A Dark Moment for Our Country
By Amy Siskind on July 6, 2009 at 7:01 PM in Current Affairs
What am I going to tell my daughter?
From my daughter's school locker
(From my blog at The New Agenda, “The new ‘feminism’, improving the lives of women and girls.”)
That was the first thing that popped into my mind this afternoon after watching Governor Palin step down.
My 11 year-old daughter adores Sarah Palin. She is too young to understand pro-choice and pro-life. The difference between drilling and being environmentally cautions. My daughter looks at Sarah Palin and she sees herself. My daughter plays point guard in basketball like Sarah. My daughter is a competitor and works really hard like Sarah. My daughter will be devastated.
For not once, but twice in the last two years, my daughter has seen a hero fall. Three years ago, when Hillary was serving at a NY State Senator, my daughter wrote a third grade report about Hillary. I took my daughter to meet Hillary, who took the time in the throngs of thousands of supporters to stop, read my daughter’s report, and ask her about it. This is when I became inspired into political activism. This is when my daughter found an important role model. And my daughter believed “I CAN BE PRESIDENT.”
I still remember an email that a mother sent me last October. She was grieving because her 12 year-old daughter, who prior to 2008 had aspired to a career in politics, told her that she no longer wanted to be a politician – that the boys wouldn’t let the girls win. Teenage girls might experience sexism in a different way, but believe me, they “get it” nonetheless.
I hope, no I pray, that in the end Sarah Palin will run for President. I watched today as many of you did and saw a woman who had just had enough. Not only the onslaught of sexism and vitriol aimed at her, but also at her family. In the last month alone we had Letterman, John Kerry’s comment, the Vanity Fair trash and all other sorts of snipes and sexist attacks. I’ll bet that Todd Purdum is celebrating tonight and getting congratulatory emails and high-fives from his “friends”.
How did we let it come to this folks? This is our country – a country we are proud to live in. How did we allow such a high level of acceptable sexism to exist and flourish? What about our daughters? As Mary Matalin said this evening on CNN:
The price of public service should not be personal destruction.
But there’s more than just destruction. Sarah Palin was treated differently solely because she is a woman. And our country let this happen – you would have thought that we would have learned a national lesson after the national shame of what happened to Hillary – but sadly, no.
I’m proud that we started The New Agenda last August. I’m proud that we decided to speak out against sexism against all women – after all Sexism Against Conservative Women is Still Sexism:
When a conservative woman is the target of an attack, many so-called feminists stay silent. This “selective sexism”, or speaking out against sexism on a case by case basis, does not advance our national dialogue on women’s issues. Rather, selective sexism allows a dangerous level of permissible sexism to live and breed in our country.
But at the same time, I am outraged by how many other women have turned a silent ear to the sexist attacks on Sarah Palin. Or worse, how our old line national organization actually aided and abetted these attacks. I recall how NOW featured Costume Idea: Sarah Palin as a Halloween spoof on their website. This is an organization who holds themselves out to national organization focused on women’s rights. Yet, they allowed this clear and utter sexist attack against a female politician on their organization’s website?
And I want to be hopeful that NOW can reinvent itself under new leadership. I wrote an article for The Huffington Post about the importance of NOW as a national organization. But then a National Board Member of NOW has taken the time to come to our website and write this:
We are not new agenda/Palin supporters. We support candidates and women that adhere to choice
Sigh, this type of thing makes me lose hope that despite their decline, the folks at NOW “get it.”
Because today’s loss is much bigger than Sarah Palin herself. Today we lost the second hope in as many years of getting a woman to the highest office. Today we lost an important role model for our daughters. Today was a loss for our country, and the next generation.
So I ask you all to join us at this moment. We need your help. We simply cannot let this continue. We need you all to join us right here, right now, at this moment. And if not for ourselves, then for the next generation. They deserve a better country than what we are currently leaving them. We must fight sexism and misogyny together and eradicate it starting today.
And we need your help. Please join us. Let’s draw a line in the sand and say NO MORE! This is a moment of darkness for our country, and it’s time to start letting in the light!
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Sarah Palin is saving Alaska from frivilous lawsuits. She is now free to roam the lower 48 and go after her critics and at the sametime draw attention to Obama disastrous policies. Sarah Palin will be more powerful using her star power to get her messgae across. She sacrifice her political ambitions to save her country. This move may cost her the prseidency but the woman is saving a nation from BIg Spender Obama. Sarahv is the only republican who can get the attention from the media to get a message out.
I will be there to join her when leads a march On Washington to stop reduce Government spending. She is in the fifgt for her country.
Sadly though, the wrong governor resign.
I enjoy your writing Amy.
What really frustrates me are the number of women who hate Palin. Really hate, foam at the mouth hate, eyes bulge out hate. I never saw the NOW “costume idea” but its really very typical.
So disappointing, the entire direction of the country seems wrong.
Some of my fellow Democrats who are women are the worst about Sarah. I still can’t get over what was done to Hillary. Apparently from our conversations they threw in the towel and went with Barry. These women were the most vicious about Sarah. They are just about in denial it ever happened to Hill as well.
Ya know, for the first time over the weekend some of my friends who were Hillary then went to Obama but hated Palin started to come around. They were really upset about the treatment of Palin’s children. Maybe a glimmer of hope?
Can you give me one example of where the MSM supposively treated Palin children badly?
Complete BS!
And give me something more than a Letterman joke from which he apologized!
If you do not want your children to be part of the conversation then don’t parade them out to the world and let them do talk shows.
down, that is without a doubt the stupidest post i’ve today. it also false, pretentious and downright insulting to any readers’ intelligence thereby demonstrating your are a not very bright fool.
