Liberals and Progressives cry and whine "We need a Sarah Palin of our Own"

[Soul Crusher]

August 28, 2010
A Palin of Our Own
By ANNA HOLMES and REBECCA TRAISTER
www.nyt.com

________________________ ________________________ ___________

TWO years ago today, Senator John McCain of Arizona, the Republican presidential nominee, introduced the world to his running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska. Chosen by Mr. McCain’s campaign strategists as a cynical rejoinder to the ill-starred presidential bid of Hillary Clinton, Governor Palin was a historic pick: the second woman to run for vice president on a major party ticket and the first Republican woman in history to do so.

In the 24 months since her appearance onstage in Dayton, Ohio, Ms. Palin has enthralled pundits and journalists who devote countless television hours and column inches to her every Twitter message and Facebook update, while provoking outrage and exasperation from the left. Case in point: Ms. Palin, now a Fox news contributor, and her cable colleague Glenn Beck planned a rally for Saturday on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, 47 years to the day after the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s March on Washington, a wily usurpation of an anniversary cherished by progressives and civil rights activists.

The left should be outraged and exasperated by all this — but at their own failings as much as Ms. Palin’s ascension. Since the 2008 election, progressive leaders have done little to address the obvious national appetite for female leadership. And despite (or because of) their continuing obsession with Ms. Palin, they have done nothing to stop an anti-choice, pro-abstinence, socialist-bashing Tea Party enthusiast from becoming the 21st century symbol of American women in politics.

What makes this all the more frustrating, of course, is that progressives helped to give Ms. Palin her start; her political career was a natural outgrowth of feminist successes. As a teen, she played basketball thanks to Title IX; as an adult, she enjoyed a professional life made possible by the involvement of her load-bearing husband Todd, entering Alaska’s governor’s mansion at 42 with four children in tow and giving birth to a fifth while there.

Ms. Palin, in turn, has been making a greedy grab at claiming feminism as her own. She recently marked the 90th anniversary of the 19th Amendment by expressing her gratitude “to those brave feminist foremothers who struggled and sacrificed, endured imprisonment and ridicule ... to grant future generations of American women a voice.” On the same day, she sent out this Twitter message: “Who hijacked the term ‘feminist’? A cackle of rads who want 2 crucify other women w/ whom they disagree on a singular issue.”

The hijacking accusation goes both ways. Ms. Palin’s infuriating ability to put a new twist on feminism — after decades of the word’s being besmirched by the right and the left — allows her to both distance herself from and accentuate the movement’s maligned reputation. Her new spin, of course, is that she does not support policies that move women forward.

You’d be forgiven for thinking she does. Ms. Palin has spent much of 2010 burnishing her political bona fides and extending her influence by way of the Mama Grizzlies, a gang of Sarah- approved, maverick-y female politicians looking to “take back” America with “common-sense” solutions.

Sure, the Grizzlies sound somewhat progressive on paper. But from their opposition to reproductive rights to their work against health care reform and labor policies that would empower American women, their ideas are just antiquated clichés dressed up in designer suits. Like Ms. Palin herself, their talk about being “mama bears” and “tough as an ox ... wearing lipstick” simply reduces female candidates’ political prospects to maternal worth and sex appeal.

It’s easy of course, for liberals to laugh off Ms. Palin’s “you go, girl!” ethos and increasingly aggressive co-optation of feminist symbols. We progressives discount her references to the women’s movement — not to mention her validity as a candidate — by looking down on her as a dim, opportunistic, mean-girl prom queen, all spunk and no policy muscle.

But the sad truth is that Democrats often prefer their women fulfilling similarly diminutive models for behavior. Consider how Hillary Clinton has been treated, at times, by those in her own party: Democratic leaders never really celebrated Mrs. Clinton’s nation-altering place in history as the first female candidate to get so close to a major party’s presidential nomination. Indeed, she is most appreciated when she plays well with others in the Senate or the State Department; when she behaves like a fierce competitor, she is compared to Glenn Close’s bunny-boiling virago from “Fatal Attraction.”

