Sarah Palin Sexism Watch

The looking up her skirt photos

2008-10-15T08:54:00.000-07:00

Described here

Meanwhile, Reuters ran some pictures of Palin that truly are tasteless and deserve more attention than the volumes of blogosphere venom spewed on the Newsweek cover. Taken through Palin's legs and from behind her, they make it appear that male members of the audience are peering right up her skirt. Now that's deserving of conservative alarm.

Andrew Greeley: Sarah Palin is a racist

2008-10-15T08:45:00.000-07:00

More here

He also compares John McCain to a slave master

Oliver Stone bashes Palin's intelligence

2008-10-15T08:33:00.000-07:00

That was just fine with the Bush-bashing director, who seems to despise Palin even more.
"I don't think Sarah would understand the picture," Stone said on the red carpet outside the famed W. 54th St. theater.
"It has a lot of complicated dialogue," he zinged.
"George Bush is an intellectual compared to her."

Story here.

If Palin did this...

2008-10-15T08:32:00.000-07:00

Imagine the media coverage:

Democratic vice-presidential candidate Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. has paid more than $2 million in campaign cash to his family members, their businesses and employers over the years, a practice that watchdogs criticize as rife with potential conflicts of interest.

Joy Behar: attacks Palin for letting her daughter date

2008-10-15T07:47:00.000-07:00

Again, rationalizing sexist attacks by using a hypothetical.

CNN headline: Did Palin pick 'put the country at risk'?

2008-10-15T07:34:00.001-07:00

Did Palin pick 'put the country at risk'?

"Dismally unqualified"

2008-10-15T07:09:00.000-07:00

Richard Cohen in the Washington Post writes a column with hypothetical debate questions for Obama/McCain and 3 of them deal with how ridiculous he thinks Sarah Palin is (a contention he never backs up). Can you say OBSESSED?

Senator McCain, I have a question regarding Sarah Palin: How could you?

Senator McCain, do you ever wake up in the middle of the night and wonder if history will forgive you for Sarah Palin?

Senator McCain, you are 72 and have had skin cancer several times. Given that -- not to mention the usual exigencies of life -- how could you pick a running mate who is so dismally qualified for the presidency?

How many times does it have to be pointed out to these columnists: Palin and Obama have comparable resumes.

Kansas City Star: Palin's "incompetence"

2008-10-12T22:54:00.000-07:00

Evidence please?

Sigourney Weaver: Bush in a skirt

2008-10-12T22:50:00.001-07:00

Not meant as a compliment.

The unflattering Newsweek cover picture of Palin

2008-10-12T22:47:00.000-07:00

Listen to the UK Daily News describe it:

A SQUABBLE has blown up in the US election campaign - over a plook on Sarah Palin's face.

Her Republican team are furious that the embarrassing spot was shown in a close-up photo on the front of Newsweek magazine.

The picture also shows a chipped tooth, wrinkles - and even the beginnings of a wispy moustache.

Nova Scotian Chronicle Herald: A bombshell, terrifying

2008-10-12T22:44:00.000-07:00

Save us, Lord...

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Calls Palin a diva, embarassment

2008-10-12T22:43:00.001-07:00

And says McCain's choice of her was "reckless."

Salman Rushdie: Palin is a bad joke

2008-10-12T22:39:00.000-07:00

A "colossal misjudgment" by McCain.
Again, based on what evidence?

David Brooks: Palin is a cancer

2008-10-12T22:38:00.001-07:00

She scorns "ideas."
Based on what evidence? A couple gotcha questions from Katie Couric?
Subtext: Palin is supposedly stupid, or incurious, or not intellectual. Based on what evidence?

TMZ's TV show interviews Palin porn actress

2008-10-12T22:24:00.000-07:00

They "report" that a new Palin porno movie is coming out with a look-alike actress starring as Palin. The title is Nailin' Palin. They report this as a light-hearted story, even interviewing the actress.

I think it's abuse, and it doesn't belong on TV as a light-hearted story.

Adult film seeking Palin look alike for filming

2008-10-07T17:57:00.001-07:00

Not a joke or satire, unfortunately.

Adorable but not credible...a white middle-aged man in a woman's body...cute

2008-10-07T17:50:00.000-07:00

Emory University Wheel:

So for weeks I blindly denounced criticisms of Palin and attributed any barb about her intelligence or competence to sexism. The emotional stress of seeing Hillary lose drove me to the edge of a feminist tirade, and every time a criticism against Palin snuck up, I’d react with a hysterical, “It’s because she’s a woman, isn’t it?”

But then it dawned on me that it’s not because she’s a woman. It’s because she’s a stereotypical, white, middle-aged Republican man in a woman’s body. It’s as if she’s the end result of some creepy lab experiment gone wrong.

Given Palin’s meager list of credentials, which includes being mayor of a town of 9,000 and only two years of gubernatorial experience, the only point in her favor is cuteness, gosh darn it. Simple, unadulterated, awe-factor cuteness.

Southwestern Michigan College Daily News: Palin Flirted with the Entire Nation

2008-10-07T17:49:00.001-07:00

Winking Sarah Palin flirted with the entire nation during her vice presidential debate with Delaware Democratic Sen. Joe Biden Oct. 2 in St. Louis.

Not only that, she didn't wink once, but six times, according to body language expert Patti Wood, author of "Success Signals," who counted six.

Article here.

"Sarah Palin: All-American Cheerleader"

2008-10-07T17:44:00.001-07:00

It was that come hither wink. Twice. It was the lowered voice.

It was the seduction of speaking directly to the camera audience, as if there was no one else in each living room of America, as if it were just her and the - presumably male or complicit female- viewer, while ignoring the debate questions, Joe Biden, Gwen Ifill, and everything else. Her less than subtle message was "you want me," and not in a charismatic political leader, vote-for-me sort of way. She was delivering a direct come-on to the audience....

With Palin, the wink had quite a different connotation.

That wink is at the heart of her campaign. The wink is all about sex, which is what made it all the more jarring in the context of the national debate. It was the wink of a bikini-clad model selling a car and a dodgy bill of goods. It was the wink of a temptress offering a promise that will never be kept. It was the wink of the all-American cheerleader knowing why every male, and not a few females, are interested in her short skirt, and determined to milk it for all it's worth.

