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Should Women Back Palin in 2012?
Nathaniel Wilder / Reuters
Obama garnered 56 percent of women’s ballots last fall. And they have precious little to show for it from this administration. Amy Siskind on why Sarah Palin deserves a second look.
As the Senate Finance Committee moves to pass health-care legislation this week, reproductive rights has been all but sidelined as an issue by the Obama administration. Should we therefore be surprised by a stunning Pew Research Center poll last week which revealed that 42 percent of Americans don't know that Obama is pro-choice? Maybe it’s time that women gave Sarah Palin another look. Palin, back in the headlines for rushing out a new book ahead of schedule this fall, is fresh, open-minded, a centrist and a party noncomformist. Hey, sisters in women's advocacy: Let's end the decades-long cold war with Republican women candidates. If we want progress to be made on issues of importance to women, our organizations need to master a skill at which men have always been adept: negotiation.
I am a lifelong Democrat who for the first time in my life voted Republican in the 2008 elections. I did this for one reason: McCain selected a woman as his running mate. For this act, I was accused of having lost part of my mental faculty: Some circa Victorian act of "voting with my uterus." Strange, that. The Democratic women were corralled to vote for Obama in 2008 because of one issue: reproductive rights. In other words, as my friend Cynthia Ruccia observed, "voting with their uterus."
Sarah Palin did not have a governor's seat handed down to her, she earned it. She understands what it is to be a woman having to fight obstacles—some overt and others subtle—that only a woman can understand.
Sadly, for women, things haven’t panned out all that well with this administration. Despite receiving 56 percent of women's votes, President Obama's record on women's issues thus far is sparse, and suggests something that he either has a tone-deaf nature—or, if you’re inclined to a more sinister view, that he may be uncomfortable with women.
He surely hasn't surrounded himself with many. Of his 24 Cabinet picks, only six were women. Perhaps even more telling are President Obama's czar picks, which do not require Senate confirmation. Of the 35-40 picks he’s made to date, only three have been women. That’s less than 10 percent.
There were harbingers of the Pew poll results—starting on Day One with Rick Warren, Obama’s choice to deliver his inaugural invocation. There was also the selection of Alexia Kelley, founder of Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good to a major Department of Health and Human Services post. And there’s what Obama didn’t say in his health-care speech.
Also ignored in the health-care bills circulating are important women's issues such as gender-based pricing and domestic violence as a pre-existing condition. The advocate for these issues could have been Valerie Jarrett, who chairs the White House Council on Women and Girls. When President Obama selected Jarrett in March, I wrote an op-ed for The Daily Beast in which I argued that we should give Jarrett a chance, even though she has a scant record on women's issues. I received a lot of critical emails and blog traffic; mea culpa, my critics were right and I was wrong. Shortly after her selection, Jarrett took leave to focus on Chicago hosting the 2016 Olympics.
John Talks Joe
Lloyd Grove is editor at large for The Daily Beast. He is also a frequent contributor to New York magazine and was a contributing editor for Condé Nast Portfolio. He wrote a gossip column for the New York Daily News from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, he wrote the Reliable Source column for the Washington Post, where he spent 23 years covering politics, the media, and other subjects.
The Right Dumps Carrie
Jacob Bernstein is a senior reporter at The Daily Beast. Previously, he was a features writer at WWD and W Magazine. He has also written for New York magazine, Paper, and The Huffington Post.
if you vote for a candidate purely because she has a vagina just like you do, then you are an idiot. i am not even going to waste my time pointing out all the glaringly obvious errors in your article that supposedly support why she deserves any sort of political future, because clearly, you have disengaged your brain. what a pity.
Oh please DO NOT tell me this punani chaser called Amy Sissykind STILL blogs at the Daily Beast ...
This woman has been on a civil war against the "penis" EVER SINCE she heard the name Palin ...
Go ahead and VOTE for the Quitter Amy ... Lots of good it did you the first time around ...
The only thing dumber than Sarah Palin is this writer voting for her because her uterus. If you're so one-issue focused, then I suggest voting for a pro-choice male before you vote for this anti-environment, anti-science, raving lunatic.
There was a Penis Civil War? Where was I? Must have been after the Testicular Conflict.
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Well, their crass comments aside. To vote for Palin is pure identity politics. She has no tangible platform other than platitudes about freedom and government is SCARY, she's extremely divisive and certainly not much of an intellect...but sure, vote for her!...why? She's a woman! Honestly, if you support Palin, with all that is known about her, it's a reflection of your lack of seriousness and cognitive capacity...there's just no other way to look at it.
Pussy editors.
She goes to a church that casts demons out of people, Amy? I mean, no educated and rational people have been doing things like that since about 1702. How many "advocates" for women's rights were there back then?
No she doesn't, mcmchugh. Here's the website of the church she goes to. It's very mainstream, especially if you compare it to, oh I don't know, anti-semetic BLACK liberation theology!
http://www.wasillabible.org/wbc/core-commitments.html
Besides, some leftwing wacko burned down Sarah's church shortly after the election. Where's the outcry? If only Sarah Palin had been born black they would have called it a hate crime. She is married to an Eskimo, but that only counts if you're liberal.
Well she did at one point.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwkb9_zB2Pg
MotherofThree:
Palin being prayed for to be protected from witches:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwkb9_zB2Pg
The man praying for her has actually killed women in his home community for "being witches". If this is a normal church to you - then what is abnormal?
Inuit, not Eskimo.
Oh for petey's sake! The Catholic church does exorcism. Would you expand to all Catholic women your silly criticism because they attend church?
You need to educate yourself before you post stupid comments.
mcmchugh ... Right now I'm praying to cast out the demons from this comment board. I personally don't agree with Palin or Amy Suskind on every issue. I'm not into identity politics. I would support Palin if she were a man or a black or a Muslim. I just like her. She's got spunk! Maybe it's because the demons are gone!
MotherofThree: it's not an American Idol competition its the freaking presidency. Spunk is not a qualification!! And isn't voting for someone because they have spunk identity politics?
MotherofThree - news flash, Palin cannot even spell "spunk".
Motherofthree, I am mother of four and for you to want to vote for her based on the fact that she has spunk?? How about brains? How about ethics? She has not taken any responisbility for her "death panels" post on facebook where is her ethics? She believes in less government and no socialism etc... she was behind the pay Alaskans for oil revenues everyyear bonus checks... what do you call that??? She is for making abortion legal what do you call that? That is called BIG GOVERNMENT telling me what to do with my body! She is a hypocrite and worse she is marginally intelligent and has been given a microphone! I for one would be very scared if this woman makes into any higher office. And not to mention I have heard people say how she has great morals and christian standards, where were those when she lied to older americans about the death panels?
That Black Witch Doctor is responsible for the deaths of several women in his hometown ... one of them was an old woman.
Sarah's 'good Xtian' image is a mythical to her supporters though. They quote the Bible as policy lol
MotherofThree -- You have done an appalling job of homework about Palin's church and of her beliefs. Apart from Palin being exorcised ("very mainstream"?) by a witch doctor, the church belongs to an End of Days movement that advocates the forceful overthrow of secular government to establish a theocracy: http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/9/5/0244/84583. Last year they sponsored a conference to convert gays through prayer -- and "holy laughter" too, one presumes.
Palin also supports the teaching of creationism in science classrooms though it was funny to hear her talk in Hong Kong about the migration of peoples across the Bering Straight to become ancestors of her husband. Which book of the Bible was that in?
I'm not going to break my back finding URLs so you can read for yourself. If you don't know more about her beliefs by now, you are a lazy user of the Internet. Armed with only Google and YouTube there is PLENTY to refute your idea that she's just another gal from Main Street...unless that's on another planet.
MCM, was that the Assembly of God church? You do realize Sarah left that church in 2000, don't you? It's not the Wasilla Baptist Church.