The left’s failure to nurture and celebrate female politicians has had a significant effect on its policies. In recent years, Democratic majorities and progressive legislation seem to have been built on steady trade-offs of reproductive rights, culminating this year when the first female speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, was forced to push through health care reform with a compromise on abortion financing.

An older generation of female Democrats, including Mrs. Clinton and Ms. Pelosi, are about as eager to mount a Palin-style girl-powered campaign as they are to wear a miniskirt on the House floor. For them, proudly or aggressively touting one’s feminist credentials (if you’re actually a feminist, that is) is taboo. It’s considered too, well, female.

But as women of a different generation — of, gulp, Sarah Palin’s generation — we wonder if Democrats shouldn’t look to her for twisted inspiration, and recognize that the future of women in politics will be about coming to terms with (and inventing) new models.

Imagine a Democrat willing to brag about breaking the glass ceiling at the explosive beginning, not the safe end, of her campaign. A liberal politician taking to Twitter to argue that big broods and a “culture of life” are completely compatible with reproductive freedom. A female candidate on the left who speaks as angrily and forcefully about her rivals’ shortcomings as Sarah Barracuda does about the Pelosis and Obamas of the world. A smart, unrelenting female, who, unlike Ms. Palin, wants to tear down, not reinforce, traditional ways of looking at women. But that will require a party that is eager to discover, groom, promote and then cheer on such a progressive Palin.

If Sarah Palin and her acolytes successfully redefine what it means to be a groundbreaking political woman, it will be because progressives let it happen — and in doing so, ensured that when it comes to making history, there will be no one but Mama Grizzlies to do the job.


Anna Holmes is the founding editor of the blog Jezebel. Rebecca Traister is the author of the forthcoming “Big Girls Don’t Cry: The Election That Changed Everything for American Women.”


________________________ ________________________ _______

Keep advocating killing your kids, gay marriage, far left insanity, etc.  Yeah thats the ticket.    

[Soul Crusher]

 

[MCWAY]

Palin has SHATTERED the screwy stereotype that the so-called feminists have painted, regarding the modern 20th/21st-century woman.

And they are LIVID about it.

But, they and the rest of the left-winged goofies have no one to blame but themselves. IF they had simply left Palin alone, after McCain lost, she would have just served her term as governor in Alaska. And that would have been that, more or less.

[Soul Crusher]

Palin has SHATTERED the screwy stereotype that the so-called feminists have painted, regarding the modern 20th/21st-century woman.

And they are LIVID about it.

But, they and the rest of the left-winged goofies have no one to blame but themselves. IF they had simply left Palin alone, after McCain lost, she would have just served her term as governor in Alaska. And that would have been that, more or less.

Yup.  Palin is ascending and is far more effective doing what she is doing now.  I don't want her to run for POTUS in 2012, but want her campaigning for more conservative candidates in districts to where the communist Demo can be defeated. 

She is making money, writing books, making the left crazy, and growing in popularaity.  She should stay doing what she is doing.   

[BM OUT]

Every leftist women is a dog.From Waters to Wasserman Shultz to that horrid women from Maryland to Pelosi they are a kennel of mutts.Even Maddow,who could be pretty cuts her hair like Chris Hays and looks like a bull dyke or that empty headed Mika they are mutts from start to end.Just compare the chicks on FOX to those on MSNBC its not even close.

[Soul Crusher]

I'm surprised Mal, 240, Strawe and the rest of Team Kneepad has not chimed in. 

[240 is Back]

Left already had their palin: its name was obama.

and he won, and he shoved a whole bunch of shit down the GOP's throat while they did nothing but complain to FOX viewers.

Now, their only celebratory cry is: "we're going to take back the house!".  BFD.  It's the pendulum, of course they're getting it back.  The other party ALWAYS gets it back, remember?  The only thing is, Obama has gotten more of his lib goals completed in 18 months than most presidents get their entire term.  Bush failed on amnesty and pvt soc security - obama got Stim, Finreg, Healthcare, Afghan Surge, and Credit Card reform act/student loan reform.

And that's in a year and a half of vacationing. 

