Not That Stupid: Erica Jong's Dear John Letter

Dear John McCain:

We're not that stupid. Sure it would be nice if the women of America believed that everyone with breasts and a vagina believed in equality. But it ain't so. Women have differing views -- just like men.

Some like beer; some like chardonnay. And some prefer AA. Some like automatic weapons; some don't. Some think every pregnancy is sanctified; some don't. Some think presidents should be qualified for office; some don't care.

But to take the struggle for equal rights that has gone on for two centuries and embody it in the person of Sarah Palin is not just misleading but abusive. Charging rape victims for rape kits is a travesty of equal rights. Insisting that government impose your own views of abortion on others is anti-equality. Cutting funding for black teenage mothers is anti-feminist and racist. Lying to the electorate about your record is insolent. Do you think we're too stupid or indolent to check?

We have checked. You are lying and so is she. But you must think that a big lie repeated over and over becomes the truth. And it seems that many Americans are with you on that.

You are so good at the bold-faced lie that you even seem to believe it yourself. When Barbara Walters and Joy Behar accused you of lying on "The View," you claimed you weren't.

I guess your handlers have decided that after eight years of Cheney-Bush saying one thing and doing another, truth no longer has any meaning. Say it often enough and we'll believe anything -- like the good commercial-watchers we are. So, prep Sarah to sound like Hillary -- and we'll be fooled.

It remains to be seen how many will.

But one thing is clear. You have reached a new low in your regard for the public. You have blown your credibility. Usually politicians wait to be elected to do that.

It's fascinating to watch you and your party try to co-opt the idea of change, the idea of equal rights after eight years of being in total control and trashing the country for women, for workers, for taxpayers and for anyone who earns dollars.

Do you really think we're that stupid? Apparently you do.

Tax cuts for the rich have produced trickle-down unemployment. You want to try that again? We don't. The private sector has not policed itself. Failing banks and mortgage companies prove that. The deficit has swelled. Insurance rates for health care have swelled. Women are joining the ranks of the poor faster than ever.

Play it again, John?

As Sarah Palin said, lying about her lust for earmarks, "Thanks but no thanks."

Sincerely,
Erica Jong

Comments

[ssello]

AMEN !!!

[mrabstract]

Thanks, Erica; and thanks, for your fine poetry.

[rose london]

Thanks Erica. You see guys, THIS IS WHY I LOVE HUFFINGPOST. WHAT A GOOD READ.

[jerseymaiden]

" prep Sarah to sound like Hillary -- and we'll be fooled"

Not WE -- They! The same red-state morons who gave us Bush/Cheney -- all those "people" who vote based on the single issue or two they care about (guns, abortion, gay people getting married, tax cuts). That half of the voting public. I'm not taking the blame for their idiocy. I may not be able to stop it, but I sure as hell don't count myself in with it.

[Skylarstar]

Great article, Erica. Dear John does think we're that stupid. If only the mainstream media would stop genuflecting before this dog and pony show, they might have the sense to publish an article as wise as yours.

[scoutmjb]

okay Sydneyj I'm right there with you. I've never done anything like this but now is the time. any ideas for this portland lady who has had ENOUGH?

[sydneyj]

thanks erica -- this article needs to be on the op ed pages everywhere. are women going to take to the streets over this as they did during the rallies of yore for the ERA amendment, for violence against women? are we all just doing computer marches? let's show our faces to the world. articles such as yours should be the catalist.

[rfeng]

Ladies your right on, but come on now you can't expect a man who calls his own wife the "C" word in public has any respect for women. And his VP selection is all about pandering to his base and perhaps some less informed women. So don't expect to see much done for equal wages, or other issues women are concerned about..

rfeng

[susianna]

I believe Mc-same is against women, and I think he is useing Sarah Palin for all the wrong reasons. He is useing her for her beauty and is also trying to use Sarah to get Hillary's voters. Mccain is against organized labor,and while there are pockets of Americans who cannot get their arms around the idea of voting for a presidential candidate who happens to be black...they should be thinking how bad Mccain will be for their grandmothers, mothers, daughters, and grand-daughters. Mccain says country is always first, Mccain has put himself first by his actions.