Yea, I guess all the pictures of Obama’s kids in their pretty outfits give open season on them too huh? Id-jiot.
Down: I think the order of the day should be a “Palin children treatment” for the Obama girls. After all, they were paraded out onto the political stage too.
Try this on for size and tell me that children should be subjected to this kind of evil.
http://legalinsurrection.blogspot.com/2009/06/wonkette-goes-after-trig-palin-again.html
Pray, what is wrong with you and the other people who come up with this?
Amy,
Your opening line brought me to tears and reminded me of the primaries and why many of us went into EXILE. I will write you a private e-mail, it’s amazing why we took such a beating and kept going. Yup, it was about the little girls coming up, their dreams, their daring to fly.
I remember growing up, having posters up and one of them was the First Female Commercial Pilot! Hillary had dreams of being an astronaut and was put off, but she kept trying…that is what I loved about her, she really was about believing, daring.
I recall getting all exited upon hearing about Sarah, because she flew a plane and was her own person, hard working and a fighter. In a way, I thought BRAVA that another woman would consider the run, given the beating Hillary took and I respected her for daring to run and giving it her all.
I still believe we missed the chance of a life time in electing the best candidate, that just happened to be a woman, Hillary R. Clinton.
I guess we will tell our daughters that great women have tried and have left some defining cracks on that hard GLASS CEILING, shining some rays of light for them and we know they will help to break it down for their daughters…
18 Million Cracks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82qCwLX9piE
I will help…you can count on me.
We Must Divest From Misogyny, Our Very Lives Depend On It!
HC I know what you mean about women “hating” her. I think there are several reasons: 1) They consider themselves sophisticated and are very touchy about their origins and have spent their entire lives running away from it (aka Martha Stewart or Peggy Noonan) 2) They have shaky self-esteem and feel like they’re right back in high school all over again, being compared to the prettiest and most athletic and most popular girl in the class 3) They’ve had an abortion 4) They simply have damaged psyches from childhood, the way all chronically angry people usually do.
My well-adjusted Democratic friends (who think I’m being eccentric in supporting her) will say something like, “There is something very compelling about what she has to say but, Laura, she’s too naive.”
I don’t think Sarah can do anything about the first 4 but she is addressing the last in spades and these “elite” women can be won. I think NOW at least issuing a condemnation of Letterman was a start, but the new “unexpectedly elected” president of NOW, I think, is a sign of what is to come.
Meanwhile, Sarah only grows stronger, wiser, bolder and with more resources. (yippee!)
HC: I’ve seen the same thing. Democratic women (Obama women) have an irrational hatred for Sarah Palin. If you don’t like someone’s political position, fine. But what is the vicious hate about?
I wouldn’t be so sure that SP has called it quits. Her statement was very clear that she has not. In addition, her lawyer served notice that they were ready to file lawsuits for slander and libel against any and all who maligned her in the future – something she could not do whole Governor of Alaska.
I’d stay tuned if I were you and tell your daughter to wait and see what happens…
Oh I think Sarah has just begun to fight. She has just regrouped. The same women who hate her are the same women who will stab another woman in the back to get her job or her man. Go Sarah Go. There are many of us who have your back.
At my family’s 4th of July celebration my mother, her face twisted with hatred, again spouted off about how much she disliked Sarah and her 6-year old daughter. Most of my family has been rampant with Palin Derangement Syndrome and before that many spewed anti-Hillary rhetoric.
I have been a feminist activist all of my adult life. I have been in the trenches, at the clinics, in the legislature, and in Washington, D.C. working to make the world equal for all.
This past election wounded me deeply and has caused me to really look at family and friends and wonder if I really want to spend time with them. I know that my commitment to political activism has for the most part disappeared. And if the crop of young people who praised That One and attacked both Hillary and Sarah, are the ones I worked to achieve equal rights for, I think I’ll pass on doing much more. Somehow I don’t think many young people even know what our generation fought for and accomplished because they’ve taken their rights for granted for too long. Now I’m looking for another hobby.
How could someone dislike PIPER just because her mom is a conservative? That’s just nutso, seriously nutso.
I know. Also, Piper is just about the cutest kid around. Hating a 6 year old??? Wow.
Many women, particularly young women think being a feminist is synonymous with being pro-choice, period, the end. They have no concept yet about the money they make vs the money men make. Actually, I think they are convinced their mothers and grandmothers won the fight for equal rights. Gloria Stienem wrote in one of her books that it is older women who are the revolutionaries among women, but younger men are the male revolutionaries. Young women and older men couldn’t care less according to her theory.
It is hard to analyze why there is so much hatred toward Sarah Palin. I think her down-to-earth way of expressing herself hits those cynics the wrong way. In many ways she is more like the description that was given to Hillary than Hillary. When Hillary was at the top of her game in running for president, winning over the working-class people, especially working-class women to the point that one commentator said, “You would think she only managed to earn her ged – who would ever guess she is a graduate of Yale Law School.”
The elite can admire what Hillary accomplished in that regard, but they knew intellectually she towered over almost everyone. With Sarah, I believe many of them think that is all she has – a ged. They become intellectual snobs who say such things as, “If she can be president, so can I.” Ridiculous, but true, I’m afraid. Palin was widely criticized for not having an ivy league school on her resume and even more criticized for attending and graduating from lack-luster institutions. This in spite of the fact both her parents were school teachers, not factory worker rednecks.
