Politicians are a confusing breed. There are very few who do exactly what they say they will. Most break promises made during their campaigns.
My personal favorites are those who run on “family values” and are caught having strange extramarital affairs, like Governor Mark Sanford (R-SC), Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) or Governor Eliot Spitzer (D-NY).
But few politicians confuse me more than former vice presidential candidate, Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska. From her nomination on, she was a polarizing enigma. She is clearly hypocritical and more than a little foolish. She gave us little gems like, “I’m the mayor, I can do whatever I want until the courts tell me I can’t.” Palin would have made ‘Darth’ Cheney look like a kitten.
Conservatives treat her as the embodiment of their ideals. To the more moderate, independent and democratic voters, she is utterly ridiculous. Tina Fey’s dead-on impersonation will go down in comedic history.
So when she resigned from her post as Governor of Alaska on July 3, I cheered loudly. What could she possibly destroy now that she was no longer in a position of power?
The world made sense again.
Yeah, not so much. She still enjoys overwhelming support among Republicans. “In fact, her resignation seems to have even slightly boosted her among GOP constituents,” according to the YahooNews article “Sarah Palin: Out, but not down.” According to a July 7 USA Today poll, 71 percent of Republicans would vote for Palin if she ran for president in 2012.
Doesn’t this make you scratch your head and go “Huh?” How can someone with so thin a political resume gather such a following so quickly?
Of course, the same is true of President Barack Obama. If the 2008 election has proved anything, it’s that political resumes have little weight. Personality and bland sex appeal seem to influence voters more. Well, that and various catch phrases, like “You betcha!” and “Hope and change!”
The phrase “President Palin” sends chills down my spine. I can’t remember a time when a political figure has been so blatantly anti-woman.
“There’s a place in hell reserved for women who don’t support other women,” Palin once said. Ironic given that she doesn’t support comprehensive sex ed or women’s reproductive rights. She even used her own daughter’s pregnancy as a “teaching tool for others.”
But wait, the parenting gets worse. “Sarah Palin declared that she would not support an abortion for her own daughter even if she had been raped,” said a Sept. 1 Huffington Post article. Regardless of how you feel about abortion, denying someone the right to even consider their options is unethical and immoral. Yet she is the darling of the GOP, that prides itself on being pure and proper.
Many believe Palin may become a fundraising tool for the Republicans. In fact, the Iowa Republican Party is currently courting her for their annual fundraiser, according to a July 9 Omaha World-Herald article. If there is anything the Republicans are good at, it is rallying themselves to the polls. Even if she isn’t planning on running for Senate or president, this will make her a formidable force.
Despite the fact that Palin constantly makes herself out to being a victim of the media, she definitely knows how to use it. She recently appeared on a pro-gun radio show with Ted Nugent, and on that same day, she signed a gun rights bill.
Even conservative writer Cal Thomas mapped out a strategy for her in his July 8 column. “She should hit the books and learn as much as she can about the modern world, history and court cases. She should read newspapers so that when future interviewers hit her with questions, she can dazzle them like a Jeopardy champion,” he said. Clearly, knowing the question of who is in charge of “casting the tie breaking vote in the Senate” is going to help her govern if she actually feels like it.
Thomas also advised Palin to “deliver a daily radio commentary. Radio takes the focus away from outward appearance and places it on the substance of what is said.”
Apparently, Palin uses a lot of slang and needs a tone adjustment. But wait, there’s more sexist advice. At the same time we shouldn’t focus on her outward appearance, Palin “needs a hair, makeup and wardrobe makeover.”
Laugh all you want at Sarah Palin. She’s an easily ridiculed public figure. So was George W. Bush and look at the horror of what his eight years brought about. Our country is at war, in the middle of a financial crisis, and past educational policies have screwed over my generation.
If nothing else, former President Bush has proved that fools should not be underestimated in their capacity to fully and thoroughly abuse their power. This mistake cannot be repeated, especially not with Sarah Palin. Our country wouldn’t survive.
Rhiannon Root is a sophomore journalism major. Reach her at rhiannonroot@dailynebraska.com.
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I. Thou shalt have no God in America, except for me. For we are no longer a Christian nation and, after all, I am the chosen One. (And like God, I do not have a birth certificate.)
II. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, unless it is my face carved on Mt. Rushmore.
III. Thou shalt not utter my middle name in vain (or in public). Only I can say Barack Hussein Obama
IV. Remember tax day, April 15th, to keep it holy.
V. Honour thy father and thy mother until they are too old and sick to care for. They will cost our public-funded health-care system too much money.
VI. Thou shalt not kill, unless you have an unwanted, unborn baby. For it would be an abomination to punish your daughter with a baby.
VII. Thou shalt not commit adultery if you are conservative or a Republican. Liberals and Democrats are hereby forgiven for all of their infidelity and immorality, but the careers of conservatives will be forever destroyed.
VIII. Thou shalt not steal, until you've been elected to public office. Only then is it acceptable to take money from hard-working, successful citizens and give it to those who do not work, illegal immigrants, or those who do not have the motivation to better their own lives.
IX. Thou shalt not discriminate against thy neighbor unless they are conservative, Caucasian, or Christian.
X. Thou shalt not covet because it is simply unnecessary. I will place such a heavy tax burden on those that have achieved the American Dream that, by the end of my term as President, nobody will have any wealth or material goods left for you to covet.
