well said.

bang

You should be mad. No one likes to be pandered to. I'm in the same boat with you. I am looking forward to the debates.

Nicely argued, Mary, and you win two awards, in addition to a rating:

1. Best use of "vagina" and "penis" in a non-sexual OS post; and
2. Best metaphorical disinterring of Tiny Tim... ever, I think!

Go read my latest Mary. You were more succinct, I think.

Amen!

Ah, it feels good to be understood.

Cam, as usual you've flattered me and given me my new word for the day. Hate to say it, but "disinter" threw me for a loop. I looked it up and was terribly impressed with myself!

Liz, loved your post and made a comment on it (and a bump up).

Mary, you rock. You are right on target here.

As a woman and a mother, I'm ticked off too. You are absolutely right - it reeks of gimmickyness. And I'm insulted that politicians would think I would blindly pick a woman like a lemming just because she's a woman.

I can think (and vote) for myself, thankyouverymuch.

Exactly.

I second everyone's accolades. Hope RC doesn't come over here.

Great Rant, Mary -- you go girl! We need to stay mad, this choice is insulting...

In the same argument, why do you insist that we vote for the Dems cause if we don't the Republicans will mess with our vaginas?
So, this has been the argument: If you vote for Hillary you are voting with your vagina. Now if you vote for Obama, you vote to protect your vagina from the right wing.
Whatever you all do, everyone wants to manipulate our genitals.
Keep underestimating her and talking this crap and you guys are exposing all the contradictions.
The horrid Randi Rhodes: called her a breeder with a uterus.
McCain messed with your brains and you all took the bait.

Mary, what Cam and everybody else said. I will just add that no matter Cam's praise of you, I'm here to call McCain a dickwad. I haven't decided what to call his Veepie yet, but if she thinks she's in the same league with Hillary, she's even dumber than she already sounds. Jeez.

Btw, PF, invite Madame to take care of RC. Problem solved. :)

If RC comes over here, he's welcome but there's a bitch in the house! I'm practicing my bitchidom which was well encouraged and taught to me by Stella (I've now seen Bridezilla 10 x's) and Madame Bitch herself.

Speaking of Stella,

You said, "In the same argument, why do you insist that we vote for the Dems cause if we don't the Republicans will mess with our vaginas?
So, this has been the argument: If you vote for Hillary you are voting with your vagina. Now if you vote for Obama, you vote to protect your vagina from the right wing.
Whatever you all do, everyone wants to manipulate our genitals.
Keep underestimating her and talking this crap and you guys are exposing all the contradictions.
The horrid Randi Rhodes: called her a breeder with a uterus.
McCain messed with your brains and you all took the bait."

Hold your horses! Stop the press. You assume I'm a Democrat...now granted I registered Democrat so I could caucus for Obama. But I'm not running around insisting anyone vote for the Dems silly.

As for anything messing with my vagina...sorry...that doesn't work with me anymore. Reproductive rights are no longer (really never were) my issue, so anything that is related to vaginas, I keep that for the good sexy stuff and keep the politics separate ( unlike John Edwards, Spitz, Clinton, etc. ad nauseum).

Randi Rhoades is truly horrid. I can't stand listening to her. I find it absolutely disgusting for a woman to be that demeaning to another woman. I suppose I was somewhat by implying she may not have a brain so perhaps I'm guilty of the same thing.

My indictment is more towards John McCain than anyone else.

Amen amen amen.

It amazes me, a woman's experience always is looked at with more scrutiny than a man's. Dismissing her to a mere vagina is flawed, wrongheaded , hateful and against all women.

I know what community organizers do. A small town mayor and a member of a commission has more experience in a spectrum than a community organizer or an attorney who flubbed the affordable housing projects he worked on. Or a part time state legislator. Or a two year Senator who spent all the time running for President.
She hired people, she had budgets, etc. So, lets not play that game cause our glass house is more fragile, the experience weak link is in the top position.

Uh oh, just looked in the mirror and came face to face with a white middle aged woman and mother.... a post induced self revelation!

Spot on post, ranting and all.

here's one from a right wing, misogynist, racist, neocon, antisemite, globwarm-denier, clinton-hater, Iraq-war-lover, union-buster, rich white male:

Agreed. This is vile, nauseating, and would be laughable in its transparency weren't it for the sad possibility that it may actually work.

While you may believe Obama is the best thing since sliced bread and that will motivate your vote, the overwhelming majority of blacks will vote for Obama simply because he is black. This kind of black racism is practically celebrated. Female sexism (women favoring women) is less prevalent but it is also promoted as a positive thing in society and therefore its effect on choices made is likely to be a factor in the election process.

You can bet your life that the big boys sent big bucks on measuring the size of this effect and have deemed it large enough to worth taking risks.

Which risks involve the security of the nation would a President Palin would ever come to existence. Of course IMHO the Dem party takes a similar risk with its actual presidential candidate who, you must agree, is not any more experienced than Miss Palin.

Screw them all.

And white men will vote for white men.

I was not the first person to bring up the biological fact that Palin is a woman, SHE DID.

She talked about the women who had gone before her, and that it was time to break the GLASS CEILING.

Call me stupid, but I assumed she was talking about women.

Bring out the vegans.

Vegans, Mary? Fine people. But I wouldn't want to cook for them.

What made me so angry was that Palin dared to invoke Hillary Clinton when she stands FOR everthing Hillary stands AGAINST. Can no one see the irony here and call her on it? (e.g. the media??)

Pisses me right off to, Mary

Cam, have you lived in Boulder? You really can't cook for a vegan because if they don't know you, they won't know what "intentions" you had while cooking.

I was having a big dinner party for my women friends. Was going to make a roast. My friend brought a friend who couldn't see the roast, touch the roast, be in the presence of the roast. I didn't make a roast. My friend brought the vegan dinner. Fine with me. Made dinner a lot simpler. Didn't like the dinner. I was hungry within the hour.

Vegan gave vegan speeches all night. I had saliva dripping from my bored yawning mouth. Good thing that was my wine drinking days.

Last thing I heard, the vegan ran away from her husband, took off with a guy from Texas and has been eating steak ever since. True story.