@MotherofThree
Palin's church is mainstream? How many churches can you name who believe that all the "intelligent", evil people came about because S a t a n had s e x with Eve to produce Cain. I suggest to anyone who believes that Palin is "mainstream" read an article on this very site.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-09-05/inside-sarahs- church/
Mother of Three: Since you are clueless these links are just for you:
Video of the anointing of Sarah by Kenyan pastor Thomas Muthee at the Wasilla Assembly of God before Palin was elected governor of Alaska.
http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/9/24/13112/0816
http://www.csmonitor.com/1999/0923/p15s1.html
http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/9/8/114332/7479
Even you should be smart enough to realize that the Wasilla Bible Church would not post video of the witch doctor driving deamon out of Sarah.
And old clueless one, Todd is not an Eskimo (a term which is not used because it is considered racist, which is why you used it); he is 1/8 Yup'ik which he only mentions when it is convenient.
Of course, you have evidence that some left-wing wacko burned down Sarah's church. Have you notified the Wasilla police authorities with this information. How about the FBI?
P.S. I really feel sorry for your three children who will probably grow up to a bigot just like mommy.
Re: Mother of Three: " Right now I'm praying to cast out the demons from this comment board"
If you left the demons would be gone.
Try it.
MotherofThree- She's married to a former member of the Alaskan Independence Party whose mother has Swedish and Eskimo ancestry. I have a grandmother who was Swedish and grandfather who was Cherokee and, like Todd, I am as white as they come. Unlike Todd, I do not try to succeed from the United States and thus attempt to commit treason.
Here's why there aren't more selections of women for many of the top positions. Women aren't as driven to get into politics. I hope that will change because women are just as capable as men in that regard. However, when it comes to positions which could have a massive detrimental effect on the entire country, especially in this time of crisis, the best person for each post is what is needed. If half of the politicians and those in the high level political sphere were women, the numbers would be different.
Thanks for the humorous article Amy.
Seriously, you are a kook. I will never waste my time reading anything else from you. You are the antithesis of all of the intelligent and thoughtful women I have been associated with in my life.
It is true that the US has way fewer women in government than many countries. But to overcome the churlish attitudes we have towards women in office, we will need to elect candidates that are very competent, highly educated, and with lots of experience. These are not hard to find.
So it makes no sense to catapult the whole movement back into the stone age by endorsing Sarah Palin for president. It's possible that she's smart; but she is not educated. She has only the slightest experience. She would be a disaster as president. To put it as nicely as possible; she's ignorant - really, very ignorant - and in today's world we can't afford to have an ignorant president. I thought we learned our lesson.
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JohnnyAces, I am with you. First and definetly last time I will read anything by this author.
Her so-called posting is an affront to anyone with two brain cells who uses those brain cells to think.
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Wow. This is lively for a MON morning!
Amy - Sarah Palin is a stupid person who believes in hocus pocus and that the world is 6000 years old. And that its ok to terrorize abortion clinics. She is garbage, and if you vote for her, you are garbage too. Good luck.
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This is the most embarrassing article I've ever read on this site. Abortion isn't a ""voting with my uterus" issue, its a rights issue. This article is so poorly argued I almost have to lose faith in Daily Beast. You voted McCain-Palin for one issue, bc palin is a female. Anyone who votes on presidential elections based on one issue is ignorant and not a responsible citizen. You should have your right to vote revoked. As well as your right to write article for this site. I award you no points, gd have mercy on your soul blah blah and all that.
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Someone please put this Siskind broad in a big box, secured with duct tape and send it to the front porch of Alaska's Palins house so these two ignorant buffoons can watch Russia!
how can you suggest palin is more "pro-choice" than obama.... she choose whether to have her baby, yet she doesn't want to give me the right to choose???? you sound like you've been drinking too much palin koolaid.......
Palin? Open-minded? CENTRIST? Amy, amy - if you really think so, you must be somewhere right of Dick Cheney. Plus in her own words, she said it wasn't necessary for her to be knowledgeble because people don't listen anyway. She thinks it's all in the presentation.
Well said.
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Well, back in 2000 when Obama run against a black man (Bobby L. Rush) for Congress he lost. The black community did not support him partly because he was viewed as too "white" (or not black enough) . He also had an ivy league education and they thought he was elitist. As for them voting for him in the presidential elections, what would you have done if you were black? Black people usually vote for the Democratic candidates anyway, don't they? Have you ever heard a Republican (candidate, talk show host, columnist or voter) talking about black people? I have, and they usually have nothing kind to say.
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Come on Amy, you just set the women's movement back 10 years. Think before you write!
I have to say I got a LOL when I saw the headline, if a headline could be called a troll, this would be it.
And 6 pages of comments. Good job Tina on raising the page hits & views!
Wow...I just read through several pages on comments on Amy's article. The title of her article is "Should women back Palin in 2012?" not "Sarah Palin just ran over your child with her snow machine". OMG...do you think some of these responses are Over the Top or what? They read like Mrs. Letterman must feel about her husband today! Congrats Amy your article has generated the one thing all writer's crave...interest.
Now it's to be expected that women who read the Daily Beast are mostly liberal so these sorts of reactions are not surprising. Amy is just asking a simple question and here's an answer you should think about. You've all heard of Ying Yang right? Well, I want you to think about your American sisters who have many strong opinions that are contrary to yours. I know you all pride yourselves on liberal tenets such as freedom of speech and choice so please consider this fact. Women should consider supporting candidates that support women's issues. Are men doing such a great job? Now that we've "popped our collective cherry" by electing an African American man shouldn't we start thinking about voting for someone that might actually make life better for women? Sarah Palin will run and win the most GOP primaries. She could easily win the GOP nomination. If Obama's approval ratings are in the toilet in 2012 he'll be defeated just like Jimmy Carter was by Regan. Now let me ask you something, was Regan elected because he was a college professor type? He was elected because he was a rejection of Carter and his liberal policies. Obama is way out on a very thin limb and even his own party is questioning his leadership qualities. Sarah Palin has 2-3 years to be ready for prime time. Where was Obama 4 years ago? I'm just saying...
Obama is out on a very thin limb. Latest polls have him between 53-56% approval. Ooooh, that's a really thin limb. Nice try. Sarah Palin making life better for women. You are just precious.
I agree, there are a lot of crazy ignorant women out there, just as there area lot of ignorant men. voting because of ones sex is not only ignorant but irresponsible. Palin, Bachman, and that crazy lady from Missouri are women I could never vote for.
Yes, they are all females, and I am a female, but they are about as far removed from me and my ideals as the republicans are to rationality.
Wow, if you're giving Sarah Palin a second look, I'd better give YOU a second and final look. Even the people inside McCain camp said what an idiot she was, how unprepared and uninformed she was. We thought Bush was an idiot, well, I'm afraid she'd beat Bush hands down.
People voted in the last election because of Race,Party,Sex,Economy,Wars,etc. all reasons to get someone in office. So will some people vote for Palin because she is a women, maybe...
Exactly why should women support Sarah Palin if she backed the idea of forcing women who had been raped to pay for their own tests and medical bills? Who is staunchly NOT fresh, open-minded, nor centrist! I think any woman who voted Republican in 2008 JUST because McCain had Palin as his running mate is the issue, whereas any woman who voted for the candidates with the most qualifications and the best policies regarding each individual issue was voting as we all should. The fact that abortion is still such a hotly debated topic in this country is an embarrassment and Palin in office in 2012 would be icing on that cake. It would be a step backward for women around the world!!
This is a lie. She NEVER, EVER forced a rape victim to pay for a rape kit. There is not one single example of this ever happening. stop repeating lies you read on The Huffington Post. Insurance companies were charged for rape kits. Not one single rape victim under Sarah Palin ever had to pay for a rape kit out of their own pocket. There is ZERO evidence that any rape victim under Sarah Palin EVER paid a dime for a rape kit...
Regardless, she's much too stupid. You can tell by how she can barely speak, winks, and says you betcha with the perky little head shake.
http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/did_sarah_palin_make_rape_victims_pay .html
So if somone's house is broken in to, do the police send the victim's homeowners insurance company a bill for investigating it. No they don't, so why do rape victims themselves, or their insurance companies have to pay for collecting evidence from the victim's body. Palin may not have come up with that law, but she was aware of it and did nothing to change it.