Mccain says that America has the smartest hard-working intelligent people in the world...if Mccain truly believed that, why did he try to give a European firm an advantage in bidding for a $40 billion Air Force contract? Mccain obviously thinks the american people are ignorant. Mccain also thinks that men will forget about the issues facing america and vote for him because of the beauty of his VP Sarah Palin.

[Lauren1959]

Great letter. Clearly the answer to your question is "yes he does think we're stupid".

[JHancock]

Great article. This should be published in as many newspapers as possible.

[bbbbmer]

RIGHT ON, ERICA!!!

[ObamaEdwards]

At last! Something we agree on! I am so pleased to say that I could not agree more with Ms. Jong. Right on!

[marm]

I happened briefly upon a pundit conflab recently (don't ask me which one) that involved a female caller who answered Jong's question in advance by saying, in regard to buying McCain's bill of goods, "We're not that stupid!" A Republican woman on the show immediately bristled, firing back, "Are you saying I'm stupid?" I wished to goodness I had been that caller, for I would have said emphatically and unequivocally, "YES, MA'AM!" That was an opening too delicious to pass up, but unfortunately, the call was cut off, so we'll never know what the answer would have been in that situation.

[Patrick McCabe]

My name is Patrick McCabe and I approve Erica Jong's message.

[leap2three]

A tongue-in-cheek way of turning the worst news into help for others!

We may have thought we wanted a woman on a national political ticket, but the joke has really been on us, hasn't it? Are you as sick to your stomach as I am at the thought of Sarah Palin as Vice President of the United States?

Since Palin gave her speech accepting the Republican nomination for the Vice Presidency, Barack Obama's campaign has raised over $10 million dollars. Some of you may already be supporting the Obama campaign financially; others of you may still be a little honked off over the primaries. None of you, however, can be happy with Palin's selection, especially on her positions on women's issues.

May I suggest the following fiendishly brilliant alternative to political donation?

Make a donation to Planned Parenthood. In Sarah Palin's name. A Planned Parenthood donation is tax deductible, where a political donation isn't. And here's the good part: When you make a donation to PP in her name, they'll send her a card telling her that the donation has been made in her honor. Here's the link to the Planned Parenthood website:

http://www.plannedparenthood.org/

Go to donate, then honorary gifts.

You'll need to fill in the address to let PP know where to send the "in Sarah Palin's honor" card. I suggest you use the address for the McCain campaign headquarters, which is:

1235 S. Clark Street
1st Floor
Arlington , VA 22202

[Shiral]

You're brilliant... I LOVE it! Contributions to the Sierra Club might also be good. I'm also tempted to send a card saying "Dear Sarah, thanks so much for helping Barack Obama raise 10 million dollars! Just keep shooting off your lipsticky mouth, and we'll be in clover!

[CyberCitizen]

According to today's Wall Street Journal, "the total amount of earmarked dollars divided by the number of working days while each held office (assuming a five-day workweek, every week, for both), Gov. Palin sought $980,000 per workday, compared with roughly $893,000 for Sen. Obama."

To put this in perspective, To put this in perspective, according to Wikipedia, Illinois has 12,852,548 people (5th most populous state), Alaska has 683,478 people (4th least populous).

[LegalCat]

An extremely valid point. The other extremely valid point is that Obama isn't claiming that earmarks are evil, and McCain/Palin are. The point isn't the earmarks themselves; the point is the lying and hypocrisy. If a politician claims to loathe federal government handouts but turns out to have lapped them up, you have to wonder what else he's lying about. If a politician says that federal aid to states can be an entirely appropriate use of taxpayer money, and has acted consistently with that in the past, then there's no problem. That's the real issue.

At some point during the campaign, Obama jokingly suggested that maybe McCain would accuse him of having fathered two black children. To equate Obama's and Palin's earmarks, besides being mathematically ludicrous for the reasons CyberCitizen pointed out, is just as idiotic as supposing that because it's shameful for McCain to father black children, it's equally shameful for Obama. And this was the WSJ, an allegedly serious newspaper? Please.