The vegan story is actually better, and more interesting, and funnier than the Sara Palin story. I don't care if she was a Beauty Queen. I don't care how small was the town she played mayor in, nor how long she's been governor of Alaska. She is a poor choice because her politics are divisive, repressive, and degrading to both humanity and Mother Earth. She and McCain deserve each other. They should be vilified for nothing so much as the policies they wish to pursue.

Yes, the vegan story is funnier.

To add further hilarity to this story, James Dobson has now announced he will vote for McCain because of the Palin Pick.

ROFL

Mary, how many intelligent women, regardless of party, gender issues or feminist ideological grounding, will be so pissed by this that they won't vote?

In other words, is the Palin choice a Republican vote suppression tactic?

I definitely agree with the article mary, although the lack of experience is what Republicans use against Obama, but there is one thing I've been wondering. What are you on about p_f? I couldn't help but catch on to the RC bashing on several blog posts... do you not want him to come over to this blog because he might disagree with you and potentially win in this verbal war? Or are you assuming that when someone disagrees with your point of view they are the "other" and are on some opposite side of a camp? He can't disagree, that makes him a Republican!
"Btw, PF, invite Madame to take care of RC"
Sally, how about providing something about the debate... Now I'm being the bitch because I get the strange feeling this is turning into petty cliques where no one can express an opinion because they are either with us, or with the enemy as Bush articulately put it. Let's have a debate not gossip.

Mary's right. This was a deeply cynical, deeply offensive gambit that implies women DO vote with their vaginas rather than their brains. And if the comments sections on the major dailies' sites are any indication, enough women saw right through the ploy and are really, really offended.

One thing that does surprise me, though, is how much diabolic credit is being given to McCain. As I've said elsewhere, this choice is, at least to me, clearly "maverick" to the point of being renegade. I truly think McCain panicked after watching how artful the DNC was (and I'm backed up in this assumption by a story in the L.A. Times) and pulled what he thought was an ace out of his sleeve.

It was a poker move, and he's just hoping Obama doesn't call his bluff. Because Palin may be many things, but an ace in the hole she is not.

How did this post become a 'piss on the tramp' match between me and p_f and her gang? Seeing as how I hadn't yet commented here, and in any case would understand female resentment at being lumped together so condescendingly. Thanks for the defence, L.

Strange what group think can do to the supposedly reasonable...clique indeed.

Anyway, sorry p_f, I DID saunter on over. Scary? Hardly. And what's this about Madame Bitch howling me out of town? Am I to be frightened by her 'bitchiness'? She's usually quite courteous and methodical in her disagreements with me, and I likewise with her. So, beh?

Queen Elizabeth I once said she was 'more afraid of making a fault in my Latin than of the Kings of Spain, France, Scotland, the whole House of Guise, and all of their confederates'...in the same vein I'm rather less impressed by your scratching at the doors of anger than I would be if you wielded an impeccable intellect.

Texas steaks have been the undoing of more than one vegan.

You are not the targeted demographic. You wouldn't have voted for McCain as president if he had chosen Mother Theresa or Gandhi as his running mate. Palin is aimed at the undecided 17 percent. They determine the outcome of all elections anyway.

I'm almost touched by how naively cynical the choice of a VP by McCain is here. It's bound to backfire, and I suspect he hoped it would give his campaign momentum. Good post, I've added a rating boast.

Dirgio, you bring up an interesting point. And there may be some validity to it. My initial thought was that it was far fetched, but then again perhaps it's not. If LT Bohica is right, and if close to 17% of the vote goes for the Palin ploy or stay home, it could make a difference and voters, both male and female choose to stay home.

LM, I'm assuming your comment was directed to P__F, so I'll stay away. I will say that I'm not aware of any cliques or groups and have no desire to be a part of that. I wrote this blog because I was triggered by Ms. Palin's speech and felt McCain was stooping to a low level. Beyond that, always interested in a good debate, hearing a different perspective or knowing that I am not alone, or hearing why someone disagrees or agrees. Mean spiritedness and divisiveness are not something I'm fond of, although I'm sure I'm as human as the next person and am guilty of both from time to time.

The only RC "bashing" I did was in another post expressing I felt he was insensitive about a poignant and moving blog P_____F wrote. If that is seen as "bashing", that certainly was never my intention.

While we're on the subject, RC...as I said in my comments, you are more than welcome here. And I would be interested to hear what you think of this subject matter. Whatever is going on between you and PF is best left in the private message section. Again, if I am being perceived as being guilty of promoting any of this, my mea cupas to all involved.

Can we all get along?

LT--believe it or not, as much as an Obama supporter as I am, I still planned on an open mind and curiosity as to what McCain continues to have to say. I'm not sure I'm not part of the intended demographic as I'm white and middle-aged. I suppose living in Boulder puts me out of the running. You make an important point and perhaps I am being naive to hope that no one in this country would be fooled by such an obvious gimmick.

Rance, I'm glad you got a chance to see a picture of your beloved Tiny Tim.

Rich, as much as I try to stay clear of red meat, I will confess that there's nothing like a juicy steak from time to time.

Sandy, Sally, Leigh and Martin--thanks for the understanding.

I went for a bike ride this morning. I've simmered down and taking a break from the news today. I'm sure I'll be back at it again...there's just too much good material.

P.S.

Martin, LOVE your picture...hysterical. You might get run out of Boulder.

And white men will vote for white men.
*AHEM*

Not necessarily. Whilst I may be Desperado in this political stage production, that doesn't mean that I won't vote for Obama because of his race any more than it means I WILL vote for McCain because I like his potatoes.

I was not the most enamored of all of Hillary's positions, but I was prepared to vote for her because I felt she could get the job done. I thought (think...I mean, it's not like she's gone or anything, sorry) that she is a smart, savvy politician who has eight years of behind-the-scenes White House experience that gave her a clear edge over any numbnuts the Republicans threw out there. I considered Geraldine Ferraro when she ran, not because she was a woman and not in spite of her being a woman. Gender shouldn't ever enter into it any more than race should, though I know it still does for many people.
I can assure you that I wasn't voting for McCain before any mention was made of Palin - that was just (sorry Freaky) the icing on the cake.

I also think that American female voters are smart to realize this gambit for what it is (meaning, Palin's addition to the ticket) - the last desperate attempt of a losing party to garner some face-saving.

