“Sarah Palin will start giving interviews when we think it's time and when she feels comfortable doing it," said McCain campaign manager Rick Davis a few weeks ago. "Why would we want to throw Sarah Palin into a cycle of piranhas called the news media..? Until we feel like the news media is going to treat her with some level of respect and deference, I think it would be foolhardy to put her out into that kind of environment”.
The statement offered was incredulous then, but knowing what we know about Palin now, it's just ridiculous. We’ve heard her speak in two (yes, two) interviews, a questionable ‘debate’ and at various rallies, and nothing she has said as of yet warrants any level of ‘respect and deference’. Stupidity aside, inciting hatred and division with inherent bigotry overspilling into every speech she makes, she is revealing herself to be nothing more than a demagogue with lipstick. Both McCain and Palin, in their quest for a divisive nation have shown dishonesty and moral bankruptcy with an immature and increasingly ugly campaign based on false and shameful attacks.
The religiously righteous judge by the principles of the Bible, yet they don’t hold McCain and Palin accountable when they fail to adhere to its most important values - honesty and integrity. As Palin lied to the GOP convention crowd, they dutifully punctuated every slur by cheering enthusiastically as if at a rally for the stupid. A slanderous speech, monopolized by lies about Obama’s record and policies apparently also warranted glowing reviews, and the mainstream media complied. It was a sad day for a nation trying to reclaim its standing in the world, when a shrill, sarcastic, religious fundamentalist “hockey-mom”, delivering a baseless telepromted speech littered with untruths, was applauded as a credible vice-presidential candidate to an elderly presidential candidate. The GOP crowd happily turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to lack of morality whenever it suits them - a convenient skill for any hypocrite.
And hypocrites don’t come bigger than Palin. So, just to get the record straight, she can judge others according to her extreme fundamentalist beliefs, but we cannot judge her because this would mean we were being sexist. Announcing her teenage daughter’s pregnancy, she stated “We’re proud of Bristol’s decision to have her baby”. Making ‘a decision’ infers that her daughter was given a choice, but by overturning Roe V Wade she would deny other women that same choice. She can throw lies and slurs at Obama and everyone should laugh, but should there be any retaliation, then it’s clearly offensive and sexist. She can laugh inhumanely at the abuse of a cancer survivor on radio, whilst claiming herself a ‘disability advocate’ and we should trust the legitimacy because she has a child with Downs-Syndrome; however should anyone probe her stance on disability issues then we are being offensive, even though she opposes stem cell research and backs policies which would ensure that other disabled children don’t have adequate healthcare.
She can ask female voters to help further the cause of women (ie her) by electing McCain, even though as a woman against women’s rights, she won’t help them. She can belittle community service, because how ridiculous of Obama to take a lowly paid job helping out those in need after completing his Columbia/Harvard education when he could have been making a meaningful contribution to society by entering beauty contests after completing a four year degree in six years at five different colleges where the tutors don’t even remember you. She can mock the foreign policy stance of the Democratic ticket, but should hers be questioned, then we are being sexist. Armed with revision notes and rehearsed statements, don’t we know she is in a better position to deal with the Russian/Georgian conflict because she can ‘see Russia from Alaska’ and Middle-East foreign policy is dictated by The Bible, and yes, innocent civilians may have died in Iraq, but that’s because ‘God has a plan for the world’ and she is on a Mission from God.
Although innocent, I found Obama’s lipstick comment both amusing and apt. People made the connection because it was there. A person with pig-like qualities is ‘coarse, greedy and obnoxious’ - her rally speeches illustrate that these qualities are rife in Palin. In her desperation to be president (yes, president...), she is appealing to the lowest common denominator. The Republicans may cry “sexist” at any comment that is thrown her way, whether it’s a legitimate attack or a compliment, but how credible is that claim when they play “Barracuda” during her public appearances, thereby objectifying her with her own approval. A barracuda by definition is ‘a treacherous and greedy person’. The irony however is lost on her devoted, but dim followers.
During her rally speeches she shrieks incitingly to the crowd, “Who is the real Barack Obama?” I’m hoping at some point someone will have the audacity to reply, “He’s been on the campaign trail for two years, we have a pretty good idea of who he is now – you’ve been around for five weeks... who the hell are you?”
