my reaction to Sarah Palin based on her Wikipedia article
This morning, I got an email from my mom asking me what I thought about Sarah Palin being selected to run with McCain. It's been a long time since I lived in Alaska, and I am not terrifically familiar with local politics (other than the familiar names that any Alaskan can recite - Murkowski, Young, Stevens, etc), so I decided to do a little Googlin' on Ms. Palin to check out what her story is.
From her Wikipedia article:
"In 1984, Palin won the Miss Wasilla beauty contest, then finished second in the Miss Alaska pageant,[7] at which she won a college scholarship.[6] In the Wasilla pageant, she played the flute and won "Miss Congeniality."
Are you KIDDING me? Yeah, she sounds super qualified to be Governor...
"Palin holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Idaho, where she also minored in political science.[10] She married Todd Palin, her boyfriend since high school, on August 29, 1988. She then briefly worked as a sports reporter for local Anchorage television stations while also working as a commercial fisherwoman with her husband. "
Oh, yeah, totally overqualified. At least she MINORED in PoliSci.
"In January 1997, Palin fired the Wasilla police chief and library director. In response, a group of 60 residents calling themselves Concerned Citizens for Wasilla discussed attempting a recall campaign against Palin, but then decided against it.[12] The fired police chief eventually sued Palin on the grounds that he was fired because he supported the campaign of Palin's opponent, but his suit was eventually dismissed when the judge ruled that Palin had the right under state law to fire city employees, even for political reasons."
Well, considering how everyone's just beside themselves about how wonderfully different she is compared to previous politicians in Alaska, that's just IRONIC. Way to use your new job to get a little revenge!
"Palin has strongly promoted oil resource development in Alaska, including opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling.[27] She has also helped pass a tax increase on oil company profits.[21][23] Palin has announced plans to create a new sub-cabinet group of advisors to address climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions within Alaska.[28] After she was announced as McCain's presumptive running mate, she stated that she does not believe that climate change is man-made.[29]"
OK, I hate her for the ANWR thing, and the climate change comment is just ignorant and, I believe, deliberately obtuse. No, the systemic poisoning of the Earth by man has NOTHING to do with climate change! Keep drilling, boys!
"In response to high oil and gas prices, and the resulting state government budget surplus, Palin proposed giving Alaskans $100-a-month energy debit cards. She also proposed providing grants to electrical utilities so that they would reduce customers' rates.[40] She subsequently dropped the debit card proposal, and in its place she proposed to send Alaskans $1,200 directly and eliminate the gas tax.
[41]"
That is a pretty inarguably reliable way to obtain a high approval rating, in Alaska or anywhere.
"In May 2008, Palin objected to the decision of Dirk Kempthorne, the Republican United States Secretary of the Interior, to list polar bears as an endangered species. She threatened a lawsuit to stop the listing amid fears that it would hurt oil and gas development in the bears' habitat off Alaska's northern and northwestern coasts. She also called unreliable the climate-change models cited by Kempthorne and environmentalists that predict melting of Arctic ice. She said the move to list the bears was premature and was not the appropriate management tool for their welfare at the time."
Is she KIDDING with this? OK, now I'm really starting to hate her.
"Palin is pro-life and a prominent member of Feminists for Life."
Pro-life =/= feminism, I'm sorry. I'm pretty sure the popular definition of feminism is being in support of women being able to make CHOICES about their own lives! I've never heard of limiting reproductive freedom to be a terribly feminist agenda.
"She opposes same-sex marriage.[19] Palin complied with an Alaskan state Supreme Court order and signed an implementation of same-sex benefits into law stating that legal options to avoid doing so had run out.[48][49] She supported a non-binding referendum for a constitutional amendment to deny benefits to homosexual couples.[50] Alaska was one of the first U.S. states to pass a constitutional ban on gay marriage, in 1998, along with Hawaii.[51] Palin has stated that she supported the 1998 constitutional amendment."
Oh, look, OF COURSE she hates The Gays. I'm SO TIRED of American politicians doing their best to ruin other people's lives. WHO CARES IF GAY PEOPLE GET MARRIED JEEZUM CROW YOU IDIOTS ISN'T THERE SOMETHING MORE IMPORTANT YOU SHOULD BE DOING LIKE SAVING THE PLANET oh wait....