Great post, Mary.

I also think that American female voters are smart to realize this gambit for what it is...

That should read "I also think that American female voters are smart ENOUGH to realize this gambit for what it is..."

Kerry/Joan, if either of you are reading comments an EDIT COMMENT button would be REALLY appreciated. :-D

Screw the vagina, you say?

But that's what every straight man is trying to do!

I think that this is going to backfire. If McCain thinks that just because he picked a woman who is the antithesis of what Hillary Clinton stood for he'll get Clinton's voters, he's smoking something they didn't give him in the Hanoi Hilton.

If I were a woman who voted for Clinton and who wasn't sure if I was going to vote for Obama, I'd be insulted by this.

And it would probably piss me off enough that I'd definitely vote for Obama and it might even get me to do some work for him or donate.

Of course, I'm not a woman, so I don't know if that will work.

I do know that they are right when they say that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

And patronizing Clinton's female supporters like this would certainly qualify as scorn in my book.

Kudos for your comments.

I've only found one thing I like about Palin; that unlike most rabid pro-lifers, she's is in favor on contraceptives.

Otherwise, this was just a choice to make headlines, and make McSame look more 21st century. The former worked splendidly, but the latter just makes him look more desperate.

Maybe McCain is still living in an era when women were chosen for their fertility. But this isn't the Bronze age anymore. They are both relics. I wonder if they will do their campaign commercials in black and white.

Julie, just remember, it's not pro-life, it's anti-choice.

Everyone is pro-life. Everyone is anti-abortion. Even the most ardent abortion rights supporter will tell you that every abortion is a tragedy.

So, those who oppose a woman's right to choose are anti-choice.

MarytKelly, I don't think you know this, because I do not think you would have used it if you had known -- but the Vogue photo is photo shopped.

There are many real photos of Palin you can replace it with as leaving that bit of internet garbage up is sexist.

Imagine what she can do with her "hockey stick" to your vagina?

RE: This woman governs a state roughly the size of Charlotte, North Carolina. She's done this for what? 2 years and before that a mayor of a teensy tiny town?


You've put it very well.

I'm half surprised that people are speaking poorly of Governor Palin BECAUSE of her experience.

Everyone is saying she has no foreign policy chops at all, and that means she shouldn't be VP. But I wonder . . . . What was Bill Clinton's foreign policy experience before he became President Clinton? What was the former governor of Texas' experience? What about Dan Quayle?

(Maybe we should never elect anyone, because no one has any experience in office before gaining experience in office.)

If we want change (as they say) then why not go for a substantial change. Rather than someone who's been in the Congress and has managed nothing more than a 500 square feet office, why not someone like a governor -- someone who has executive experience, but can't say who's prime minister of Poland?

My sentiments exactly!
By the way, the tagline would make a dandy bumper sticker!

There are many reasons to run screaming away from a McCain/Palin administration, and they have nothing to do with experience or looks or age or race or health or gender. They have everything to do with policies, affiliations and political outlook. These two are harbingers of an apocalyptic American future where civil liberties are merely 'inconveniences' to be eliminated either by force (see RNC anti-protester sweeps and seizures), or constitutional re-writes, (see Defense of Marriage, et al), or wrong-headed Supreme Court judgments (Bush v. Gore), or left-handed suppression of dissent (non-coverage of opposing views in mainstream media); coupled with the looting of the American treasure and future in order to line the pockets of well-placed corporate and multi-national interests. Need I say more?

Bill S., thanks for your thoughtful comment. And I believe my "white men will vote for white men" was not meant to be taken literally. It was written after someone had written that women vote for women and black people vote for black people, something like that. I was trying to be facetious, so my apologies to you. We all know that these are broad generalizations and can get us into trouble.

Tony, thanks for your good sense of humor...and I agree with you, I hope McCain's choice backfires as it should.

Julie, I'm glad you said that she was pro-contraception. I had heard otherwise and you are correct in this assertion. However, I will say that, being a former evangelical Christian and "pro-lifer" myself, most evangelicals I knew were pro-contraception and would condemn the Catholic church for their anti-contraception stance. I don't think she stands out as unusual for this reasonable logical position.

Mister Thorne, I agree with what you're saying about experience, and as my mother used to teach me, moderation in all things. Obama is obviously not overflowing in the experience department but he has a hell of a lot more than governing a state that is the most highly subsidized state in the country. And I overstated her experience as governor--it's been a year and a half, not 2 years.

Diana--I'm looking into the bumper stickers right now!

Brinna--I'm cutting and pasting your comment. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You hit the nail on the head...you are spot on.

I think the focus on Palin as a woman is missing the bigger point. McCain picked her first because she is a reformer. That she is a woman is a bonus because the narrative of a hockey mom getting pissed off at corruption and taking down corrupt white guy after corrupt white guy *in her own party* is likely to sell. McCain showed massive courage in making this pick. If it works right, it will also be brilliant.

LT,

I'm sorry I had not forgotten about you. Actually, I've been thinking about your comment. You are right in that I did not want to use a photo of her that was photoshopped. I thought I took care in that, and you are pointing out I got dupped. Thank you.

I'm still thinking about it. Ms. Palin was a beauty queen contestant and there's a debate that could go on and on (remember, I live in Jon Benet land and this has been wrung out ad nauseum here), and she posed for Vogue...a magazine I find focused more on the outer beauty of a woman than the inner.

McGarrett,

In the therapy world, your comment would be characterized as a "positive reframe". You see McCain's choice as brilliant, I see it as desperate. As for Sarah Palin being a reformer, this is a topic for discussion and debate.

You see it as courageous, I see it as reckless.

Yeah, I like the story. Stories like this make great movies like Rocky and Rudy. But this isn't Hollywood...it's real life. And decisions like these affect real people.

Time will tell won't it.

Mary, if the Democratic party was serious about governing, Obama would not have won the nomination over clearly more qualified candidates. So, let's at least be honest, first you win, then you govern.

As it is, I have Palin ahead on points over Obama in the experience arena. Obama hasn't had a single fight in his political career. Palin is nothing but fight, then govern, fight, then govern. Sure, she may yet be destroyed. But, Obama's closet probably ain't squeaky clean either. Palin has fired up the Republicans so Obama doesn't get a free pass this time. He ain't runnin' against Alan Keyes no more.

