Make Her Whine
Already the Democratic pundits are worrying about whether to attack Sarah Palin -- will it look like bullying? Will it make voters sympathize with her? Will it make voters identify with her and vote for her? Women are supposed to lay off her because -- she is a woman! The thinking goes that we can't question her choices because women's choices are sacrosanct. Nor can we investigate her life (beauty queen, Christian Dominionist, links to Ted Stevens, childbearing history) because those are private issues. But what Sarah Palin shows is that once again, the right wing is adept at turning the women's movement upside down and offering us a woman who reinforces patriarchal power rather than challenges it. Palin is another Margaret Thatcher or Ann Coulter, a woman who attaches herself to men in power and then does them one better. She uses the freedom that the women's movement has brought her quash the liberation of women with other views than hers. The bitch is in there, as it is with Coulter and Thatcher and Katherine Harris. The Democrats have to bring that bitch out and she has given us the right to do it.
Did she really accuse Hillary Clinton of "whining?" Then she's already told us that she won't mind any challenge -- that she can rise to any question. I want to see her do it. The personal is political, after all. Here are some issues she has to explain: What is her religion and who is her pastor? Is she a Christian Dominionist and how does she feel about the separation of church and state? How does she square her roles as mother and politican? Who is taking care of the kids while she is away, including the baby? If it's the husband, I'm glad. If it's a nanny and always has been, then I want to know how a wealthy woman with a nanny helps women in general -- wealthy women with nannies are nothing new. If she's into "family values," I want to know what they are, and how the nanny views Palin's "family values." If she produced a child at 44, I want to know if she believes in birth control, because birth control is a political issue. I also want to know her views on the government's obligations to the disabled. Do the disabled children of rich people get special treatments that their parents can afford, while the disabled children of poor people get nothing? Who is the boss in her family? If it's her, then I want to know how that squares with Christian notions of patriarchy. If it's the husband, then I want to know his values and beliefs about all the issues that face the nation, and I want to know who will actually be the vice president. I want to see her tax returns. I want to see his tax returns.
About the breastfeeding. Breastfeeding is a political issue because the baby formula companies have promoted baby formula all over the world, much to the detriment of babies. If she's a family values right winger, I would expect her to back those values up by breastfeeding for six months to a year, at least. If she's not breastfeeding, frankly, and she doesn't believe in birth control, then she's a hypocrite. She has to run as a right wing family values soccer mom or she has to run as a woman who has gained freedoms through the efforts of other women. She can't do both.
Is she really a gun-toting moose-killer, or is this a pose? What are her ties to the oil and gas industries -- and I don't mean her beliefs. I want to know who paid her and when and how much. She says she doesn't know what the vice president does, so I want to know what she thinks about Dick Cheney and the unitary executive. I want to know if she understands the Constitution and what the limits of the executive branch are. I want to know if she's ever been abroad, if she has ever written anything about the Iraq war, or if she's just a follower with a pretty smile, who goes along with the big boys in order to get a little something for herself. I want to know how she treats her children, what kind of mom she is, because I want to know about her personal morality. This is a valid issue, because in the last eight years we discovered with George Bush that once a bully, always a bully. I want those kids from her high school to come forward and tell me what she was like back then.
We had years to relate to HIllary Clinton. We saw her through good times and bad. We saw her do things we didn't agree with, and we saw her do things we did agree with. She was an open book in many ways. Sarah Palin accused her of "whining." I didn't agree with Clinton, and I didn't support her, but I never accused her of whining. That "whining" remark is the hallmark of a bitchy and and arrogant point of view -- a characteristic of all conservative women politicians. So, Sarah thinks she can take it. I say we give it to her good.
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Further to my previous post…
As for women attaching themselves to powerful men, they're called colleagues, Jane. Just how many powerful women do you think there are to mentor other women politicians? How many in Alaska?
You state you don't know whether or not Sarah Palin has a nanny - then you proceed to make the following statement:
"If she's into "family values," I want to know what they are, and how the nanny views Palin's "family values."
What nanny??? How did this alleged nanny become fact in the space of a few sentences? Those are questions I want answered! Because some of us recognize a bait and switch when being lured down a path of personal opinion.
You think there's no nanny? Maybe not but she had to leave that 3 day old baby home with someone. Oh right, I forgot, baby was still in the hospital. Then maybe she just left it home with the kids, they're home schooled after all, so they probably have plenty of time to babysit.