More here.

Classist headlines

2008-10-07T17:40:00.000-07:00

Let's make fun of the way Sarah Palin talks...
Palin's gosh dern golly-gee debate (Daily Illini)
I'm Warmin' Up To Sarah Palin, You Betcha! (Wink!) (Hartford Courant)
Etc.

Toledo Blade: She obviously cares more about her career

2008-10-07T17:38:00.000-07:00

I cannot begin to describe how offensive I find Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Well, yes, I can. And I shall.
First, she wants to present herself as being the consummate working mother to appeal to all women.

This offends me in so many ways. When I decided to have children I opened my arms to my babies, regardless of health, as have all the women I know. That she did not abort or give away her son with Down syndrome tells me that she is not totally self-serving, but this does not make her special; it makes her a mother.

But as a mother, I felt then and now that the first and most critical responsibility as a parent is to be there to raise that child, to make my family my priority. She understands all about special-needs children, and to some degree, so do I. The first rule of parenting is to be there. Mrs. Palin promotes herself as everyone's ideal of a mother, yet she obviously cares more about her career than her family or she would not have dragged her children into the limelight, especially her pregnant daughter. She would have done what most mothers' instincts would dictate: protect her family first and foremost.
As governor of Alaska, she can do that. She can be home and be there for her children. As a political candidate for vice president, she and her husband are continually on the road. Who is there for that baby, and who is there helping her daughter through a deeply personal situation? The teenager is there, living in the public eye.

Column here.

Palin is the new Britney.... an energizer bunny

2008-10-07T17:36:00.000-07:00

It seems no matter what the hockey mom does, people have a Britney-like reaction to her. She’s got that X Factor which brings in the viewers and the fans, regardless of their opinion of her.

Palin’s performance on the VP debate was not unlike the famous MTV appearance where Britney, underneath it all, seemed to be somewhere she didn’t expect to be. But if you love her, you love her, if you don’t, you don’t. Just keep in mind, that if she gets into office, she’ll be a heartbeat away from being the leader of the free world!

With less than a month left before the election, there were wide ranging expectations about how she’d fare. Predictions ran as deep as a pucker on a pit bull, minus the lipstick.

The 44-year old former beauty queen exceeded the sub-zero bar that pundits set for her, although on the issues health care, national security and foreign policy, “She just wasn’t able to answer the questions, maybe she stopped the bleeding a little, but she clearly couldn’t answer the questions.” Said Gov. Bill Richardson following the debate.

After a week of almost incoherent Q&A with CBS anchorwomen Katie Couric, the Republican ‘energizer-bunny” debated Dem VP Nominee Joe Biden in a performance that lived up to the hype. Palin used “Fargo-isms” from “gotcha, you betcha” to “darn right, doggone it and drill, baby drill.”

Source here.

UK Times: Using her Down's Syndrome child

2008-10-07T17:33:00.000-07:00

Even so, for those American women who worry that they risk damnation if they don't vote the Republican ticket, it should be explained that eternity with a pitchfork impaled in your rear is still preferable to a vote for a politician who aided her political career by using her Down's syndrome child to cover her daughter's pregnancy bump.

Also:

You go, girl. Go? Go where? Go to college? Go back to that Republican cramming camp to be told what newspapers to say you read and be fed another set of fake statistics where real knowledge and opinions should be? It is easy to parody Sarah Palin, wrote one commentator last week.

Story here.

Palin is "Rain Man"

2008-10-07T17:29:00.000-07:00

Hartford Courant:

Biden missed a golden opportunity to score one of his own in response to Palin's almost "Rain Man" like repetition of the word "maverick."

"I knew Maverick, Gov. Palin. James Garner was a friend of mine, and you, governor, are no Maverick."

Toward the end of the debate it finally hit me what was appealing to me about Palin. It was her accent, her folksy pronunciation of phrases like "you betcha" and "doggone it." Put a parka and mad-bomber hat on her and she was a clone of the sheriff played by Frances McDormand in the movie "Fargo."

Gosh, darn it, Higgins, I think she's got it!

Bardot: A "disgrace" to women

2008-10-07T17:12:00.000-07:00

Story here.

French film legend-turned-activist Brigitte Bardot took a swipe at Sarah Palin on Tuesday, saying the US vice presidential candidate was a disgrace to women.

"I hope you lose these elections because that would be a victory for the world," Bardot wrote in an open letter to Republican John McCain's running mate in the November vote.

Cute enough to hold grandpa's hand

2008-10-05T19:45:00.000-07:00

Peter Gelzinis in the Boston Herald:

After Palin’s debate, he compared her to “the adorable wink of one of those unbearably sunny TV weather babes.“ She was “adorable.” He decided that Gov. Palin “was cute enough to hold Gramps’ hand through Election Day.”

Sarah's "baby talk"

2008-10-05T18:49:00.000-07:00

--a neverending train wreck of ignorance
--And so we love her, Mother Sarah. She's simple, she's pretty, she's as fierce as a tiger protecting her cubs. So what if storms are rattling the windowpanes? We get a glass of warm milk and a big gold star just for staying up late while she tells us reassuring bedtime stories.

The author? A professor at Columbia

"This attractive, peppy woman"

2008-10-05T18:40:00.000-07:00

Who is just like a Barbie...

But there she was, winking at us as if she were Barbie making us feel good about America, motherhood and possibly even apple pie....
Gov. Palin might do better if she stopped trying so hard to convince us that she's just like the rest of us. Or if she stopped parading her children in front of the cameras as if they were political props. We, too, have children but we don't take them on job interviews.

El Paso Times.

Las Vegas Sun - Palun is a cyborg

2008-10-05T18:33:00.000-07:00

Palin proved Thursday she is a cross between an Ira Levin character — no, not “Rosemary’s Baby” or one of the “Boys from Brazil,” although some might make those cases — and a Coen Brothers creation. Sarah Palin is a true Stepford candidate, a cyborg that will say whatever the men in McCain’s campaign want her to say.

Column here.