Stellaa - couldn't it be said that voting for Hillary is to vote to protect your vagina, rather than voting with it? Which is the same reason I'll vote for Obama, and the reason I wouldn't vote for Palin, or McCain, or Bush. A vote for Obama protects my vagina - he doesn't need one for me to be sure of that. A vote for McCain/Palin, for Bush...those are votes against my vagina, even if one of them has one.

Experience matters. It does not have to be experience in the exact job you hope to take - that is, a VP doesn't need experience at the highest levels of government to be an effective VP. If that were the case we'd just vote in all the career politicians and be done with it, knowing the best people for the job were being elected.

What a VP needs is a background of experiences that show she can identify the issues most critical for the people she governs, frame her position into workable initiatives, effectively gather support for these initiatives as well as effectively counter antagonism against them, and get the right initiatives executed. Doing this is demonstrating leadership, which will accrue power. How she uses this power - for the greater good, or for evil (e.g. furthering divisive religio-conservative agenda) is the basis for which we decide if she is effective in the national role, and vote her back in or not.

It takes imagination and intelligence and clear vision to frame seemingly unrelated experiences in a way that convinces people that yes, you are ready for a job like President, or Vice President, though you lack the long years in the Washington system that usually suggest a basic knowledge of and competency within the system you must manipulate.

Sarah Palin has an interesting personal story but she has a very long way to go to demonstrate that the life experiences she has accrued to date make her an acceptable, much less ideal, candidate for the office of VP. I am willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, and watch and listen - but her initial remarks made following McCain's introduction - to wit, that a vote for her is a vote by women to shatter the glass ceiling - do not encourage me to see her as a maverick ready for leadership on the national and international stages. That remark showed a deep naivete or cynicism (I don't know which ) on the part of Palin and Republicans, that women interpret the major issue of the election to be about glass ceilings and the gender of who sits in office. I don't think most Hillary voters supporter her because it was a chance to put a woman in office - they supported her because she is the *right person* for this office, and that she happens to be a woman is, yes, historically momentous but does not by any means define the reason she should get the job as President.

For Palin and McCain to act as if the presence of a y chromosome should prove a draw to Democratic men or women who supported Hillary - like I said, it's naive, or a deeply cynical view of women, a view that seems to suggest conservatives see women as nothing more than puppets, and all you have to do to win their vote is for the men to gather together and pick a woman they approve of to get the rest of us to fall in line.

Maybe Palin will turn out to be a crazy maverick that has all kinds of fantastic ideas, and the intelligence and grace and strength to push those through a system she has little understanding of or experience with. Then it would be a great thing, indeed, to have a woman who is super-effective in the VP slot, the second highest office in the land. I don't have to be a Republican to be pleased to see a woman doing a competent job in an office that has been denied to my gender for too long. By the same token it will be disheartening and frustrating in the extreme if Palin turns out to be a junior in execution as she is in experience; it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to have an incompetent female VP (it's not like Dan Quayle was run out of town on a rail for being a cipher), but when the other choice of a woman in office this election was Hillary, as President...that feels like a real setback for feminism.

And regardless, having an anti-choice female VP would be, indeed a setback for feminism, no matter how competent Palin might turn out to be. It gives conservatives momentum to redefine feminism more strictly in terms of economic opportunity, and directs attention away from the more critical issue of women maintaining sole dominion - with no religio-conservative governnment-mandated proprietorship - over their bodies.

um, that was a typo, obviously: x chromosome, not y!

And I agree with Lonnie - that vegan story was hilarious and worthy of its own post.

One of the greatest moments of my life was when a friend of mine who slowly turned Vegan after moving here to the Bay Area ordered French Onion soup. I waited until she ate half of it and said "I didn't know you'd given up vegetarianism!" She was appalled because she hadn't, what did I mean? I informed her that her soup was made from beef stock, how else could a vegetable soup taste so good?

She went white with rage that I hadn't told her earlier, but I was getting even for all the Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners where I was the only cook, making Turkey and trimmings but also preparing a special, no chicken broth risotto for her majesty, while she showed up late with extra vegan friends for the free holiday meal and drank up all my wine while they talked about the morality of vegetarianism.

McGarrett,

I'm hoping we can agree to disagree. Sarah Palin can look forward to an 8 weeks ahead of her that I wouldn't wish on anyone. Let's see if she is up to the task. And my hope is that the attention for all the candidates, presidential and vice-presidential will be not on their genders, their color, their personal stories, triumps and tragedies, but on, as Brinna, so articulately put it, "their policies, affiliations and political outlooks".

Sandra, your comments were helpful and made a lot of sense. I agree with you when you say that being anti-choice puts feminism backwards.

I say this as a former evangelical Christian who was a bible study leader and public spokesperson for a "pro-life" organization for many years. I've been too humbled by life in the past 20 years to be positional about too many things, and this is one of them.

Not to mention, if people only knew how many daughters of pro-life pastors, TV evangelicals and presidents of Christian universities
have had abortions and how many of their sons have been given the money so their girlfriends could have abortions, it would boggle the mind.

I've been in the system and hypocrisy abounds.

Sandra, I hate it when I use up material in a non-related post, because that vegan story has helped me laugh many a time.

Your story cracked me up and you are quite evil to have not told your friend sooner about the beef broth. Not that I'm judging you! On the contrary, your image of slaving over the stove for Thanksgiving dinner and the moralistic vegan friends is priceless.

Legalism of anything invites hypocrisy.

Thanks to LT Bohica, I have changed the photo at the top of the page.

I honestly thought that the photo I originally had posted was not photoshopped. It took some wrestling for the reasons I mentioned above, but after seeing LT's cover post, I want no part of using any photoshopped pictures of Sarah Palin, McCain, Obama, Biden or me (unless it is complimentary).

The photo used above is an official photo of Sarah Palin issued by the state of Alaska.

What great posts here! Civilization!
I did want to point out what Alaskans think of Palin, so please check this blog: http://mudflats.wordpress.com

Mary, thanks for your nice comments on my blog. And, there is something you and I definitely agree on. Palin potentially is in for an absolutely hellish two months. No matter who wins, I hope they all come out with their personal dignity intact. Political destruction on the other hand? Hey, it's the business they chose.

