On Sep 5, 2008, at 12:50 PM, Eric wrote:
> Of course not, but it's possible to point that out using and
> duplicating some of her same reactionary bullshit. And people are
> doing that, which is what Joseph is objecting to, rightly, if you
> ask me. People's cackling about her being a PTA mom, being
> inexperienced, and going back to work a few days after giving birth
> to a Down syndrome baby is sexism. People pointing out that she's a
> hick from some backwater, that she likes guns, and that she smells
> like fish are engaging in anti-rural parochialism (which makes a
> nice counterpart to Palin's and Giuliani's anti-cosmopolitan
> parochialism). People who think she's hypocritical for having a
> teenage daughter who is pregnant and who intimate that she's white
> trash are disparaging her because of her "class." These are the
> dominant criticisms of Palin, and they are happening on this list,
> though in a more coded form than elsewhere.
Call me an elitist - and I mean that, it's ok with me - but criticizing Palin for her lack of experience is hardly sexist. Not that the office of VP, or even president, is that admirable or glorious. And maybe, like Andy Kopkind thought of Jerry Brown, you think it'd be great to have someone who has no idea what she's doing in high office because it would "destroy America." But say that. If you don't think that, then the inexperience thing is pretty valid.
And I don't think it's terrible to point out that having a backwater hick who's hardly ever traveled abroad running a country of 300+ million people may not be such a good idea either.
It would be fine if her teen daughter were pregnant and she weren't a high-profile Christian moralist. But it seems pretty apt to point out that her morality has little to do with the actual circumstances of her life, and that it's toxic to try to impose it on others.
Guns I don't care much about. And criticizing her for being a working mother is crap. But an awful lot of Christian conservatives think mothers should stay at home. Since she's not doing that, maybe the yahoo base that's been energized by her candidacy could reconsider some of their core principles.