This election has highlighted issues that many of us have been sweeping under the carpet for years, as race, gender, disabilities have become fair parley. The subtle discrimination that lurks deep within each of our minds is being exploited in this race like no other political campaign in history. Although I personally don't believe that the Democratic ticket should be viewed any differently from any other male dominated ticket (in that Obama shouldn't be viewed any differently than a male of a different ethnicity because I don't believe that your skin color affects your thinking, ability to lead, or is anyway superior/inferior to any other Asian, Hawaiian, Neatherdal, Scottish, Spanish, Hispanic, Caucasian male), but there is no doubt that is not an opinion shared by America. So this election is ground-breaking anyway you look at it. Sarah Palin, in particular, has been at the center of a thousand whirling dervishes of controversy. She's a
girl. Running for the vice presidency. This post was supposed to be done last week, and so many more
must-read excellent articles and sources have popped up since my Twitter conversation (like this very logical article from
Tammy Bruce), but sexism in American politics isn't going away folks. Although I admit this post is belated [Shuddaup. I got a mean virus that rendered me incapable of functioning for like
forever. And my lovely MTF* emergency room is staffed with incompetent idiots who shouldn't have been allowed to graduate from whatever backwoods college they supposedly became nurses at. They couldn't even give me an I.V. in my perfectly-popping-easier-to-find-than-your-granny's-cookies veins. I seriously wanted to give myself the damn I.V.-I would have done a better job. (Segue into a Proud Moment: Back in my
toy soldier days, I had to take this CLS** class that involved shoving tubes down people's noses and giving each other I.V.s and fun stuff like that, and I kid you not, I did a better job than the freaking medic teaching the class. Yes, I'm vein. And very, very punny.) Anyway, I have two huge bruises in my left arm. Ugh.], it is still very relevant.
Without further ado:
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It began with a boring night of reading Roe v. Wade and watching a crappy Lifetime movie while
twittering random thoughts and evolved into an exciting political debate with a great
twitterati and blogger,
the Queen of Spain. What follows is an abridged conversation of the debate about sexism in this election and Sarah Palin:
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AJae: Watching Coco Chanel and reading Roe v.Wade: the untold story of the landmark supreme court decision that made abortion legal-What a combo! Anybody else already tired of this election? I'm getting tired of sorting through the internet rumors and misinformation.
QueenofSpain in reply to
nmckinney28: [U]m...well it wouldn't make sense...and I think it's clear there have been [D]emocrats calling out the sexism against Palin
AJae: Obama's campaign may or may not be defending Palin against sexist remarks, but the Dems as a whole certainly are not.
The Queen of Spain: The [Democrats] as a whole? Really? Seriously? You mean the party that stands up for women's rights? The ones that vote FOR affordable child care and equal pay and family leave? The ones that have already condemned the remarks by the SC chair? You mean THOSE democrats? Give me a break. Excellent attempt to play victim, but the '[Democrats] hate women' card is equally as absurb as the GOP candidate for VP.
AJae: I was referring strictly to the response to Palin's candidacy in that the Democratic party seems to be rapidly falling into a pit of sexist 'PTA moms should stay at home with their children and leave politics alone' remarks and gaffes. I'm not sure where the Democratic party of yester-year that used to champion women's rights went... but this campaign seems to be erasing history. I do love the victim card so...but that was not exactly the point I was making. I was just discussing the current state of affairs derived from reputable news sources, not opinion or other biased articles. And I [certainly] did not infer that "the [Democrats] hate women" but rather that they aren't necessarily pointing out sexism against Palin.
The Queen of Spain: [C]ould you point to these news sources you speak of? And when [I'm] back to my computer I will send various [examples of Democrats] and [Democratic organizations] decrying sexism.
(Specifically against Palin, mind you. My and others issues with Palin are in her policy. Critical over her issues, not her vagina.)
AJae: I understand why you would be critical of her issues, and I wholeheartedly support that. What I'm noticing is an extremely un-professional response to Palin's gender by the media and certain [Democrats]. http://tinyurl.com/6leock This article only scratches the surface [of media bias] , but it's a start. [Even Democrats are agreeing that the Palin response is excessive: Mark Penn told the LA Times, and I quote: "'...all of the media is now being viewed as partisan in one way or another. And that is an unfortunate development.' So does the strategist, who had his own complaints about sexism in media coverage about Sen. Clinton, think the media is being harder on Palin than other candidates?
'I think that the media is doing the kinds of stories on Palin that they're not doing on the other candidates. And that's going to subject them to people concluding that they're giving her a tougher time.'" http://tinyurl.com/4h9gtm I apologize for two articles in a row from the LA Times... An interesting article from CBS that discusses both sides of the sexism and Palin issue: http://tinyurl.com/6jqgxu
The Queen of Spain: That was a Dem (Mark Penn) defending her against the media? I don't understand. At all. A conservative columnist thinks she didn't need to know which version of the bush doctrine?*** These articles point out nothing to me.Here's a Dem PAC with a better wrap up for youhttp://tinyurl.com/6mve9fthey defend. Your point was that the Dems were not denouncing the sexism. Everything you've sent me proves otherwise. I am confused.
