Hey, half my body-weight is comfort food. But even I know that Palin-bashing is empty calories.

[lwcon]

Why are so many Democrats fixated on the ex-governor of Alaska?

The answer, obviously, is that she's a heat-sink for the rage we should have against our own machine.

It's a massive waste of time and energy, and worse, there is an undeniable (yet, of course, routinely denied) stench of misogyny to much of it.

If we hate her politics so much -- and, Christ we should -- how about we get our own house in order: end some wars, get the profiteers out of health-care, and close (instead of expand) the office of faith-based initiatives.

I'm all for shaming her for crap like "death panels," but I don't give a flying fuck that http://vastleft.blogspot.com/2009/10/painted-lady.html">she wears make-up, and I think calling her a "bitch" is... well you know what it is. But do you care enough to stand up to it and stop it?

Please K&R if you are sick of your fellow Dems building up Palin as a key player in American politics and treating her as a human piñata.

[YOY]

1. Well you've spent one more OP on it than I have.

n/t

[blondeatlast]

2. Kick but no R--SHE is setting herself up as a key player and I don't presume to tell anyone

on the board what they can and can't discuss. I never unrecommend either, so take from that what you will.

[lwcon]

5. I'm not telling people not to discuss her

But let's focus on her crappy politics, not this highly personalized and often gender-based bashing.

Since she's not in office, I can't see how she should be such a constant topic, but I haven't and won't tell people never to talk about her. Given that the Dems are in charge of every branch but the Supreme Court, it does seem that she's rather too prominent a topic relative to the majority party that's playing out Bush's Third Term. YMMV.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

6. "Bush's Third Term". Ok.

:eyes:

[lwcon]

11. No accounting for taste. Me, I'm not OK with it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-swanson/bushs-third-term-youre-li_b_274438.html

[SemiCharmedQuark]

12. If you think this is Bush's third term, you must have slept through the first two.

[lwcon]

13. I guess you chose now as the time to sleep

Sweet dreams of ending wars, accountability on Wall Street, restoring the Constitution, real health-care reform, economic justice, separation of church and state....

Cause we ain't getting them in the waking hours.

Oh, look over there! Sarah Palin! That'll keep us nice and distracted!

[edbermac]

3. Consider this: 10 years ago we all thought Gov Bush was a joke.

I rest my case.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

4. No thanks. She stirrs up hatred wherever she goes.

Most of us can do two things at once.

[Le Taz Hot]

7. Oh, mysogyny, bullshit!

Just like Hillary, she doesn't get a pass just because she's a women. Obama doesn't get a pass just because he's Black.

The Sarah Palin obsession originates from the MSM, who LOVES her.

Unrec for misapplying misogyny.

[lwcon]

9. So... "witch" and "bitch" aren't misogynistic?

Who knew?

[SemiCharmedQuark]

10. That's why I stick with "asshole" and "moron".

[Le Taz Hot]

14. Hon, I'm old enough to consider

the term "bitch" as a badge of honor. In fact, my favorite t-shirt says: "You call me a bitch like it's a bad thing." At some point, if I ever have any money again, I'm going to get my sig line made up as a t-shirt. You know how some in the African-American community chose to own the N-word by using it on themselves? Same thing applies here. They're only words and if you make them your own, they lose the impact they once had.

[dionysus]

22. no, inherently they're not. you see, it's mysogynistic when used as a broad brush smear.for instance

it may not be polite, if you encounter some really mean or evil woman and call her a bitch, and you're only referring to a specific person, not misogynist.

example; sarah palin is a bitch. hillary clinton and most other women aren't.

if the word is used in reference to ALL women, then it clearly is misogynist. for example, when rappers refer to women as a whole as "bitches" or "ho's"

[snagglepuss]

16. I second that. nt

[WorseBeforeBetter]

8. Unreccing, because "please K&R" threads annoy me.

The posters above make good points -- your questions/concerns should be answered.

[FSogol]

15. The media is building her up, not the Democrats.

She is a shiny train wreck that cars passing by can't help but look at. Nothing more.

[ecstatic]

17. Everything that comes out her mouth is vile nonsense. Save your pity for real examples of sexism nt

[Ukonkivi]

18. Don't want to be associated with the haters or the lovers.

>>stench of misogyny to much of it.
Now Sarah Palin is horrid. I'd say I probably have even less in common with her, slightly, than John McCain.
But this IS true. And Palin bashers shouldn't fall to this.

[lwcon]

19. Thank you n/t

[noiretextatique]

24. palin is a disgrace to women, the very epitome of the anti-feminist

she thinks her looks, winking, and flirting will distract from her very empty brain. she's misogyny at its finest, so fuck her and her whining. she deserve every bit of criticism she gets. like most rw women, she is no friend to women.

[blondeatlast]

29. Word, word, word. And she's put herself where she is entirely of her own doing.

She loves the attention.

[lwcon]

31. I've heard that line of reasoning before

"She was asking for it."

[blondeatlast]

33. Media attention = rape? Please explain? nt

[noiretextatique]

35. what utter nonsense

this pea-brained twit thinks her winking and smiling makes up for the fact that she's an empty-headed moran. your defense of this idiot is as weak as your claim that criticisms of her are misogynistic. palin thinks her supposed cuteness gives her a pass, that's why she's still blaming katie couric for the fact that she couldn't name one of the supposedly many newspapers she reads. her entire "act" is misogynistic.

[dionysus]

20. so sarah palin gets in the way of your obama bashing. so sorry to hear that...

[lwcon]

21. As long as she gets in the way of your honestly critiquing Obama

I guess it all works out, in the end.

[dionysus]

23. i personally could give a rat's ass about her other than the comedic aspect.

critcism is one thing, but you go overboard and lose all credibility when directly equating him to bush.

[lwcon]

25. It's not like he's presiding over a surge, or...

Expanding the war into Pakistan
Expanding the faith-based initiatives department
Making sweetheart deals for Wall Street while pushing "entitlement reform" for everyone else
Making secret deals with Big Pharma to blunt health-care reform
Furthering Bush's assaults on the Constitution and the Geneva Conventions

What's more, he's making all those things palatable to many "progressives."

So, whose credibility problem is it, really?

[dionysus]

26. a mass of hyperbole, untruths and bitterness. but whatever floats your boat man

:shrug:

[lwcon]

27. My bad

Obama's dropping candy on Af-Pak, closing Bagram, shutting down the faith-based department, prosecuting Bush-era war criminals and Wall Street hustlers, "considering all options" on health reform, putting "entitlement" programs in a lockbox, etc., etc., etc.

[blondeatlast]

28. So why didn't you post about your beefs about Obama? You'd get a bunch more recs

if you had.

[lwcon]

30. I'm not exactly known for biting my tongue about Obama's flaws

It's all there in my journal here and my blogging at http://vastleft.blogspot.com and http://www.correntewire.com/blogs/vastleft

But I'd rather not get another "rec" the rest of my life, if my lifetime party would:

* Stop distracting itself from its own flaws and the urgent work at hand by fixating on out-of-office personalities
* Recognize and renounce its disturbing tendencies to the demeaning politics of misogyny and dehumanizing of the "Other." It's wrong, and it signs, seals, and delivers to the GOP the role of populist party.

[Blue_In_AK]

32. I'm sorry, but

I'm a woman and Sarah Palin is a bitch. I call 'em like I see 'em.

[Occam Bandage]

34. Hey, stop attacking Republicans! Let's all bash Dems some more!

:eyes: