For the first time since she has been in the public spotlight, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was able to talk her way into an issue that really resonated with the masses. I watched her interview with Today Show's Matt Lauer. She rambled on in her usual Palinesque I don't really make any sense I am just talking style. Like a "Bridge to Nowhere," she shocked me when she began to make sense about her problem with David Letterman attacking her daughters. Alas she was right! After one very stupid mocked apology, Letterman finally felt the heat and said sorry. And, of course true to her usual incoherent ways, she accepts his apology adding some disconnected statement at the end about men and women in the military and free speech. Oy, go figure!
While this battle raged between Palin and Letterman, it was a joy to watch women pundits from the left struggle to not go too far into Palin's court. They agreed Letterman was gravely wrong referring to a sexual act of A-Rod knocking up one of the Governor's daughters. However, liberal lady pundits quickly cited she was using this issue as a publicity stunt. They said things such as "Palin should know when she put her children in the spotlight this type of thing could happen" or "she is exploiting her children." Some horrifically agreed Palin should understand that this was just a joke! Wow, what a painful position to put oneself into avoid taking Palin's side on an issue that is cut and dry when it comes to women exploitation. Was this not being Catty?
The truth is mothers and the NOW organization and not Palin pushed this issue into Letterman's face for the apology. Otherwise, I really believe if groups like these did not come to the forefront, Letterman would have moved on without skipping a beat. I can only imagine the meeting NOW's leadership had in the office or via conference call discussing the strategy for putting out a statement reacting to Letterman's comments without appearing to be too close to Palin. I am sure many feminists cringed at the idea of being on the same side as the Republican Party's Right Winged Wonder Woman.
Women leaders were delayed in their response to Palin and many remained silent knowing that this is an issue women must unite on, but gosh why does it have to be Sarah Palin who brings it? Ladies from the feminist movement, Sarah Palin is not going away. Whether you like her or not, she is here to stay. So, whether you think or believe she should try and crack open a book about American and World History and perhaps do some real studying to at least give the impression she has intellectual prowess, she like the Ever Ready Bunny will keep going, going, going and going. Tina Brown, she is not going to shut up!
Deeper than Sarah Palin, women must be committed to speaking out immediately when someone goes too far over the line and says something that is offensive to women. We should not review the messenger and deliberate on who she is, her political position or even how smart she is, but rather how the message impacts us all. One thing I will say that when it comes to issues of race, African Americans do not have this problem at all.
When former WFAN/MSNBC television aired radio shock jock Don Imus referred to the Rutgers University basketball team; mostly African American women as "nappy headed hoes." Not even an hour past his show ended that day African Americans pounced all over Imus and MSNBC. Revs. Sharpton and Jackson (both whom many black folks are sharply divided about), called for Imus' dismissal. African Americans went on a national tirade calling Imus a hardcore racist. Suffice to say Imus was fired. He met with the Rutgers team and apologized for his remarks saying his comments were "insensitive and ill conceived." Although Imus has made a "comeback" on WABC radio, he paid a price for going way too far.
David Letterman won't pay any real price for his remarks about Alaska Governor Sarah Palin dressing like a slutty airline stewardess. His sorry was enough and women will accept it. It appears a number of women find it more fun to attack Sarah Palin's non-sensical comments and her agenda rather than making sure comments like Letterman are checked and acted upon.
I am not a Sarah Palin fan and I believe when the time comes (towards 2012), the group who will try and snatch Palin out of the spotlight, discredit and burn her politically will be her own Republican Party -- a group of chubby old white men who want the titular head of the party to be one of them.
Nevertheless, in the future, women ought to step it up more quickly on these types of issues and unite against statements that demean us no matter who says it or brings it to our attention.
Have you considered that she's the one who put herself AND her children in the line of fire?
Poor taste or not, the joke was clearly about the adult daughter, not the younger one. As an adult -- one who has stepped into the limelight of her own accord -- she is subject to being the target of a late-night comedian's jokes. She's fair game. Her propensity for promiscuous behavior only makes her fair-er game.
