Spare Sarah Palin the self-righteousness

This article loses me when sexism gets brought in. Maybe I'm not hearing the right commentators, but I never see her gender coming up in connection to her viability or ambition. The only critiques, of which there are many, I recall seeing tend to stem from the awful things she says, her vendor-machine-like string of slogans and platitudes, and her half-baked ideas.

For example, her recent interview with Barbara Walters, where she illustrated her utter illiteracy on the Isreal/Palastine settlements situation.

Her frequent complaining of mistreatment also aggravate me. Every candidate gets their chance to go through the wringer(some somewhat more than others), but it only stings when a candidate says stupid things. Sarah Palin said stupid things.

While I'm glad there was an attempt to defend her - Everyone deserves such - I simply do not see where the solid content lies with this particular article.

I like that she doesn't allow people to push her down. She and Hilliary stand up strong and they don't cry about how they are treated. They push back. Women are not treated equal in many areas of life.....
....ever seen that film Gracie about the girl that tries out to play on the boy's soccer team? When she tires out the boys are vicious towards her. The mentality is if she cannot handle this treatment then she shouldn't be in the game.

Uh...no. They were not treating her like another boy. They were being far more vicious towards her and then claiming that it was like they were treating her as everyone else. Well that's what they do in politics. They try to take down women in a way that they do not do towards men...this goes for the media and other politicians.

It's not ok.

Dislike her for what she says, fine because not all will agree---but don't act like she's nothing because she's a woman. Ick.

We all know except you Palin was put on the ticket as a desperation tactic to try and draw Hilary supporters but when she couldn't be shielded any longer and had to answer questions she proved to be just that a desperate move by the GOP.

What is interesting is 70% of conservatives thought she was the best candidate for president, with 3 other people on the poll. I just saw this on the news today. While the left is trying to shred her, I had just talked to my mom, who lives south from NYC, in a RED state, and everyone LOVES HER there. And if you discount those Americans, then that might be a mistake.

But keep doing that.

Nice piece.

But one thing I do take Palin's side on is what I felt was her shabby treatment by the McCain campaign, particularly in how they encouraged her to make controversial statements about Obama on the campaign trail and then hung her out to dry in the ensuing media frenzy over it.

There is plenty to like about Sarah Palin: she's independent, outspoken, strong-willed, and has the best legs of any presidential candidate ever. She raises her children in an extended family setting (It takes a village to raise a child), keeps physically fit, has a strong marriage, and has the courage to risk censure for her political views. As a person, she has shown both compassion and political acumen.

I disagree strongly with her foreign and domestic policy views, because she does not support her platitudinous remarks with hard, reliable evidence. She has shown herself to be willing to play upon people's fear to gain political advantage ("Death panels"), and her speaking style suggests she thinks many in her audience are uneducated or naive. Therefore, I can never vote for her, although I wish her well on a personal level.

Oh wow, I loved this article! Thanks for bringing it my way.

"On issues, it’s full of conservative platitudes and seemingly Googled philosophical wisdom. It’s mostly a work of self-mythologizing — Annie Oakley gets her political gun — mixed with bitter political dish. "

Awesome! But I did also find the sexism to be saddening. Hilary's been through a lot too, just because of the vajayjay...