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News & ArtsTuesday, February 9, 2010
Politics How Sarah Palin Is Helping Women
Posted by Cienna Madrid on Tue, Feb 9, 2010 at 9:25 AM
It is difficult, as a reasonably intelligent female, to see an unreasonably unintelligent female—Sarah Palin—skyrocketed to a national platform and be taken somewhat seriously. Especially when reading articles like this, via TPM:
Citing a column by Pat Buchanan that clearly argues against conflict with Iran, Sarah Palin on Sunday suggested that a war with Iran would be good policy and a boon for President Obama's 2012 reelection hopes.Buchanan's column, "Will Obama Play The War Card?" was a rebuttal of Daniel Pipes call last week for Obama to bomb Iran to save his presidency. "Will Obama cynically yield to temptation, play the war card and make 'conservatives swoon,' in Pipes' phrase, to save himself and his party?" Buchanan writes.
...But during an interview with Fox's Chris Wallace in which she cited the Buchanan column, Palin spoke approvingly of the "bomb Iran" idea.
But what's more difficult to articulate is how much I appreciate her megaphone stupidity. I'm not talking about the entertainment I get from watching her questionably charming, faintly attractive, batshit insane personality interact with smart people on live television. I think she might actually be doing a great thing for women in politics by playing the clown.
At her nominating hearing to secretary of state, Clinton advocated that American leadership needed a break from the Bush years—they needed smart power: “We must use what has been called 'smart power': the full range of tools at our disposal — diplomatic, economic, military, political, legal, and cultural — picking the right tool, or combination of tools, for each situation."
Clinton needs a full range of tools in order to do her job effectively, and Palin is one such tool. People like Palin confuse politics with celebrity. She quit her real job for a career of being interviewed on topics of which she has no working knowledge. She's a caricature who can't be taken seriously. And she's happy in the spotlight, and the people who adore her are happy—they have a figurehead and perhaps a renewed interest in following the news through a new pair of dead eyes and optimistic lipstick. And maybe she'll try to take over the world someday, but she'll need to figure out where Russia is first, so that buys us time. Meanwhile, women like Hilary Clinton are able to do their jobs without having to deal with the pantsuit comments, the she-goat insults, the magnified lense of sexism that pervaded the primaries under the guise of covering the candidates.
It's hard to root for a stupid woman on a public platform, but I find myself doing it daily when I see Palin's name in the news. And then I smile, because if labeling global warming studies "snake oil science" and crying out who will save my Down Syndrome baby from the death panels of nationalized health care?! positions her in a way to deflect sexist criticism from smart women like Clinton, then by god, someone please buy her a camo bikini, throw a dozen cameras in her face, and ask her take on affirmative action programs turning white Anglo-Saxon men into an endangered species.
I would love to hear her expert opinion.
because Obama/Clinton "smart" power has got the world lapping at our feet:
Europe falling over itself to send troops to Afghanistan;
Iran abandoning it's nuclear program;
N Korea stopping firing missles;
new comprehensive worldwide Global Warming laws;
the terrorists abandoning jihad;
oh, did we mention the Olympics coming to Chicago?
The World "Loves" Obama.
And ignores him.
He has accomplished internationally slightly less than he has at home. And that's a mean trick....
China is flexing it's muscles and going to start shoving Obama around soon.
Tyrants love to kick sand in the face of skinny weaklings.
Remember Russia's big Afghan FUCK YOU to Carter?
The case for 'smart power' would be more convincing if Obama had demonstrated just a teeny tiny bit of EITHER in the past year.....
And endlessly droning on about how smart they are and what good schools they went to, etc.
In the Real World resumes and degrees don't really get the job done.
Getting the Job Done gets the job done.
We would love the Liberals to stop telling us
how godam smart they are-
and start showing us....
7
Give it a rest, please.
America is a lot better off with intellectuals in the White House.
America's image is in the process of being refurbished around the globe. But guess what, that takes a while; it doesn't happen over night, or even in a year). And it doesn't mean that we get everything we want either. It's the opposite of Bush's cowboy diplomacy, which was a miserable failure.
No matter what mistakes Obama makes, he will always be 1000 times better than Bush.
From your tone I doubt very much that you have ever studied international policy. I doubt that you have ever even opened an issue of "The Economist" or "Foreign Affairs" and I doubt you have ever read the writings of George Marshall or Dean Rusk or even George Schultz.
Please, never get elected to anything and please never work in government. You would only hurt my country.
Sarah Palin is smart because she knows her audience.
Seattle is full of people who parade around blasting it in your face how smart they are.
But mostly they are imbeciles.
13
That is a good thing I suppose, since women such as Geraldine Ferrarro and Hilary Clinton had already broken the glass ceiling on the more liberal party's ticket. Three years ago if someone said that the GOP would have a woman vice presidential candidate most people would scoff.
That the said woman is devoid of experience and intellect, shows the horrible state of the conservative movement in America. Buckley and Goldwater wouldn't put up with this shit.
Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.
It is highly unlikely that the majority of those witnessing Palin's forehead slapping interactions with somewhat more intellectually gifted pundits have the slightest clue that she is talking nonsense.
if so why aren't you as popular as palin?
it's not rational to always cry for rationality in a world where obviously political power depends on connecting at a gut level. it's kind of irrational, in fact.
In the Real World resumes and degrees don't really get the job done.
Getting the Job Done gets the job done.
In Conservative land, quitting your job because you're bored with it = getting the "job" done.
We would love the Liberals to stop telling us
how godam smart they are
It is to laugh.
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Her only hope is to go the GWB route, and hire competent staffers and surround herself with evil intellectuals, and she's far too much of an egoist to do that.
If she runs as a third party, which she is just arrogant enough to do, she will hand Obama the election even if his Kenyan Birth Certificate is revealed, and Michelle Obama pulls off her mask revealing that Obama is actually married to Bill Ayers in drag.
blah blah blah . . . intellectuals . . . blah blah.
Blah blah . . . image . . . blah . . .process of being refurbished . . . blah blah. Blah blah blah . . . we don't get what we want either. Blah blah blah . . . a miserable failure.
Blah blah . . . mistakes Obama makes, . . . blah blah blah Bush.
26
The next R Presidential candidate will need her blessing. She can get far more done on her agenda if she never asks for our approval again.
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