Hillary and Sarah were treated differently, but each had her own horror house of sexism, disrespect, and misogyny used against her. And, Amy, as you said, NOW and women in general aided and abetted these attacks. The NOW member who wrote you that NOW members are for choice says it all. I don’t think she was speaking simply of choice on abortion, she was speaking of choice of marriage partner as well. This is where the rubber meets the road. The women who insist on these two things being part of ALL women’s agenda is what has held us back 25 years ago as well as today. We MUST find common ground where women are concerned and cast aside these horrendously divisive issues. Let NOW do their thing. Many of us recognize we must join together with women who are different from us philosophically and politically to achieve the goal that has so eluded us. That means we must welcome conservative women, pro-life women, and women who believe marriage should be between a man and a woman (like Hillary and Obama had to say during the campaign). We cannot continue to let the women of NOW pull us around by the nose and dictate policy to us. A membership decline from 550,000 to 60,000 should tell us something about Now.
If we do not learn this lesson today, we stay in the wilderness and will continue to be horrified as to what we will say to our daughters and granddaughters. The ugly truth is, we have not yet won the fight for equal rights and need help from our daughters and granddaughters as well as the more conservative women.
I think they realize something that you should have realized by now too: It’s important for women & men to be equal. But that doesn’t mean that we must always support a woman over a man simply because she is a woman.
Nobody is asking you to support her against your will. What people are asking for is decency, some respect and fairness. You think it is easy to get elected for a governor of ANY state out of the blue, running against establishment candidates from both parties. You gave the benefit of the doubt to 0bama with his razor thin resume. Why not see what this woman will do? Why tear her and her family apart with ridicule even before she gets started? Why can’t we find any rational reason why you can’t NOT ridicule her. If she was a man, she would be treated better. Quayle got off easier. Hell, 0bama got off easier in his first couple of months with all his gaffes and later too and even now.
As if it’s an equal playing field. Women comprise 51% of the population, and 17% of Congressional representation. Do some research before you reveal your dangerous ignorance.
sure, don’t support a women if you disagree with her policies. but you don’t have to condone double standards and sexist attacks. we’re talking about the over the top hate here.
Senneth.Could you askyour mother how she can hate 6 year old Piper Palin who is a gorgeous little girl.
Is your mother sane? What has Piper done to her?
She needs to find some love. It is sad to be old & bitter & twisted.
I am sad about that comment from NOW, with the “new administration” in place.
So no, they are not a FEMINIST organization, they are a pro-choice organization, period.
That’s fine, and I’m pro-choice myself, but if they are saying that only pro-choice women will be supported or defended in any way, then they will continue to go the way of the dinosaur. I quit NOW, and had hoped that I might be able to re-join, but not if that is their position.
The Pro-Choice label is an oxymoron if they can’t tolerate women or those who choose not to abort a pregnancy.
My lord. You have no understanding of what “pro choice” means, do you? Of course those of us who are “pro choice” are fine with women who “don’t abort a pregnancy” (otherwise known as having kids) our stance isn’t taking away choice but giving it. On the other hand “pro life” people want to take away a woman’s right to choose what to do with her own body. Sarah Palin is the anti-feminist. She’s wrong on all of the issues. She’s not a feminist just because she’s a woman.
felize, isn’t it amusing to see this silly twit on here spouting off about feminism. i note that “it” ignores “dust her off my shoulder/shoe” routine that ole zero did. give it a rest suzy!
IF suzieq is actually female, perhaps she will one day realize the harm she and her ilk have done to the position of women in our society. perhaps she will personally suffer what she so enjoys dishing out. no sympathy from me if that happens.
always find it funny that those who have no clue and no experience of how far we have, and have not, come in the last fifty or so years, somehow believe themselves qualified to define “feminist.”
It’s a troll so saddened…the blogosphere is full of em….ignore it!
you’re right, amy! guess i just allowed myself a little dismay at what’s become of us.
in the wee, wee, hours last night, when i couldn’t sleep, sort of half heard the commentators on a fox business show discussing economic issues, stocks, etc. two of the four started spouting obamapropaganda in the midst of it. when that crap starts to infiltrate even the normally dry business-related shows, it makes you wonder about the level of thinking ability of supposedly educated people.
scary prospect for those who’ll suffer the results of bad decisions in decades to come. sometimes it may not be such a bad thing to be old.
Indeed, stodgie! It would be most fascinating to see how she defines “choice” and “feminism”. Palin’s decision not to abort Trig was a personal choice. She has not advocated any laws, as a governor to impose her personal beliefs on other women.
Absolutely felizarte! Governor Palin has said she does not believe in criminalizing women who choose abortion. I don’t know how much clearer you can get than that.
And you’re not a feminist simply because you are pro-choice. You’re at stalemate, dingaling.
And yet “choice” doesn’t seem to apply to your very rigid definition of what a feminist is does it? A feminist is NOT just about choice. Feminism stands for strength, independence, pioneerism. Palin embodies all of those attributes. Who made you the final authority on the definition of feminism?
And we need to speak out about sexist attacks against ALL women – NOT selectively.
My lord. ? what “pro choice ??
Huh?
WMCB: I’m just going to follow you around the blogosphere saying, “What she said.”
Is the new administration in place yet? I thought they didn’t take over until a few weeks from now. I guess I need to go and take a look.
Lisa
I was thinking of rejoining too, but like you said, if they won’t defend any woman who is targeted by misogynists, then they’re not for me.
The attacks against Hillary and then Palin proved that any woman, regardless of her beliefs, is a target in public life. If NOW won’t stand up, they’re not worth my money or time.
I say this as a life long pro-choice (now ex-) Dem.
Terry O’Neill and her team don’t take office in NOW until July 21st, and then it’s a month long transition. Give Terry a chance, you’ll find out she’s very different from the last administration.