LIE about Palin "forcing women who had been raped to pay for their own tests and medical bills". The Chief of Police in Wasilla (not Palin) had a policy of asking a victim's health insurance to pay for the rape kit as part of the ER visit. This, it turns out, is policy in a number of states, including Missouri and North Carolina. The way this became an issue was after the then-governor of Alaska signed a bill forbidding it; this law was signed before Palin was Governor and no one tried to reverse it while she was Governor. What the CoP in Wasilla wanted to do was charge the perpetrator as part of restitution. Regardless, none of this had anything to do with Sarah Palin.
I find it especially amusing when people trust online blogs and gossip publications to form their political (or personal) opinion.
For those who follows Sarah Palin little closer knows by now that several newspapers issued the official apology to her for publishing unverified lies and calling her names.
Name and link us to those several newspapers.
You are a classic example of an Obama fan expounding before they know what they are talking about. Makes you look like a fool.
And I have seen countless times on DB when the right wingers have done the exact same thing.
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Nicely done, Turnip :-)
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Thank you Amy. I agree. How about a little woman loyalty here. I'm with you 100%. When Tina Fey did that little bit, I thought, man where's your loyalty. Have you no respect for the fairer sex? Damn. You should be backing Sarah to the hilt. What's wrong with these people anyway? I have more loyalty to the ladies then the ladies do.
Rear, do you vote for a man because he has a p*n*s? Would you vote for someone who shows no aptitude for significant leadership, has no smarts about economics, finance or world affairs, lacks the ability to explain his Party's platform, and has bizarre religious beliefs that are intolerant of the beliefs of others? Your choice, of course, but don't expect women to line up with the same false logic.
I'm sorry, but I think it's different. You're argument is faulty. Actually, I'm the liberal here.
You go, sippewissett! Women vote with their brains!
Are you deaf, dumb and blind? Sarah Palin has put back the cause of women's rights about twenty years. She is not making her own decisions, she is being guided by her dominionist handlers, she is not capable of even being a governor so how could she be the president. I am stunned the editors here would print anything so stupid. Where the hell have you been, hiding under a rock?
You guys always say Republican presidents are being guided by their handlers. Now that Bush is out of office, we've seen where he and Cheney disagreed on some issues. We've heard candid remarks from Bush reported after his terms had ended. We know that Reagan was a free thinker and making his decisions.
Both Bushes and Reagan had infinitely more experience than Barack Hussein Obama mmmmm mmmm mmmmm, and it shows. We now see what a real political neophyte looks like in the Oval Office. Even SNL now mocks President Present's inability to lead and instead accomplish "jack" and "squat". Except they want a progressive. The rest of the country elected Obama to fix things besides elections.
I thought this discussion was about Palin. Typical rethuglican bs to misdirect and change the subject. Do you actually wonder why no one takes you seriously?
Oh yeah it shows aright. Torture is no longer permitted. The Somali pirates aren't screwing with us any longer. And now SNL is the "decider"? Goofy.
The Somali pirates? Obama wanted to negotiate with them and said not to shoot unless the captain's life was in danger. The Seals blew him off and did what they had to do, and since our Navy Seals are so badass, they killed five pirates with six shots. Obama couldn't complain, but neither could he take the credit here. He has no idea how to be CIC.
What torture? Enhanced interrogation is not torture. Obama freaked out his own CIA during two wars by releasing pictures and threatening a witch hunt -- Does this sound intelligent to you? Leon Panetta considered quitting.
You are so full of crap it is pathetic. Your whole version of the Somali pirate episode is BS. From now on please begin all your posts this way...Once Upon A Time.
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Yep, turnip. I couldn't agree more. The Sexual Revolution mostly benefited irresponsible men. Abortion truly is the greatest gift to irresponsible men ever created. It's their ace in the hole! Post Roe v. Wade, a selfish man doesn't have to respect or love the woman he's messing with. If she winds up carrying his child - he can pay for it to be legally killed. What a deal! I fail to see how any of this benefits women. Unless you can argue with a straight face that the comfort and convenience of being able to kill your unborn baby outweighs a lifetime of regret and recrimination.
I'm sorry, I'm just stunned. What is the point of voting for a woman just because she's a woman! First of all, that's a sad reflection that doesn't represent how far women have come: we have to vote for THE woman whereas we have so many (qualified) choices who are men!? What if that woman is completely under-qualified and would run our country into the groud? Is that what the feminist movement taught us? To stand behind women when they don't deserve it? I don't think so. It's not a "girls rule, boys drool" mentality. Stunned and not in a good way.
Sarah Palin is a strong libertarian woman. I'm sorry you're against that.
Libertarian - are you serious? She took money derived from oil in her state and distributed it to the tax payers - that is the very definition of Marxism (that the people should control the resources of the state). Personally, i think that is a great thing - but she is as far from Libertarian and George W. Bush was compassionate... The funny thing - she governed in a much more socialist manner than any other governor, yet she was calling Obama a socialist from the stump!
She's an opportunistic hack and a neo-con.
Do you think its "libertarian" or in any way "conservative" to extend government jurisdiction over the insides of a woman's body? Its neither of those things - its a radical invasion. If you believe that women's bodies should be state governed property during the period of pregnancy, you are a phony libertarian, or 'conservative'.
I think you need to link up to what the Libertarian party platform is. Direct from their website "The Libertarian way is a logically consistent approach to politics based on the moral principle of self-ownership. Each individual has the right to control his or her own body, action, speech, and property." Which includes a woman's right to choose -- without Government intervention and tolerance. Something that Sarah Palin has none of.
All I can say is, Seaweed, I couldn't agree more!
Again here, you show that you don't do your homework. You are throwing the term "libertarian" out there without a clue to its platform.
By coincidenece, Palin misused the same term recently when she referred to Hong Kong as "the libertarian part of China". I'll bet that brought the house down!
Keatsian, you know nothing about the Alaska Permanent Fund which was put in place 30 years ago and was lauded by economist Vernon Smith as a good model for other oil-rich governments like Iraq.
I don't see why not. People vote all the time for men just because they're men. The fact is that men are given the benefit of the doubt. They don't have to come into the picture 100% qualified in the exact specific thing votors are looking for - people figure that a general competence in one area will translate to others. But women don't get the luxury of learning on the job - they've got to be "qualified" on day one, even thought that's not possible unless they have on-the-job experience. This is the kind of circular argument which keeps women waiting on the sidelines. I don't see what's wrong with giving women the benefit of the doubt for a change.
If this is where thinking with your vagina leads you, thank God, Amy Siskind is the only one I've ever heard of. And I thought is was bad when men only thought with their penis!
Bristol Palin, God love her, is an example of where thinking with your vagina takes you. She is a poster child for a good chunk of the Democrat voter base, perversely making the case for Palin's bipartisan appeal.
Bwahh ha ha haha!! You're an idiot!! Bristol is a prime example of the FAILED rethuglican idology of "family values". You need to take your meds.
HUH? That "logic" is utterly inane.
Palin has no appeal, let alone bipartisan. I do not know one Democrat who has anything but disrespect for her and every Republican I know who switched parties with the last election, did so when McCain selected her as his running mate. She appeals to a small, vociferously (and bigoted) minority.
She's also an example of why "abstinance-only" education doesn't work. Unless, Quitter-Gov. Sarah Palin doesn't practice what she preaches.
djanimaequeen, if you think family values don't work, then maybe you should just come out and announce you're a member of NAMBLA or denounce gay marriage. Endorsing social anarchy makes you a savage but more of an idiot.
tonyjenson, Sarah Palin never endorsed abstinence-only education. She also told Bristol that having a baby was her choice, and her daughter chose life. The Palins are doing the right thing by supporting their daughter's choice and helping raise their grandchild while Levi continues pulling down his pants... only this time for money. I hope he's paying child support, but he is a valuable reminder why teens should not be having sex.
possumdearie - do you know what "denounce" means? your comment makes absolutely no sense. People who support "family values" politics regualry do denounce gay marriage.