[Soul Crusher]

Left already had their palin: its name was obama.

and he won, and he shoved a whole bunch of shit down the GOP's throat while they did nothing but complain to FOX viewers.

Now, their only celebratory cry is: "we're going to take back the house!".  BFD.  It's the pendulum, of course they're getting it back.  The other party ALWAYS gets it back, remember?  The only thing is, Obama has gotten more of his lib goals completed in 18 months than most presidents get their entire term.  Bush failed on amnesty and pvt soc security - obama got Stim, Finreg, Healthcare, Afghan Surge, and Credit Card reform act/student loan reform.

And that's in a year and a half of vacationing. 

Yeah, and guess what - those thongs are grossly destructive to the nation, unpopular, sending the economy into a tailspin, and will result in two electoral cycles that will make 1994 look like nothiong.  Even the Senate is in play now. 

[240 is Back]

Yeah, and guess what - those thongs are grossly destructive to the nation, unpopular, sending the economy into a tailspin, and will result in two electoral cycles that will make 1994 look like nothiong.  Even the Senate is in play now. 

of course the senate is possibly in play.  everyone knew obama would get all his shit thru, piss everyone off, and lose them.

For his own ideology - he doesn't care.

In 50 or 100 years, the things he passed will still be a big deal.

[BM OUT]

Left already had their palin: its name was obama.

and he won, and he shoved a whole bunch of shit down the GOP's throat while they did nothing but complain to FOX viewers.

Now, their only celebratory cry is: "we're going to take back the house!".  BFD.  It's the pendulum, of course they're getting it back.  The other party ALWAYS gets it back, remember?  The only thing is, Obama has gotten more of his lib goals completed in 18 months than most presidents get their entire term.  Bush failed on amnesty and pvt soc security - obama got Stim, Finreg, Healthcare, Afghan Surge, and Credit Card reform act/student loan reform.

And that's in a year and a half of vacationing. 

Shoved it down the GOPs throat?No,he shoved it down Americas throat and as I said a million times he knew he was governing against the will of Americans,he did it to purposely wreck the country, and its not difficult to get things passed when you have a fillabuster prrof senate and monumental majorities in the house.

The good thing though is he is the first black president and he will be a one term president and we will NEVER vote another black in again.Never give a white mans job to an ignorant,racist bitch made black idiot.

Now,lets compare GDP in Reagans first two years to Obamas and Reagan inherritted a worse economy.Thats the differance between a white conservative and a racist black idiot which is why we will never see another black president again.

[Skip8282]

When you look like this, you're not going to attract a Sarah Palin!

[Soul Crusher]

Ha ha ha - the far left women are suddenly awakening that the Dem plantation has taken them for a ride.

I guess she realizes that Fiorina, Whitman, Hailey, Linda M, Angle etc all have a good chance to win public office, and are doing so without the cry baby victim nonsense and far left screeching. 


________________________ _______________

How Feminists' Eggs Came Home to Roost
This has not been a good week for Democratic women.
www.huffingtonpost.com


First, a New York Times op-ed penned by two progressive feminists noting two disturbing trends: 1) Democratic Leaders have been bargaining away our reproductive rights, and 2) the Democratic Party is not seeking out nor encouraging strong women leaders . Then, a Los Angeles Times story descrying that hopes for the "Year of the Women" are fading. Given the projected seat losses by incumbent Democratic women, women's representation in government will likely decrease in 2010 (for the first time since 1976).

Well, gosh golly gee. Let me gather up some faux shock and righteous indignation and say: "You mean the Democratic Party doesn't care about women?". There, that's better.

Why are Democratic women moving backwards? Because we've promised our vote to one party on the basis of one issue. We have no bargaining power or leverage. The old idiom: Why buy the cow, when you can get the milk for free?, has a DNC version: If we pay lip service to the eggs, we'll get their vote for free!

To get women back on the path of advancement, we need a new strategy. It's time for women leaders to voyage beyond women's studies and take a lesson from the economics department. When business as usual stops working, it's time to restructure and reinvent.

