To the surprise of absolutely no one, I don't like Sarah Palin. But then again, as a
Jezebel article says, I don't like most people who are diabolically anti-choice, hunt wolves by chasing them down in planes and then shooting them when they get tired, supports tearing up the environment, banning books, and privatized healthcare. So, you know. Shocker.
However. Let's talk about this "community organizer" bullshit.
Sarah Palin and the McCain campaign have thrown this "insult" out a whopping 4 times in the past two days, as a way (in my opinion) of snidely insinuating Obama's lack of experience and belittling his work in the South Side of Chicago. The New York Times features a
parsing of the phrase where liberal Ezra Klien feels the Republicans are being vaguely racist. I don't know that I even want to touch that notion with a ten foot pole, because MY GOD PEOPLE.
My issue, is this: For a party that is all about small government and in favor of individuals supporting each other instead of governmental bureaucrats, this "community organizer" insult is especially hypocritical and retarded. Because if you're not going to have government agencies do it, you know what you need to pick up the slack? COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS. You know what else? Given McCain's call to service in his acceptance speech the other night, YOUR "INSULT" IS PARTICULARLY STUPID.
And also:
(with thanks to the Redhead)
So once again, Sarah Palin and the McCain campaign, I'm asking you to shut your freaking pie holes already, unless you plan on making some damn sense.
And while we're on the subject of Sarah Palin,
The Daily Show has been hitting home run after home run:
I don't want to harp and linger on this Bristol Palin flapadoodle, because I do think that poor girl deserves her privacy as she tries to come to grips with the changes her life is facing. But I think that final clip very aptly points out that Brisol and her now husband-to-be had a
choice in what they did. (Just as they
chose to have sex without using birth control.) It's the same
choice her mother had when she found out that she would be having a mentally disabled child. A
choice that they don't want others to have, it appears, but it's fine for them right now. Nobody likes abortion. But having the ability and personal freedom (and thus, responsibility) to choose is vital.
This is an argument I've gotten into with Krista at least once, and other conservatives many times. There's no easy answer on abortion, because it's essentially linked to your belief on where life begins. However, it's not like abortion is ever going to go away, even if Roe vs. Wade is overturned. It's just going to become dangerous and occur in risky and unsanitary conditions. Therefore, abortion needs to be made safe, available, and -- key word here --
rare. Which requires better sexual education programs, more free clinics, and better health care options -- all things Republicans are statistically against and do you see what I'm getting at here?
So yes. Sarah Palin insights a white-hot rage in me, is my point. I think she gives feminists a false light and bad name. I think she's nothing but subordinate, but knows how to "play the game," making it look like she's in control. If that makes any sense, at all. It's also, as
Gloria Steinem says, about not about having a woman as a VP candidate. "Feminism has never been about getting a job for one woman. It's about making life more fair for women everywhere." Which...as I've illustrated above I don't think Palin does. I think Palin is insulting, smug, and most importantly unqualified.
Christ, this was supposed to be just a couple quick notes on the whole "community organizer" bull shit, and it's turned into a missive. To be continued, possibly.
Labels: Liberal Soapboxin', Rants
