Comments on Out on a Lim: In Defense of Sarah Palin

Palin's problem isn't just lack of respect...

2009-09-22T20:00:22.380-04:00

Palin's problem isn't just lack of respect. Even before I had any sense of her brainpower or lack thereof, I decided I didn't like her (at her speech at the Republican convention, which the pundit class liked and struck me as a bit nasty).

Palin's lack of depth transcends gender, race,...

2009-07-21T19:46:11.988-04:00

Palin's lack of depth transcends gender, race, political affiliation and many other factors.

What scared me all along was her assured strong opinions on a number of international and national topics, on which she was not even marginally conversant.

Is it too much to expect at least some understanding of the greater world from our political leaders?

To place her in the same sentence, comparing her to Hilary Clinton, is offensive.

To say that women still remain in the patriarchal ...

2009-07-08T00:33:46.157-04:00

To say that women still remain in the patriarchal boat is in many remains an accurate and potent metaphor. However, while Palin might be on one side and Clinton (and perhaps Pelosi) are on the other, I believe there other prominent women who fall in between those two ends. What about the perceptions of Ginsburg, O'Connor and - although it's still undeveloped - Sotomayer?

Should Michelle Obama be figured into this debate? On one hand she is both respected and liked, but on the other hand, she is not a politician and safely circumscribed by her role as a wife to the president.

Also, when you say "like" and "respected", my question to you is, who exactly is doing the liking or the respecting? The entirety of the United States? Indeed on such a public stage as a candidate for presidency or vice-presidency, it is the people of the United States - or the media - that are pigeonholing these women into the "liked" vs. the "respected" categories. But within Washington, are there not more contours to perceptions of woman than your post suggests?

P.s., I'm a big fan of this blog.