As for Palin, perhaps many were so reluctant to come to her 'aid' because besides drawing out this controversy for her own gain, we know that she lacks character and honesty. I like a good performance (its why I watch lots of movies), but Palin's performance was just that -- a performance. AND her 'poor me' routine was simply her own FURTHER exploitation of her daughter. Ridiculous! I wouldn't choose to support a hy. po. cr. ite. no matter what the cause.
And to the African-American community coming to the aid of another AA who is attacked -- yes, we will. However I do resent your analogy, particularly your choice to include AA citizens. But I will say the Rutgers girls did absolutely NOTHING to deserve Imus' disrespect. They did nothing to make themselves a target. Sarah and her brood cannot say the same.
While I understand Ithadtobesaid's viewpoints, the above writer's logic and reasoning arguments do not completely add up. Please read it carefully and see the points.
And I'd like to understand where this perception that Palin's character and honesty is lacking. Feel free to provide any instance you perceive as "dishonest" or lacking in character, and I wil be pleased to address and discuss any and all.
And somebody explain to me when aggressively defending your daughter's dignity and respect became "exploitation." Please. It's not a "poor me" routine. It's standing up for your loved ones and what you beieve.
She is the lowest of the low.
Although I am not a Sarah Palin supporter, you are quite right that comparatively speaking she does not appear to have any real or serious ethical issues; nor has there been any truth that she "lied" about anything publicly. I would say that the investigation of her brother-in-law was the most evidence of an ethical twist, but not enough to amount to anything. She has done well for her citizens in Alaska by all accounts. Again, I like to deal with the facts rather than just opinions and feelings alone.
It would really help if you would post the links to support your claims regarding unethical behavior and blatant dishonesty. I would like to read them too.
Keep up your good work!
Thank you so much for your kind words and what you wrote. You understood my point exactly. Happy Father's Day.
I wish you all the best. Just remember, we won.
I am not sure what you referencing in terms of "we won." Do you mean the Election of President Obama or Sarah Palin's battle against Letterman? Thank you for your kind wishes.
I really appreciate your comments. I will respond to a few things you wrote. I do agree this became an issue when Governor Palin responded; afterall it was directed at she and her family. However, I do believe that other forces helped to drive it; particularly now that Olive Garden has jumped into the battle and canceled their advertisements for the rest of the year.
It was a confluences of forces that aided her. Alone, Letterman I strongly feel would have kept the fight going because it would have benefited him. Remember the spat between John Stewart and that crazy guy in CNBC who screams a lot. I forgot his name. That back and forth worked so well for Stewart that when this other guy came on his show he annihilated him (Stewart that is) and made him look pretty stupid and worse yet hypocritical. Of course the issues are completely different.
Part II is coming to this post.
In terms of the Freedom of Speech, here are the issues I have about her adding the military men and women at the end of her apology.
1. As a media and public affairs expert, that key message just did not fit.
2. That message came across too transparent about where she really wanted to go with this issue.
3. It would have been better for her to say what she said at the top regarding the rights of women and girls and leave it at that; than thanking all women in America for supporting; even if they did not. It is a high road position.
4. If she is saying that the troops are defending our right to free speech, then in essence the rights to express are really David Letterman's.
5. She has a right to respond, but her last statement shows she actually is in some ways negating the fight by saying, "oh Letterman our troops sacrifice for us and you and you have the right to say what you want."
Finally, I do give Palin credit on this issue hence the reason I wrote the article. When an issue is right and just we should stand for it; even if we don't support or like the messenger. Her point became deeper and bigger than she and her girls.
What I want to see is how she facilitates this for her efforts to women and girls nationally; or is this it? Happy Father's Day.
I'm curious though...how you expect anyone to facilitate these efforts? I mean, I think that's it. Our problems lie with cultural expectations and perceptions, more than anything. I think she's doing the best she can. Thanks for the discussion Yvonne! :) And thank you, hope you're having a great weekend.
You are exactly the type of person I've wanted to talk to about Palin.... I don't mean any disrespect... but a woman who comes from no-where with no connections and makes it in a "man's world" on her own... and she is setting women back 50 years for winking? I'm sure your pro-choice and I realize you'd never vote for her.. but I don't see how ANY woman who comes that far on her own sets women back...... does the hatred for her come from the fact that she is good looking? Or is it all about abortion....... Thanks so much....