As to why my mother dislikes Piper, God only knows, I sure don’t. But I’ve given up trying to figure out her irrational likes and dislikes.
Great post Amy, thank you.
My only recommendation for your daughter is exactly what Governor Palin said, “We are not retreating, we are advancing in another direction”.
And as much as she acknowledge the waste and cost by this new kind of politics HObama has bestowed on our nation, she has already served warning now that her hands are not tied and I hope all reading this makes at least a small donation to her legal defense fund as I did today, I too hope she had that future path set out, because we do need her.
http://www.thealaskafundtrust.com/
It’s sitll up to us, ladies/women/girls. Either we unite to speak up for basic respect for all women, regardless of politics or values, or we continue to let the male media and its female sycophants divide and conquer us. The men unite for a purpose, ugly though it may be. How about we women unite for a purpose–common courtesy for our gender?
exactly! The New Agenda!
Amy, can you respond to the allegations that The New Agenda rejected the voice of blue collar feminists like Harriet Christian? What’s the true story behind that? I’d like to be supportive, but I cannot support elitism in any form–especially because the issue of class, for Palin as well, has become just as much of an issue as gender in electoral politics.
Thank you for an important article, Amy. It is high time the fight was taken back to the misogynists and their enablers. Enough is enough. It is time to identify and give them all the negative publicity they so richly deserve.
I think what disturbs me most is watching and hearing women themselves participate in the blatant sexism against Palin. What are they thinking???
I don’t agree with Palin on a number of political issues, but I think the treatment she’s received is sickening, and the attacks on her family outrageous. Some of these doctored photos of Palin’s son Trig are downright deranged.
So, now it’s perfectly okay to pound down female public servants and ridicule a Down’s Syndrome baby? And for the high-minded Dems [and Republicans], I’d remind them that Hillary Clinton has been a punching bag for decades.
For me, the worst moment last year was listening to and reading obscenely blatant, raw sexism coming from my own party, the same party I had supported and voted for my entire life. And they even turned on their own when they viciously attacked Hillary Clinton.
And what did NOW do? For the most part, they sat back silently [see no evil] or even contributed to the howl.
Shame on all of them! They’re acting like a stupid sorority rather than an organization that represents all womens’ issues. I have no respect for the limited outlook or the organization.
Even worse, after the election Ms magazine ran a cover picture of Obama ripping open his shirt a la Superman with the caption “This is what a feminist looks like.” I bought several copies of the magazine, scratched out the word “feminist” and wrote in “douchebag,” and proudly displayed them on my office door.
Ms really sunk to a new low with that one. Absolutely disgraceful.
I was stunned when I listened to Gloria Steinem on the Today Show. It was morning after Hillary made her resignation speech. Steinem sat there and said, “well, I never thought she could win. She’s a woman afterall and that’s how things are this country.”
Right then, I thought what sort of half-assed support is this? What did she support Hillary “simply” because she was a woman but knew all along that the real nod would go to Obama? And why? His credentials? His experience? Hahahaha. Where was the statement to bolster women in general? The 18 million cracks in the ceiling, for instance. Heard it from Hillary but not a peep from the elder feminist Stienem. It was just an “Oh well.”
Maybe the whole movement has really turned into a fossilized version of itself, repeating the same tired message like a broken record. It sounded “revolutionary” when I was kid. Now? Not so much.
I have a confession: at the library I “misplaced” all those Ms. magazines with B0 on the front.
I have another confession: I did the same thing with copies of Dreams of My Father at the store.
I have a confession, too. I have a black marker with me at all times. I draw Hitler mustaches on anything with Obama’s picture. My doctor’s office magazines all have Obama with hitler mustaches or other graffiti on them. I also draw on Obama bumper stickers. My bad.
Peggy Sue, in a funny way, I am actually buoyed by the similarity in viewpoints between women and men. Because women who ‘hate’ women are not intrinsically better off than the women they hate. So, from a logical standpoint, female on female hatred would only make sense if viewed from this perspective. Both men and women are equally susceptible to becoming victims of societal brainwashing of female inferiority.
I think Palin knows what she’s up against. Had she stayed as governor, every trip she takes outside Alaska would have generated additional frivolous accusations of misusing state funds for non-state activities. By resigning, she has freed herself from those types of criticisms and allows her to do fundraising events for other candidates. As Sen. Grassley was quoted in USA Today, under the heading of “GOP Leaders astounded by Palin Resignation:
Grassley’s statement is the typical politician’s mentality–using their offices for personal political agendas just like Obama.
Palin is proving herself once again as not the “typical politician.” She is not building her network among professional politicians. She is going directly to the grassroots. She can now “fire at Obama” at will in criticizing policies. It will be fascinating to watch her succeeding moves. More power to her!
I did not hear him say the same thing about what’s his name, Mitt Romney, who decided not to seek a 2nd term as Governor of MA so that he could run for President! Indeed, he spent much of his 1st term in paid government office setting up his campaign. Cannot find any quotes from the Senator about him.
http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/politics/2007/02/01/10-things-you-didnt-know-about-mitt-romney.html
“What am I going to tell my daughter?”
Heartbreaking isn’t it? Our daughters have just discovered that everything we’ve told them about how anybody can grow up to be president is a lie. All our stories about how girls can do and be anything they want is a bunch of crap.
LOL, I don’t know about the rest of you, but my girls never believed me anyway. They knew immediately that they had the right to work twice as hard, to dance backwards in heels, for half the pay and half the recognition. Unless something goes wrong, in that case you’ll get all the recognition.
But listen, one of the bright spots in all of this is that women really can dance backwards in heels. We are just that good. Sarah Palin is going to thrive just as Hillary Clinton is thriving. It’s not fair, it’s not just, but women find a way to just keep on rising anyway.