Also - teens SHOULD be having sex, it's what teenagers do and have always done. Telling them to ignore their urges while giving them no information while at the same time constantly bombarding them with images of fetishized women and graphic sex (by the way, that's what puritanism gets you - when you really want something you are denied you become obsessed with it) causes the problem - sex can be a satisfying, fun, healthy, emotional fulfilling experience, even for teenagers, if they're ready for it. After all, Mary was only about 14 when she had Jesus - oh... right, she didn't have sex though...
Gloria Steinem said (paraphrasing)... The only thing I have in common with Palin is a chromosome. I feel the same way. There was no way that I would vote for someone who panders the far right ultra-conservative religious types. These extreme politics would further sink our nation.
Hear, hear!
Agreed. Well stated.
Absolutely!
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Actually, I'm a woman, and Gloria Steinem has one more chromosome than me. She should speak for herself and fellow retards.
These days here's what constitutes pandering to "far-right religious conservatives":
Not aborting your Down Syndrome baby.
That's it. In other words: Sarah Palin simply chose LIFE for her son, isn't ashamed of him, doesn't try to hide her Christian faith, and that makes her extreme and "dangerous."
I can't believe how far down the gutter Gloria Steinham and the other so-called feminists have dragged womanhood. Conservative Christian women were on the forefront of ending slavery, and winning the right to vote. Now we're considered dangerous extremists because we don't accept the sacrament of abortion.
I didn't bother wasting my time reading this article. When Palin utters at least one coherent sentence in response to a question perhaps I will take her more seriously.
Palin is an insult to intelligent Republican women. I have always wondered why more of them haven't denounced Palin. Oh, ya, anyone who would disagree with her would be labeled a catty, un-American, socialist, terrorist, Muslim RINO.
If you didn't read the article, then why are you commenting on it, dumb dumb?
I read the article and Granite has it just about right. This article has the strength and staying power of tissue paper. Palin has no credibility, she is most assuredly not "fresh, open-minded, a centrist and a party noncomformist."...I mean for crying out loud!..what is this person talking about? I don't know what she hears when Palin talks but I hear a deeply unserious pseudo-pol who revels in division, culture wars and petty politics. Palin does not exhibit and single iota of understanding about governance...this article is stunning in it's superficiality. Hey OBAMA hasn't turned around ewomens issues in 9 months! he's am utter failure...really?!?..REALLY?!
I have also read both pages of the article, and it appears to be written by a Palinite. Amy Siskind criticized Obama for not addressing women's issues and giving them more appointments to his administration. But he has only been in office for about 10 months, so he still has plenty of time to do both!
"Mr. Furious: Pretending to do the reading others honestly admit they won't do."
"things" haven't "panned out" for women? Obama was elected in NOVEMBER!!!
this author adds to the hasty revisionista propaganda, determined to prove their wrong selves right! She has mistaken self-assured and deliberate feminist progression with wacko impressionism and faux populism. Pro-feminist policy debate has GOT to include consideration for the rest of humanity....
Palin would be a sad choice for feminism. please!
Wow, pure ignorance! You don't know Palin's record. You don't care about the truth. You just live in your ideological bubble.
So who did Palin sell the the rights to the Alaskan Natural Gas Pipeline to? Was it a US company? When is the start-up date on that supposed to happen? What exactly does she know about petroleum? She served on the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, which she had the Governor prior to her put her on after she failed to be elected Lieutenant Governor in 2002, but her only real experience was being married to an oil field worker. So where is her expertise?
Please, by all means, list for us Sarah Palin's accomplishments and postitions that are "feminist" or -- if you don't like that word -- pro-woman.
MotherofThree ... What record?? Seriously, other than what Sarah has said HERSELF about HERSELF ... her record is pretty much non-existant! If you read about her in the Anchorage papers, pretty much everything she said about herself (taking on big oil, reforming ethics etc ... ) has been showed to be either false or exagerated!
You can't name me ONE policy issue that Sarah has addressed cogently ... all she does is drop 'comments' on her blog where she doesn't take questions or has to defend.
Sarah is a fool, and her supporters are uninformed, gullible fools. I read her FB page regularly, and I have never seen a bigger group of uneducated, illiterate people in one place.
Shame on you. I'm beginning to think you are Sarah or a member of the Palin clan posting because you are in denial about her religious beliefs ("very mainstream"), her platform ("libertarian") and now her record. At the same though I'm sure you are not from AK because her former constituents now loathe her for QUITTING for $$$.
Would you like to start with her lies? http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/07/the-odd-lies-o f-sarah-palin-a-roundup.html
Or how about her 100 crony appointments: http://articles.latimes.com/2008/oct/24/nation/na-palinrecords24
Or how about how Palin was for "death panels" before she was againsts them. Check out the AK govt. Web site where you can see that she signed this legislation on "Health Care Decisions Day": http://www.gov.state.ak.us/archive.php?id=1094&type=6 Got to love the hypocrisy, especially when AK's health services are taking a pounding, another part of her legacy there: "The situation is so bad the federal government has forbidden the state to sign up new people until the state makes necessary improvemenÂts."..."In one 2 1/2 year stretch, 227 adults already getting services died"..."No other state in the nation is under such a moratorium" http://www.adn.com/life/health/story/864670.html
In short, Mother, it's time for YOU to do your homework. Otherwise expect lots of abuse from posters who know a lot more about Palin than you do.
Couldn't agree more! It irks me to no end when people criticize Obama for not doing anything yet! We're all well aware of the mess he walked into post-George W. Bush and he's supposed to have fixed that in 9 months!?
Sarah Palin as President in 2012 would be a leap backwards for feminism.
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Siskind's commentary is possibly the most insulting I have read recently as to why ANY woman should automatically support Palin. That Siskind supported the McCain ticket because a woman was onboard is witless enough, but that she then implies all women should get onboard with Palin too is beyond contempt.
McCain inflicted on this nation an unworldly, unsophisticated, narcissistic bigot who NEVER did anything for women in her own state. Why would any woman be expected to line up behind Palin on the expectation that she would necessarily be sensitive to women's issues? Palin was a lousy governor of a 700K-person state before she QUIT, she's a lousy mother and she's clearly out for herself and millions to be made from her blather. What is there to admire? Siskind has made a puerile argument and has lost credibility as a budding journalist. What a joke. Too bad she wasn't being sarcastic.
Word.
Damn straight.
You betcha. I'll get back to you after I look up the rest of my response, and looking for Russians in my backyard.
I've already been protected against witchcraft by bishop Muthee, so I'm rarin' to go. We have to make a mission to the Jewish people, cause we love them so much, and we don't want them to spend eternity in Hell.
I got to go read all of them newpapers, cause I read all of 'em. A big shoutout to the Alaska Independence Party.
I believe Ms. Suskind is only giving half of her reasons for voting for Palin. She will voted for a woman...but never a black man.
I wonder what non-sensical reason Ms. Suskind would have been if Republicans had nominated Powell instead of Bush.
Voting FOR a woman just because she is a woman, is just as mindless as voting AGAINST a woman just because she is a woman.
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It's bait, to get angry responses from progressives.
Don't
Fall
For
it!
Crymeariver:
well said!
This is the state of things in the publishing world: have a writer (either a black man or woman) to write something either ridiculously in favor of their race or genger, or ridiculously against their race of gender) This demonstrates "bold" journalistic standards and "objectivity."
Then watch the angry responses come tumbling in. See, the stupid-assed readers wont get it.
Sarah Palin seems to bring out the worst in people on both the left - and the right. So you shouldn't be so critical of posters who respond to any stories about her on this or any other website.
I don't even know what to say. If you believe women are going to support reproductive rights simply because they're female, you were born yesterday. You have got to be a real life troll - no one who calls Sarah Palin "open-minded" can be for real.