You don't send the fluffy bunny out to do the work

2008-10-05T18:04:00.000-07:00

In an AP story that outright alleges Palin's comments about the Obama/Ayers connection are racially tinged*:

"It's a giant changing of the subject," said Jenny Backus, a Democratic strategist. "The problem is the messenger. If you want to start throwing fire bombs, you don't send out the fluffy bunny to do it. I think people don't take Sarah Palin seriously."

*Ayers is white, so how is raising the question racially tinged? Imagine if an abortion clinic bomber had hosted a campaign coffee for Sarah Palin. Her candidacy would be over.

Cyber rape

2008-09-30T00:02:00.001-07:00

You Tube video about masturbating to Palin gets news coverage.

Stop the sexism, McCain campaign

2008-09-28T21:34:00.000-07:00

I hate to say it, but I am starting to agree with the self-serving Campbell Brown. The McCain Campaign has GOT to free Sarah Palin. They are starting to REALLY tick me off. In order to treat her equally, this is what they need to do ASAP:

Let HER do the post-debate spinning on cable TV - not Rudy Giuliani. Why are they sending a man out there to do something that is typically the role of the VP? If they don't even express confidence in Palin, how can they expect her to feel confidence in herself?
Send her on SNL for a cameo next week. It would show that she's a good sport and that she considers the parody a harmless joke, and it would knock the socks off the critics.
Let her talk to the press - NOW. No limits. Let her take questions at every appearance. Part of the reason the Obama/Biden gaffes don't get as much attention is because those guys are out there so much, talking so much. I do think there's a major double standard in how the media are treating Obama/Biden gaffes, don't get me wrong. It's just that the McCain campaign is asking for gaffe-hype when they up the stakes for any one interview by making it such a rare thing. Furthermore, they need to start getting her USED to these interviews and the national interviewers' styles. It's human nature to feel a little uncomfortable in a new setting at first and then to loosen up as you do it more. Why would it be any different with Sarah Palin?
Take Obama's talking points. Remind people he voted for the Bridge to Nowhere, for example.
Have her dial up Kathleen Parker. Not to overstate Parker's importance, but send Palin into the lions' dens to demonstrate her fearlessness and strength.

Airhead Sarah

2008-09-28T18:43:00.001-07:00

Pal Mulshine attempts satire. Loaded with sexism.

But just between you and me, caballero, John McCain doesn't pick women for their brains. Just take a look at that blonde wife of his, the one with the beer distributorship in Arizona. The same goes for Sarah. Her body may be as hot as the Sonora Desert, but her head's just as empty. She'll do whatever the party bosses tell her to do.

VP "Fashion faceoff"

2008-09-28T18:12:00.000-07:00

Nope, not in Cosmo or Vogue.
ABC News:

ABC News' Matt Jaffe and Sunlen Miller report: When Joe Biden and Sarah Palin square off Thursday in the vice-presidential debate in St. Louis, their much-anticipated confrontation might now be considered a cosmetic competition. So what if Republican presidential nominee John McCain chose a former beauty queen to share his ticket? Democratic candidate Barack Obama thinks he's got the best-dressed running mate around.

Ridiculous. McCain also chose a former governor... can we talk about that?

And Fox News...
The Washington Post refers to her style as "unassertive". Is that because it's feminine? Yes, these paragraphs actually appeared in the WASHINGTON POST:

Palin seems to dress for pretty rather than powerful. She is willing to be sexual, with the occasional fitted jacket and high heels. She wears dangly earrings. Campaign photographers can't seem to resist shooting her legs, as if they've never seen an American female politician with bare gams wearing three-inch heels. (Then again, they probably haven't.)

She talks tough. She doesn't blink. She speaks of "guys and gals." What is a gal? One thinks of a waitress in a bar who knows that if she pretends she doesn't notice when a guy's ogling her legs and gives as good as she gets when it comes to off-color jokes, life will go along more smoothly. She's not one of the guys, but she doesn't confront them with either a lawyer or rhetoric from a women's studies seminar.

Why didn't "Katie" refer to her as "governor" instead of "Palin"?

2008-09-28T17:53:00.001-07:00

Interesting claim - that Couric purposely struck references to Gov. Palin's title from the infamous interview...

It's part of a trend in the media. Refer to Gov. Palin as "Sarah", the mayor of a town of 9,000, or a former beauty pageant contestant... anything but governor.

Palin power

2008-09-28T17:50:00.001-07:00

A woman has painted the words "Palin power" on the side of her house. There are two conversations going on about Palin: One in the mainstream media, which, by and large, can't find a single good thing to say about her, and one in the rest of the country, where a lot of people like her - a lot.

Newsflash! Sarah Palin is one of the world's hottest politicians

2008-09-28T17:48:00.001-07:00

And, for some reason, the Washington Post thinks it's news.

Defining Palin by the beauty pageant stuff

2008-09-28T17:42:00.000-07:00

Folks, it was TWENTY-FOUR YEARS AGO. Surely, they could lead off with another part of her resume first? Say, governor???

Belfast newspaper lead:

Only a few weeks ago, no-one had heard of former beauty contestant Sarah Palin. Now she could well determine the entire outcome of this year's US presidential election.

They really want her out of the race...

2008-09-28T14:07:00.000-07:00

Right after Sarah Palin was announced as John McCain's VP, some liberal pundits and news types were already speculating about whether she would withdraw from the race. The reason? Her daughter was pregnant.

Now, after one bad interview with Katie Couric, they're again saying she should get out of the race, joined by a conservative columnist, Kathleen Parker.

Parker's column has sparked a spurt of stories about how conservatives are supposedly turning on Palin. As far as I can tell, they pretty much only cite Parker as evidence. Parker is entitled to her opinion, but she's only one person. So, they should stop extrapolating her opinion into a bigger whole.

Where has Sarah's confidence gone?

2008-09-28T13:49:00.000-07:00

I agree that the Katie Couric interview was painful to watch. Sarah Palin didn't seem like the same person - not just compared to her convention speech but, more importantly, compared to her early pre-nomination interviews and appearances. For example, I watched her 2006 gubernatorial debate on C-Span, and she was confident, smart, poised, and articulate - similar to the convention speech, and very different from the Couric interview.