Wanna cry? Some young students were talking about whether they would like to be POTUS when they grew up. One of the girls asked me whether girls could be President. I bit my tongue; but, luckily (?) I knew her parents had immigrated here from another country. So, I asked, were you born in the U.S.? “No.” Well, then, you cannot be POTUS because under the U.S. Constitution, the POTUS must be a NBC.
That’s not worth tears. The Natural Born Citizen rule is there for a purpose. The lesson and reasoning of that is right in front of us driving the economy into oblivion and weakening the nation.
The message is that yes, a woman can be president. The work to be done in making that happen is what has not materialized, yet.
Give Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton a hand-up rather than a tear. Tell those girls to have confidence in their own abilities, passions, and goals no matter what.
Buzz well said!
No; you totally missed my point. This girl wondered whether a girl could be POTUS. My eyes welled up with tears, instantly re-living what happened to HRC and SP. Should I tell her, technically, yes, but…? Luckily, I did not have to go into the heartbreaking challenges she would face as a female candidate, because I could exclude her candidacy on other grounds.
Oh. hike up the skirts and tell those girls, Yes! Is it your intent to defeat them, too?
Of course, I cited the 3 Constitutional requirements for POTUS, none of which is that, the candidate must be male.
Oh please. Because Hillary barely lost a primary, any female candidate will therefore face heartbreaking challenges? Don’t be ridiculous. Hillary brought America closer than ever to the first female president, and frankly, I’d still give her better odds than anyone else alive of being that president, in 2016.
uh..2012. For sure. Obama is going to be a one term (hopefully less) president.
Terrific article.
As an early male supporter of NOW from many years past, I was disappointed in their “new” direction comments.
Women bashing in the new “out in the open” sport in our nation. We’ve always had the jackasses that abused women and felt it was ok, but never in such an open way.
And thanks to our useless president, he has managed, by his own examples, to make it acceptable to malign women.
Then you have your self absorbed, self important mental midgets like MD, whose name shall not be mentioned, at the NY Timid Times who have their own self loathing hate that they attach to other women.
People need to respond to all of these hateful people by not watching their TV shows, not buying their papers or other products, and not voting for them in future elections. Until these piggish fools are held accountable, little will change.
Amen, Cahil. Well put.
Palin’s taking the “road less travelled by” and in the sneaky, corrupt and P.R. world of Washington this will make all the difference. There’s something in the air right now after the hope and change love is dissipating–disgust with Repubs and Dems that are selling our freedom for their own power. Sarah’s not a savior but she’s a voice for those of us who want these Washington politicians out-out-so we can build this country again to be free and truly a republic. A momentum that may take a while is building to overthrow the senators and representatives that will not stand up and fight for us. The hatred is irrational because the people spewing it are irrational. Palin had one viable choice–to turn the reins over and be true to her own spirit. I can only hope that BO takes her lead and resigns,now that would be great, then maybe the country will have some money left like Alaska.
I agree. I hope that this is Sarah being true to her maverick nature, and that she will continue to speak truth to power in whatever form that takes. She resonates with people because she is forthright, and the content is more important than an Ivy League vocabulary, and speeches filled with lies and contradictions. I’m looking forward to what comes next. Also, Hillary’s fight was not in vain. Her example is alive in the spirits or little girls and women across the world–your daughter included Amy. It will bear fruit, and it’s our job to keep that light alive.
Palin did a disservice to women by not finishing the job.
That is a silly statement.
BTW: You weaken the nation every time you post.
I think Sarah’s breaking point was the attacks on her kids. That should be out of bounds for sure. Certainly is with our male politicians.
There you go again UP…regurgitating!
I am surprised that most of the GOP talking heads, Rove, etc. are all saying Palin made the wrong decision. Just because she is not following their time-worn, losing strategy they all seem to be ganging up on her too. I wonder if Rover is subliminally downgrading every potential GOP leader because he is preserving a possible entry of Jeb Bush?
Oh, no. Please don’t plant another Bush in the WH.
Jeb would be my favorite Bush, if I had to have a favorite. Still, these royal dynasties just aren’t for us. No Jeb and no Michelle.
That’s for sure. Jeb may be the best of the Bushes but I wouldn’t want to tempt fate by voting for him. Nope, I’d rather vote for a third-party loser.
The old boys club on the Right is the same as on the Left. They were willing to support her as VP, because it was a counter to Hillary’s popularity, but they are not anymore keen on giving up their privileged perch than the men on the Left. They’ve been undermining her ever since. Bros before Ho’s once again.
Instead of being a negative Sarah quitting the governorship is proof positive that women face unprecedented sexist and misogynist attacks.
Every Woman that has been disenfranchised can look to what happened to Sarah as a rallying cry for change.
Sarah has just begun….
Amy,
Thank you so much for your article. I am hopeful there will be a second act for both Hillary and Sarah. But it would be a mistake to think that what happened last year was any less than a knee-capping of both. Women who shamelessly participated in the denigration of either or both of these two, for whatever reasons are simply bonding with the male offender. Newswomen who did so are sitting silent in order to maintain a seat at the table, lest they be on the receiving end of what these two got.
Writing a book on the subject has been gratifying, just from the point of view of getting it out there, but it is likewise a very painful experience, recalling the events we all witnessed.
Wow – writing a book. Good for you. Story needs to be told!