And then, I found the link to the article on the controversy surrounding her dismissal of the Alaska Public Safety Commissioner. This whole story is pretty lulzy. I like how so many things were tickling my not-quite-the-most-ethical-use-of-power nerve and then I find out that she's actually being investigated for her lack of ethics and obvious abuses of power. She seems to have been elected governor on the promise of reform and the fact that she wasn't a Murkowski. She appears to be as ethically challenged as the rest of Alaska's career politicians.Yes, let's make her the president of the Senate. I'm sure she'll ONLY use her tiebreaking power to serve the will of the common people, and not to fulfill her own agenda, right? Seriously, she's under investigation for using the authority of her office to get back at her sister's ex. Yeah, that's respect for the office. I'm sure she'll make a fine vice president. And try to think of her as president, too. She'd be a heartbeat away from that position, and McCain himself is a heartbeat away from....
"Palin is considered to have similar policy positions to John McCain in most respects. One exception is drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), which Palin strongly supports and McCain has opposed.[72] She has supported aspects of Democratic nominee Barack Obama's energy plan related to encouraging the further use of natural gas."
I think it's safe to say that she likes that part of Obama's energy plan because of the gas pipeline and $$$ for Alaska, rather than any environmentalist/conservationist aspects it may have.
"A major consideration in Palin's selection was her appeal to former Hillary Clinton supporters in the contentious Democratic primary.[74] Palin, when asked about Senator Clinton's complaints regarding her coverage by the press, said "that doesn't do us any good, women in politics, women in general, wanting to progress this country...when I hear a statement like that from from any woman, I think that there is a perceived whine."
Yes, call the other women who dare to protest sexism whiners. That's supporting your fellow females in politics. Because if you attack her like you're one of the guys, the guys won't pick on you, amirite? I'll get more into her alleged appeal to Clinton supporters at the end.
"Alaskan Republicans had mixed reactions to the news of Palin's selection. State Senate President Lyda Green, a Republican from Palin's hometown of Wasilla, reportedly thought that the news of her selection "was a joke" at first; Green remarked, "She's not prepared to be governor. How can she be prepared to be vice president or president? Look at what she's done to this state. What would she do to the nation?" On the other hand, Alaskan Attorney General Talis Colberg, a Palin appointee, remarked that, "It's wonderful. It was an emotional thing to see the governor walk out with her family and I say, wow, I work for her."
I'm glad that at least some of her peers in the Alaskan Republican contingent can see that the emperor is naked, too. Talis Colberg sounds like he's just stoked to see his friend (who gave him his job) going places, not like he thinks she'd do a good job. Of course, if McCain and Palin WIN, Colberg would be the interim governor of Alaska (until another election is organised to choose the governor), so naturally, he thinks it's wonderful!
Then the article goes into her personal life, which is all yadda yadda yadda about how wonderful her family is, the typical crafted-for-politics perfection, her husband has a drop of Native blood (how progressive of her to marry someone with Yu'pik in his woodpile!), her kids are all named strange things and one of them's in the Army, of course (probably desperate to get the hell out of Alaska, like everyone I know who joined up after high school), and then THIS little gem popped up:
"On April 18, 2008, while in office as governor, Palin gave birth to her second son and fifth child, Trig Paxson Van Palin, who, as prenatal genetic testing had shown, has Down syndrome.[82] She returned to the office three days after giving birth. Her decision to have the baby was applauded by the pro-life community."
Oh, come on, as if she was going to abort her Down syndrome baby when she is politically pro-life. Why should she give a damn, since the nanny is obviously raising the kid? I mean, THREE DAYS POST-PARTUM? That's just sad. I can't believe how people are approving and complimentary of that. I think if you decide to have a career in politics and be the Governor or whatever, that means the childbearing days are over. Anyway... I think giving plaudits to her for not aborting the Down Syndrome kid ableist and insulting. I’m the first to say that raising a child with a disability comes with a lot of difficulties (many of which are caused by institutionalized ableism), but happening to have a child with a disability also doesn’t instantly turn you into a better, stronger person. It would be nice if her family situation translated into greater campaign/administration attention to the needs of people with disabilities, but I can’t help but think that it’s wishful thinking.
"Details of Palin's personal life have contributed to her political image. She hunts, ice fishes, eats mooseburger, rides snowmobiles, has run a marathon, and owns a float plane."
Wow, she's so SUPER DUPER ALASKAN! She sounds like literally everyone else in the entire fucking state.
"Palin holds a lifetime membership with the National Rifle Association."