Judging by Palin's supporters, open-minded is the last quality they share .... Palin is so open-minded that her site bans anyone who dares question her, and her fans call anyone who doesn't idolize Palin a 'troll' ....
Yeah, and in contrast, everyone here is so open-minded, Archivist. Thanks for pointing out the disparity. ROFL.
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You are very brave!
Palin, like her or not, deserves the support of ALL women. The criticism she has to endure has mostly to do with the fact that she is woman who dares to stand up and be heard. Not her politics.
She "deserves the support of ALL women"? No, she does not. Not now, and not ever. And no male politician deserves the respect of ALL men. Politicians must earn the respect of like-minded people, not just those with the same pair of chromosomes.
What planet do you live on? Your posting shows an abyssmal lack of knowledge about Palin's governance and at this point in the game that's not a defensible stance.
There's not enough space here to chronicle her ineptitude (failure to balance a budget), cronyism (Wasilla H.S. buds in charge of state agencies), divisiveness (with a Republican-led legislature), narcissism (RNC clothing), bizarre religious beliefs (like exorcism by a witch doctor) and vengefulness against "haters" (see upcoming book).
Just because Palin stands up to others does not make her right, admirable or worthy of any federal position. That just makes her a rogue. (Look it up.)
Last I saw, AK's budget is balanced. Sarah Palin planned for oil prices going down and made appropriate budget cuts, while resisting spending that would prove unsustainable in the near future. Appointing trusted friends in her new administration, especially after successfully firing a bunch of crooks in her own party and facing opposition from Democrats, is a smart strategy as well as an accepted practice. Wearing clothes -- which were all returned and sold off for charity -- that help you look like a contender in global politics is sensible and something Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and even Joe Biden have done. The exorcism story is fake.
The exorcism is real.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwkb9_zB2Pg
" The exorcism story is fake."
No, it is not. I saw the video on YouTube. Google it. Defend her all you want, I say she is a Dominionist, and I detest her and her church. I lived in Anchorage for a while, and her church preaches anti-Semitism. I had it thrown in my face.
That's a dummy account by a PR agency, and the audio doesn't sync up.
Oh, and what church could possibly preach more antisemitism than Obama's? For the record, I think you're lying about that, too.
Oh, come on. Sarah Palin, that most inarticulate woman, has set women back. Where are women when it comes to the really good candidates--the women McCain could have chosen to run with him--instead of a pretty face? Ever listen to her instead of watching her? What a difference--and I thought only men were subject to that folly.
No, the criticism she has endured is from her inability to put a coherent thought together; her blatant appeal to the worst in Americans--the elitists who think they are the only "real Americans," because they tote guns--to support her; those who think that abortion should be illegal even for those who are raped or who have suffered from incest; and her ignorance and unwillingness to learn.I could go on and on but isn't that enough to reject her? Why say that it's because of gender? You cheapen women and their thought processes in selecting a candidate.
To quote Jon Stewart, she is a quitting, quitty, quitter who QUIT"! She deserves the rancor. She brought it on herself...if not by her poor behavior than by her (in)actions.
Quoting Jon Stewart?... Not using much logic are you, PofL?
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opendanderson .... WHAT politics???? Sarah drops comments, but NEVER puts herself in a position to be questionned or challenged .... she is a blogger, not a politician!
The criticisms (as you put it) are observations on her comments, which she then whines about as 'attacks'
oped that is just silly ... any candidate who wanted to run for public office AND demonstrated such a lack of knowledge about current issues (domestic or foreign) doesn't deserve support.
Palin whines about being attacked, but she isn't... to her, answering questions is being attacked. Please.
Palin doesn't 'dare to stand up and be heard' .. all she does is post on her personal blog, or do irrelevant op-eds, or take money to talk in foreign countries... all without tolerating 'challenges' or 'taking questions' ... that is not spunky, or mavericky, or courageous .. it's just exhibitionism.
President Obama did indeed support and sign the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, a bill made necessary by a conservative supreme court, and a bill vetoed twice by a conservative Republican. If one cared about women's issues, would want to find out what, exactly, Governor Palin's stance on Lily Ledbetter was before supporting her.
President Obama's first Supreme Court selection, Judge Sonia Sotomayor was female; she is only the third woman in history to be appointed to the court. (George W. Bush notably threw his only female Supreme Court pick under the bus when conservatives questioned whether she was conservative enough.) One would also want to know if Gov Palin supports Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
George W. Bush also only appointed six women to his cabinet, total, so the fact that Obama's matched that in nine months is pretty impressive (also notable that one of those six is Secretary of State, the highest-ranking cabinet officer, and fifth in the line of succession.)
And why Palin? If you want a female Republican nominee, why not, say, Olympia Snowe or Christie Todd Whitman or Kay Bailey Hutchinson or Condoleeza Rice, Republican women with far longer records and far more significant levels of accomplishment? Aside from one vague mention of Palin appointing one judge (and that was before her transformation into hardcore cultural conservative warrior), you make absolutely no mention of Palin's actual policies or views; furthermore, the Republican party platform still calls for a total ban on abortion, so until that's changed, it would be foolish to think any Republican nominated for President feels otherwise.
This essay is badly in need of editing. Please take into consideration some of the issues presented here and resubmit.
Excellent post. However, I think the entire site needs to be edited--for typos, coherence, quality--you name it.
Kay Barely Republican and Olympia Snowe would lose; that's why you like them. I like Snowe, but she is old and would face the same criticism and struggles as her good friend John McCain. Condi was too close with Bush. Whitman would be endlessly roasted about her own scandals. FUNDRAISING. GRASSROOTS. TELEGENIC QUALITY. These are all important considerations.
Olympia Snowe is 63, a spring chicken compared to most of the Senate.
Snowe looks older.
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This should not be a women thing, when you vote for a candidate it should be about policy... I like Palin, I don't know if she would be a good president or not, its way to early to make that choice. As for Obama, those who voted for him were so disgusted with him the thought of another Republican in office was scaring people. So we get this left wing radical for a president, out of fear of 8 more years. So now we have 3 more years of spending and government take over's, bail outs, Communist Czars and past associates, moving towards Socialism. This country better pay closer attention to who you are voting for in 2009-2010 or we are going to destroy this country.
Oy.
Do you have a clue what "socialism" and communism" mean? Yours is a posting straight off a right-wing site with NO data to support your contentions. You need to research your claims and then post, not rant and expect to be taken seriously.
As for "destroy this country," here's a URL to show YOU that this happened over the course of the last 8 years. Not my opinion, but supported by data from the Census Bureau. Should have been headlines everywhere, but porint over statistics is too dry for folks like you, but these are FACTS: http://politics.theatlantic.com/2009/09/closing_the_book_on_the_bush_legacy .php
Thank you for the facts.
sippewissett, and yours are right out of the left wing site, and if you think I would read or believe anything you would suggest, you are greatly mistaken.
"Socialism is Socialism, as envisioned by Marx and Engels was, ideally, a where everyone would share the benefits of industrialization. Workers would do better than in the English system at the time (The Communist Manifesto was published in 1848) because there were more workers than bosses and the majority would rule. As a purely economic system, socialism is a lousy way to run a large scale economy. Socialism is not a political system, it's a way of distributing goods and services. At their ideal implementation, socialism and laissez faire capitalism will be identical as everyone will produce exactly what's needed for exactly who needs it. In practice, both work sometimes in microeconomic conditions but fail miserably when applied to national and international economies. And they fail for the same reason: Human perversity. Too many people don't like to play fair, and both systems only work when everyone follows the same rules."
This is called in modern day language, take from the rich and give to the poor, or sharing the wealth, and BIG GOVERNMENT dictating who gets what, So don't try to insult my intelligence with your crap, I know the truth and now you do too. That's what Obama and his Congress are doing with Health Care, and have done with Porkulus bill, budget, taking over all the industries he can get his hands on. etc. Not to mention he Mentored under SAUL ALINSKI Communist, wrote Rules for Radicals, Please
diamondgirl: you forgot to mention Saul Alinsky was a Jew, which is the ultimate crime. And you forgot to add "nazi" to the litany of defects.