I kept hearing all the pundits referring to her “disasterous performance” on Friday, and I thought to myself that they still don’t get it. It wasn’t a “performance”, a carefully scripted speech by others given with all the words flashing across a teleprompter and delivered with phony emotion, and equally phony dedication to the truth. It was Sarah being Sarah, not being necessarily politically correct, not couching her emotions and the truth in rhetoric that ends up being meaningless in actions down the road, just simply Sarah being Sarah. It’s why they hate her, and why I admire her more and more as each day passes. She said “it’s about country”, this brave woman who once described herself as someone with a “servant’s heart”, and I believe her.
Well said. They will never get it. They prefer phony theater to reality–that’s why she appeals to people.
They don’t get it. I personally hope they continue to be blind to her strength and genuineness. If she wants to take on the powers that be, building a huge base, quietly creating a monetary and staff infrastructure, and having the element of surprise on her side would all be good advantages for her.
Palin and her family were being reduced to hamsters on a treadmill while the media used the millions Obama’s campaign paid them to hassle her and the Dems made the Governor recognize that the people who would permit this level of political mischief at their own expens were unworthy of her service.
No one can run a game on you unless YOU LET THEM! Team Palin recognized that they were being drawn against their will into a power struggle where there would be no winners, just a shameful waste of the People’s Resources.
The Dog Pack tactics created a moment where she could rise up in her divinity and take dominion over the animals. The “Challenger” has separated from the booster rockets. Her “Appolo 8″ moment, where she leaves the gravitational pull of Alaska and transitions to the greater pull of the greater world has come. The reason so many are suffering from Palin Derangement Syndrome is that she demonstrates uncanny maneuverability, and instincts. She presents a fetching, feminine package that will automatically put her on freindly footing with the gentle people of the world’s leadership community who look forward to meeting her and will invite the lady to visit them – in the flesh – for the pleasure of it. The left knows she won’t have to do anything but show up, and the world will delight in her presence. I look forward to pics of her sitting with Carla Bruni.
Very interesting post, Ann.
I think it does all women a disservice to support someone like Sarah Palin just because she’s a woman. That’s not feminism. It’s stupidity. Women should be treated equally to men, but we shouldn’t support someone *just* because she’s a woman. And certainly there is no other reason to support someone like Sarah Palin.
ahhh suzie, pontificating in front of a mirror again i see. no one on here cares what you think. you are an irritant sort like a fly that annoys for a momeont and then is forgotten. thanks for playing, you don’t get the doll. we keep the money.
I used to have a cat named Suzie-Q. Now I have a sheltie named Lucy..Good pet names!
It’s not about Sarah being a woman..
It’s about the principles and traditions she represents. This country is under seige and we are losing our Liberty and Freedom step by step.
I know that you can’t see this as you have no skin in the game.
As a manufacturer I see full well the threats to business this administration is doing.
I predicted the Obama collapse back in March of last year. Since then confidence in business has collapsed.
Obama is bad for business and his tax and kill bill is the last straw for this guy.
Funny, I said similar about people, most likely like you, who supported Obama simply because he was black. There was no other reason to support and unqualified, stammering, lacking common sense and good judgment fool like Obama. No other reason possible. Oh, unless you were dumb as a post and believed all that hopey-changey-unicorny bullcrap! Admit it. You’re just pissed because Obama was less qualified than Palin and she scared the crap out of you. Your comment is just sour grapes because the one conned you and millions of others. He didn’t con me. I voted for McCain Palin because I knew they loved this country and would support it forever. BHO is doing just what I figured he would, hating and destroying this country. I’ll never support a criminal like that, but I will support true patriots like McCain/Palin! H.R. Clinton, too.
P.S. Suzie Q, you won’t suffer with your embarrassment for too long. We all know that Obama won’t make it through his first term. The GOP has dirt on him. Someone saw his passport when the breach occurred. someone knows they can take him down any old time they want to and they are just waiting so they can revel in it when the time comes. It won’t be long. There’s impeachable stuff already, like the firing of the Inspector Generals illegally. The ones with the dirt are letting him sweat it out wondering which of his little scandals will be the end and with each one, he is more and more confident that he can make it through anything unscathed and just when he gets really comfortable, you just watch. Several massive scale scandals will hit him and his admin all at once. I hope they take down MEchelle, too. Truth eventually comes out. So sit tight. You don’t have to feel that humiliation much longer. Remember, you don’t even have to ever admit you voted for the one. Save face. It’s ok. Many like you will.
Fantasy land much?
Talk about false and hasty generalizations–this one is the epitome of that particular fallacy. Go away, troll; take a course or two in logic; and then stay away. Your tiny little mind is no match for the regulars here.
Suzie Q…and, just what are your credentials? Stop trying so hard to tell people what to think and do. What are you afraid of…maybe that Palin is a far more successful than you are? Do you suffer from green-eyed monster syndrome? Get out of High School and grow up.
Thank you for your article Amy. As, I tought my daughters, to never compromise their principles. I’m sure , you will explain to your daughter, that some times in life you have to give-up thinks you love, to be selfless for the good of a cause you strongly believe in. What Sarah did, she did for the good of Alaskan and American people.I admire her courage. I wish her to be strong and to take till the end what she believe is fair and right. The truth hurts and the enemies won’t giveup the fight. I’m sure she will prevail.
Our daughters need role models. So sad what Palin had to endure. I think if she comes back it will be for our daughters.
I wish Sarah well. Whatever she decides to do I hope it brings her happiness.