So, what happened? The media spin is:

Has the McCain Campaign Broken Palin?

Chris Orr in the New Republic:

I'm reminded of the situation you see every now and then in sports, when a talented athlete--which, conveniently enough, Palin was--gets a taste of heavy duty coaching and, rather than being built up, is broken down, losing confidence in his game, becoming tentative, second-guessing himself even to the point of paralysis. I don't know whether that's what's happened to Sarah Palin. But from where I sit, it sure looks like it.

Or - have the media broken Palin? Imagine being on the receiving end of the vicious media juggernaut. Imagine being told day in and day out that you are stupid, unprepared, unqualified, a moron, etc. Imagine having no experience with such slime and criticism. It might throw anyone briefly off his or her game. But - the kitchen comes with the heat.

I don't feel anyone's broken Palin, although I do believe the McCain campaign should have let her immediately start doing interviews and fielding questions - the more you do it, the more comfortable you get with the process. I believe she's getting a feel for the style of the national press corps. She was far from her best with Couric, to put it mildly.

But, largely due to the strength of her past debate and interview appearances, I do not take it as a sign that she is a disaster, lacking intelligence, should step down immediately, etc. She seems a bit defensive and like the media have knocked her off her game. I'm thinking she'll revert to past debate-interview form. Clearly, it needs to happen soon. She can't pull a Favre and throw an interception in the last few seconds of the Super Bowl. The upcoming VP debate is show time. That's why the McCain camp should have been putting the last few weeks to better use by letting her deal with the national press.

Watch the 2006 debate for yourself:

The media are giving Palin zero margin for error, a standard that they do not hold over anyone else's heads, especially not Joe Biden.

Or Barack Obama - remember when Obama gave a rambling nonsensical speech in Milwaukee in which he linked the Virginia Tech massacre to a culture of violence that included job outsourcing and Don Imus?

Remember when he said there were 57 states in the U.S.?

Here's a run down, and this was just through May.

You knew they'd go there...

2008-09-28T13:32:00.001-07:00

The LA Times has dug up video of Sarah Palin in a beauty pageant swimsuit contest from years and years ago. And this is news because...?

The New York Daily News is on the "story" too.

Michael McCord: An American Idol princess

2008-09-28T13:22:00.001-07:00

The implication: She could just be any average Joe (or Jane) plucked off the streets. Newsflash to McCord and other columnists: Sarah Palin is the GOVERNOR of her state.

Myron Pitts: "Legally Brunette"... compares Palin's upcoming VP debate appearance to death penalty execution

2008-09-28T13:07:00.000-07:00

The Fayetteville Observer columnist:

Legally Brunette: Palin Should Throw in the Towel, Before Debate

In 2006, the State of Alabama executed a convicted murderer in Huntsville. The man had to be dragged into the death chamber by the guards, after he said he would not participate in his own execution. As the lethal drugs began to take hold he muttered the fragment, “This is some nasty.”
I believe we will all be saying something similar some time on Thursday night if John McCain’s campaign allows Sarah Palin to get dismantled before 40+ million viewers on live TV....

That this Legally Brunette former TV anchor and model would back up a president who is 72 and has had four bouts of cancer is not lost on anyone who cares more for the country than for partisan politics.

Dahlia Lithwick in Newsweek: A "campaign accessory"

2008-09-28T09:16:00.001-07:00

She compares Palin - and other women around McCain - to flag pins with nice calves.

Where Clarence Thomas excoriated liberals for promoting token blacks so America might become a Benetton commercial, John McCain has mastered the fine art of turning women into campaign accessories: flag pins with nice calves.

Hilary Cosell: He picked a conservative uterus, a reproductive vessel as a running mate

2008-09-26T20:02:00.001-07:00

In the Providence Journal:

Instead, all that mattered was that he pick a conservative uterus as running mate.

AND:

McCain wasn’t looking for a qualified Republican woman candidate who could lead from “day one” and be “commander-in-chief.” He wanted a reproductive vessel to boost his new, right-wing credentials. Republicans think we will be afraid to criticize Palin simply because she is a woman. They are wrong. They are always wrong. Look at the past eight years.

Pakistani president: You're gorgeous... can I hug you?

2008-09-24T20:15:00.001-07:00

This has got to be an SNL skit Saturday. But it's real:

Pakistan's recently-elected president, Asif Ali Zardari, entered the room seconds later. Palin rose to shake his hand, saying she was “honored” to meet him.

Zardari then called her "gorgeous" and said: "Now I know why the whole of America is crazy about you."

"You are so nice," Palin said, smiling. "Thank you."

A handler from Zardari's entourage then told the two politicians to keep shaking hands for the cameras.

"If he's insisting, I might hug," Zardari said. Palin smiled politely.

Naomi Wolf: Palin is Frankenbarbie

2008-09-23T22:54:00.000-07:00

...I believe the Rove-Cheney cabal is using Sarah Palin as a stalking horse, an Evita figure, to put a popular, populist face on the coming police state and be the talk show hostess for the end of elections as we know them.
...the muse of the coming police state
...fascist

For a truly paranoid rant, click here.

New York magazine imagines a conversation between Palin and Kissinger

2008-09-23T22:42:00.000-07:00

Actually, they imagine Kissinger as a dirty old man and Palin as a ditz. How sophisticated.

Palin: Oh, don't you worry about it for one minute. Everybody always thinks I'm a greeter at Wal-Mart — it's the combination of my glasses and spunk.

Palin: Oh, I thought I just explained. I'm not a concierge — I'm Sarah Palin, I'm the woman John McCain selected as his vice-presidential running mate.

Kissinger: Come closer for a moment. Has anyone ever told you that you look a little like a brunette Jill St. John?
Palin: Is she a real saint? I haven't heard of that one. But I am in full support of the war in Iraq, just like God!
Kissinger: [Softly] You know, power is the ultimate aphrodisiac.
Palin: I certainly don't think we should elect someone just because he is black, if that's what you mean.
Kissinger: Vat?