It goes like this: Obama is a Communist, Socialist, fascist, nazi who is going to stage a coup, and never leave office. He is going to nationalize every industry, and confiscate every gun. He is the puppet of those two Jews, and Alinsky is guiding him from the grave.
Get it right before posting, or David Duke will get angry.
misha1000, Your statement to me describes what I think you are,and dont ever try to put words in my mouth, when thats your view not mine. You are: A bigot is a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices, especially one who regards or treats members of a group with hatred and intolerance. Bigotry is the corresponding mindset or...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bigot
diamondgirl: I will NEVER vote for an evangelical. Their church and theology is based on the destruction of Judaism and the Jewish people. I know, I had it thrown in my face.
DiamondGirl: What you fail to notice is that under Bush we did not have capitalism - we had some perverse kind of government that steals from the poor to give to the wealthy. Over 50 percent of the top 500 corporations paid zero dollars in taxes, the wealthiest 1 percent gained the most wealth in the history of the world while our wealth went down, We gave enormous multi-billion dollar subsidies to Exxon, Wal-Mart, and other enormous corporations, we gave no bid contracts to Haliburton, Blackwater and others that made them hundreds of billions of dollars, etc. etc.
Citigroup called this government under the Bush administration a "Plutocracy" meaning that there is an extremely small and wealthy ruling class (1 percent) and and huge peasant class (95 percent) with almost no middle (4 percent). I am not sure what it should be called, but I know it is wrong.
So, a little wealth distribution back to the middle and working class now is okay with me after having our wealth, 401k's, and everything else stole from us for 8 years.
misha1000, I don't care if you vote for Palin, I don't even know if she is capable to do the job, but not because of her religion. ,
KEASTSIAN: I don't believe during Bushes admin. It was socialism in reverse; everyone had jobs and was working and paying their own bills.
And now because Obama is in office, we should hand out money and social programs that will do nothing to make them learn how to do it on their own. It's called go to school, get a job, work hard and pay your own bills. What you are suggesting is true socialism, not in this country now or ever, will it be acceptable. What Obama wants is to have a level playing field, so today's statistics will make him very happy, those who have College degrees at the same level of unemployment as those who do not.
This is his plan, bring everyone down to the level of the uneducated, because they are more fortunate and they need to feel the same pain. He is Very bad for America and needs to be voted out the minute his 4 years are up. Obama knew that his Stimulus plan had nothing in it for job creation, it was intentional, no mistake, Rules for Radicals explains it all. Go read it.
hey, dopey diamondgirl, I pointed you to The Atlantic for the summary of the Census Bureau DATA because I figured you'd never be able to follow the full report. The Atlantic doesn't fool cling to that conspiracy, then look up the report on the Bush years on the govt. site...or is that too left-wing for you too? You sound like an idiot when you don't distinguish between a magazine's Op-Ed vs. reporting of FACTS.
sippewissett, it's not that I couldn't follow your link, I have no desire to justify your request with my attention. I don't know you, why would I follow anything you would have to say, let alone believe it. To me you are a nasty left wing nut, who thinks her way really matters. Well not to me sweetie, I am not buying what you are selling; try selling it to someone who's really dumb enough to give a damm.
I'll take a left-wing radical over a right-wing nutjob anyday.
Hear hear!!
I'll take a common sense conservative over Dr. Utopia anyday.
Dr. Utopia - as in 'Iraqis will greet us as liberators and dance in the streets' - like that?
Left wing radical..socialist? Dear Lord. America is the only place in the Western world where Obama would be considered left wing, let alone a radical. In the UK he would be a member of the Conservative party and as for socialism, go away and look up the definition. The UK isn't even a Socialist country but has way more socialised industry than the US, get a grip.
As for Sarah Palin, I wouldn't vote for her because she is too conservative for my tastes. That's not why I dislike her though. I dislike her because she is snide, sarcastic, she is arrogant with no goods to back it up. She had the audacity to run for Vice-President of the most powerful country in the world when she had never before taken an interest in national politics (couldn't name a national newspaper, couldn't name a supreme court decision apart from Roe v Wade, before she was nominated she had no record of commenting on anything outside of Alaska, let alone the US, to mention a few) and she thought there was nothing wrong with that. She's divisive, thinking she could decide who were 'real Americans' based on where they lived, what social events they went to and where they got their education, which takes a lot of nerve considering she is married to a secessionist.
I get sick of neocons saying people don't like her because she is conservative, people don't like her because she is a woman. That's bull. People don't like her because she is divisive, she quits when the going gets tough and she is simply not good enough.
"Left wing radical"? Are you smoking something? The rest of the world views him as a conservative. As do many Democrats and Progressives.
Please check your history and do not give into the revisionist tendencies of the last admin. The spending began with tax cuts for the wealthy and continued with TARP and car bailouts (and oh yes, a collapsed economic system) under Bush (who had "Czars" as has every pres since Nixon, who coined the term). SOcialism? Words have meaning. Try to respect that.
Spending began with "tax cuts" ... and you call yourself logical?
The money belongs to the people who earned it. Government needs to spend less. That's why there are people rioting in the street, and yes it did start back with Bush Bailout, supported by stupid Congress.
You tell me why Michelle Queen Obama has 20 attendants. Laura Bush and Hillary Clinton both had no more than THREE.
The Obamas think this is a monarchy now.
MotherofThree:
Those tax cuts went almost exclusively to the corporations, while working class people got a shiny 500 dollar check to keep us quiet. Nearly half of the top 500 corporations paid zero in taxes for eight years, while the American people have to foot the bill for the roads they do business on, the inspections on their products to make them safe, the effects from their pollution, often the health care for their workers, and many other things...
It was the biggest transfer of wealth from the poor to the wealthy in history - especially the "no negotiation clause" of Medicare Part D that Bush purposefully had inserted to transfer trillions of dollars from the tax payers to the Drug companies. Not to mention the enormous subsidies that went to Exxon in the Highway Bill and the enormous transfer of tax dollars to corporations like Blackwater and halliburton with "no-bid contracts" that ended up killing many soldiers with their shotty work.
The 8 years under Bush took our deficit from 5 trillion to 11.5 trillion. Only 1 trillion of that was from wars - the other 5.5 trillion went mostly to the wealthy in the biggest corporate welfare scheme in history.
This is a woman, if I understand it right, who made rape victims pay for their kits to save money when she was mayor. Women can be the meanest to other women when in power and the most patronizing. Women, when in power, sometimes put other women in danger, by frivolousing personal information, or inciting hatred towards them. I think at first women were supporting Palin, and then ....
Just one of many falsehoods spread about Sarah. SHE DID NOT MAKE RAPE VICTIMS PAY FOR THEIR KITS.... I see many of you ladies that are so quick to condemn Palin are incorrect in their statements and then continue to point out what you think she believes and has done in the past....you do this only from the liberal lies spread about her.
It shows your lack of openness to research and any attempt to leaarn the truth. JUST LIKE LADIES OF THE PAST YOU CONTINUE TO BE FOLLOWERS....DRINKING YOUR KOOL AID. BELIEVING EVERYTHING THE MEN WHO WRITE COLUMNS WANT YOU TO BELIEVE. MAYBE YOU WILL READ HER BOOK AND FIND OUT SOME TRUTHS. We as woman will never be top leaders if you continue to be so blind that you can't learn something. She doesn't need a teleprompter to speak 3 words...she doesn't think there are 57 states...I could go on and on.. What a disapoint you all are...you don't have to agree with her, you don't have to vote for her if she runs for public office. But, you don't have to condemn her for things that are not TRUE.
While I agree with you that Sarah Palin did not make women pay for their rape kits, nor did she initiate any such practice, women were being charged for them either directly or through their insurance companies. Considering Sarah Palin calls herself a feminist she did nothing to stop this practice.