Sarah Palin is scary because she is everywoman. Men are especially terrified, along with young boys, who feel the primal threat waged by a woman who can best them, outrun them, outshoot them, outfox them, beat them at chess,etc. This upsets the power structure, wives, mothers, sisters must be pressured, intimidated, beaten down by existential arguments, the male-defined playing field where they Always win because it’s theor turf, that someone like Sarah Palin has already figured out on that primal level at which she is practically archetypal. Think of how the true visionary women of ancient times were beaten, ridiculed, denied validity. This is nothing new. What’s new? Women in America, especially feminists, have sold their souls to the male security agency that terrorizes and protects at the same time: marriage (denying same sex partner benefits), abortion rights, voting for a black man over an exemplary qualified woman, all male-defined issues. Sarah Palin is working her magic and starting a dialogue that need to be woman-centered. If the Central Woman happens to be Sarah Palin, then so be it and let’s have at it.
Sexism just feeds and gathers strength unless we work together to eradicate it. It’s almost as if they got away with it with Hillary, and so now can take it one step further.
[...] A Dark Moment for Our Country : NO QUARTER By Amy Siskind My only recommendation for your daughter is exactly what Governor Palin said, “We are not retreating, we are advancing in another direction”. And as much as she acknowledge the waste and cost by this new kind of politics HObama has … NO QUARTER – http://www.noquarterusa.net/blog/ [...]
SARAH PALIN’S RESIGNATION PRESS CONFERENCE…
SARAH QUOTING GENERAL DOUGLAS MACARTHUR…
WE’RE NOT RETREATING…WE’RE ADVANCING IN ANOTHER DIRECTION…
Why do you think Sarah made her statement on July 3rd on the eve of Independence Day… Axelrod Inc. & RHINOS worst fear is about to happen…they tried to destroy her in Alaska with “Bogus ethic” Complaints costing Alaska 2 million & Sarah 500,000 & harassing her daughters…did not work…opposites happened…their worst fears… Sarah is freeing her state from the financial burden of the frivolous ethic complaints & taking on a grater cause…Saving our country from Marxist enslavement…Sarah is coming to the lower 48 to take them ALL head on!!!! Like John Wayne movie True Grit…That is Sarah… Oh they are all sacred…HIGH NOON INDEED!!!!!
Palin is loopy as a noodle.
Anybody who could listen to that stream of consciousness
babble and keep a straight face thinks G.W. Bush
was one brilliant president.
Then Why has the MSM keep saying she is done since Friday??? I mean if she is as you claim..why all the bother to destroy Sarah…
it doesn’t help women’s rights to champion an individual who is fine for trailer camp tabloids, but in the national arena can only be the butt of jokes.
Anyone thinking that women who supported the brilliant HRC are biw going herd along after this Al Capp discard needs to lay off the crack.
it doesn’t help women’s rights to champion an individual who is fine for trailer camp tabloids, but in the national arena can only be the butt of jokes.
Anyone thinking that women who supported the brilliant HRC are now going herd along after this Al Capp discard needs to lay off the crack.
it doesn’t help women’s rights to call the Governor and former mayor of Alaska, with a list of accomplishments, who is a self made woman and mother, trailer park trash.
Well people supported Obama ONLY because he was a black dude.
I guess people can support a woman because she is smart, tough, patriotic, self-made with the American dream, God loving, family oriented, EXPERIENCED, has handled billions in funds, leads the armed forces, made government appointments, is for the people, and is NOT a remnant of Phylis Shafley AND because it’s high time decent women of all parties get a chance. We gave Barky a chance and he sucks at this.
Sarah is eloquent and doesn’t need a teleprompter or a written note. 25k people of all parties come out to listen to her in venue after venue. MSM can say what they want but everyone knows what they say is all BS. People love to listen to Sarah Palin, a true blue American. She doesn’t hate America or Whitey like MEchelle does.
Sarah Palin is gone fishing while the lying, busy body drama queens and kings of MEchelle’s bought and
threatenedpaid for MSM are in Wasilla scratching their asses and searching for Sarah to no avail.Katie Couric
the obama’s personal beotchhas some huge amends to make to Sarah. Katie bites the big one. She’s a snide little beotch who is using up too much air to breathe ya know?Personally, I think Sarah Palin is classier than any Princeton or Harvard graduate, if you know what I mean.
On the other hand, there’s nothing wrong with being from a trailer park.
Another example of elite mentality, I guess, Standard.
.
Sarah enemies did everything to destroy her. What they accomplished; THEY MADE HER STRONGER THEN EVER. Go Sarah. “WE” de ordinary ” trayler park trash” grassroots, who work hard for their weekly pay-check, are behind you. Never give-up. You don’t need any ” title” to fight what is fair and right and what belongs to the American people, Freedom.
Just because Sarah will not be in the governor’s office doesn’t mean she won’t have an impact. She will most likely have a much larger impact; just wait till Obama’s policies cause energy costs to “necessarily skyrocket” and we begin to pay double our energy bills and don’t forget $6.00/gal gasoline. By then SHE will be absolutely well positioned to lead the way to REAL energy independence.
Oh, and don’t be surprised if she moves her family from Alaska to somewhere in the lower 48…she will need access to the best health care that can be found for her lovely special needs child. Won’t that be quite a dilema for the libtards, for that’s just the health care that they are trying to ration, older and special needs Americans. She is truly their worst nightmare and she’s coming out to play!
Great essay Amy!
The more I think about her resignation, and next steps, I am starting to think she was smart to quit for this reason. She is now independent. A lot of people are losing their hope for Obama, and hardly anyone is happy with the Republicans right now. She is distancing herself from the Repubs, maybe. Not necessarily conservatives, but from the party…?
She can hit the road as an independent – small government, energy independence, etc. and kind of build a whole new coalition, without the *taint* of the Repub party.
Most people are used to politicians who would do anything to preserve self. Please read http://tinyurl.com/nxos6g
The sins of Sarah Palin
Sarah Palin is a sinner. She has violated several commandments and thoroughly deserves the savage beating that she is now getting from political mandarins and media elites.
