*and be sure to peep the Women Against Sarah Palin blog (Thanks for the heads up Sylvia!), and also Poplicks "A Good Progressive's Guide To Criticizing (And Not Criticizing) Sarah Palin".
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hey everybody, hope you are having a great weekend- sorry about the lapse in time since my last post. But surely, it just gave you an opportunity to go through all the juicy archives :)
So yeah, yeah. Sarah Palin. The insane arrival of the anti-celebrity to Obama's meaningful message celebrity is here. A lot has already been said. About how insultingly transparent McCain's choice is. "Look! I nominated a woman! Some might even refer to her as a VPILF! (not my or McCain's quote, saw that somewhere random)" About how sad it would be if pro-Clinton people actually bought it went and voted for McCain so that a woman with worse conservative politics than anyone running could be elected VP. Shoo, if Condaleeza Rice was running, i wouldn't vote for her just cuz she is black. But something has been gnawing a bit at me... how the media seems to be protecting her around the issues of her pregnant 17 year old daughter. Of course, someone as young as that should be protected from the media. But lets put it this way... what would have happened if the Obamas had a pregnant 17 year old daughter? I think we all know the answer to that one.
The Daily Show did some stuff on "the gender card" in the Palin campaign, and shows so many double standards in the reporting, its funny. The same people who were roasting Hilary and being overtly sexist are now crying foul and wagging shame shame shame at all the criticism Palin is getting, because it obviously comes from "deep rooted sexism". Vomit! Of course, even just the phrase "gender card" is so loaded because, much like "race card", it is usually used by people with privilege who don't want to look at their own crap. But this is such a perversion of it, where people in power who don't actually give a flying @#$! about women's rights are using this as a political strategy to protect a woman who reflects their anti-feminist values.
You'll need to turn up the volume on the actual interface when you go to the Daily Show page. Enjoy!
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oh JEEZ. i had to put another addendum to this. i try to not post too much about presidential politics cuz it seems to overshadow everything else. And i think everyone by now knows about the laundry list of why Palin is a very scary person. but DAMN. upon simply visiting Feministing, i see them further elucidating that new polls are showing more white women voting favoring McCain/Palin since her nomination; that not only are major news outlets like the Wall Street Journal, NPR and LA Times referring to Palin as a FEMINIST, but that she is also a Sexy SuperMom, Skirt Wearing Feminist that Hilary could have learned something from (like wearing more skirts). It is chilling to see the media laud this woman with terrifying values as so wonderful. Do newscasters have children? Or do they eat them? Sigh, i guess this is just one of the ways capitalisms screws us, paying people to say stuff that is actually bad for people. And oh yes, Feministing also schooled me that Sarah Palin as mayor made sure that rape survivors would have to pay $1200 to ensure that their rapist could be identified by a forensics rape kit. Ok, clearly, i need to start some grassroots Obama/Biden work very soon.
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6 comments:
Let's hope Obama is right and the American people aren't stupid and don't fall for it...
you know?!?
uqYeah, I see where this is going. Republicans are used to playing strategic games. There's absolutely no content in that move except to throw a wrench into that delicate balance of identity and political position that Obama and Clinton were in. Since Obama won the nomination, he has been making it clear that he is the best candidate not necessarily because of his identity (of which, in his case, race is the most obvious aspect) but because he represents change. McCain is not only trying to get the angry Clinton supporters (unfortunately, there are some out there, who are making their decisions completely out of spite) but also to bring back this issue of identity -- because if McCain is playing the gender card, it will again shift attention back to Obama's identity -- whether they say he's playing the race card, or is Muslim, or is gay -- all silly things conservatives have put out there.
Unfortunately, Democrats were pretty polarized over the Obama-Clinton race, and the nomination of Sarah Palin was a strategic spoiling tactic (albeit desperate, showing that McCain doesn't have much to stand on if he's resorting to such tactics). I mean, if Obama had wanted to play that game, he would have nominated Clinton.
I read an article in Mother Jones saying that there are some die-hard republicans who are considering voting for Obama because they were inspired by his speeches and like what he stands for - change, and true leadership. As long as the Obama team can stick to that, and not get caught up in the dirt of the identity game, they can continue to garner support of the majority of voters.
Having said that, I think Hilary should be stepping up to the plate and letting her constituents know that voting for a conservative, anti-feminist like Palin would not be in the interest of women.
Saw that Daily Show episode. I trust Jon Stewart and Colbert to give me the real on US politics. And Sarah Palin is a VPILF.
any great illusionist knows that the key to the "trick" is misdirection
when on quicksand, steal your adversary's platform for stability
let's hope that obama's camp is as keen as we believe, but not too keen for the sensationalism driven voters
bless
I know I'm a bit late replying to this post- forgive me, I've only just begun reading your blog. I just had to put in my two cents because this topic incensed me like no other. You hit the nail on the head when you asked, "what would have happened if the Obamas had a pregnant 17 year old daughter?"
I'll tell you what would have happened. It would have been "black women are loose" and "another black baby daddy having kids at a young age." The fact that the boy who was the father of Bristol Palin's child was actually on stage with them at the Republican National Convention absolutely astounded me. Black people could never get away with that! The girl wouldn't be allowed to show her face, let alone the boy who impregnated her.
And now Sarah Palin has the nerve to blast the media about how they treated her when if you even wanted to speak about Bristol having a baby you were told to shut up. Now that it's all said and done, I'm glad Obama won but if it was one thing that upset me most in that campaign it was that when it's a white high school dropout with a parent involved in drugs impregnating a seventeen year old girl who he's not married to then it's totally okay. If he were black, Obama could have well lost the ticket for the same thing.
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