Ah, no need to apologize, Mary. I just thought that particular line made a nice segue into my reply. :-D

Trust me, no offense taken. I thought your post was well-put and well-thought-out.

Linus, thanks for the link. I found this on the site and am passing these comments on to save folks some time:

Reactions from Alaskans on Palin as VP:

Alaska State Senate President Lyda Green (R): “She’s not prepared to be governor. How can she be prepared to be vice president or president? Look at what she’s done to this state. What would she do to the nation?” (Green is from Palin’s home town of Wasilla.)

Alaska House Speaker John Harris (R): “She’s old enough. She’s a U.S. citizen.”

Alaska Democratic Party Chair Patti Higgins: “In this very competitive election for them to go pick somebody who is … under a cloud of suspicion, who is under investigation for abuse of power. It just sounds like a pretty slow start to me. We need a vice president who can step in if, God forbid, something happened to John McCain. I don’t think she’s someone who is ready for that 3 a.m. phone call.”

Randy Ruedrich, Alaska Republican Party Chair: Not giving interviews.

Alaska Attorney General Talis Colberg: “a mixed set of emotions, kind of an odd sense of Alaska nationalism or pride. This is like watching a moon landing or something. It’s just something you don’t expect to see very often. It’s wonderful. It was an emotional thing to see the governor walk out with her family and I say, wow, I work for her.”

McHugh Pierre, Alaska Republican Party Spokesman: “She brings her voice of new energy and change. And she knows Alaska.”

Indicted Alaska Sr. Senator Ted Stevens (R): “it’s a great day for the nation and Alaskans.”

Andrew Halcro, local blogger who ran against Palin for governor: “This shocking choice says more about McCain’s desperation than it does about Palin’s qualifications”.

Alaska State Representative Mike Doogan (D): “Either Sarah Palin has talents and skills we were not aware of”, or “John McCain fell down and hit his head”. He also called the prospect of Palin potentially needing to take over as President”pretty scary.”

McGarrett,

Thank you for offering such civil discourse. It is refreshing and well appreciated by me.

Bill S--

Thanks for the understanding. I was pretty sure you would.

Why the anger about Sarah Palin? She is just a normal American..well maybe not anymore because she has no desire to forcibly take money away from you (taxes) and give it to people that don't want to work. And please stop making references to private body parts..it is just too basal and vulgar. I think people who make these comments need to grow up. Actually, their parents did a bad job.

Why the anger? WHY THE ANGER????

Read the post. Read the comments. Read the news.

I waited a long time before I could say the words vagina and penis without getting in trouble. In fact, I had to be a grown up.

I am a total conservative...which to all you readers means I love America and I don't want it to die to libs and "progresives". Work! We need to work! Not take from those who work and give that to people who don't work.

Jean,

Write a post about it. I love some civil discourse. Expand. Teach.

I think experience is really overblown. look at our past Presidents. Many were governors: Reagan, Clinton, Carter. Some Congressmen, and a General, some Senators. Who had the most experience? In my opinion it was Lyndon Johnson. He might have gone down as one of our great Presidents because of his work in Civil Rights but he was hoodwinked by his own trusted advisers into attacking Vietnam.

What really counts is what your candidate believes in and who his appointees will be. With Bush it was all over with his appointment of Cheney and all the other old pols with which he surrounded himself.

The office of President is unique in the world. You get your experience starting the day you take office.

Jean you spout nothing. Welfare abounds, people wont work!! Distasteful references to body parts!! (That would even have Cheney doubled up with laughter.)

The worst crap you spouted was "I love my country". A conservative is someone who has deep seated beliefs about loving his country and will make sure that the black and brown people will defend it to their death. Because like Cheney, Conservatives had other plans during Vietnam.

Sorry to go off but I an an Air Force brat and and was an Air Force Captain and Viet Vet. That right wing Repub "I love my country"speech really angers me.

I must be older than most of you. Does any of this come as a huge surprise? McCain (or any other nominee from the past) is no different than Obama in that there is always a tactical calculation when choosing a veep. IF Obama had chosen Hillary that would have been a CALCULATED decision, based on many theories and possible variables. I have voted many times in my life and this is just PAU. Politics as usual. If you are not a McCain fan this should be a non-issue and something not to raise your blood pressure. Is it possible that the anger and mean-spiritedness is because maybe, just maybe, she may have a more favorable rating that you were hoping a McCain veep would?
Chill out people and give this woman some props. She has made something of herself in the political arena and I find it insulting that all you want to do is tear her apart. She has probably done more than most of you that just want to rip her from political limb to limb.
This will all play out over the next few months. Maybe some of you need to examine your angry side.

Wonderfully written.

kudos.

Its the being toyed with that hurts so bad; its having potential leaders presume the worst about us; its being reduced to the reasoning ability of the dumbest among us; its the fear of waking up to four more years in this idiocracy that burns me up. If any of Hillary's supporters turn to this ticket then they were clearly only voting for the chromosome in the first place and not for the politicienne. They do no justice to their movement, nor to their presumed leader. And I do pray that the McCain machine has read them wrong.

Speaking of children: Am I alone in being repulsed by the way her youngest son with Down Syndrome is being used as a political tool?

Twillobee,

Thanks for your comments. It's always an honor to hear from someone who has served. And I agree with you. Republicans often times present themselves are the only true patriots.

I have a good friend who was a pilot in the army. He recently told me, "Protest is Patriotic. In fact, it is not only a right, it's an obligation." The Denver police did a very "effective" job in shutting down the protests. It's un-American.

Jeff, thanks for the comment. You sound like one of my best friends who said, "Mary, the difference between you and me is that I see this as one big game. All the players use different strategies and ploys to win." The problem with this thinking is that people are being affected by these games, and lives are being lost. I haven't quite reached that cynical stage yet.

As for taking a look at "our" anger, I can only speak for mine. I'm disturbed by the tendency for all bloggers who speak against Palin to be lumped into one big group. There are many different reasons people are upset by the Palin choice and they should be addressed separately.

