Election '08: Palin's Gloves Are Off
Well, it seems she sure lived up to that pit-bull moniker. Offtopic: I wonder what the original Pitbull-in-a-skirt rapper Eve thinks of Palin co-opting the image.
Governor Sarah Palin visited SoCal yesterday with a rally at Carson's Home Depot Center. Before her speech the President of the LA chapter of the National Organisation of Women (California NOW simply calls her a member) introduces Palin as 'what a real feminist looks like' and goes on to endorse the Republican ticket (via ABC News and LA Times).
Not only is this embarrassing as NOW has previously endorsed Obama/Biden, but it was deceptive as well -- news reports and blogs briefly reported the organisation is now supporting the McCain and Palin. ldragoon has posted more details here and urges like-minded supporters to demand Shelly Mandell, said member of NOW, to leave the position. Personally, I couldn't give a rat's arse what or who Mandell wishes to endorse but I am against her using the NOW title to suggest a support by mainstream feminists for Palin. Don't support NOW's position? Leave and make your views public. Mandell did not, and instead made this a deliberate attempt to undermine the organisation.
Secondly, Palin also managed to misquote former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright (read off a Starbucks coffee cup) and said, 'There's a place in Hell reserved for women who don't support other women.' Again, ldragoon has the skinny here. Albright actually said 'There's a place in Hell reserved for women who don't help other women.' But let's get back to Palin's so-called point. Does she mean to suggest that if women don't vote for her, they will be sent to hell? If it's a threat, it's a damn good thing I'm an atheist who doesn't believe in hell, then. If Palin means those who won't vote for her deserve a special part of hell, then I point to hoppytoad79's letter to the McCain/Palin campaign here. The religious right's hypocrisy just *overwhelms* me.
Lastly, Palin managed to slide in some tripe about Obama being friends with terrorists. William Ayers is a former member of the Weatherman, a homegrown militant group involved in several bombings in the 1960s, and now is a respected professor (see Washington Posts' Fact Checker). Obama HAS denounced Ayers' history, and responded by saying these smears by Palin and McCain are just distractions plain and simple. In other words (via Swamp Politics.com):
"We're not going to let him hoodwink ya, or bamboozle ya," he said. "We're not going to let him run the okey doke on ya."
Awesome XD But we still need to hear from Obama that women voters can trust him, that fleeing to Palin is not in anyone's best interests. The sooner he reaches out to this demographic, the sooner Palin's words can be exposed for what they really are: shrill anti-woman rhetoric disguised as progressive.
ETA: Parlance led me to this excellent essay on the real Joe Six Pack, not the make-believe ones touted by Palin.
Governor Sarah Palin visited SoCal yesterday with a rally at Carson's Home Depot Center. Before her speech the President of the LA chapter of the National Organisation of Women (California NOW simply calls her a member) introduces Palin as 'what a real feminist looks like' and goes on to endorse the Republican ticket (via ABC News and LA Times).
Not only is this embarrassing as NOW has previously endorsed Obama/Biden, but it was deceptive as well -- news reports and blogs briefly reported the organisation is now supporting the McCain and Palin. ldragoon has posted more details here and urges like-minded supporters to demand Shelly Mandell, said member of NOW, to leave the position. Personally, I couldn't give a rat's arse what or who Mandell wishes to endorse but I am against her using the NOW title to suggest a support by mainstream feminists for Palin. Don't support NOW's position? Leave and make your views public. Mandell did not, and instead made this a deliberate attempt to undermine the organisation.
Secondly, Palin also managed to misquote former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright (read off a Starbucks coffee cup) and said, 'There's a place in Hell reserved for women who don't support other women.' Again, ldragoon has the skinny here. Albright actually said 'There's a place in Hell reserved for women who don't help other women.' But let's get back to Palin's so-called point. Does she mean to suggest that if women don't vote for her, they will be sent to hell? If it's a threat, it's a damn good thing I'm an atheist who doesn't believe in hell, then. If Palin means those who won't vote for her deserve a special part of hell, then I point to hoppytoad79's letter to the McCain/Palin campaign here. The religious right's hypocrisy just *overwhelms* me.
Lastly, Palin managed to slide in some tripe about Obama being friends with terrorists. William Ayers is a former member of the Weatherman, a homegrown militant group involved in several bombings in the 1960s, and now is a respected professor (see Washington Posts' Fact Checker). Obama HAS denounced Ayers' history, and responded by saying these smears by Palin and McCain are just distractions plain and simple. In other words (via Swamp Politics.com):
"We're not going to let him hoodwink ya, or bamboozle ya," he said. "We're not going to let him run the okey doke on ya."
Awesome XD But we still need to hear from Obama that women voters can trust him, that fleeing to Palin is not in anyone's best interests. The sooner he reaches out to this demographic, the sooner Palin's words can be exposed for what they really are: shrill anti-woman rhetoric disguised as progressive.
ETA: Parlance led me to this excellent essay on the real Joe Six Pack, not the make-believe ones touted by Palin.