More Palin is "speed dating" world leaders

2008-09-23T22:36:00.001-07:00

This time from Deutsche Welle

New York Post: Palin has "crash course" with world leaders

2008-09-23T22:26:00.001-07:00

How come Obama's meetings with foreign leaders weren't dubbed a "crash course"?
Source

And casting Kissinger as the "teacher"

Idaho Mountain Express headline:
Sarah (‘I’m ready!’) Palin takes cram course

Stanley Crouch: Palin is a proxy male... more one of the boys than the boys

2008-09-23T22:21:00.000-07:00

I think he means it as a compliment. I think she's just one tough, accomplished woman:

These are the kinds of things that make Palin more one of the boys than even most of the boys are. So while remaining the loving mother of five, Palin also has the credentials to be a proxy male who can go in the door of the men's club and not be sneered at unless one is willing to take her on in a target shooting contest.

Except...

She might be pretty enough for Rush Limbaugh to call "a babe"; she might shoot well enough to be nicknamed "Annie Oakley" and she may even have squeaky clean but gritty charm. But, when the sun goes down and nobody else is around, Sarah Palin kneels to and bows low before the language that can prepare the way to totalitarianism. Always a dangerous thing.

Speed dating with world leaders

2008-09-23T22:11:00.001-07:00

Again, courtesy of Newsbusters

Ken Burns: In the entire history of the country, no one has ever had as thin of a credential

2008-09-23T22:09:00.001-07:00

Speaking to a university panel, as recounted by Newsbusters:

"He (McCain) selected someone who is so supremely unqualified to be a heartbeat away from the presidency, and he has turned the selection process into a high school popularity contest and an 'American Idol' competition," Burns said. He said that McCain made a "cynical" pick in what he said was the most important decision of his presidential candidacy.

Burns, whose body of work has focused on American history, said that "in the whole history of the republic there has been no one with as thin as a credential" as Palin. He said it was, for McCain, a "Hail Mary pass" that will be decided in November.

Rolling Stone: Mad dog Palin

2008-09-23T21:59:00.000-07:00

Tawdry, half-assed article not yet available online.

Mad Dog Palin
John McCain's running mate may be a tawdry, half-assed fraud — but that's not as scary as what her candidacy really says about America.

UPDATE: A blogger has excerpts:

....a two-bit caricature culled from some cutting-room-floor episode of Roseanne
...And if she's a good enough likeness of a loudmouthed Middle American archetype, as Sarah Palin is, John Q. Public will drop his giant sized bag of Doritos in gratitude, wipe the sizzlin' picante dust from his lips and rush to the booth to vote for her. Not because it makes sense, or because it has a chance of improving his life or anyone else's, but simply because it appeals to the low-humming narcissism that substitutes for his personality, because that image on TV reminds him of the mean brainless slob he sees in the mirror every morning.
...Sarah Palin is a symbol of everything that is wrong with the modern United States. As a representative of our political system, she's a new low in reptilian villainy
...Not only is Sarah Palin a fraud, she's the tawdriest, most half-assed fraud imaginable, 20 floors below the lowest common denominator, a character too dumb even for daytime TV – and this country is going to eat her up, cheering every step of the way.

McCain, stop protecting Sarah

2008-09-23T20:48:00.000-07:00

I'm getting sick of the shielding of Sarah Palin by the McCain campaign. That's sexist in its own way. I understood it at first because the media were in a feeding frenzy. Why assist their efforts?

But, it's gone on too long. The tightening of debate rules, blocking of the press from the New York appearances with world leaders, the limited number of media interviews... I personally believe that Palin can handle it. So let her talk. If she can't handle it, then she doesn't belong in the race. Stop creating the perception that she can't handle it.

Frankly, this is also a political mistake. It just ratchets up the attention on each selective media appearance. True, that drives ratings. But it also creates additional pressure on Palin to not utter a single gaffe (of course, Biden is apparently no longer taking questions and has made a series of recent gaffes without getting called on them with equal intensity). It's also creating unbelievable pressure for her regarding the debate.

I say - let her talk. Let her do interviews. Let her do them a lot. Get her comfortable with the national media's style of questioning. Let her show her mettle. Over and over again. We know she's got it.

Just saying.

David Talbot: Mean Girl

2008-09-23T20:38:00.000-07:00

Writing on Salon.com:

Sarah Palin has a way of using "old boys" -- then dumping them when they become inconvenient.

There was a knife-sharp, personal edge to Palin's campaign that many locals found disturbing, particularly because of the warm relationship between Palin and Stein before the race.

This is classic sexism. When the man shows a certain ruthlessness or toughness, he's establishing leadership and authority. When the woman does it, it's mean and personal - a feud.

Talbot continues:

According to some political observers in Alaska, this pattern -- exploiting "old-boy" mentors and then turning against them for her own advantage -- defines Sarah Palin's rise to power. Again and again, Palin has charmed powerful political patrons, and then rejected them when it suited her purposes.

Well, then, Mr. Talbot, Palin sounds exactly like the kind of person we need going toe-to-toe with Putin. Thanks for making the case.

PBS wants to know: Do you think Palin is qualified

2008-09-22T20:10:00.001-07:00

I wonder if they ran a similar poll on Obama....I suppose they didn't run a similar poll on Biden. Now that the media have decided that Washington insider experience is a prerequisite for public office, what's the point?

Do you think Sarah Palin is qualified to serve as Vice President of the United States?

Yes
No
Not Sure

(The "yes" votes are winning)

Thoughts on the SNL Todd Palin incest skit?

2008-09-22T19:08:00.001-07:00

I have mixed thoughts on it. Clearly, the skit was poking fun at the NY Times, not the Palins. The premise was that the Times, and other media, will say anything to go after the Palins, without the facts. It's pretty funny purely as a send up of the Times.

On the other hand, joking about Todd Palin having sex with his daughter is really not very funny. Imagine how you'd feel if you were the daughter. Remember when SNL made fun of Chelsea? Everyone rightly said to back off. I think SNL could have made the same point in a way that didn't involve the Palin kids - especially a skit that involved having sex with their father. Kids should be off limits.

You have to wonder why good people go into politics sometimes. Is it really worth the cost in a culture as coarse as ours?

Bill Clinton gets it

2008-09-22T18:45:00.001-07:00

Not being sarcastic - he really does. But then he always understood how to relate to small town/rural America:

Bill Clinton said Monday he understands why Sarah Palin is popular in the heartland: because people relate to her.

