^{(C)2010 The Village Voice}

Some of you may know that the popular blog, Lipstick & Dipstick, by Gina Daggett and Kathy Belge is about cultural and personal issues as they pertain to gays and lesbians. I guess that means I owe an apology to those ladies for borrowing their title. I’m not alone in this. The Village Voice did the same in referring to my subjects, which is where I got the idea. Credit where credit is due, etc.

Of all the labels people have attempted to stick on Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck, Lipstick and Dipstick seem the most appropriate. Sarah is all about an image and a well-rehearsed string of sound bites. She likens her own persona to a bulldog in lipstick. I agree about the cosmetics, but her animal spirit is really the kangaroo; a kangaroo trained to box, hopping from one ring to the next, sparring to amuse the crowd. What bothers me most about Lipstick’s performances is that she entertains the entire political spectrum.

Republicans and Tea Partiers love her rants against big government, taxes and people who don’t cling to guns and religion. Democrats, the media and everybody with a college education love her because she embodies empty-headed demagoguery; a walking, talking exemplar of shallow, ignorant populism. Together, the audience for her antics is huge and unfortunately likely to get her elected to something.

Dipstick, Glenn Beck, is Sarah’s perfect partner in politics. He compliments her pugnacious butch attitude with a soft, almost feminine emotional nature. If Sarah’s the lipstick-enhanced boxing kangaroo, Glenn’s the big mama manatee in a tutu. Dipstick’s audience includes Sarah’s and extends it to encompass more of the religiously oriented crowd. His recent ‘sermon on the steps’ was meant to position God solidly behind the Tea Party. Now, instead of godless communists for punching bags, we’ve got godless liberals and pundits. Never mind the thousands of religious leaders in the political center and on the left.

Together, Lipstick and Dipstick have struck a resonant chord with the segments of white middle and working class people who are fearful. They see a bad economy, unemployment, a rising tide of non-white people, Muslim terrorists, China on the move, a crass commercial culture, an African American in the White House and it adds up to loss of power and respect for them. In the back of their minds, they fear that death panels are real and that in the worst case, powerless white people will be harvested as food for pets and livestock.

All of this wouldn’t be so tragic if the outcome were a transfer of political power to grass roots populists truly interested in right-size government, fewer wars, and individual freedom. The fact is, Lipstick and Dipstick are nothing more than tools of the rich. The real outcome of Tea Party victories will be an even greater transfer of wealth to the top one percent and fewer opportunities for the “little people.” Meanwhile, enjoy the show.