I'm hoping she left him with her mother, but I think I do have a right to know. Both about that and about her view of birth control. Jane's right. If you put yourself up as a "family values" candidate, then your family values are going to be under scrutiny. That's what happened to John Edwards and I would imagine that is what will happen to this woman.
Men in responsible positions make these decisions all the time. Women in the army are also leaving kids behind as they go and fight. What is a republican woman who happens to be a leader does? Abdicate her responsibility? or should she just give up having kids ? Where are you going with this? What is a true feminist to do? Would you please enlighten us, what should she have done? Are all working Republican women nothing but a caricature of Ann Coulter? Can they continue their careers if they change parties? What if they become blue dog democrats? Will they be allowed to have a family and a career?
It's discriminatory, and probably illegal, to ask female job applicants what their childcare arrangements are, because males are just as as responsible for family life as females are.
This is what we feminists fought for back int the 70s, 80s, and 90s: so females would not be discriminated against in the workplace for being mothers.
This post takes us backward.
Her view on birth control is absence only.
Her view on abortion is none including in the case of rape and incest.
Her husband does not have a college degree only a few college courses. He praises the oil company he worked for as giving him great training.
She got her passport last year and made a trip to Kuwait to visit hospitalize Alaska National Guard Members.
When asked her views on Iraq she said she had not given it much thought. Her son is scheduled to be deplored to Iraq on 9/11.
She is under investigation by the Alaska State Legislature for abuse of power. She replaced the supervisor of the State Troopers who refused to fire her brother in law who is in a costly battle with his ex wife.
Google there is a wealth of information about her but it is being scrubbed fast.
There is also information floating around that the last child is the actually the child of her oldest daughter. Seems no one knew she was pregnant and didn't show signs until the child was born. I'm sure the Enquirer will be all over this after their success with Edwards.
I find it difficult to believe that you, lark 2, are really that obtuse. but since you picked this one little thing out of that article to complain about, i'm forced to conclude you are indeed that obtuse.
well, here are your answers.
what nanny?--the hypothetical nanny. the "IF" in the sentence you quote is CLEARLY intended to apply to the sentence that follows. any reasonable reader would know that. it's a matter of style, and jane smiley's a terrific stylist. she didn't win a pulitzer prize for nothing.
i think that answers both questions in fact. it was hypothetical (she never claimed palin has a nanny), and it wasn't in the space of a few sentences--it was the next sentence.
finally, the bait and switch claim doesn't even make sense.
So John didn't just pick an completely inexperienced person who happened to be the same gender as the Democratic candidate with all the disgruntled supporters. right. That was just a complete coincidence. Had nothing to do with all the Hillary supporters screaming publically they would vote Republican if Hillary was not the chosen Democrat huh?
The questions need to be asked whether you like them or not. No one knows exactly what she stands for except for the scant already public information. I would like to know what her views are on Nuclear weapons research and use in the US. Are "ALL options still on the table" with regards to IRAN? I really do want to know what her take is on family values, regardles of what this possible but still unproven nanny's view are? I would love to hear what she has to say about the Sunni Awakening and the Shiite Militia's. How does she feel about the US paying money to the Sunni Awakening for peace and fewer insurgent attacks during the "Surge" LOL. Especially since it is Sunni and not Shiite that are the predominant group running Al-Qeada. What is her take on Afghanistan and the ACTUAL fight against terrorists there. Does Iraq have a border with Afghanistan like JM would have us believe or does she actually know which countries border which?
Your attempt to derail the discussion of valid questions to an invalid political choice is very weak. Just like your Kung Fu LOL.
How does a woman with 5 children also work as a governor when her husband works as well? She has to have help especially if her youngest has Downs.
Asking if Palin has a nanny is more than a legitimate question. Sarah has to be as vetted as Barack or Biden doesn't she? Do you not want to vet this woman that could be less than a heartbeat away from the presidency?
I find your incredulousness at this question pretty hilarious when you have the Republican party going batshit over whether Obama eats arugula or not.
I think her older daughter is nannying the baby. She didn't look very happy on stage on Friday either. How can you be a colleague when you don't even want equal pay for equal women so she'd be called a subordinate.
Am I the only one or has anyone noticed that the McCain's adopted daughter is missing from the People cover and any recent "family" Kodak moments. Where are they hiding her? With Cheney's gay daughter perhaps?
Here's what the Democrats need to do in response to Palin being picked.
1) Hillary needs to come at her hard. Now. Mercilessly hard. I suspect Palin calling Hillary a whiner will provide whatever incentive she needs.