"I come from Arkansas, I get why she's hot out there," Clinton said. "Why she's doing well."

Speaking to reporters before his Clinton Global Initiative meeting, the former president described Palin's appeal by adding, "People look at her, and they say, 'All those kids. Something that happens in everybody's family. I'm glad she loves her daughter and she's not ashamed of her. Glad that girl's going around with her boyfriend. Glad they're going to get married.'"

Clinton said voters would think, "I like that little Down syndrome kid. One of them lives down the street. They're wonderful children. They're wonderful people. And I like the idea that this guy does those long-distance races. Stayed in the race for 500 miles with a broken arm. My kind of guy."

Palin, the governor of Alaska, became an overnight star when Republican presidential candidate John McCain tapped her for his running mate. Her family, including her Down syndrome baby, Trig, her pregnant 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, and her husband, Todd, four-time winner of the 2,000-mile Iron Dog snowmobile race, have garnered intense media interest.

"I get this," Clinton said. "My view is ... why say, ever, anything bad about a person? Why don't we like them and celebrate them and be happy for her elevation to the ticket? And just say that she was a good choice for him and we disagree with them?"

Palin/McCain porn

2008-09-21T18:21:00.001-07:00

Only click on this one if you want to throw up.

Maureen Dowd strikes again: Compares Palin to a Lancome Rep

2008-09-21T18:17:00.001-07:00

She imagines a conversation between Barack Obama and West Wing president Bartlet:

Bartlet: I didn’t expect you to be getting beat by John McCain and a Lancôme rep who thinks “The Flintstones” was based on a true story, so let’s call it even... and I don’t know whether or not Governor Palin has the tenacity of a pit bull, but I know for sure she’s got the qualifications of one

More sick T-shirts

2008-09-21T18:09:00.001-07:00

Click here for the latest example.
Cyber-rape.

Manisha Sinha: Palin selection is one of the biggest betrayals of American women in history

2008-09-21T11:21:00.001-07:00

...she fails the test of common human decency...
...her unseemly pride in declaring her ignorance
...anti-woman candidate

Palin is probably the worst breed of conservative women since southern white slaveholding women defended slavery as a positive good and opposed the women's rights movement as heretical for allegedly overturning both God's and nature's plans for women.

I found this one reprinted on History News Network

Barry Ronge: Sounds like a TV sitcom super bitch, looks fresh as a daisy

2008-09-21T10:58:00.001-07:00

Writing in the Times newspaper of South Africa

Margaret Cho, at it again

2008-09-21T10:54:00.000-07:00

WARNING!!! Very offensive language alert

Rhetorical rape

She also says McCain was not a good soldier because he was captured (not sexism but worth noting)

And now with Sarah Palin at his side, they have actually become the worst ticket imaginable. The only way it could be worse would be if Satan were running with Chuck Norris as his VP. Actually, Lucifer-Norris sounds better than McCain-Palin.

But even though I would never, ever vote for Palin, I am kind of obsessed with fucking her. She is sexy and hot in a MILF/Cougar way. Like you could have that real mature, straight to the point, adult, over forty, gonna cum multiple times with a big, oversize t-shirt on and nothing else and "I don't care what I look like cuz I am gonna bust nuts in your curl" kind of fucking with her. I want to steam up those glasses and show her what a pitbull with lipstick really needs – doggy style!

Seriously – I wanna eat her Alaskan pussy from behind. Like an Eskimo. What?! I'm just trying to keep warm!

Although you know that thing is frozen and my tongue would probably stick.

Barb Guy: Palin is the smiling dumb guy

2008-09-21T10:47:00.000-07:00

Writing in the Salt Lake Tribune

Steven Katz: Palin is like political junk food... a chick magnet

2008-09-21T10:37:00.000-07:00

That's a new one!

Writing in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the former counsel to John Glenn:

What does it sound like when people can't stomach McCain's political junk food diet? "Shame on John McCain for choosing Palin as his running mate." This is just one of the more common, and most disgusted of voter reactions to be heard, and which the media does not report on....

In fact, they may not vote at all -- and that makes the real untold story of John McCain's campaign different than reports of how he discovered a "chick magnet" to resuscitate his dying presidential aspirations.

Caly Pol professors: Palin's place is in the home... her kids are a disqualifying burden

2008-09-21T10:31:00.000-07:00

Ralph E. Shaffer and Walter P. Coombs are professors emeritus at Cal Poly Pomona.

Headline:

Sarah Palin belongs at home, not in Washington

They write:

But Palin knew full well when she succumbed to the lure of high office that she had personal, family matters that should disqualify her in the minds of family-value voters, the very people her party counts on for its base.
What is Palin's disqualifying burden?

If ever there was a valid argument that a mother should be home with her kids instead of playing politics, this is it. For starters, she has an infant with Down syndrome. What family-oriented mother would willingly choose the demanding and extremely busy life of vice president when faced with the needs of her own child?

No one is asking Palin to give up her career. She may very well be able to carry on as governor of Alaska. But the duties associated with that office in one of the least populated states hardly compares with the enormous responsibility of being vice president and only a heart beat away from the presidency. She doesn't need a job to support her family. She's not a single mother, and her husband earns good pay.

Were she the only woman in the country qualified for the job of vice president their might be justification for abandoning her duties at home, but that is not the case. McCain had several better qualified women who could have accepted the post without jeopardizing their children.

Phyllis Schlafly responds

2008-09-21T10:24:00.001-07:00

Why feminists are against Palin

Caille Millner: Palin chosen for sex appeal, freshness

2008-09-21T10:21:00.001-07:00

The columnist, in the San Francisco Chronicle, tries to explain why Palin is a "token" not a "feminist":

A couple possibilities: Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson or Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. But these women, substantive though they may be, lack the "freshness" and sex appeal of Palin, a former beauty queen...

It is challenging, especially after being bombarded with the sight of so many "Coldest State, Hottest Governor" buttons during the Republican Convention, to avoid the feeling that another reason McCain picked Palin was for the chance to have something easy on the eyes around during his policy meetings....