AJae: [Mark Penn wasn't exactly defending Palin-he was basically just admitting that the problem existed] I can definitely see where you are coming from, but I still think this election is turning into a mudslide of sexism and avoidance of issues. Your over generalization of Dems protecting Palin from sexism is misleading and uninformed. Honestly, I don't have the time or ability to go back and quote the appropriate sources, but there is no doubt that sexism in the Democratic party had a significant influence in the failure of Hilary Clinton candidacy. The sexism and Palin issue is admittedly [often] too much ado about nothing, but to say that Dem[ocrats] are coming together and defending Palin against such slander is a gross misrepresentation of fact.
The Queen of Spain: We're not protecting her, but we're calling it out too. Which is more than I can say for them when Hillary or Michelle O were attacked. She needs no protecting by Democrats, that's for sure. That's a different issue entirely. And I would say sexism in the world may have, but not by this Democrat, who voted for Obama. She lost me in South Carolina and with her 3am GOP playbook. Not her gender. http://tinyurl.com/658l5k Enjoy.
AJae: Let's not forget that Bill Clinton has been documented calling his wife a cunt and similar language on many occasions. Is he a misogynistic politician?
The Queen of Spain: Bill Clinton has been documented calling his wife a cunt? Missed that one, but heard about mcCain...Here's a good wrap up of just blogosphere stuff http://tinyurl.com/6nostj
AJae: Yes, Bill Clinton has been documented doing so, but that received little attention. I honestly don't know how Hillary can stand being married to him.
As things heated up, summerm joined the discussion:
summerm:I know 1 site to do a sexism watch on Palin, here's the most recent http://tinyurl.com/66be6m
AJae: Rape Kits and Palin: http://tinyurl.com/5zv98q Apparently, the rape kit decision was the police chief's, not Palin's. Mayor does not equal Supreme Ruler of Wasilla. Darn.
The Queen of Spain: I can help debunk your assertion (New Evidence: Palin Had Direct Role In Charging Rape Victims For Exams" http://tinyurl.com/4vu7z7 )
summerm: "Comella would not answer other questions, including when Palin learned of Wasilla’s policy or whether she tried to change it"
AJae: According to the bylaws of the City of Wasilla, there is no direct way that Palin could've changed the rape policy. See the PDF on http://tinyurl.com/4vu7z7 The mayor is not allowed to interfere with the actual law-making process. "[C]lear evidence suggesting Palin knew Wasilla was charging the victims of sexual assault has been hard to find" from http://tinyurl.com/4vu7z (although Huffington Post is admittedly not a reliable, fact-checked news source). And I have been reading through the source documents the article cites and have been hard pressed to find the evidence they claim is there. But, yes, it is her fault for picking a crappy police chief. Aren't you glad she's made major mistakes she's learned from?
summerm: If in a town that small she couldn't keep track of the the police chief she hired was doing, how does that make her qualified to b[e mayor/VP]? So she did as crappy a job vetting her police chief as McCain did vetting her? I live in a small town, everyone knows what the PC [...] Sorry, with her already "if you get raped and pregnant tough shit" attitude, don't see her caring much about rape victims.
AJae: I don't think her abortion stance is necessarily phrased in such harsh terms, but I'm actually researching the Roe v. Wade issue as we speak. As a child from a teenage mother who got pregnant via rape, I'm undoubtedly biased.
summerm: Of course she uses nicer terms, but basically the same thing. Choice is something only those with penises can have. I understand the bias, but [the] diff[erence] between [being] raped and choose to keep and [being] raped and tough shit you're gonna keep it anyway.
AJae: [It was far past all of our bedtimes at this point and the conversation was left at a stalemate] But what a rousing and informative night it's been...I have a lot to think about and some issues to reconsider.
America, get ready to face a new reckoning at the hands of Twitter!
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*MTF: Military Treatment Facility
**CLS: Combat Lifesaver Course
*** Note: It has widely been acknowledged that there is no specific or official "Bush Doctrine" in existence, and that the fault for this incident should rest squarely on the shoulders of Charles Gibson and ABC.
A few of our sources:
http://womencount.org/blog/blog_detail/2008-09-sexism-and-sarah-palin
Financial reports: http://www.cityofwasilla.com/index.aspx?page=136
Questionable, but still:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jacob-alperinsheriff/sarah-palin-instituted-ra_b_125833.html
Posted in
Obama FAILS,
Political Bullshit,
Same Old Same Old,
sell your soul for 50 Cents,
u.s. news
