First of all, this is not a political opinion, so don’t think it is.
Secondly, this is personal, as personal as it gets without knowing someone. Call it intuition, call it a gut feeling, or call it “DUH GEORGE”.
Sarah Palin is mean. I said it and I mean it.
When I talked to friends and acquaintances last night and this morning, they were all impressed with her speech. They said they had to admit she did a “great job”. My coffee shop was buzzing this morning about how strong she was and they were concerned (this is Boulder, so liberals are shaking in their hiking boots).
Let me just say for the record, I wasn’t surprised. I hadn’t set the bar low for Sarah Palin when it came to expectations and how she’d come off in THE SPEECH OF HER LIFE.
I’d “utubed” her and seen her in action on the stage of an Assembly of God church. Those people don’t mess around when it comes to throwing the punches and pitting THEM vs. THE WORLD (I should know, I spent 2 years as one).
And let me say for the record, Sarah Palin is the type of female I stayed away from in junior high school. You know those girls?
MEAN GIRLS.
They make movies out of these girls, and young girl’s diaries are full of the hurt and humiliation these girls hurled their way. Girls like the ones who used to taunt and tease me with proclamations like, “There she goes…the carpenter’s dream…flat as a board”, or “Mary’s so flat, a training bra is too big for her.”
Why do you think I became a therapist?
Joan Walsh said it succinctly and with lady-like finesse in her Salon post this morning:
“Palin shook off the victim mantle by coming out swinging, first blasting "the pollsters and the pundits" for writing off McCain last year, then tearing into Barack Obama with glee, teeth bared like a Rudy Giuliani in heels".
Here here.
Sarah Pulin said the difference between her and a pit bull was lipstick.
Other than that, she should have added there’s not a whole lot of difference. Like a pit bull (and I apologize in advance to all pit bulls) who feel threatened, she bared her teeth, had the hairs on her neck standing up, positioned herself and attacked with all the vehemence and ruthlessness she could muster. She went for the jugular. And she drew blood. And she loved every second of it.
And her opponent? A Presidential candidate who had the grace and honor several days earlier to tell his supporters to back off her and her family.
I stay clear of women like Sarah Palin. They think they know better than me. They’re smug, judgmental, condescending, think they know what's best for me and my body, and at the end of the day, nastier than Ann Coulter on steroids.
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Jesse Kavadlo
Mary Wagner
keri h
Frosty Funk
Wren Dancer
Liane Carter
Salon.com
Comments
Um - ow? ;-D
Great post, Mary. I agree, she definitely came off as vindictive. And I don't think it was very wise to lambaste the very media that her campaign partner is going to need if he plans on making this a race. But there you go.
a self-described Hockey Mom and pit bull. Wow!
came off to me as a petty (not pretty, petty) anchorwoman/ mouthpiece spewing more of the Republican malice and lies
Just don't comment on my eye shadow, 'kay?
Attacking the media is seldom a good idea.
Cam, I'm still trying to figure out your Mark Twain quote, except I think you gave a clue.
lpsrocks--we were thinking she reminded us of one of those mean girls running for Student Body President. My husband thought I might have gone too far with saying worse than "Ann Coulter on steroids". He might be right.
Designator: I had forgotten that expression too and it reminds me I know some stellar people who consider themselves "compassionate conservatives". I just don't think they constitute the Republican base, unfortunately.
Lalucas, oooh, those unsafe women...I still stay clear of them... Professionally, I have compassion and know that this kind of meanness comes from a deep root of a lack of self-love, but I pick my girlfriends based on if they love me or not, warts and all.
One of my best friends and an ex-naval pilot called me after her speech screaming in the phone, "Mary, turn in your Obama bumper stickers and switch them to McCain!!!!! Sarah Palin was unbelievable!!!"
All I could say was, "Don, you are such an easy lay!"
Which segues sort of nicely, I think, to the next point. My wife -- will wonders never cease, the person I was actually at the drive-in with, who remembers the occasion perfectly because ...well, never mind -- was on the phone with her Mom and Dad today (I generally water the lawn during these interludes). By way of background, Mom and Dad (78 and 80 respectively) live in a tiny Midwestern town about the size of Wasisname, AK, are both lifelong Republicans, she worked for the county, he farmed.
As recounted to me, Mom said: "Didn't like her. Came across as too pushy --* like the sort that pushes other women out of the way*!" Bingo! That seems to jibe squarely with MK's gut feel, I think.
Dad: " Didn't like her. Must be Catholic . Who the hell can afford five kids nowadays?" (Mom and Dad are Lutheran).
Anectdotal evidence only, but maybe all is not lost. Dunno if Mom and Dad will vote Democrat - doubt it - but the story may not be playing all the Republican way.
WOOF.
Hey, criticize Obama's policies or his experience in ways that don't stoop to demeaning levels if you want. This is a race.
But anybody can be mean.
Love your post, btw! :)
It's good to hear, even if it doesn't change their vote.