Instead, she defers to the stronger men who have plucked her from obscurity and fashioned her into one of their own.

The "cute" comment

2008-09-20T09:13:00.000-07:00

Talking about herself or Palin? You decide

Perky and spunky

2008-09-19T23:32:00.000-07:00

Anthony Bonaparte, writing in the Suburban, a Quebec newspaper:

God-fearing-religiously-conservative-anti-abortion-mothers-of-knocked-up-17-year-old-daughters.Palin is effervescent, congenial, knows how to skin an animal, can chant “drill baby drill” with gusto and a perky smile, and she has spunk. I hate spunk.

And I hate words that make accomplished, mature women sound like little girls.

Some gays support Palin and like her a lot

2008-09-19T23:28:00.000-07:00

But you'd never know it from the media coverage painting her as an extremist homophobe. This gay columnist argues that she's anything but. Palin deserves a more nuanced presentation than the media are giving her. You'd think she's never done a single thing right in her entire life from the tone and amount of the negative coverage.

(Note: This post isn't really about sexism. I occasionally like to point out angles that the media just won't cover)

McCain married her on the second date

2008-09-19T23:25:00.000-07:00

Former Republican U.S. senator Dave Durenberger said:

Sarah Palin didn't blink when John McCain asked her to marry him on their second date.

Julia Hayes: Palin is the team's "water boy"

2008-09-19T23:21:00.000-07:00

Writing in Whit Online, Rowan University's independent student newspaper:

...But the same fact remains: the water boy just doesn't know how to bring a team to victory, to ensure that the offence and defense coordinate, follow the rules and succeed.

If Andy Reid did this, the fans would be fuming, so why is it okay that Sen. John McCain has done the same thing?

Voters are going cold on the hottie

2008-09-19T23:12:00.000-07:00

Writes Julie Baird in the Sydney Morning Herald:

Sometimes the bumper stickers say it all. "Our VP is hotter than yours". "Sarah Palin - God, Guns, Guts. Kickin' butt. Takin' names". "McCain and Palin: a Hero and a Hottie". "Barbies for War" and "Girls just wanna have guns".

The standout is the delightful and direct slogan, "VPILF" (vice-president I'd like to f---).

Which is well and good if you are single and your dating pool consists only of vice-presidential candidates. But for the rest of us the question we'd ask of a VP candidate is less likely to be "are you lonesome tonight?" and more likely to be "what are you going to do about this flailing economy? Iraq? Pakistan? Afghanistan? The health system?"
And this is why Sarah Palin's dazzling star is finally starting to fade. Only slightly, but significantly enough to turn down the volume of the Republican cheer squad who have hailed her as the saviour of their political hopes.

Revealing interviews

2008-09-19T22:01:00.001-07:00

Do you know any hockey moms? No.

Boston University Daily Free Press: Sarah Palin's my lil' mama.... she embraces femininity with "open legs"

2008-09-19T21:34:00.001-07:00

This is what passes for an "editorial":

....The camera panned back to the smiling Alaska governor, pearly whites and high cheekbones beaming above sleek, businesslike attire. Like a naughty librarian.
..."Dude, she's a certified GILF."
..."Well, as far as grandmas go," I reasoned, "she's pretty hot."
...It may come as no surprise, then, that a woman like Hillary Clinton, who avoided femininity like the plague would fare worse than a woman like Palin, who embraces it with open legs.
...As she stood on the sidelines of the RNC last Thursday, clapping the potential president on with a naive smile, I began to think that maybe it wouldn't be so bad to have Sarah Palin as my mom.

The editorial author:

Diptesh Soni, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, is a weekly columnist for The Daily Free Press. He can be reached at diptesh@bu.edu.

Jacob Rowe: A candidate who can not possibly be taken seriously

2008-09-19T21:32:00.000-07:00

McCain selected a running mate who cannot possibly be taken seriously. Is there more merit in her physical appearance than in her political record? If the highlight of your public life is someone selling provocative action figures in your likeness, how are you to be taken seriously?

Source here

Tara McIntosh: She's cute... men are besotted...eye candy...moms know "Princess Palin" is full of it

2008-09-19T21:25:00.000-07:00

In the Tri-City news (British Columbia):

...She might be the kind of gal you would spend the day with... before your cruise ship headed back to Vancouver.
...And while this hockey mom feels superhumanly capable of raising five children “without help” (she’s bragged) while serving as the governor of Alaska, moms everywhere who are juggling everyday life with children know Princess Palin is full of it.
...So the question is this: Did Republican presidential nominee John McCain honestly think that by choosing eye candy for a running mate, 18 million Hillary Clinton supporters would see Palin as a viable alternative by finding these two women remotely comparable?

I've gotta tell you folks.... reading these bilious columns every night... I'm angrier than I've ever been in a political situation. The sexism is so rampant it's hard to keep up with, and it's become accepted on the pages of supposedly responsible publications. It makes me sick.

Entertainment Tonight: What dress size is Palin?

2008-09-19T21:23:00.000-07:00

And Hillary, Michelle, and Cindy...

What pants size is Obama?

Silliness.

Political scientist Norman Ornstein: The prettiest candidate since John Edwards

2008-09-19T21:21:00.000-07:00

But what's such a quote doing in a supposedly serious U.S. News and World Report article?

Fortier and other political scientists spoke Thursday at the think tank, where Ornstein observed that Palin gets his vote, at least in one respect. "Sarah Palin's choice did electrify the country," he said. "I believe she's the prettiest vice presidential choice since John Edwards."

Dutch female politicians praise Palin

2008-09-19T21:19:00.001-07:00

Even though they don't all agree with her views. Contrast their comments with those from American politicians and female commentators.

Mark Morford: Shrill...anti-female...nasty caricature of femininity

2008-09-19T20:59:00.000-07:00

More in the San Francisco Chronicle:

...a homophobic, Creationist evangelical nutball
...she essentially hates them (women)
....women who would vote for Palin are "dupes"
...Palin's finger jabbed at the heart of all that's right and good with the world.

Bile.

(Source: Michelle Malkin)

"I hate her."

2008-09-19T20:58:00.001-07:00

Why the hate?