Um, well, that's weird and stuff, but whatever, right?
"She admits that she used marijuana at a time when the state had legalized possession of small amounts (though possession was still illegal under federal law). She says that she did not like it and does not smoke it now, and she does not support legalizing marijuana, worrying about the message it would send to her kids."
...and she didn't inhale, either, I'm sure. The message to your kids? "Do as I say, not as I do!"
And then, my fave-rave part of the whole article:
"In December 2007, Palin posed for a photo spread in Vogue."
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA OH MY GOD WHEW. What, Playboy wasn't offering her enough? I'm sorry, I guess I'm just a eensy teensy bit too feminist to believe that posing in a heavily-airbrushed-to-support-ridiculous-beauty-standards fashion magazine gives her any personal or political credibility at all (I felt the same way about Oprah's Vogue shoot, where they made her lose twenty pounds before the shoot and airbrushed another fifty pounds off of her anyway - what, Oprah hasn't accomplished enough to be taken seriously as she is, we have to fake her up to make her more "pretty"? But I digress…). She's just so into marketing how PRETTY she is! I'm ALL for women in positions of political power as a rule, but this chick just is too much with her too-muchery. I'm not belittling her for being attractive, I'm mocking her choice to use her looks as a tool for her political career to benefit the patriarchy.
I think Palin's selection as McCain's running mate is insulting, not revolutionary. It's the Republican party insisting that women will vote with their vaginas, that women will vote for someone because she looks like us, not because of who she is or what she stands for. It's saying that Hillary Clinton was popular because she has tits, not because of her experience or her positions on the issues. Hillary Clinton was the whole package, for me. She is a politician that I agree with, who has extensive political experience and a solid background in protecting and supporting issues that I care about, and she also happens to be a woman. This Sarah Palin chick? She's a wolf in sheep's clothing. She belongs to a faux-feminist pro-choice group, supports teaching Creationism in schools, and is so hard-right and strongly against things like equal pay, universal health care, and reproductive freedom that I wonder show she can look herself in the eye in the mirror every morning. She's all about shoving both fists in the pork barrel for Alaska, which goes pretty strongly against The Cryptkeeper's McCain's anti-pork stance. An anti-choice, anti-evolution, anti-environment, homophobic “feminist” female candidate, with less than 20 months of experience in office, for the Republican party! Wow, how totally radical.
So, yeah, in short? Not so much a fan. :/
From her Wikipedia article:
"In 1984, Palin won the Miss Wasilla beauty contest, then finished second in the Miss Alaska pageant,[7] at which she won a college scholarship.[6] In the Wasilla pageant, she played the flute and won "Miss Congeniality."
Are you KIDDING me? Yeah, she sounds super qualified to be Governor...
"Palin holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Idaho, where she also minored in political science.[10] She married Todd Palin, her boyfriend since high school, on August 29, 1988. She then briefly worked as a sports reporter for local Anchorage television stations while also working as a commercial fisherwoman with her husband. "
Oh, yeah, totally overqualified. At least she MINORED in PoliSci.
"In January 1997, Palin fired the Wasilla police chief and library director. In response, a group of 60 residents calling themselves Concerned Citizens for Wasilla discussed attempting a recall campaign against Palin, but then decided against it.[12] The fired police chief eventually sued Palin on the grounds that he was fired because he supported the campaign of Palin's opponent, but his suit was eventually dismissed when the judge ruled that Palin had the right under state law to fire city employees, even for political reasons."
Well, considering how everyone's just beside themselves about how wonderfully different she is compared to previous politicians in Alaska, that's just IRONIC. Way to use your new job to get a little revenge!
"Palin has strongly promoted oil resource development in Alaska, including opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling.[27] She has also helped pass a tax increase on oil company profits.[21][23] Palin has announced plans to create a new sub-cabinet group of advisors to address climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions within Alaska.[28] After she was announced as McCain's presumptive running mate, she stated that she does not believe that climate change is man-made.[29]"
OK, I hate her for the ANWR thing, and the climate change comment is just ignorant and, I believe, deliberately obtuse. No, the systemic poisoning of the Earth by man has NOTHING to do with climate change! Keep drilling, boys!
"In response to high oil and gas prices, and the resulting state government budget surplus, Palin proposed giving Alaskans $100-a-month energy debit cards. She also proposed providing grants to electrical utilities so that they would reduce customers' rates.[40] She subsequently dropped the debit card proposal, and in its place she proposed to send Alaskans $1,200 directly and eliminate the gas tax.