Thank you! I too had the same reaction to NOW's response. I was appalled that they allowed themselves to be manipulated by Palin.. To stand behind the most despicable, corrupt, lying, cheating, hypocritical politician in our country today, sounds pretty hypocritical to me.
I also don't agree that Palin is here to stay. This is nonsense. It's just a matter of time before she crashes and burns.. It just reminds me of "The Picture of Dorian Gray", by Oscar Wild. Dorian Gray had someone do his portrait and sold his soul to the devil in a sense. He was allowed to stay young forever, while the portrait of himself kept looking more and more monstrous with every horrible thing he did. It become so distorted that he eventually looked like a mangled monster. His guilt was so powerful, he could stand it no more, found the portrait locked away in a room and took a knife to it and sliced it. When he did that his body took on the monstrous self and died. The portrait went back to its original form as a young,dashing and beautiful man. It's a wonderful classic.
I have been a member of NOW for the last 20 years and I am disgusted that they chose to make any statements in regard to this matter. Silence would have been much better...
I feel no sense of obligation or concern in regard to Palin, as a human being or as a woman. If she were about to be hit by a train, and I was the only person who could save her, I wouldn't.
You might be upset with NOW issuing a formal statement to Letterman, but your anger towards the Governor is a bit over the top. How are these comments any different than the extreme right or the person who wrote below your comment about Dave Letterman palling around with Comedic terrorists?
To not have any regard for any one's life because you really don't support or subscribe to their philosophy or belief; no matter how inane or insane it is tells me something deeper may be at work here.
Many African Americans don't like Jesse Jackson, but when he is right on an issue they support him. I know the similarities are not completely the same, but I want to make that analogy a little be. Yes, however it is true Palin is no Jesse Jackson.
OMG! That kind of hate will eat you alive! Please give yourself a break and try to let that thought go. Sure, the thought of Palin as POTUS scares the blank out of me... But when it gets down to the nitty gritty, most of us, even right wingers, are just human beings doing the best we can... When someone is in trouble, the vast majority of us help and the hell with politics...
I agree with you. The one responder was going over board. This is the level of emotional imbalance and rage we have in our country. I am sure you saw that Olive Garden has canceled all of this advertisements for the rest of the year on David Letterman. So, there was an impact and if this continues then you might see Letterman getting more squeamish.
In the meantime:
“Alaska is the # 1 state in the country for Rape and has been for 23 out of the last 30 years (FBI’s Uniform Crime Report, http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm).
Alaska’s reported rate of rape per capita is 2.6 times the national average (FBI’s Uniform Crime Report, http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm).
Anchorage has the ninth highest sexual assault rate of any city in the United States, and Fairbanks is ranked first (FBI’s Uniform Crime Report, http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm).
Fairbanks’ rape rate is 4.7 times the national average (FBI’s Uniform Crime Report, http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm).
AK’s Child abuse rate is SIX TIMES HIGHER than the national average. (Department of Public Safety/ AK CDVSA)”
In addition to the fact that under Mayor Palin, the town of Wasilla, Alaska charged rape victims for their own sexual assault kits. So much for caring about rape, or the self esteem of women of any age.
But quite amazing no mention how Illinois charge rape victims or that we have a POTUS that believes a baby that survives an abortion should be left to die in an utility room or thrown in the garbage.
http://www.gov.state.ak.us/archive.php?id=206&type=1 Governor Palin also signed House Bill 120 into law. The legislation, sponsored by Representative Anna Fairclough, extends the Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault for another five years. The Council was first created in 1981 to reduce the causes and incidents of domestic violence and sexual assault. It also distributes grants to programs that help victims of those crimes.
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ODA1YWM5ZjM2ZTU5ODliZTY2NTczMGUwZWYwNTVlMTQ
http://campaignspot.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MTM2ZWYwOTI5ZWUzZGVlMDEwNjVlOTM3ZDk5ZGEwZDk
Here is the crime rpt for Wasilla http://www.disastercenter.com/alaska/crime/35.htm
I appreciate your comments. They were well written and you made your point. Thank you.