2) Biden needs to come at her just as hard in the debate. 100% no holds barred. If he's just a little tough, she may well hold her own. If he's a little tougher, and she decries the nastiness of it and, perhaps, sheds an emotional tear, Biden will just be seen as mean. If he comes at her full bore and she falls apart (which, from seeing her speak I think she--unlike Hillary or someone like Carly Fiorina--would crumble under a forceful rhetorical attack), yes, he will still be seen as mean, but she will be exposed as totally unsuited to being VP.
I agree that both Hillary and Biden should not pull any punches with this woman and we'll see how tough she really is. She's a very cute plump frog in her own very small pond...let
Actually, the Dems should ask for an opportunity for each VP to ask the other one question before the debate. Biden's question should be "Do you want me to treat you with kid gloves during this debate, or respect that you are the equal of any man and treat you accordingl
Let her see who's a whiner now that she wants to stomp with the big girls on Capitol Hill? The female Dems are free to have at her. I don't think she wants to screw with Nancy Pelosi, and if they need someone to do it with a smile Senator McCaskill looks like everyone's best friend. If Hillary won't call her on her remarks there are plenty of women who will.
Pelosi has every right to drill this woman as well. Isn't the VP the tie-break vote in the Senate?
Palin did not call Hillary a whiner, as the video shows.
Absolutely right. In fact tactically, Senator Clinton is the ONLY one who can hit Palin hard. If either Senators Obama or Biden do so, the howls of outrage (from Rove, I bet) would echo the world. It'll create yet another smear that will detract from the election campaign. Howver both Senator Clinton and President Clinton could quite easily step up to the plate on this one.
Hillary Clinton is not running against John McCain or Sarah Palin. By sending Clinton to hit Palin, all you do is reinforce the idea that Democrats made the wrong choice in who their candidate would be.
This is just another indication, and really, how many do we need (?), that the Republican Party does not give a flying f*** about the United States of America. They would turn the whole country into New Orleans if they felt it were in their perverse interests to do so. George Bush wasn't qualified to be president, and Sarah Palin is even less so, yet the Republicans offer her to us with the very real chance that she may take office at some point in the future. Why do they do this, one wonders? Why give us fake "leaders" who are incapable of running a powerful nation of 300 million?
They have written us off, folks. They have become nothing more than the executive offices of a giant corporatocracy that wants to build up the oil shiekdoms and the middle classes of India and China. Their job is no longer to serve the American people. Barack Obama captured this perfectly in his speech. Any American who chooses to vote for McCain/Palin should be aware that Arab potentates, and corporations setting up factories and offices in Beijing and Mumbai, will be the beneficiaries of your vote. Not you, certainly.
"Why do they do this, one wonders? Why give us fake "leaders" who are incapable of running a powerful nation of 300 million? "
Because the truth of the matter is that the president is just a puppet for those who are really running the show. That's why experience doesn't matter.
You just need to change one word, instead of "perverse" put in "special", then it all makes sense.
I was against Hillary because her political path was too close to the special interests, not for her ideas and not for her gender. I wish we had a woman in either of the top two slots but the battle to take back our electoral legitimacy and rights is the most pressing issue. As an expat living abroad and looking in with a different perspective this election is make or break. I beg all, consider the Obama-Biden ticket.
Whatsthatsound,
I agree with you - it is insulting. He is not running for 300 million people, but only to the republicans. America can do better!! Remember, Bush served two governor terms (almost six years) in a state where the population is larger than AK. Her 1 1/2 yr term is NOTHING and cannot compare to running all the states.
In addition, she has not been exposed to other ethnic groups or cultures - she would not represent ALL of us. This is a joke.
How is it that many millions of Americans don't know that? How is that they are utterly bereft of the context, the details, the information that would lead them to make the better choices? Who is it that is responsible for bringing the People, the Kool-Aid peddled by the Republican Party? How is it that people form their beliefs and feelings about these politicians and what they stand for? Who is it that is giving the people the distorted, spun, half-truths, and outright lies?
They're not angry. Just amused.
Thanks for this article. The door needs to be opened. Sarah is very effective at using her gender and mother/beauty queen status to win. Definitely Joe Biden needs to look at her gubenatorial debate tapes because you are right, asking tough questions and bringing out issues she can't defend have been known to backfire. Sarah, you're in the fight now so take it on....like a strong woman.
Interesting.
Palin says Hillary is a whiner.