As for the comment about Palin It could be also said and with truth about Hillary Clinton. But not with Palin. Is that the best you can do? How pathetic you are. And:"So I say. So you say."So you say what? I don't understand. I bet you don't.
Palin stands for traditional, conservative, family values, but somehow all this makes her an "anti-woman". The only conclusion that I come to is that Ms. Root has given Palin this label of "anti-woman" solely on the basis that Palin does not support the 20th/21st Century liberal feminist doctrine. So, somehow, not supporting liberal feminism makes a woman an "anti-woman". It makes me wonder how many women would actually agree with the logic Ms. Root's claims.
If we look at Sarah Palin, regardless of her actual political status, is the epitome of what women can accomplish in our modern society. Palin is a mother, a working mother for that matter, ran for political office and won in Montana and in Alaska. The interesting thing is that Palin is an example for women everywhere of what they themselves can do, even to be a Vice President nominee, only in the second one in American history. Palin has been a considerable amount in her life, and has had to deal with her teenage daughter being pregnant, something which most American families have to face now-a-days. Yet, you see her standing tall, supporting her daughter, and not shunning her. Palin is proud to be a woman. I think that there are many women out there who may even envy Palin because of all that she has accomplished in her life, and yet has to accomplish.
Let us consider a thought-experiment for a moment. What if Palin ran for President and won? Will the media say that her win is a victory for woman, for the feminist movement, that her election shows that America is moving forward, past the days whenever Presidents were only men? My gut reaction to this says, "No", because, as Ms. Root points out, the victory would be seen as some sort of travesty because, again, Palin does not taut the liberal feminist doctrine. Or, as Ms. Root states, "The phrase “President Palin” sends chills down my spine."
As for your guarantee that Rhiannon Root does "not spit on returning service(wo)men." I used the term "servicemen" as a universality like "mankind" it seems a shame that extremist can't understand such things. As for the silly adage: " we support the troops, not the war." How do you do such a thing? It sounds like "we support the police but not the law enforcement". Basically this is nothing but moral cowardice. Since the troops you support are in a war how can you support someone but not what they do?
By the way the spiting on soldiers reference was in regards to the Vietnam War. You remember that one don't you? Happened in the 1960s and all. I doubt if Rhiannon Root was even spiting up baby formula then
I believe that this example would be germane to the 'logic" of your "argument".
Lets say that my grandfather went to a bank seeking a loan. Because of my grandfathers national ancestry, or because my grandfather belonged to a minority, the banker denied my grandfather his loan request. Now I walk into the same bank seeking a loan. On that day there is another person seeking a loan and the bank has only funds for one applicant. Even though the other applicant is better qualified to receive a loan, (he has better collateral and is more likely to repay the loan) I demand the loan as means to redress the injustice of my grandfather's rejection. I state that in the name of "social justice" a new injustice must be preformed on the other applicant in order to correct a past injustice preformed on my grandfather by the bank.
I assume that you agree with me that racism or other forms of prejudice for or against members of a certain race or group of people are an act of injustice. Then why should an injustice preformed against any innocent party be considered an act of justice?
The only way that people can hope to obtain justice is through the free and ready avenue of personal advancement based on their individual talents and abilities; a chance to rise and succeed or stumble and fall based on their own individual merits. Affirmative action is a racist and or prejudicial system that lumps a group of people into a category on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, or religion. It denies people their individuality and categorizes them as commodities for political purposes. This is a avenue for stereotyping, a major component of racism and demeaning prejudicial behavior.
Affirmative action assumes the right to commit injustice against certain groups of people for the benefit of others who you attest have the ability succeed on their own merits. This is nothing but injustice and injustice even to one is injustice to all.
Hey Shasta N how many errors did I make? One freebee I misspelled Martin Luther King. Choke on it dingy.
Abortion is still baby killing and those who undergo abortions also suffer from emotional trauma.
What eight years of economic destruction? Its clear with Obama that 7 months of criminal idiocy can destroy fifty years of economic policy. And "Before you respond, let me remind you of a little thing called the separation of church and state." Whats that got to do with anything.
Your truely a laughable clown. A tribute to the sheeple who follow the left. I misspelled truely twice count it count it!!!!!!
I thought I'd see what Webster's and The OED have to say about these things
Myth is defined as "a person existing only in imagination or whose actualities is not verifiable as in a belief given uncritical acceptance by members of a group." It is also used to designate a story, belief, or notion commonly held to be true but utterly without factual basis." Much like the beliefs of Obama supporters.
"Myths are said to be expressions of objectification of collective wishes which are personified in the "leader" who is endowed by a given society with powers of social magic to fulfill collective wishes." A.L. Kroeber.
Related to such myths are legendary notions often fanciful or incredible attached to a particular person. Justin in his slavish devotion to Obama shows these tendencies clearly.
Racism is a doctrine or political program based on the assumption of racial tendencies. Related to it is Racialism and its emphasis on race or racial considerations as in determining policy or interpreting events, a policy or practice based on racial considerations. Justin and his hero Barack Obama are believers in Racialism and its racist tendencies.