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Dare to criticize Sarah Palin and you’ll find yourself back in high school, with all the petty taunts.
“You’re just jealous!” is the refrain filling my e-mail and voice mail in-boxes, and no doubt other female skeptics face a similar barrage. As if the presidency is about who has the hottest wardrobe, the best-coiffed hair and the attention of the hunky quarterback.
For men who question Palin’s credentials, it’s different. They’re just sexists.
Sorry, but neither jealousy nor sexism has anything to do with the well-founded doubts about the Republican Party’s choice for vice president. Anybody who cares about the future of this country had better take a long, hard look at her qualifications.
A lot of us anticipate what’s around the bend for Palin, our own Eliza Doolittle awaiting her grand remaking. Many of us have already observed this diversity game in the workplace.
Here’s how it’s played. Say a person is picked to fill a job she has not been groomed for, a position outside of her usual domain of expertise. Next, the new pick is heralded as perfect for the job, but in fact everyone knows the real reason the resume was lifted to the top of the stack is a qualification conferred upon birth.
Sometimes it’s race; in Palin’s case it’s gender.
There is nothing wrong with combing the ranks more thoroughly to bring a greater diversity of gender, age and experience to the workplace. My career has benefited from such thinking.
But the goal should be differently qualified — not unqualified.
Palin’s pithy quips play fine from the podium as a form of campaign entertainment; she is fresh counter to the stiff demeanor of McCain.
But the presidential race is not “American Idol” or a cheerleader tryout. Given John McCain’s age, and the horrific stress he endured as a POW, it is not out of line to envision Palin stepping into the presidency.
While the McCain-Palin campaign has the media parsing the meaning of “lipstick on a pig,” Russia is reasserting its imperial ambitions. Our military efforts in Afghanistan are flailing. The global financial system is buckling. The rest of the world continues to swirl with genocide, terrorism and natural disasters.
So Palin is a proud mom of a soldier. That’s laudable. But if she ends up commander-in-chief, how would she handle the delicate issue of our Special Forces pursuing the Taliban and al-Qaida across the Afghan border into Pakistan?
For that matter, does she understand the power struggle going on in Pakistan’s army and intelligence service between Taliban supporters and supposed friends of the U.S. — and how it plays when we kill Pakistani civilians?
Supporters like to point out that Palin governed a state “surrounded by two countries.” Has she ever been to Russia, or done much in Canada but hunt? How deeply does she understand the nuances of U.S. export/import markets?
The United States is in the midst of the largest real estate crisis since the Great Depression, but does Palin possess even a rudimentary understanding of how the U.S. mortgage market works? Apparently not.
She told a Colorado audience that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had “gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers.” But Fannie and Freddie, as McClatchy reported, “aren’t taxpayer funded but operate as private companies.”
Yes, taxpayers may take a hit as a result of the government takeover. But the problem with Fannie and Freddie and subprime mortgages has been regulatory failure.
I don’t envy Sarah Palin — I pity her.
The most humiliating experience a working person can have is to be plucked from the herd and placed into a job she is not able to fulfill.
The rest of us face the prospect of having to pick up the pieces when Palin inevitably fails. And we can’t afford four more years of that.
They have been much talk about pigs in lipstick and the more I hear about it the more upset I become. Surely Americans are not so easily taken in. I know that we want to be sure that we understand the people we are voting for but what exactly does it say when people on hearing these false allegations and misrepresentations of the truth, would come out publicly and put a stop to it. I would have had greater respect for Palin had she come out and say, he never meant me, he was referring to…, I thought so.
The Pig in Lipstick
The people for eight years got the same
Hogwash and mud baths and a senseless war game
Electorate trusted them year after year
Putting faith in a Government that professed to care
Instead they got a big disappointment
Got bamboozle by a misguided Government
It all became obvious, “no way, no how”, not again
Now many were crying out “not McCain”
Lots of his policies were facsimiles, and when
Investigated, his voting records were with Bush 9 in 10
Politics is a devious game when played the old way
Some promises, and dressing up, while they lead us astray
They put on façades then vow it’s all new
It would never be like the old ways we knew
Covering up the pig with sparking lipsticks
Keeps us curious but with scrutiny, it’s the same politricks
The full article
This campaign season is historical not only in its candidates but in its ability to inspire and mobilize younger generations to involve themselves in politics. But it is no different than any other in its multitude of potential distractions.
