Jezebel: palintology

If Sarah Palin Hates Smart People, What Does That Say About Her Campaign?

Megan — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 16:20:00 EDT

Sarah Palin's only been doing this Vice Presidential thingie for, like, 5 weeks or so, which means it's about time for the inevitable Who She Is And How She Got Here stories to hit the magazines. See, John McCain, this is why people generally: a) actually vet their VP picks and b) announce them sooner. Then, the kind of stuff that's in the new issues of The New Republic and Newsweek doesn't come out at all, or if it does, it doesn't come out with less than a month to go in the elections. Of course, most people don't let an aide pick their Vice President, either.

While it has been previously reported in the NY Times that John McCain really, really, really, really wanted Joe Lieberman to be his running mate and had to be talked out of it because conservatives were grumbling, it's now clear that Steve Schmidt not only did the talking down but also pushed the selection of Sarah Palin, according to the LA Times. Who would've thought that a woman with less than 2 years as a governor, 8 as a mayor and less than a year in a political patronage position could have so much baggage? From a pregnant underage daughter to firing scandals reminiscent of the ones the GOP tried to tar the Clintons with not too long ago (Travelgate, anyone) to rape kits, few people would disagree that the campaign couldn't used just a little bit more time and expended a lot more effort on the vetting process.

But, then, we wouldn't have so much fun reading The New Republic and learning how Sarah Palin is reflexively opposed to people with fancy educations or complex world views. Or looking at Newsweek for information about how she has no interest in focusing on the details of policy issues, preferring pre-made talking points to actually understanding an issue (a preference that was fully on display in the debate last week).

And we certainly wouldn't get quotes from Republicans about how insanely unqualified she was. If they had not tried to play chicken with Obama and the Olympics on selecting a VP, by now, enough McCain surrogates would've been able to get on television and talk about the sour grapes of the also-rans and how Sarah Palin is just representing the classist worldviews of Joe Sixpacks who resent anyone and everyone who is smarter, more privileged or better-educated than them (but not wealthy, because otherwise they wouldn't want to vote for the guy with 7 houses and 12 cars and shit) and Nancy ~~Pfotenhauer~~Pfuckingsucks would be giggling in her arch little way and everyone would have stopped paying attention. Sorry, Steve Schmidt. Sometimes, if Sarah Palin still likes you, it might mean you're not that smart.

Barracuda [The New Republic]
The Palin Problem [Newsweek]
Steve Schmidt: The Driving Force Behind John McCain [LA Times]
Palin Disclosures Raise Questions on Vetting [NY Times]

Ohio Voter Stumbles Over Endorsement Of Sarah Palin

Tracie — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 11:00:00 EDT

If you have HDTV, and you were watching the vice-presidential debate CNN last night, then you were able to see the audience meter at the bottom of the screen. CNN got together a focus group of undecided voters in Ohio, and throughout the debate, producers tracked how men and women were feeling about what the candidates were saying. After the debate, reporter Soledad O'Brien interviewed the undecideds, and found that only one — a woman named Becky Mock — had been swayed enough to decide to vote for John McCain. You'll LOL at her "explanation" of why Sarah Palin was able to restore confidence in her.

Sarah Palin On Feminism, And How Homosexuality Is A "Choice"

Tracie — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 20:30:00 EDT

In the installment of Katie Couric's interview with Sarah Palin that aired tonight, Palin proclaimed that she is feminist. I've always insisted that there is no such thing as a bad feminist. BUT…like a lot of issues concerning Governor Palin's readiness to help lead the nation, I don't necessarily think Palin is an example of bad feminism, I just think she doesn't know much about feminism, period. I think that in order to be a feminist you need to believe in the idea that women are people, too. And part of believing in that is believing in free will and in choice... meaning I really find it hard to understand how someone can be a feminist but want to take away a woman's right to choose.

Palin told Couric:

I'm a feminist who, uh, believes in equal rights and I believe that women certainly today have every opportunity that a man has to succeed, and to try to do it all, anyway. And I'm very, very thankful that I've been brought up in a family where gender hasn't been an issue. You know, I've been expected to do everything growing up that the boys were doing. We were out chopping wood and you're out hunting and fishing and filling our freezer with good wild Alaskan game to feed our family.

GAH! Again with the hunting. I'm so sick of her outdoorsy-ness being an answer to like every fucking question. The other ridiculous quote from Palin was when Couric asked her what books, newspapers or magazines she's read to get a better world view.

Palin: I've read most of them, again with a great appreciation for the press, for the media.
Couric: What, specifically?

Palin: Um, all of them, any of them that have been in front of me all these years.

Couric: Can you name a few?

Palin: I have a vast variety of sources where we get our news, too. Alaska isn't a foreign country, where it's kind of suggested, "Wow, how could you keep in touch with what the rest of Washington, D.C., may be thinking when you live up there in Alaska?" Believe me, Alaska is like a microcosm of America.

But perhaps most infuriating is that Palin believes that homosexuality is a choice.

As for homosexuality, I am not going to judge Americans and the decisions that they make in their adult personal relationships. I have one of my absolute best friends for the last 30 years happens to be gay, and I love her dearly. And she is not my "gay friend," she is one of my best friends, who happens to have made a choice that isn't a choice that I have made. But I am not going to judge people.

So…is she saying that she's had lezzie inclinations and chosen to not act on them!?

Watch CBS Videos Online

Palin Opens Up On Controversial Issues [CBS News]

16 Sexist Sarah Palin Shirts That'll Probably Piss You Off

Tracie — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 15:30:00 EDT

Sarah Palin's policies suck. And though some of of Roe v. Wade talk is just a carrot in front of the horse to lure in voters, many are still uncomfortable with the idea of Palin being "a heartbeat" away from the presidency. In my opinion, she isn't a very logical person, what with the Creationism, her views on the environment, and ~~forcing~~ endorsing the marriage of a 17-year-old. But I'm also uncomfortable with the sexism surrounding her candidacy, much of which is coming from her own supporters! ("The Hottest Governor From The Coldest State," anyone?) There are a number of idiotic and offensive T-shirts being sold right now, and they piss me off, not just because they are disgusting, but because they make me want to defend the woman. After the jump, a collection of the grossest Palin streetwear.

The pros:

The antis:

And just plain weird:

Most of these were found at CafePress, or Zazzle, one was found at Votefordem, and we saw a few others in a post on Feministing.

Sarah Palin: Do You Think You Can Stomach Four More Years Of "Nucular"?

Tracie — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 12:00:00 EDT

Last night, portions of Charlie Gibson's interview with Sarah Palin aired on ABC World News Tonight and Nightline. And he didn't lob softballs at her. In fact, one walked away from the interview clips with the distinct feeling that Charlie Gibson sort of despised his interview subject...and for good reason. Palin didn't even know what the Bush Doctrine was! (To be fair, neither did I, but I'm not looking to run this country.) Anyway, above, check out Charlie's awesome "zing!" moment, as well as Palin's Bush-ish pronunciation of the word "nuclear." After the jump, Charlie's "I'm not amused" faces, and Sarah's scared and sarcastic expressions.

A lot of this interview reminded me of when I used to get grilled by teachers when I didn't do my homework the night before. But, like Palin, I was always pretty good on my feet, and mastered bullshitting at an early age to keep me out of the doghouse. You can read it on her face, though.

Charlie's like "Bish, plz."

She looked kind of frightened at times though.

He was all, "Are you kidding me?"

After a while, she wasn't so fond of him either.

This was my favorite, when Charlie broke the fourth wall and looked at America like, "C'mon, guys."