Sally, that video was a throwback to the day. Remember Donna Reed? My mother was so much like her. Would run upstairs before my father got home to "fix herself up". We would banished from the kitchen the first 30 minutes he got home so they could have time alone. Not a bad idea with 7 kids!
Ecomarxist: Thanks for the comment--I sent you a personal message.
that pretty much sums it up
This just in (seems like the pot calling the kettle black):
Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin on Thursday blamed supporters of the Democratic presidential ticket for spreading "misinformation and flat-out lies" about her and her family.
But her spokeswoman said Obama's campaign was not responsible, even though a Palin fundraising letter named the Democratic ticket with the words: "the Obama-Biden Democrats have been vicious in their attacks directed toward me, my family and John McCain."
Strength of character and personal confidence do not require meanness. I consider myself a confident woman who does not feel "bad about" myself, nor am I mean.
I might even give credence to your "giving it back " argument, except that most of the negative comments made about her have been from the media - NOT from Obama or anyone that her diatribe was directed at.
Palin's speech was mean - and delivered with too much enthusiasm for me to believe that she was just parroting the words of the GOP.
Frankly I would be glad to see more conservatives post their views in our sea of liberals, but your comment is just mud slinging.
Phew.
Ok now that I got that off my chest... great post Mary
When we're done with Palin, I want people to cross the street to walk away from her when she is in Alaska, and I want her term to end in disgrace.
I don't want her to be able to run for dogcatcher in Wasilla without being thumped.
For instance - you could refer to a few thousand years worth of Buddhist philosophy, which pretty much recommends that you listen, smile and walk away because you don't need to internalize anything you don't want to or defend yourself to anyone who speaks to you in a hurtful way. If you do respond in kind you are just as petty as they are. I think that it is apt advice.
In other words; if you are truly comfortable with yourself you DO walk away.
And -I would suggest that defensiveness (otherwise known as "giving nasty jabs back") could be a sign of insecurity, although I have known a few drag queens in my time who found it to be a viable sporting event.
And BTW, "giving nasty jabs back" seems a good definition of mudslinging . But that's just my O.
Why didn't you tell me we went to junior high school together cuz how else would you know what I did?
I had my head in the sand? I walked away? Okay, you're right. I need to fight fire with fire, so let me start with YOU.
You are a wise and thoughtful person. I believe you have only good and instructive intentions for me when you write your comments.
My mother wisely taught me, "Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me."
Thanks for your wise words. I'm reading A New Earth by Eckhert Tolle. It's all about ego...and when the ego gets hurt, the ego wants to attack.
Seeing potentially "hurtful" comments and seeing them as "printed vibrations in the air" is liberating.
Now, give me some constructive criticism, and I'm all ears.
When will Americans wake up and see what is really there?
Rich, I will confess to very un-Christian visuals running through my head as I was watching her. Come to think of it, they were pretty un-Buddhist as well.
Lairderg, actually kicking your foot through the TV sounds very therapeutic and could very well avoid the ulcer! But then there's the matter of replacing the TV, and that could cause the pesty little ulceration for sure.
If Obama-Biden prevail in November – there are plenty of indicators that suggest they will – Michelle Malkin and Ann Coulter will have new competition to worry about. My bet is Palin becomes a second-tier pundit like them and makes a tidy income while doing it. She'll travel the country promoting books and snag a lot of talk show gigs representing the hyper-mom cohort, no doubt keeping in touch with her brood via text messages. She can still advocate for special needs kids and families that way, too. I can live with that, since every time she (or Coulter, or Malkin) pop up on my TV, I can change the channel.
I posted a link to this post as part of my blog post yesterday, in trying to understand why she disturbs me so much.
Palin Derangement Syndrome
http://open.salon.com/content.php?cid=15305
for me, it is political. She should not be in charge.
I'm not sure I agree that criticizing the media has a boomerang effect; in fact, I think the opposite is true. The media bends over backwards to prove you wrong ("working the refs" ala Al Franken). When GHerbertW Bush complained about the liberal press (what Franken calls the SCLM, the so-called-liberal media) the media did everything they could to curry favor with the right.
Lpsrock--I'll check it out. I like your passion!
Lainey, I agree with you. During the DNC, Chris Matthews was falling over Obama. At the end of McCain's speech, he seemed pre-orgasmic.
I, too, have been having that, "what does Sarah Palin remind me of" moments, and it came to me yesterday, HEATHERS! Sarah is a Heather - the epitomy of every snarky, smirking teen queen who left their poor victims cringing in the lunchroom, after uttering some comment along the lines of," what a cuuute dress - I didn't know you shopped salvation Army!" The girls who revelled in the art of the smiling sarcastic putdown, the ones who got away with it by Eddie Haskell-ing it. (well, now I've dated myself...)
Gloria Steinem wrote a great blog about Sarah Palin being like a younger version of Phylis Schafly...spot on.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-steinem4-2008sep04,0,7915118.story