The international and domestic policies that have plagued our country throughout the Bush Administration have left the American people dissatisfied with the way government works. Our growing dependence on foreign oil, our unwanted presence in Iraq, our growing national deficit, our floundering economy – these are just some of the major issues that the next president will tackle. Not to mention the rising cost of tuition, the millions of Americans without access to healthcare, and the increasing number of families that can no longer afford to keep their homes. These are very real issues.
Unfortunately, the dishonest tactics displayed by the McCain campaign work to draw our attention away from the real issues of this election and direct it towards obscure half-truths. The McCain campaign claims that Obama wants to teach sex education to kindergarten students. (Such an outrageous accusation doesn’t actually deserve a rebuttal, but for those who are interested, the New York Times kindly explains where the confusion lies. READ MORE) Their continued mockery of Obama’s experience, the tenacity with which they latched onto Obama’s “lipstick” comment, and their blatant distortion of their own political records (and by “they” I mean Senator McCain and Governor Palin), serve as evidence to one thing: the Republicans having nothing to run on. So when a politician has nothing to run on, they create distractions.
I hope Sen Obama wins as he is the better candidate. But his unfortunate selection of the pig further increases the suspicion that he is Muslim as they use the word in a derogatory sense.
Secondly to compare an indisputably attractive woman to a pig shows poor judgement.
May I wish you luck.Watch out for your own safety.
From Barack's mouth on Letterman the other night.
I think this has some carrying power.
Rich
There are few things I've wanted to hear from Obama. With regards to terrorism, I've wanted him to quote FDR's "We have nothing to fear but fear itself." Which any responsible president should have done after 9/11. Unfortunately, Bush's agenda required revving up our fear, not calming it. McCain seems to have taken on this approach however, when he said in his acceptance speech, "I'm not afraid, I'm prepared." That was the right approach, but that doesn't stop the Republicans from using the time-tested mantra of telling voters to be afraid.
Now what I want to hear most is a firm answer to Republican campaign tactics.
Harkening back to the McCarthy hearings of the 1950s, it would go something like this: "Have you no shame, Sen McCain? We have serious issues coming to a head in this country at this time, and your campaign wants to divert Americans with a debate over whether I called your running mate a pig?? Are you not, then, a serious candidate?"
If we cannot shame the Republicans into ending their cycle of inventing a reality they can run on or run against, then we can expect from a McCain administration further fake crises and diversionary news events on a par with the past 8 years of unreality in government, ranging from going to war to destroy phantom weapons of mass destruction to demands for offshore drilling in order to affect gasoline prices in 10 years.
My friend, Jake, responded to the San Francisco Chronicle article "Swift boating 2008" by Debra J. Saunders. This article appeared on page B - 7 of the San Francisco Chronicle on September 11, 2008 and is available on the SFGate Website.
Jake's response is quite lovely! His post is available through the SFGate blog and below...
"There's one key element Saunders has accidentally missed/blatantly ignored; the rumors of Mrs. Palin's indiscretions are simply public exaggerations the press has picked up on, whereas the sideswipes at Mr. Obama come directly from within the McCain campaign itself. It's the difference between hearing some dishy water cooler talk at work and, say, holding a nationally televised press conference meant to skewer your opponent like a roast pig (with lipstick). Rumors will abound, but at least the Obama campaign is above spreading them. (Doesn't look as though they need to help!)"
In essence, John McCain, you can stick feathers up your butt, but that doesn't make you any more of a chicken than you already are.
"John McCain says he's about change too, and so I guess his whole angle is, 'Watch out George Bush -- except for economic policy, health care policy, tax policy, education policy, foreign policy and Karl Rove-style politics -- we're really going to shake things up in Washington. That's not change. That's just calling something the same thing something different. You know you can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig. You know you can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called change, it's still going to stink after eight years. We've had enough of the same old thing."
Mccain and Palin have spun the facts in this election out of control.
I bring this up because we need to stick to the issues and not get carried away with trivial things like cosmetically challenged pigs.
The most important issue in America today is the economy. Both Mccain and Obama say that they will cut your taxes and that the other wants to raise your taxes. This is true but it all depends on who you are. If you make enough money to be in the top 19% of incomes in America then yes, Mccain will cut your taxes. But, if your not one of the privileged few then your taxes will go up.