[41]"
That is a pretty inarguably reliable way to obtain a high approval rating, in Alaska or anywhere.
"In May 2008, Palin objected to the decision of Dirk Kempthorne, the Republican United States Secretary of the Interior, to list polar bears as an endangered species. She threatened a lawsuit to stop the listing amid fears that it would hurt oil and gas development in the bears' habitat off Alaska's northern and northwestern coasts. She also called unreliable the climate-change models cited by Kempthorne and environmentalists that predict melting of Arctic ice. She said the move to list the bears was premature and was not the appropriate management tool for their welfare at the time."
Is she KIDDING with this? OK, now I'm really starting to hate her.
"Palin is pro-life and a prominent member of Feminists for Life."
Pro-life =/= feminism, I'm sorry. I'm pretty sure the popular definition of feminism is being in support of women being able to make CHOICES about their own lives! I've never heard of limiting reproductive freedom to be a terribly feminist agenda.
"She opposes same-sex marriage.[19] Palin complied with an Alaskan state Supreme Court order and signed an implementation of same-sex benefits into law stating that legal options to avoid doing so had run out.[48][49] She supported a non-binding referendum for a constitutional amendment to deny benefits to homosexual couples.[50] Alaska was one of the first U.S. states to pass a constitutional ban on gay marriage, in 1998, along with Hawaii.[51] Palin has stated that she supported the 1998 constitutional amendment."
Oh, look, OF COURSE she hates The Gays. I'm SO TIRED of American politicians doing their best to ruin other people's lives. WHO CARES IF GAY PEOPLE GET MARRIED JEEZUM CROW YOU IDIOTS ISN'T THERE SOMETHING MORE IMPORTANT YOU SHOULD BE DOING LIKE SAVING THE PLANET oh wait....
And then, I found the link to the article on the controversy surrounding her dismissal of the Alaska Public Safety Commissioner. This whole story is pretty lulzy. I like how so many things were tickling my not-quite-the-most-ethical-use-of-power nerve and then I find out that she's actually being investigated for her lack of ethics and obvious abuses of power. She seems to have been elected governor on the promise of reform and the fact that she wasn't a Murkowski. She appears to be as ethically challenged as the rest of Alaska's career politicians.Yes, let's make her the president of the Senate. I'm sure she'll ONLY use her tiebreaking power to serve the will of the common people, and not to fulfill her own agenda, right? Seriously, she's under investigation for using the authority of her office to get back at her sister's ex. Yeah, that's respect for the office. I'm sure she'll make a fine vice president. And try to think of her as president, too. She'd be a heartbeat away from that position, and McCain himself is a heartbeat away from....
"Palin is considered to have similar policy positions to John McCain in most respects. One exception is drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), which Palin strongly supports and McCain has opposed.[72] She has supported aspects of Democratic nominee Barack Obama's energy plan related to encouraging the further use of natural gas."
I think it's safe to say that she likes that part of Obama's energy plan because of the gas pipeline and $$$ for Alaska, rather than any environmentalist/conservationist aspects it may have.
"A major consideration in Palin's selection was her appeal to former Hillary Clinton supporters in the contentious Democratic primary.[74] Palin, when asked about Senator Clinton's complaints regarding her coverage by the press, said "that doesn't do us any good, women in politics, women in general, wanting to progress this country...when I hear a statement like that from from any woman, I think that there is a perceived whine."
Yes, call the other women who dare to protest sexism whiners. That's supporting your fellow females in politics. Because if you attack her like you're one of the guys, the guys won't pick on you, amirite? I'll get more into her alleged appeal to Clinton supporters at the end.
"Alaskan Republicans had mixed reactions to the news of Palin's selection. State Senate President Lyda Green, a Republican from Palin's hometown of Wasilla, reportedly thought that the news of her selection "was a joke" at first; Green remarked, "She's not prepared to be governor. How can she be prepared to be vice president or president? Look at what she's done to this state. What would she do to the nation?" On the other hand, Alaskan Attorney General Talis Colberg, a Palin appointee, remarked that, "It's wonderful. It was an emotional thing to see the governor walk out with her family and I say, wow, I work for her."