The imperious assumption that reproductive rights is the litmus test for our vote is holding us back. United, women are a powerful voting block. Divided, we are essentially stalled. To move forward, women need to find common ground. Here's some tips on getting there:

1. Reproductive Rights should not be our centerpiece issue

I am pro-choice and reproductive rights are important to me. But so are other issues. A singular focus on reproductive rights is defeatist, myopic and exclusionary. How about post menopausal women? Or lesbian women? Or women who are not sexually active? Should one issue that impacts a slice of women and girls be our holy grail?

If we truly want to give women control of their bodies, women need economic freedom. Women compose the majority of small business owners and employees. We raise the vast majority of children. In a year where uncertainty on taxes, health care costs and regulations has paused economic expansion, it is women who lose. Women who are not financially secure are more likely to stay in abusive relationships (with their children), get foreclosed on, lose credit and so on.

We need to reformulate and update our list of what constitutes: "women's issue."

2. Republican Women are not the enemy

So sure that Republican women don't care about women's issues? Think again!

Without the support of the four female Republican Senators, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act would not have passed. The Republican women were also instrumental in passing Al Franken's Anti-Rape Amendment, working with Democratic women to co-sponsor Mammogram Coverage Amendment, and speaking out for the women of Afghanistan.

Our daily lives are improved by having women leaders from both parties. My colleague Patricia Garrison, a registered Democrat, recalls having a difficult delivery of her daughter fifteen years ago. Nonetheless, her insurance company instructed her check out the next day. Then a light bulb went off. Pat remembered that her governor, Christine Todd Whitman (R), had just signed a bill mandating insurers to cover a second night in the hospital. Pat readily acknowledges that if "Christine" was instead "Christopher", from either party, Pat would have been shipped home 24 hours later.

3. Women's Groups' anti-women rhetoric sets us back

Women's groups should declare a moratorium on attacking Republican women. As Anne Kornblut's Notes from the Cracked Ceiling sadly documents, there is a large segment of women (and men) who will simply not vote for women because they presume we are not qualified. Feeding into this ignorance by demeaning women candidates only steepens the slope for all women candidates.

The video "Sarah Palin Doesn't Speak for Me" is unbecoming and a stain on the legacy of the important organization that produced it. So are the insidious op-ed's written by leaders of women's organizations attacking Republican women running for office. If you run an organization whose goal is to get more women elected, then get women elected. Send us a video of Democratic women candidates who DO speak for you and tell us how we can support them. Meet with the DNC and demand more support and funding for women running.

But don't shame our gender by telling us the best you can do is to demean other women - it's not only high school, it's junior high school. Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina are serious women who ran Fortune 500 companies (only 3% of F500 CEOs are women). Nikki Haley and Susana Martinez are minority women who made their own way to run as governors. These women are not "wingnuts" or any of the other verbal diarrhea being hurled their way. Even if we don't vote for these women, we can acknowledge and respect them. If your organization REALLY needs to make it a fight on policy, then make a video attacking some of the Republican men running against Democratic women.

4. "A Palin of Our Own" is not the solution

It would be misguided to presume that the solution for the Democratic Party is to find our Sarah Palin. The internalized sexism in our party is too systemic . For example, the two progressive feminists who penned the 'Palin of Our Own' op-ed were unequivocally brutal towards Hillary Clinton, a woman in our party, publishing sexist articles like this. Why didn't the women in our party speak out?

We can, however, learn from Sarah Palin. Palin unapologetically supports women in her party. Even at times incurring her party faithful's wrath when her choices were not conservative enough.

We should, as a starting point, expect that of our women leaders. And, perhaps of ourselves. Can we support the women in our party and give them the benefit of the doubt until we make some inroads towards gender balance? Because there is no "perfect" woman candidate. If Mother Teresa were running as a Democrat, we'd obsess over on what her hair looked like under the habit.

We don't necessarily need to vote for women of the Republican Party if we disagree with their policies. But as my dearly deceased mother used to say: If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.

Supporting women. Finding common ground. These notions will get women moving forward once again!


 
Follow Amy Siskind on Twitter: www.twitter.com/AmyTheNewAgenda

[Purge_WTF]

When you look like this, you're not going to attract a Sarah Palin!