Another thing if you read any politician's autobiography and expect the truth then you are extremely naive.
As Mayor she could have made a difference, and she didn't, so due to her inactions, she did make women pay for their rape tests, which would lead to some women not reporting it, which would lead to possibly more women getting raped. That is the typical mindset of small town people, especially women, they know the cost of everything and the value of nothing.
[#
Palin's town charged women for rape exams - CNN.com
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's hometown required women to pay for their own rape examinations while she was mayor, a practice her police chief fought to keep as late as 2000. excerpted ]
www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/21/palin.rape.exams/index.html - 91k - Cached
Wrong. False. Addressed upthread and elsewhere.
To take Palin serious, gotta see a couple of Nipple Slips, upskirts, leaked XXX videos....to hell with the Wink Winks... I can't get Jiggy with that!
Thank you for proving my point!
It seems the TDB is flooding it's website with idiotic articles and this one is another example.
Sarah Palin couldn't lead a rhesus monkey to the toilet, much less the women of America.
She has proven time and again that she knows nothing, that she'll say anything, and that she'll do just about anything for money. About the only thing her actions qualify her for is to be a moll in some criminal syndicate.
But wait ... she's in the Republican Party ... so that's already taken care of,
periscope ... for a good idea of the people she 'leads' go to her OFFICIAL website on facebook (where she requests donations to her SarahPAC) .. her 'fans' are the most uninformed group of people you will ever see ... trust me, you will have a good laugh.
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Obama signed into law an Act that guaranteed equal pay for equal work. Sarah Palin played high school basketball. And you'd vote for Sarah? Are you high?
Yeah, and guess what? Obama paid his women campaign staffers less than men. On average, they got 76 cents for every dollar paid a man, while McCain's female staffers got $1.04.
Yet another Obama hypocrisy. Just like the National Organization for Women that should be forced to call itself the National Organization for Liberal Women.
Susan B. Anthony was a Republican. And the first women elected to Congress were Republicans. Sarah Palin is in that frontier mode of rugged individualistic strong women.
I'm sorry you just don't like that.
The Republican party of Susan B Anthony bears as much resemblance to the modern GOP as an apple does to a motorcycle. Jeez.
I must say, though, I'd be interested to know how the name of NOW is an "Obama hypocrisy."
MotherofThree ... where can I find reliable data to document that claim?? This sounds like yet another 'story' spread on Palin's FB page, where the chief sources of info are other blogs!
Palin's FB site is nothing but misinformed people talking to other misinformed people ...... most are barely literate ......
That is because McCains women staffers had been there much longer than Obama's staffers. You know how the longer you work somewhere the more raises you get. Hello? What mother of three lacks in facts she makes up for in SPUNK!
This post is for Zan below. Your post revealed that you didn't study enough in math class. You say McCain's staffers had been there longer to account for the disparity, and you fail to realize that the stats I told you were RELATIVE, hence they were written in PERCENTAGES.
NObama paid his staffers less RELATIVE to the men in his campaign (.76 for every dollar). And McCain paid women MORE than men (1.04 for every dollar), on average.
Or did you actually think McCain paid his staffers $1.04 per hour. LOL. It's called a percentage, dude.
WHERE do you get this crap? You're providing LOL moments, but NO facts. Stop it, simply because you look bad...or do you not mind because you have a screen name and we can't revile you in person?
You and your kind are the reason I do not go to church anymore. Way too much hate for me. Now, I go to the beach and the mountains to pray. I find God, not ignorance.
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Recall that it was Women Senators who pushed and wrote the bill. Obama just signed it with big photo-op party.
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Why do you think Sarah Palin would take any steps to reduce violence against women when she tried to appoint Wayne Anthony Ross as Attorney General in Alaska? Here's just an example of his attitude on violence toward women:
"If a guy can't rape his wife...who's he gonna rape?" and "There wouldn't be an issue with domestic violence if women would learn to keep their mouths shut."
Sarah Palin v. a Bag of Hammers.
Their debates would be legendary!
I'd never heard Joe Biden called a bag of hammers before, but it is fitting.
I'm no conservative, but that was a good one.
Yes, let's all vote based on gender lines. That just sounds like a swell idea doesn't it? Let's just overlook the fact that my 19 year old sister has held a passport longer than her, or that she quit her job as governor so she could better serve Alaska (i.e. finish her book-which I'm sure she wrote all by herself- and go give financial advice speeches for cash money). However, I do agree with her sentiments that she can better serve the country by no longer occupying an elected office.
Vote with your brains. Not with your associated sexual organs.
This Palin derangement reaction leaves me incredulous!! Behind it is just an impulse to hate---shame on all of you!!! I am positive that none of you naysayers have done any study whatsoever of Palin's actual record. You are responding like a bunch of trained dogs to certain false stimuli to create your insane reaction. It is being used to control you, or you are just a bunch of haters. Why is it that for a woman to be acceptable she has to meet an impossible norm. There is always something wrong with her-------it's the "you know any woman--not THAT woman" standard. I agree with opedanderson----the blowback from naysayers is because she is a woman and has the nerve to stand up and be heard. I'm not a racist, but many of you are sexist!!!!
I'm pretty sure we don't like Palin based on what she stands for. highly conservative. lack of any real experience. religious intolerance. These are the reasons she isn't in office today. Just because she is a woman doesn't mean she stands for what women really want. To say that we naysayers are sexist because we don't like her is not only untrue but also a testament to how closeminded you are. not everybody is perfect, but Palin is far from what the average american wants to have in office.
Religious intolerance? Prove it!
Lack of experience? She has 15 years experience in elective office, and more executive experience than any of the candidates last year. Did you realize Sarah Palin managed a budget six times larger than Bill Clinton's Arkansas budget, yet no one complained about his lack of experience??
Alaska - $12 billion budget
Arkansas - $2 billion
So what are you really saying? You just don't like her. Fine, but don't call us ignorant when your ignorance is on full display.
MotherofThree:
Her husband was a member of a successionist group that wanted Alaska to leave the US - why would I want someone who advocates breaking our union to head our country?
"Religious intolerance? Prove it!"
I had it thrown in my face in Anchorage, by her church members. I had so much anti-Semitism thrown in my face, I gave up after three months and drove back to Philly. I got my job back.
honestly anybody can tunnel vision what they want to see and overlook the things that they dont. That is all fine and dandy until one is trying to gain access to an office that overlooks an entire country. Palin doesnt have the qualities that the average american wants in office. The average american is not an extremely right leaning person and is not an evangelical.
It is ridiculous to say we don't know anything about her record. That is the reason we oppose her because we do know about her record. As far as holding her to an impossible standard, that's bull. Palin proved herself to have an exteme lack of knowledge of even basic civics, not to mention foreign policy. Any candidate, man or woman, running for national office should no this stuff. You are the one holding her to a different standard, a lower one.
Oh, you mean our leaders should understand basic civics, like how Obama said there were 57 states, falsely claimed that his parents conceived him because of Selma, which happened happened after his birth, bragged that his grandfather liberated Auschwitz when the Russians did, and thinks that they speak Austrian in Austria?
Or how about Joe Biden who thought FDR was president in 1929, and that he went on TV when the stock market crashed. Or how about foreign policy expert Joe Biden who thinks that we kicked Hezbollah out of Lebanon.
Sarah has never made these kind of gaffes, nor would she. She's a smart woman, not a hack.
It sounds like "Motherofthree" has been indoctrinated by the far right and their propaganda - like so many who post on this website. So this reminds me of the movie "Invasion of the Body Snatchers"!
This "impossible norm" is the standard to which we've all been holding Obama as well! This "impossible norm" is the standard to which we should hold our (even potential) PRESIDENT! It's sexist now to not vote for a woman who's not only less than qualified, but who also supports some of the most conservative policies on women's bodies and abortion? If that's sexist, then fine. I've been called worse.
