Sarah Palin: Sarah Palin's "Feminism" Is Irrelevant To Her Irresponsible Record
A lot of people including
the much-loved Gloria Steinem, are talking about whether or not Sarah Palin was the "feminist" choice for Vice President. "This isn't the first time a boss has picked an unqualified woman just because she agrees with him and opposes everything most other women want and need," Steinem argues in the
L.A. Times today. "Feminism has never been about getting a job for one woman. It's about making life more fair for women everywhere." While I happen to agree with Steinem, I think focusing on Palin's feminist cred or lack thereof is a canard, just like the focus on her knocked up daughter, Bristol. However, I will
say again: instead of focusing on her children or her potency as a symbol, let's take some of those ridiculous claims Palin is making about her motherhood-as-VP-qualification to task instead.
In her speech last night,
Palin said, "I signed up for the PTA because I wanted to make my kids' public education even better." Her focus on public education in Wasilla really paid off when she was mayor: during her tenure researchers at Johns Hopkins
deemed Wasilla High School "a dropout factory." Apparently 60% or fewer freshman who start off at Wasilla High go on to graduate.
But that's not the only contradiction Palin made last night. The
AP has a rundown of the outright lies Palin told last night. Here's my favorite: Palin said, "There is much to like and admire about our opponent. But listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform — not even in the state senate." The
AP notes that Obama "has worked with Republicans to pass legislation that expanded efforts to intercept illegal shipments of weapons of mass destruction and to help destroy conventional weapons stockpiles. The legislation became law last year…In Illinois, he was the leader on two big, contentious measures in Illinois: studying racial profiling by police and requiring recordings of interrogations in potential death penalty cases. He also successfully co-sponsored major ethics reform legislation."
Gloria Steinem says that even though Palin is the wrong woman with the wrong message, she herself is drunk on "hope-o-hol" and believes people will see through the smokescreen of feminism and the
already-tired "hockey mom" rhetoric.. And so far, Steinem is right. According to
random polling of 800 women on Sunday and Monday, "50 percent of women voters felt McCain picked Palin out of political expediency and not because he believes she has the experience to do the job," the
Daily Kos reports. Hope-o-hol for all!!!
