. damiondead put it best when he suggested that the Clintons should go on the warpath about this: "Hillary worked her ASS OFF to get as far as she did." Clinton's supporters did, too, but they worked that hard because they believed in Clinton, and they believe in the dream of a woman being in the White House. What McCain has done is to ignore Clinton's merits, her stances on the issues, and the dedication of her supporters for her, and pandered only to the second part of that dream - suggesting that a woman, any woman, is worth putting into the White House, even if it means bowing our heads and succumbing to some very anti-woman policies.
Frankly, I have no words to describe how demeaning and insulting this is. And it's absolutely in line with the misogynistic character John McCain has shown thus far. It's clear he thinks we're stupid, that we are willing to be led by our emotions and look up to a paternalistic father-figure who "knows what's best for us."
So, what's so wrong with her anyway? What moves this from being a smart pick to one of the most egregiously stupid moves I've ever seen in politics? As Ramesh Ponnuru at the National Review put it, "Can anyone say with a straight face that Palin would have gotten picked if she were a man?"
I've been trying to sort this out for a few hours, and it seems to me that there are a couple of sides to this which upsets me. One side of it is McCain's past behavior towards women, including his wives, and his lack of sensitivity for women's issues, and the other side is that she's very much not qualified to be VP. So, let's break this down... (in no particular order of importance)
McCain
Palin
It is clear to me that this is clear and simple pandering, that John McCain selected someone simply because she has a vagina and who can be easily manipulated and overruled. Given McCain's past experience on women's issues and his apparent misogyny, does he really expect me to believe that he's so interested in women's rights that he picked someone supremely unqualified to be Vice President (and, given his age, even President)??
Puh-lese. This is just further proof that John McCain despises women. After all, he doesn't appear to believe women can see through this kind of crap.
*edited to add: Oh, and she doesn't believe global warming is man-made.
More edits... she's a Dominionist. YIKES!!!!!!!!!!!
And more... she was a member of a fringe secessionist group, Alaskan Independence Party, who recorded a speech for their convention as recently as this year.
I woke up this morning to the news of McCain's VP pick. "Who???" My second thought was, "I have no idea who this is, but that was well-played. The Dems might be screwed...."
It wasn't until I got to the computer and started doing research on Sarah Palin that I became insulted. Incredibly insulted, in fact. I don't consider myself a "feminist", per se. I'm an egalitarian, aware of gender or racial politics, but preferring to ignore both in favor of other merits.
Still, this choice left me absolutely incensed as a woman. Not only was I personally offended, I knew that this was an offense against all women, especially my sisters who fought so hard for Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary. damiondead put it best when he suggested that the Clintons should go on the warpath about this: "Hillary worked her ASS OFF to get as far as she did." Clinton's supporters did, too, but they worked that hard because they believed in Clinton, and they believe in the dream of a woman being in the White House. What McCain has done is to ignore Clinton's merits, her stances on the issues, and the dedication of her supporters for her, and pandered only to the second part of that dream - suggesting that a woman, any woman, is worth putting into the White House, even if it means bowing our heads and succumbing to some very anti-woman policies.
Frankly, I have no words to describe how demeaning and insulting this is. And it's absolutely in line with the misogynistic character John McCain has shown thus far. It's clear he thinks we're stupid, that we are willing to be led by our emotions and look up to a paternalistic father-figure who "knows what's best for us."
So, what's so wrong with her anyway? What moves this from being a smart pick to one of the most egregiously stupid moves I've ever seen in politics? As Ramesh Ponnuru at the National Review put it, "Can anyone say with a straight face that Palin would have gotten picked if she were a man?"
I've been trying to sort this out for a few hours, and it seems to me that there are a couple of sides to this which upsets me. One side of it is McCain's past behavior towards women, including his wives, and his lack of sensitivity for women's issues, and the other side is that she's very much not qualified to be VP. So, let's break this down... (in no particular order of importance)
McCain
- Calling his wife Cindy a trollop and a cunt
- Leaving his first wife Carol for a much younger and more beautiful heiress, after returning from Vietnam. Carol had been disfigured in a horrible car accident when he was in Vietnam. He also obtained a marriage license with Cindy while still married to Carol.
- Leaving Cindy McCain very unhappy in her marriage, causing her to embezzle from her non-profit to pay for her addiction to painkillers.
- Suggesting that Cindy enter the Buffalo Chip beauty pageant, a pageant which is topless, and occasionally bottomless.
- Laughed off a question about Clinton, phrased, "How do we beat the bitch?"
- Refused to vote for the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, an Act which would help ensure equal pay for equal work.
- Favors overturning Roe v. Wade
- Opposes requirements for health plans to provide contraceptive coverage
- Favors abstinence-only sex education
- Argued strongly against women holding active combat roles in the military
- Disgusting rape joke. 'Nuff said.
- Disgusting Chelsea Clinton joke. 'Nuff said.
Palin
- Has no idea what the Vice President does all day
- Might only be interested in being VP because then she can funnel more money to Alaska (well, someone has to take up where Stevens left off), "We want to make sure that that V.P. slot would be a fruitful type of position, especially for Alaskans"
- Was Miss Wasilla (McCain has a thing for beauty queens, it seems...)
- Has only been Governor of Alaska for less than two years, and was mayor of a very small town prior to that.
- Is involved in an ethics scandal in which she is accused of being involved in the firing of Mike Wooten, a man who got on the bad side of John Palin, Sarah Palin's husband.
- See above, only insert the name of John Bitney in place of Mike Wooten (aka "Troopergate")
- Appears to be controlled by her husband, John, who makes executive governing decisions in place of Sarah.
- People from her own party believe this to be a disaster, that she's not qualified for this
- Is strongly anti-abortion
- Believes that creationism should be taught alongside evolution in the classroom. May also be one of the freaky fringe young-earth creationists
- Felt that she couldn't support Clinton because she didn't like Clinton's "whining" (about the criticisms leveled at her during the primaries)
- Only holds a BA degree in Journalism from the University of Idaho
- Opposes same-sex marriage and supported a non-binding referendum for a constitutional amendment to deny benefits to gay couples
It is clear to me that this is clear and simple pandering, that John McCain selected someone simply because she has a vagina and who can be easily manipulated and overruled. Given McCain's past experience on women's issues and his apparent misogyny, does he really expect me to believe that he's so interested in women's rights that he picked someone supremely unqualified to be Vice President (and, given his age, even President)??
Puh-lese. This is just further proof that John McCain despises women. After all, he doesn't appear to believe women can see through this kind of crap.
*edited to add: Oh, and she doesn't believe global warming is man-made.
More edits... she's a Dominionist. YIKES!!!!!!!!!!!
And more... she was a member of a fringe secessionist group, Alaskan Independence Party, who recorded a speech for their convention as recently as this year.