Again, as to my anger, McCain's choice of Palin IMHO was an obvious ploy, a chess move, flippant risk, whatever you want to call it, to use Palin as a woman to have the chance to win the presidency. Her being a social conservative didn't hurt either, as now the disturbing James Dobson has made up his mind to vote for McCain because of the Palin pick. This should be a red flag.

I'm angry that Sarah Palin herself focused on her gender when she gave her first speech after McCain's announcement. SHE stirred up this hornet's nest, not me. As a woman and a voter, the hair stood up on the back of my neck when she was talking about breaking the glass ceiling and the women who had lead before her. Clearly, she was referring to her gender as the primary reason to vote for McCain.

Why do we assume that anger is a negative emotion? Anger doesn't need to be hidden, displaced or shoved into the closest closet. Anger can and should be a healthy catalyst to positive action.

Ruby--Thank you!

Meredith--I have the same hope as you. The audacity of presumption on McCain's part! I have a difficult time believing any Hillary supporter would vote for Palin given their differences are social policy issues.

Redstocking: You may have your chance in 4 years if McCain wins...

Dan: You should write a blog about this question and you may get more response. I'm mixed about it. It's being brought up the same way Obama's background is being brought up, Joe Biden's family tragedy, McCain's POW experience... so I'm not seeing a huge difference.

"There will never be complete equality until women themselves help to make it". Quote from GERALDINE FERARRO, during her veep acceptance speech. She was the first democratic veep nominee in 1984 on the ticket with Mondale.

I get this feeling that some bloggers again think this is all new and all different. Obviously Ms. Ferarro thought mentioning that she was a woman would help her and the ticket get votes??? The naivete here is stunning.

You're angrily and stridently voting for Obama because of his "intelligence, background and experience...?!?" I assume by his intelligence you refer to his ability to not take a stand before he changes his non-position to reflect whatever he believes his audience wants to hear or is otherwise expedient at the moment. Or is it his ability to get a real estate felon to cut him a sweet deal on his mansion and, shortly after election to the senate managing to double his wife's pay just by "being there" - although we are regularly fed the audacious opinion through her whining that she finds it difficult to live on her $300,000+ salary along with his $170,000 salary or whatever it is. By background I assume you are referring to his having been raised by a white mom and her parents but choosing to reject them and identify as "black" when whatever it is that he is it is mixed race - like about 90% of the rest of us in this country. By experience I assume you mean his 4 years in the senate during which he hasn't taken a position on any major issue or introduced legislation on any issue of importance.

Libs are ballistic about Palin because they viscerally understand she's a threat. An authentic woman who doesn't have to dress in a suit in order to play with men. I hadn't planned to support McCain before this but I think his ballsy choice has the potential for really sending Obama back to the obscurity he has well earned.

Yes, instead of one side playing the "holier than your side" argument lets all play nice and agree that hypocricy abounds in politics. The pretense that when you pick a side you suddenly have to be blinded by reality and facts is just plain stupid. Both parties revel in double-standards. What we need to do is see through all of this, pick our particular poison, don't label people who don't agree with you as silly or christian or non-thinkers. Cast your ballot and realize that if your side doesn't win, it doesn't mean that all of those who basically voted against you are any smarter or dumber than you. It just means that they have a different opinion and THAT IS THE WAY IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE. That is why every person gets a vote. And may the best hypocrite win. We don't need to be cheerleaders. We need to be thoughtful thinkers.

Most of the people who have commented on this blog understand fully what I am saying. The comments that are dissenting, which is all great and welcome, are posters who have never posted their own blog.

I find this "very interesting".

When I read deahnty jones blog, I thought to myself, "I bet there is no history of this person posting...and sure enough, I was right.

There's a pattern here. You all know who you are. What's up? As I said, I appreciate the comments and will address them later (I'm actually going to go out on a boat and enjoying labor day). But I find it odd that those commenting with such vehement disagreement aren't taking the time to write their own blogs which could reach a larger group of people.

As I said to Jean, who also has no posting history, please write, educate, inform.

I didn't know I had to have my own blog to belong to the "post a comment" club. I don't care about getting my thoughts out to more people. Travel around the internet and you will see that you can post a comment on anything that you think interesting or provacative on a multitude of sites. This one peaked my interest and I have stuck with it. Mystery solved.

I'm sure that you believe that you're not voting for Obama because "he's black and has a penis," but what about the millions of people who are? Do you have as much disdain for the African-Americans who are voting for Obama simply because he's black as you do for the women who want a self-made woman to succeed at a higher level of political office? And what about all the men out there who voted for Obama because he DOES have a penis, or better yet, because he doesn't have a snatch? Or what about all the people who voted for Obama simply because his last name is not Clinton? Something also tells me that as much as you won't vote for someone simply because they're a woman, you definitely won't vote for someone simply because they ARE a Republican. I think that as soon as you see that R, you shut off the possibility of anything positive coming to light in their resume. Where I come from, that's not very deep decision making, and it's certainly not free.

And what about why you are voting for Obama? You vilify those who vote without depth, yet in no way do you prove that you are voting with depth in any way. His "proposals?" What about his proposals? Fill me in. His "intelligence?" How does his intelligence versus that of anyone else separate him from the pack? When it comes down to it, do you really know anything about Obama? Can you prove that he's different from anyone else? Or is he just the brand that you feel most comfortable with?

Contrary to all the commentary/narcissistic ideological pandering that goes on on this site, I don't think that you say anything well. You know nothing about Palin and say nothing about her other than the obvious. You've done absolutely no digging for anything other than what every other Obama supporter is saying on the internet. You're a housewife ranting. Obviously, Hillary gives the irrelevant female a lot of hope.

One thing that you are correct in is your opinion that Hillary and Sarah Palin are not comparable. One woman made it in politics on her own while the other rode on the very significant coat-tails of her husband. Because I have to do it on my own, I'll take Palin as a role model over HRC any day.

P.S. Lame comment about Tiny Tim

I'm amused by the comments praising Palin as an authentic woman.

Only if in your book, authentic women are hypocrites.

Look at what she said about her daughter's "choice" to carry the fetus to term.

She said she's pleased with it.