Connie Schultz: Bristol never had a choice for an abortion

2008-09-19T16:21:00.001-07:00

More from the bad mommy! files

The Cleveland Plain-Dealer columnist also accuses Palin of "outing" her own daughter and says she shouldn't have run for VP with a pregnant teen.
.

New Palin T-shirt: Palin is a Republic-nt

2008-09-19T16:15:00.000-07:00

Rhetorical rape....

Here are the T-shirts. Source: Charlie Sykes

Rep. Charlie Rangel: Palin is "disabled"

2008-09-19T16:13:00.000-07:00

In a CBS 2 HD exclusive interview, Rep. Rangel called Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin "disabled."

The question was simple: Why are the Democrats so afraid of Palin and her popularity?

The answer was astonishing.

"You got to be kind to the disabled," Rangel said.

That's right. The chairman of the powerful House Ways & Means Committee called Palin disabled -- even when CBS 2 HD called him on it.

CBS 2 HD: "You got to be kind to the disabled?"

Rangel: "Yes."

CBS 2 HD: "She's disabled?"

Rangel: "There's no question about it politically. It's a nightmare to think that a person's foreign policy is based on their ability to look at Russia from where they live.

Source.

Sandra Bernhard: Palin would get gang raped in New York...a turncoat b-tch...a whore

2008-09-19T09:18:00.001-07:00

From Newsbusters:

... from the blog of Theater J, where Bernhard is appearing. It has video of Bernhard calling Palin "Uncle Women," a "turncoat b—h" and a "whore." One complaint on the blog that Bernhard crosses a line of political incorrectness draws a defense from Ari Roth of Theater J that really drops the curtain on how coarse this show is:
In fact, the play wears its politically VERY correct heart on its sleeve with its indictment of America as "A Man’s World, It’s a White Man’s World, It’s a F–ked Up White Man’s Racist World" and can only be suggested to be racist in its content if one is hell-bent on protecting White Folk for Sandra’s blistering indictment.When Sandra warns Sarah Palin not to come into Manhattan lest she get gang-raped by some of Sandra’s big black brothers, she’s being provocative, combative, humorous, and yes, let’s allow, disgusting. VIDEO HERE

A local anchorwoman feels the Palin hate

2008-09-19T09:18:00.000-07:00

Because she looks a LOT like her.

Journalistic irresponsibility

2008-09-17T17:09:00.000-07:00

Scumbags invaded Sarah Palin's personal email account, and the Washington Post reprints
the contents - verbatim - of emails (I'm choosing not to link to the newspaper article). This is journalistic irresponsibility that makes the newspaper complicit in the invasion of Palin's privacy. Yes, it's a story that the emails were hacked. Reprinting the content? Goes way too far. Receiving stolen property?

On top of it, they're trying to turn her personal emails into a public scandal.

It's just as in court - this is fruit of the poisoned tree, so the contents of the email account should be OFF limits for public discussion.

So-called feminist admits: She thinks about murdering Palin

2008-09-17T13:03:00.000-07:00

"What I feel for her privately could be described as violent, nay, murderous, rage. When Palin spoke on Wednesday night, my head almost exploded from the incandescent anger boiling in my skull. And I'm not the only one! I had simultaneous IM conversations with many friends, who said things like, "she seems like a fucking monster" and "this feminist wants to murk that idiotic cunt."

Read further and you discover she's really upset because Palin reminds her of the Homecoming Queen.

Dowd column headline: ‘Barbies for War!’

2008-09-17T09:39:00.001-07:00

Yes, she's quoting someone else's sign. You can tell from the rest of the column that she doesn't disapprove.

UW Badger Herald: Palin is a woman who knows her place

2008-09-17T09:25:00.001-07:00

Instead, we take pride in a different kind of female leader — a woman who publicly displays her second-rate knowledge and her second-rate abilities.
If you’re lucky, Sarah, you might get your secondary role. Kudos to Sarah Palin, a woman who knows her place.

Article here.

Biden introduction: Palin is a "bucket of fluff"

2008-09-17T09:13:00.001-07:00

Biden's response: What a great introduction!

Barbara Theaker, a local Obama-Biden supporter in Flat Rock, Mich., gave a feisty introduction for the Democratic vice presidential candidate Monday at a rally on the high school football field, Victoria McGrane reports.

Almost obscured by the podium, the woman praised Obama’s running mate pick. But McCain chose "a bucket of fluff," she said.

Source here.

Mary Sanchez: Palin is gloriously, fabulously unfit for duty

2008-09-17T07:28:00.002-07:00

But no word about how Obama, with his equivalent resume, is gloriously, fabulously unfit?

The Kansas City Star columnist adds:

As if the presidency is about who has the hottest wardrobe, the best-coiffed hair and the attention of the hunky quarterback...

I don’t envy Sarah Palin — I pity her...

But the presidential race is not “American Idol” or a cheerleader tryout...

Would racist jokes be allowed on national television?

2008-09-17T07:28:00.001-07:00

No, but sexist jokes are fair game.

Chevy Chase - Leave Hillary out of it.... decimate "this woman", Palin

2008-09-17T07:24:00.001-07:00

Why do so many Palin critics insist on referring to her as "this woman"? Chase on the Tina Fey skit:

"I thought it was extraordinary how well she played her and much she looked like her, I'd like her, personally I felt we didn't need the Hillary stuff, I'd like her to go even harder. I want her to decimate this woman. This woman, I can't believe there hasn't been more about it... It's just unbelievable to me this woman is actually running for vice president."

Source here

Boston Herald: The brainy babe look

2008-09-16T22:20:00.001-07:00

Dick Cavett: Latest celeb sexist....stuffed like a goose...

2008-09-16T22:08:00.000-07:00

Watching a woman, slight of build and full of pizazz so thoroughly bedazzle a vast audience is entertaining. Something chimed in my memory when she brought that crowd to its feet with frantic and worshipful cheering.

Ah, yes. I had seen it all before.

It was Judy Garland at The Palace....
There’s something almost funny in the idea that she is being speedily stuffed, Strasbourg-goose-style, with knowledge she should have had before she was selected. You can’t help wondering about her current tutors and coaches and experts. Will they collect their checks and depart?

Stuffed like a goose?