If it were not for one simple fact, I would say she was through in politics. And that fact is that if the Republicans were picking a nominee today, they would pick Sarah Palin.
No? Don’t believe me? Who would beat her? Tim Pawlenty? Bobby Jindal? Haley Barbour? Mike Huckabee? Mitt Romney?
All of these men might build credible, attractive, even powerful political operations by 2012. But right now? Today? Today, Sarah Palin would be the winner, because more than anyone else, she has won over the hearts and minds of the Republican rank and file. (And tell me that a Sarah Palin-Newt Gingrich ticket would not set conservative hearts aflutter.)
She has done this by sinning, however. Let us list just some of the political commandments she has recently violated:
Thou shalt not surprise the media.
Palin announces she is quitting her job as governor of Alaska, and she catches everybody by surprise. What is up with that?
Where were the leaks and the trial balloons? Why weren’t the media alerted so they could have predicted it?
When you do what the media have predicted, you are “savvy.” You are a “skilled” and “adept” politician.
If you surprise the media, however, you are “out of control” and “bizarre” and even “egotistical.” (Though I have always believed that accusing politicians of being egotistical is like accusing ballerinas of dancing on their toes.)
How badly do some in the media take to surprise? Here is CNN’s Rick Sanchez on Palin’s announcement that she was leaving office prematurely. “Is there anything going on with her that perhaps may lead her to want to make this decision, and the one thing that’s still left out there is, hey, could she be pregnant again?” Sanchez asked.
Could be, Rick. Or maybe it was just her time of month, because, hey, that’s why woman politicians make the decisions they do, right?
But you can see why some in the media were shocked and dismayed. Imagine abandoning your office! Imagine quitting and deserting the voters who elected you!
Though this is what Bob Dole did in 1996, didn’t he? Dole resigned his Senate seat to run for president. I remember it. I was standing right there when he did it. And I don’t recall anybody accusing him of being a quitter. Or of being pregnant.
Thou shalt not upset the pooh-bahs.
The Republican Party likes to nominate the next guy in line. John McCain in 2008, George W. Bush in 2000 and Bob Dole in 1996 were all the next guys in line. They had “earned” their place in the party hierarchy. (Or, in the case of George W. Bush, his father had earned it for him.)
Today, it is hard to see who the next guy in line is, but the party mandarins, the pooh-bahs, are agreed on one thing: Sarah Palin ain’t it.
She is a dumb hick, a nobody from nowhere. She hunts moose with a chainsaw from the back of a snowmobile or something. Just listen to her resignation speech. It was not slick or polished or written by somebody else. She appeared to deliver it off the top of her head as if she were a real person. What a doofus!
Doesn’t she know that the highest form of political communication today is to exactly regurgitate a speech written for you by a speechwriter who has crafted, vetted and polled every phrase, line and word?
But listen to Palin. Listen to how “rambling” and “disjointed” she is. Once upon a time in American politics, this was known as being “plain-spoken,” but that time has gone. An entire industry of political consultants has grown up to make sure politicians are never plain-spoken.
Sarah Palin does not get this. Which is to say she is not very bright. (Or else she is pregnant, in which case, I apologize.)
Thou shalt pander to the few, not speak to the many.
John Weaver, a former McCain aide, told Adam Nagourney of The New York Times that Sarah Palin now has little chance of ever becoming the party’s presidential nominee.
“Somebody has to explain to Republicans how this woman is going to expand her support base,” Weaver said. “Yes, she is the darling of a certain element of our party. But it remains to be seen — in fact, it remains rather doubtful she can grow beyond that.”
She is the “darling of a certain element” of Republicans? It seems to me that with the party collapsing to its most conservative core, that “certain element” could also be called the majority of the Republican Party.
But maybe that is not enough. It is only a “certain element” of the party that finds her energizing, fresh, tough and willing to stand up to the mandarins and the media. Clearly, Palin must “grow” beyond that base to win over … whom? The McCain wing of the Republican Party? Find it, and maybe she can win it over.
Having said all this, I do not think Palin is being crazy like a fox. I don’t think she has planned out what she will do in 2012. I think she has quit her job, is doing what she wants to do and is reserving judgment about her future.
In doing so, she has made herself an outcast to the mandarins, the pooh-bahs and the elites.
So how can she go wrong?
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/24606_Page2.html#ixzz0KbLH8tyH&D
point your daughter to other women in public life who don’t quit when the going gets tough. Point her to public figures who tell their children to enjoy and shrug off the media, not those who encourage them to feel victimized and wounded. Your daughter could do so much better than Sarah as far as role models go.
Try Hillary for one.
point your daughter to other women in public life who don’t quit when the going gets tough. Point her to public figures who tell their children to enjoy life and shrug off the media, not those who encourage them to feel victimized and wounded. Your daughter could do so much better than Sarah as far as role models go.
Try Hillary for one.
I’m sorry I am late to this discussion. Amy Siskand, I went to your TNA website and saw some language that is often used but shouldn’t be: “Violence Against Women”—it should be: “Male Violence Against Women” or plainly: “Male Violence.”
I know “violence against women” is commonly used, and it has been for decades, but the term “violence against women” highlights and exploits women as victims and completely excludes the perpetrators of the violence: MEN. This is significant because it protects the violent men and it makes male violence solely the woman’s issue.
Please read this to see examples of usage:
“The Grammar of Male Violence” by Jennie Ruby
http://www.offourbacks.org/Grammar%20of%20Male%20Violence.pdf
(h/t PUMA PAC)