That's all well and good, but you know what? Under the anti-choice policies of a McCain-Palin administration, her daughter wouldn't have a choice. She'd be told to get her butt into that deliver room and carry that fetus to term. No exceptions. If she was raped, too bad. Carry that fetus to term.

And then Palin is a proponent of abstinence only education, claiming it works.

Bullcrap.

So, Palin is a hypocrite.

Her hypocrisy should be exposed and highlighted and used to destroy her political career. Everyone would agree that's fair game, right?

Why don't we all expose and highlight ALL politicians hypocricy and destroy all of their political careers. Brilliant. Who would there be to blog about then??

In total agreement. It's an insulting pick for women and for all Americans.

Wouldn't it be something if one of thes knee-jerk lemur like fundamenalist "pro-lifers" thought about their position a little when their daughters have to sacrifice their futures due to moments of human like behavior. If absitence education doesn't work for their kids...And please, can we establish that there are enough people on the planet now that we need no longer heed the go forth and multiply comandment.

I agree with Barack Obama that the children of candidatesshould be off limits. As a mother of two grown children, both of whom are well educated, yet very human in the sense that they have made mistakes which have caused me great pain, I sincerely empathize with the plight of Sara Palin and her daughter. Having said that, I want to add to this discussion my hopes that the conservative right will consider the serious and dangerous implications of a McCain-Palin White House. Until he choose Palin, precisely because of her inexperience, which may one day be called in hindsight, her "tragic" inexperience, I really was ambivalent about McCain. I like the fact that McCain is conservative, but I question what that means any more. It's nice that it means country first, God first, family first, but how do these sentiments help us solve real-world problems? There is a mortgage crisis, a health care crisis, a recession, a hopeless war, rising joblessness and oil prices, and yet our future pivots between a liberal, perhaps to liberal for my tastes, Democatic party, and a Republican Party, which claims to believe in values its members cannot live up to. Palin may be guilty of cronyism, nepotism, and failure in her role as a mother. The latter a failure because as an advocate of abstinence, she could not convince, nor control her own child. This is ironic and tragic since the very party she supports is known for blaming mothers or the failure of a woman's motherhood for everything from drug addition to poverty. Where was Palin's husband? Why didn't he do a better job of raising his daughter? Perhaps this good ole boy liked to drink too much? You think? Is there any substance to these rumors?

A final note. A significant portion of America would really be on board with the Republican Party if they had not committed some of the worse ills of failed Democatic Party politics -- a war, inflation, a mortgage crisis, the failure to support conservation, ignoring the needs of the people...the list is endless.

Having said all this, I still like the Republicans for being pro-Life, for being traditional, for favoring and supporting the age-old definition of marriage, for loving America. But this time around, even if Bush had not done such a horrible job as president, the McCain-Palinites really don't get it! However, Democrats should be aware not to take too much for granted. Some of us have no stomach for far left liberalism, so my hope is that Obama's intelligence will serve him as well or better than Bill Clinton's did.

We sure could use Bill and Hillary on board for either party to help get us out of this mess. I hope Obama's listening!

Tony,

I agree with you. As a mother of two daughters, who fortunately have survived the jungles of teenagedom and are well into their early 20's, I can easily put myself in Palin's place.

1. Abstinence based education only DOES NOT WORK. PERIOD. There's not a person who can argue against this. There is no statistical evidence to support it.

2. While we can support and love our children for whatever irresponsible behaviors they engage in, it doesn't mean we have to support those behaviors. These attitudes of, "We're excited to be grandparents" in my opinion is ridiculous. I would sit my daughter down, and if she chose to continue her pregnancy, tell her that I would be there to support and love her and her child, but I would be giving her a huge dose of reality on how her life was going to change. And I wouldn't be running around telling my friends that I was excited my 17 year old daughter was pregnant and that I was going to be a granny. Jamie Spear's parents had the same Palin Pregnancy Perspective with their daughter. Single teenage pregnancy rates went up in their state. Great.

3. The father of the soon to be Palin grandchild's My Space page says that he is in a relationship and "doesn't want kids".

Can we say SHOTGUN WEDDING?

nsanders--Yes, and it's getting more insulting by the minute.

Meredith: Yes, people need to face the facts and accept that abstinence based only education doesn't work. Period. Not to mention, educate your daughters and sons about the need for not only birth control, but CONDOMS. Sexually transmitted diseases are rampant.

Mildred, you are right to point out the real issues we need to be concerned with: "a mortgage crisis, a health care crisis, a recession, a hopeless war, rising joblessness and oil prices".

A brain can go a long way in addressing these issues. Obama has one, and if one doesn't want to at least acknowledge that, they may want to schedule an MRI asap.

I have been enjoying all of the discourse but when people start throwing around words like "lemur like fundamentalists" they loose credibility. Name calling is not fair and it is not SMART. It shows you have lost the ability to really argue your point. Leave out the "knee jerk" insults. They are not necessary in a good discussion.

Jeff, I couldn't agree with you more. Name calling is a great way to be divisive, but it never builds bridges.

I know who I want to win this election, but if at the end of the day, if it's a FAIR race and my guy doesn't win, then so be it.

However, given how the 2000 election went as it pertains to Florida, and questions still remain in the 2004 race, I'm leary.

Many ordinary jerks with knees are not going to get up and walk across the bridge to meet you halfway if you throw around words like "lemur."

They're only going to be threatened and be reminded how embarrassed they once were when a junior high school teacher barked about "looking it up in a dictionary," or when they had to stand up and read some Shakespeare aloud.

Well, I don't expect the fundamentalist prolifers to look to me for advice on their belief system. I am not actig as cheer leader or spiritual leader. I truly just wish that life experience and personal sacrifice would make people reconsider their position on birth control, sex ed, and abortion rather than spouting what seems to me to be blind faith following of the Christian leadership. I truly believe thinking Christians would be more compasionate to the weakness of hormone ridden teens, to the young women and men faced with these life changing decisions and more over, that they would think more about the very probably miserable lives of the many unwanted children who would be and are born into terrible conditions. I am pro-life and pro-choice but primarily, I am pro-thought not faith based politics. And this is not a condemnation of Ms. Palin's family. Family matters should be dealt with with in families. Thats what pro-choice is all about. Do the pro-lifers have no respect for the right to life of innocent 18 year olds who are drawn from need into military service and to dying for NO good reason on foreign soil.