I'm glad that at least some of her peers in the Alaskan Republican contingent can see that the emperor is naked, too. Talis Colberg sounds like he's just stoked to see his friend (who gave him his job) going places, not like he thinks she'd do a good job. Of course, if McCain and Palin WIN, Colberg would be the interim governor of Alaska (until another election is organised to choose the governor), so naturally, he thinks it's wonderful!
Then the article goes into her personal life, which is all yadda yadda yadda about how wonderful her family is, the typical crafted-for-politics perfection, her husband has a drop of Native blood (how progressive of her to marry someone with Yu'pik in his woodpile!), her kids are all named strange things and one of them's in the Army, of course (probably desperate to get the hell out of Alaska, like everyone I know who joined up after high school), and then THIS little gem popped up:
"On April 18, 2008, while in office as governor, Palin gave birth to her second son and fifth child, Trig Paxson Van Palin, who, as prenatal genetic testing had shown, has Down syndrome.[82] She returned to the office three days after giving birth. Her decision to have the baby was applauded by the pro-life community."
Oh, come on, as if she was going to abort her Down syndrome baby when she is politically pro-life. Why should she give a damn, since the nanny is obviously raising the kid? I mean, THREE DAYS POST-PARTUM? That's just sad. I can't believe how people are approving and complimentary of that. I think if you decide to have a career in politics and be the Governor or whatever, that means the childbearing days are over. Anyway... I think giving plaudits to her for not aborting the Down Syndrome kid ableist and insulting. I’m the first to say that raising a child with a disability comes with a lot of difficulties (many of which are caused by institutionalized ableism), but happening to have a child with a disability also doesn’t instantly turn you into a better, stronger person. It would be nice if her family situation translated into greater campaign/administration attention to the needs of people with disabilities, but I can’t help but think that it’s wishful thinking.
"Details of Palin's personal life have contributed to her political image. She hunts, ice fishes, eats mooseburger, rides snowmobiles, has run a marathon, and owns a float plane."
Wow, she's so SUPER DUPER ALASKAN! She sounds like literally everyone else in the entire fucking state.
"Palin holds a lifetime membership with the National Rifle Association."
Um, well, that's weird and stuff, but whatever, right?
"She admits that she used marijuana at a time when the state had legalized possession of small amounts (though possession was still illegal under federal law). She says that she did not like it and does not smoke it now, and she does not support legalizing marijuana, worrying about the message it would send to her kids."
...and she didn't inhale, either, I'm sure. The message to your kids? "Do as I say, not as I do!"
And then, my fave-rave part of the whole article:
"In December 2007, Palin posed for a photo spread in Vogue."
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA OH MY GOD WHEW. What, Playboy wasn't offering her enough? I'm sorry, I guess I'm just a eensy teensy bit too feminist to believe that posing in a heavily-airbrushed-to-support-ridiculous-beauty-standards fashion magazine gives her any personal or political credibility at all (I felt the same way about Oprah's Vogue shoot, where they made her lose twenty pounds before the shoot and airbrushed another fifty pounds off of her anyway - what, Oprah hasn't accomplished enough to be taken seriously as she is, we have to fake her up to make her more "pretty"? But I digress…). She's just so into marketing how PRETTY she is! I'm ALL for women in positions of political power as a rule, but this chick just is too much with her too-muchery. I'm not belittling her for being attractive, I'm mocking her choice to use her looks as a tool for her political career to benefit the patriarchy.
I think Palin's selection as McCain's running mate is insulting, not revolutionary. It's the Republican party insisting that women will vote with their vaginas, that women will vote for someone because she looks like us, not because of who she is or what she stands for. It's saying that Hillary Clinton was popular because she has tits, not because of her experience or her positions on the issues. Hillary Clinton was the whole package, for me. She is a politician that I agree with, who has extensive political experience and a solid background in protecting and supporting issues that I care about, and she also happens to be a woman. This Sarah Palin chick? She's a wolf in sheep's clothing. She belongs to a faux-feminist pro-choice group, supports teaching Creationism in schools, and is so hard-right and strongly against things like equal pay, universal health care, and reproductive freedom that I wonder show she can look herself in the eye in the mirror every morning. She's all about shoving both fists in the pork barrel for Alaska, which goes pretty strongly against The Cryptkeeper's McCain's anti-pork stance. An anti-choice, anti-evolution, anti-environment, homophobic “feminist” female candidate, with less than 20 months of experience in office, for the Republican party! Wow, how totally radical.
So, yeah, in short? Not so much a fan. :/