McCain's economic advisor says we are a nation of whiners over the economy.
Do the GOP think they will make Brownie points by using the "whine" word?
There sure are a lot of whiners in the GOP.
But Brownie did such a great job as people whined to be lifted from the roofs after Katrina.
Just had to remind folks of Brownie and his horse experience. Now we have moose experience.
Excellent piece!
Thanks, Jane, you're always right on the ball.
Yes we can!
if the ball is in a fever swamp: http://www
McCain would've picked Tammy Faye, if she hadn't died. Same difference.
OK, MCCAINE:
http://www
You've hit the nail on the head, Jane. Ever since McCain made this pick, I've been going around trying to figure out what about Palin set my teeth on edge, and that's it: how dare this woman use the hard-fought rights of women everywhere as a ploy to trample on those very rights. She's a nasty excuse for a human being. She's a scam artist.
Furthermore, Wiki defines dominionism this way: "Dominionism describes, in several distinct ways, a tendency among some conservative politically-active Christians, especially in the United States of America, to seek influence or control over secular civil government through political action — aiming either at a nation governed by Christians, or a nation governed by a conservative Christian understanding of biblical law."
If she is indeed a dominionist and a scam artist, well, that just makes her evil, and she deserves to have the political book thrown at her.
If she is a Dominionist, we should be very afraid. This movement has operated under the radar, but has far more adherents than most would believe possible. Dominionists seek nothing less than transforming America into a theocracy. That "conservative Christian understanding of Biblical law" includes, for example the death penalty for homosexuals. The truest true believers go so far as to advocate extermination of the gay community. And that's just one of the "Biblical" laws they dream of enacting. You can imagine what this would mean for women, non-christian religions, mass media, etc.
The threat posed to our freedom by this shadowy movement, should it gain power, rivals that of the Nazis or the Communists; those who dismiss them lightly do so at their peril. If Palin's nomination results in wider scrutiny for this movement, then let the sunshine in!
Wow! He says he'll pursue bin Laden to the gates of hell, but then he tosses a Christian Taliban into our faces? Double wow!
What evidence do you have that she's Dominionist (whatever that is)?
Jane, these are wonderful questions, but somebody has to actually ask them of her. I fear we'll get nothing but gauzy-focus stories about her husband and family and her courage in coping with a Down syndrome baby, etc., etc. Time is very short to learn what we need to know about her. I hope it isn't wasted.
I think Palin is drawing attention to just how unvetted and inexperienced the Dem nominee is.
You WOULD think that, wouldn't you?
Say what?
As his first and one of his most important duties, John McCain picks the lightest of light weights for his second if needed, and you say it's just to show how unvetted and inexperienced Obama is? Did I misunderstand that statement? I sure hope so, bec ause the way I'm reading it makes absolutely zero sense.
It makes perfect sense to Pumas. To them, everything draws attention to just how unvetted and inexperienced (and un-Hillary) the Dem nominee is.
Unvetted? He went throught a grueling primary process, with every shiny object and smear thrown at him... and came out a clear victor at the DNC - - He's earned the position he's in now.
Palin - - well, not so much
Your comparison is a weaksuace attempt to hide McCain's obvious pander to....you, now that's irony.
Dead on!
huh?????
Well that's certainly a good criteria to use when picking a VP isn't it?
People's lives are at stake and these conversations sound like middleschoolers picking a Prom King.
I always enjoy reading Ms. Smiley's posts. She has keen insight, and conveys her thoughts with style.
As a man, I wouldn't feel comfortable asking some of those questions, but I sure hope women won't feel the need to stand on ceremony. I'll have plenty of questions myself, and I'm not concerned about being "perceived" as sexist or misogynistic, because I'm fairly certain I'm not. How people want to perceive my intentions is up to them. Rule of thumb, if you're not sure, don't do it; but if you are, fire away. We need to vet this woman and expose what I believe is a dangerous lack of preparedness as if our lives depended on it. And, come to think of it ...
Y'know, even without the "whiner" comment, I would think that this choice by McBush would royally piss off Hilary. It trivializes everything she has accomplished. I look forward to hearing her comments.
Palin didn't call her a whiner.
Great post....I want to see Hillary take her apart over all of the issues: anti-choice, anti-birth control, anti-science, anti-stem cells, etc...Hill
If this woman is qualified to be VP after having served as mayor of a 6,000 person town and governor of a tiny state, then I am qualified to be President after having served for 8 years as President of my Condo Board. What a horribly, scary joke.
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