This is the almost the exact opposite of Obama's plan in which the lower 81% of America gets the tax cut and the top 19% get a tax raise. We need to get this message out because this could turn the election on its head and give us a landslide victory.
The McCain camp is up in arms over future President Obama's "Lipstick on the pig..." comment. John McCain used that exact same retort less than one year ago in reference to Hillary Clinton's healthcare plan. Sexism?? Why, of course not.
Although hipocracy seems to be the norm in politics, perhaps Senator McCain simply "forgot" he said it. Afterall, as the saying goes... memory is the first to go.
I have no doubt that McCain is a Patriotic American. I have no doubt he loves his country. Here is the but: He has lived in two extremes the majority of his life --- the lap of silverspoon land and 5 plus years of horror. He has no concept of what middle America is.
In a country where 40 million are uninsured, where millions face the prospect of foreclosure, where unemployment is surging, in a world where America, the beacon of liberty for a hundred nations, is held in contempt, where young families are torn apart by a war of our own choosing - with all this and serial hurricanes just for fun - the lead story on NBC news tonight was about "lipstick on a pig."
I love politics. What I tell people is, it's the greatest form of entertainment ever devised. The stakes are high. It's drama and comedy, tragedy and farce, satire and documentary all in one. It brings out the best, and the worst, in the players and the spectators. Almost nothing surprises me, almost nothing offends me.
But now that I've seen the political equivalent of Mike Tyson biting off Evander Holyfield's ear, I'm moved almost to physical illness.
I won't repeat the facts. You already know them, at least you do if you watched more than 30 seconds of the evening news. But I had to get this off my chest.
George Bush and Dick Cheney are thugs. They've earned the condemnation of history, and if there were any justice left in the world, they'd be brought up on charges in the courts of this country or the world.
As much as I want Barack Obama to be elected, I had a hard time working up the same level of disgust for John McCain as I have for Bush and Cheney. Not anymore.
I'm going to go knock on doors this weekend. And you should, too.
Don't let McCain, or Palin, get under your skin. Stay positive all the time, but strike hard.
Don't let the digust of same-old GOP tactics steal your toungue. Expose them, and communicate it with all levels of society.
"You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig. " So said Barack Obama yesterday when talking about John McCain's economic policies. Quoting from an article in today's New York Times, "Obama Responds to 'Phony Outrage'"
Mr. Obama said [at a campaign event today,] “I’m assuming you guys heard this watching the news. I’m talking about John McCain’s economic policies and I said here’s more of the same, ‘You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig. Suddenly, they say, Oh you must be talking about the governor of Alaska!’”
Alaska governor Sarah Palin, the Republican Vice-Presidential nominee, said at last week's Republican Convention that the difference between a pit bull and a hockey mom, as she describes herself, is lipstick.
Has "lipstick" now been appropriated by her as a campaign symbol? So that any reference to "lipstick" is a reference to her? How idiotic!
The McCain campaign must really be feeling the heat. Because if they had any actual issues to run on, they wouldn't have to resort to the mud slinging of made-up controversies.
Senator Obama rightly called out John McCain on his claim to be an agent of change. But because McCain can't explain how he doesn't represent four more years of the Bush/Cheney White House, his campaign instead invented an imaginary insult to Governor Palin. Read what Barack Obama actually said and you'll see that no one could have misunderstood this as a personal attack on Palin. This is just another shameless example of swiftboating Republican politics.
John McCain said something very similar about Senator Hillary Clinton last year (indeed, his quote is a lot more ambiguous than Senator Obama's). Does this mean that he was really calling her a pig, and we all just missed it?
But when asked about Mrs. Clinton his speech, he [McCain] said her proposal was “eerily” similar to the
plan she came up with in 1993, when she headed a health care reorganization effort during her husband’s
administration. “I think they put some lipstick on a pig,” he said, “but it’s still a pig.” [1]
Welcome to the Forked-Tongue Express, ladies and gentlemen. Please be aware that the first six rows are the "splash zone." I hope you brought your mud-parkas.
[1] Santora M. McCain Health CarePlan Puts Focus on Spending. The New York Times. October 12, 2007. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/12/us/politics/12health.html?_r=1&ref=politics&oref=slogin