Are you serious? There's a world of difference between what a person is and what he or she does. Maybe not in your mind, but yes, out in the real world. Do you seriously think Republican woman were considering switching their votes to show their support for Hillary Clinton? Why on earth do you think that anyone with a uterus would automatically vote the way you want?
Seriously, I'm just boggled. Yes, Sarah Palin is very attractive (about 50 percent of her popularity, I think) and charismatic. Beyond that, I don't think she has the experience or the intellectual chops to be president. You are impressed with her political experience? Well, I cannot think of a sitting governor who just up and quit, apparently to make money. It's her right, of course, but she has now lost the traditional executive experience candidates need to make their case for president.
In fact, I think you are showing some feminine bias yourself -- and not in a good way. If George Bush had quit as governor of Texas 18 months into his first term to rake in money on the book and lecture circuit, would people have taken him seriously as a candidate? I don't think so. Palin doesn't deserve unfair scrutiny, but she should be held to the same standard as any other candidate. I'm honestly not sure how she's going to deal with the 'I know I quit that last job, but I really, really want this job' question, but that's her problem, not my problem.
On a more personal level, Palin represents to me the cognitive dissonance of the Christian right's ideals and real life. I live in the south-central part of the US where fundamentalism is strong. We are one of the leading states in teen pregnancies, divorce, infant mortality, poor health, etc. If you're really interested in the welfare of women, you just might want to take a harder look at the way a number of Palin's beliefs translate into real life for people who are less privileged than she is.
As a matter of fact I was going to vote for Hillary Clinton because I support strong women, even if I don't agree with them on every issue.
Oh, and since you're so smart, Palin didn't quit 18 months into her term. She resigned after 32 months. Doesn't accuracy matter to you?
And if you don't understand that Alaska's state staff wasn't prepared to deal with the fallout from the VP candidacy, you really don't understand state government. They were wasting MILLIONS of dollars and time researching these frivolous ethics charges that came flying in once Palin was a household name.
She quit because you don't need a title to effect change. And she quit because she's not a narcissist who thinks only SHE could govern the state.
Palin did much good for Alaska, for education, for the poor ... You're just not interested in knowing her real record. You're interested in stereotyping her. I thought stereotyping was a liberal no-no.
You were really going to vote for Hillary cos you support strong women? Yeah, right. Also, as far as I know, Sarah has never gave a good reason as to why she resigned. Furthermore, it doesn't matter if she quit after 18 or 32 months, cos the woman is still a QUITTER. So why would you support someone like that if she ran for POTUS? And what good did she do for the people of Alaska? You were not very specific about that at all.
MotheofThree says: " She quit because you don't need a title to effect change." .... LMAO that is a good little drone, repeat what Sarah says often enough and it becomes fact!
Mother ..... Sarah quit because she couldn't do the job, once the going got tough with oil prices dropping ... and she quit to cash in on her '15 minutes' and write a book (or, should I say, dictate an outline to a ghost-writer) .
Palin did much good for the poor??? Are you for real??? Many of her constituents DIED last winter due to her ineptitude and inattention ... if you really want to know the verdict on her record in Alaska try reading the AK newspapers, not her own talking points!
You are totally hoodwinked, MotherofThree!
Um, I don't think you really know anything about me, you might quit already with the snotty comments. Ok, she served more than 18 months; sorry, it's Monday. (I still have never seen anyone walk out of a high-profile job that way.) I do sympathize with the idea that it's a waste to investigate so many ethics complaints, but that's not my problem to deal with. Alaskans can change their system of government if this is a problem -- seriously. Not my call to make.
I'm going to disagree that Palin has a phenomenal level of executive experience. Before she was elected governor, she was on the city council and mayor of a town of about 6,000 people. There's nothing at all wrong with that and I applaud her initiative, but really. That's a tiny town; most people wouldn't jump from there to you know, president in one leap. Her experience is certainly valuable, but Alaska is so unusual, so sparsely populated, and until recently was rich in oil money that she never had to face the brutal budget cuts other governors have. That's not her fault, but when you're evaluating a candidate and times are tough, it's relevant. I do not think she was the right person to run with John McCain because her presence caused him to go off-message from Experience to Maverick. Obviously others saw it differently, but I think both candidates suffered for it
I'm not supporting any candidate, man or woman, solely based on gender and I never have. If I think they'll get the job done better than the other candidates, they get my vote.
By the way, I don't know Sarah Palin and suspect you don't either. I really have no idea why she resigned as governor. Sorry, but I'm not inclined to accept your reasoning as fact; it's strictly supposition. What she did was perfectly legal, but it's not usually the fast ticket to the presidency -- if that's what she really wants. I have no idea.
Name 1 thing palin did as Gov. that benefited women or the poor. You cannot because she did not. Backing Palin just because she is a woman is absurd. She has never advocated, as mayor or Gov., for women. her record as Gov. stands for itself. She was forced to seat a liberal judge, she tried to appoint an attorney general who is anti-poor, women, Alaska natives,& gay/lesbians. She quit her job to go make money. She is not a politician. She is Glenn beck in a dress.
Do you live in Alaska? No. You do not. You are vomiting the right wing religious mantra. She is dumb. Pretty, but quite dumb. She couldn't even write her own book and her with that impressive Bachelor's Degree in Journalism, that took her 5 years and 4 different colleges to get. She is a joke all right, a bad joke!
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That's what we conservatives like about Sarah.
She's gets the lefties furious and then they spittle all over their keyboards. Meanwhile, the Division Street Duce is bankrupting the country.....
She's like Clinton and the Republican Extreme Right. She couldn't have a better choice of enemies. You guys do her work for her. You're just too stupid to realize that you are lowering the bar for her.
Jebus. "Progressives". Dumb as dirt.
I am a Republican that would never vote for this women. Olympia J. Snowe is a women that would give any man or women a run for their money. I am pulling my hair out because Palin is an embarrassment for the Republican party. I would love to see articles about other Republican women that could let us all forget about Palin and her drama.
She's not an embarrassment at all, Kristina. She's a common sense conservative who accomplished more in her term as governor than any of her predecessors. I'm sorry you're so swayed by Tina Fey you can't see leadership potential.
Never? Hmm. Way to be open minded. You are exactly whats wrong with the republican party. Closed minded. Why exactly is Palin an embarrassment? The only drama caused is by the media, not Palin. You find any other legit female conservative canditate and i promise you the media will shred them just like Palin. Wouldnt matter if it was mother Theresa or Joan of Arc.
Thank you Kristina. Not everyone thinks because you dont like a certain person you are closeminded.
I agree, she is ridiculous. And, the only reason she accomplished the few small things as Governor that she did, is because the DEMOCRATS worked with her. Well, after the hate she spewed forth for all things Democratic, you can bet your right wing butt, THAT won't happen again.
Amen. There are scores of other Republican women (not to mention moderate Democrats) who represent some of the key tenets the GOP espoused back in the day (fiscal responsibility for starters). These include Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins (both skilled legislators with real intelligence), Jodi Rell (the very popular Governor of CT), Deborah Pryce (ex Congresswoman from Ohio). Of course, these women are the face of a moderate Republican party that a majority of voters like, but that a majority of the dimwitted, pitchfork-wielding, teabagging GOP activists don't.
Can you explain how we are doing her work for her? ( Apparently someone has to do her work for her though, she can't even finish one term.) I hear righties say this kind of mumbo jumbo all the time but they don't back it up with any facts. Of course your line about bankrupting the country shows you are not much for facts. Bush started this bailout mess and huge debts and handed it over. It is now Obama's responsibility, but we haven't forgotten the facts. You really souldn't be calling anyone dumb until you can express an original thought.
It is very hard to tell the difference between loyal Obots and 'righties' most of the time--as so many echo the same mantra's.
morninmist -- The difference between types of posts is that one side uses facts, data and third-party sources accompanied by URLs pointing to sources because they have nothing to hide; the other just rants and raves and picks their "facts" from sources that are never cited, never pointed to.
The latter leaves a bad taste in my mouth because their motives, including racist disbelief that a smart man is in the white house, are suspect.
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