"I am pro-life and pro-choice but primarily, I am pro-thought not faith based politics".

Great line Meredith. I really enjoyed your comment.

Perhaps we all need to remember that we were teenagers, and sexual experience seems to be a part of it for most of us. There may be regrets and there may not. It does not need to be demonized, forbidden or judged.

The best thing we can give our children is a listening ear and an open heart. It's a fine line and parenthood is tricky.

Very well said. While I think that Barack's being the first black president is thrilling, and that he will be an important role model, I am going to vote for him because his positions are identical to mine. I chose him over Hillary because of his positions, not his gender or skin color.

Sarah Palin is proving to be a snake nest of issues. Most of them about hypocrisy, and plain ignorance. My guess is that the Republicans are not happy.

Meredith: I too am Pro-Life and Pro-Choice. As an educator and writer, I know too many stories of young women who have used abortion as birth control, particularly in the permissive '80s and '90s, times when we were perhaps a bit more innocent, or at least in the embryonic stages of our moral ambivalence. I was myself a young feminist and a young married mother. I am Pro-Life as a matter of faith and experience; however, once upon a time I also believed that we should never legislate morality, but I'm not certain about this anymore. In the wake of partial-birth abortions, the myraid emotional/social fallouts of a a society in decline on many fronts, and the plights too many children who live without parental accountability, I can only qualify the facts. But I still dream of a world where mothers want their children and fathers agree to support and protect them. I still dream of a world where women choose Life, not because they are forced to choose between a bleak future with limited opportunities and a chance to keep and nurture a child to adulthood. This issue is more complex than weighing in on fundamentalism versus loose liberal politics. The fact that we even question at all whether or not to keep a baby suggests that we as a human race have forgotten the laws of self preservation. Plato was right. It is the first Law of Nature.

Shall we then move beyond Pro-Life versus Pro-Choice and get on with the business of creating a more perfect union where women can have a career and children, and perhaps, during their most fertile years, choose an unexpected pregnancy and still expect to have a future? Morality suggests that this moral imperative must transcend political labels like socialism. Ultimately, I am Pro-Humanity. Let's save the babies and save the Earth.

We humans have a sex drive. That is the lingering evidence of our very animal nature to procreate. This is driven at a chromosomal level in fact. It isn't us. Its our genes which seek immorality via reproduction. Yet, if you haven't noticed, the earth has enough babies on it now. Enough old folks and enough people in between. Our survival instinct in fact now flaring up as it fights for the right to REDUCE the flock, This is a natural animal instinct as well. All species have a release valve. When the numbers out flank the resources, they start to decline. Naturally. Fertility drops off, diseases take hold. Abortion is a difficult decision, but a much more humane policy. Ask any mother, would you rather lose your child in its first trimester in utero or after its first birthday? or 18th? I posit that the bible was a practical guide for an underpopulated planet. But we would all do well now to reassess its pronouncements about mulitpliying if this planet is to continue to harbor healthy human life at all. Think of the babies. The live ones.

Naomi, thanks for the comment. I agree with Palin and the "snake's nest" theory. Living in Boulder, I actually know a few of the Republicans that live in this town. They are LIVID about McCain' choice.

But these Republicans aren't at the RNC and so the world gets the impression that all Republicans have hard on's for Sarah Palin (this is not intended to be a sexist comment...I would have used that expression if it was a male Sarah Palin).

Mespree, "Pro-Humanity". I like that. Let's start using that.

Meredith, I appreciate the heart of what you are saying. I'm not sure the Bible was ever that productive for any time (which is what Lonnie may be implying), but whatever. This is now, there is an overpopulation problem, abortion is not the solution but it needs to be a choice...for a variety of reasons.

obviously a very provocative post. I'm glad that you posted what many of us are thinking.

sandra, you make some excellent points as well.

On the experience question...F*CK experience...we can argue from now 'til Sunday about whether governor/mayorial executive experience is more valuable or relevant than community organizer/state senate/US Senate experience. Except that people can use it as an EXCUSE to not vote for Obama.

Also, those with strong opinion on very strong social issues will camp out in their own poles.

What I want, NO, what I demand in my elected officials, particularly world leaders, is:

careful thought and examination of the issues,
some generally solid background knowledge of the Constitution and the way federal government works
willingness to listen to alternative points of view, consider consequences,
based on that, develop and implement a strategic plan
treat all humans, including our enemies, with compassion and respect, and a recognition of basic human rights

From what I know of Obama, McCain, Palin, and Biden...

Obama has shown this in his "community organizing", his speeches, his policy platforms, and his handling of the campaign.

I used to think this about John McCain, but he threw all that cred away.

Sarah Palin shows NONE of these criteria. THAT is WHY I am appalled. She hasn't even shown it in regard to her family or her running of the Great State of Alaska.

Yes, she has a Vagina. But, she is not a friend of women, much less a friend of the people.

and, well, I don't really know much about Joe but I like that he takes the train home and people in neighboring Delaware seem to like him a lot. :-)

I realized that was a much longer comment than I meant it to be...I've started a new blog entry on the experience question.

lpsrock: I've always respected Joe Biden. And I love that he is not afraid to be an "attack dog" when it is appropriate. I hope he doesn't hold back when he debates SP.

From a former Boulder girl to what sounds like a current (?) Boulder girl, I couldn't agree more. I too am insulted that he thinks we would all just fall for such blatant political pandering.

I just read this post a little late. You said everything I felt about the Guv. I can't believe people think she should run in 2012. Enough already!!!!

BTW....why do people think she's hot, or adorable? Tina Fey....now she's adorable!

Yeah – after reading this, I can’t not add a ‘Right On!’ here. And I also have to laugh along and give an enthusiastic 2nd to Cam Battley’s comments. Wow. Tiny Tim. I’ve no clue how you pulled that magical simile out of thin air.

David, thanks for making me laugh and smile. I re-read this post this morning. I must say I crack myself up! And you're right...where in the heck did I ever ever come up with that Tiny Tim metaphor? I remember sitting in my office and it suddenly just popped in my head. I practically jumped out of my chair laughing. Our brains! Who could ever figure them out...thanks for reading this old piece.