Uncommon Descent Serving The Intelligent Design Community

Coffee break, courtesy of Poe’s Law …

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When I read this,

I am having Sarah Palin nightmares. I dreamt last night that she was a member of a club where they rode snowmobiles and wore the claws of drowned and starved polar bears around their necks. I have a particular thing for Polar Bears. Maybe it’s their snowy whiteness or their bigness or the fact that they live in the arctic or that I have never seen one in person or touched one. Maybe it is the fact that they live so comfortably on ice. Whatever it is, I need the polar bears.

I don’t like raging at women. I am a Feminist and have spent my life trying to build community, help empower women and stop violence against them. It is hard to write about Sarah Palin. This is why the Sarah Palin choice was all the more insidious and cynical. The people who made this choice count on the goodness and solidarity of Feminists.

I was completely convinced that it was a parody. But the woman is apparently stark raving sincere.

Such witless self-absorption!

My favourite line: “Maybe it’s their snowy whiteness or their bigness or the fact that they live in the arctic or that I have never seen one in person or touched one.” No, babes, not many people have. I recommend you stick with giant stuffed teddies.

Note: Anyone who is sufficiently connected to the real world to want a serious look at the questions around polar bear numbers, I strongly recommend this article in Canada’s Maclean’s Magazine (Who’s telling the truth about the fate of a Canadian icon? by Colin Campbell and Kate Lunau (January 25, 2008)) Maclean’s is sufficiently credible to be the target of serious efforts to cripple it.

Comments
Missy, I like your post. I don't agree with you, but I like how you don't try to decide the argument. Just because Palin may garner the support against women, does not mean that it can be summed up as an attempt to get more votes from women. John McCain, who's been progressive by Republican standards, may well believe that a woman can be a competent leader. She represents women if women want to vote for her, not if she adopts an agenda which is purported to be the best thing for women. From my perspective as a conservative, it seems that you get the label "cynical" for not living up to the narrow caricature that the liberals try to paint of you. No conservative would voluntarily appoint a woman, thus it must be a shallow ploy. On the other hand, I've disagreed with conservatives trying to make similar claims about Bill Clinton in regard to NAFTA and GATT. I remember the news development on Quayle. First of all the press wondered aloud why Quayle was picked. And then without prompting from the Bush campaign, they noticed that while Bush Sr. suffered from a gender gap, Quayle had always done well with women. They asked some women in Indiana and some said they thought he looked like Robert Redford. Then the story shifted to the cynical strategy of putting somebody who appeals to women on the ticket. It's a story where media went from conclusion to conclusion to conclusion. Admittedly both Quayle and Palin haven't had much experience, and that could never have been the knock on Kemp or Cheney, but that experience is such an issue in the mind of the media in the selection of the VP candidate--it's curious it isn't more suspect for the president.jjcassidy
October 3, 2008
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I meant, "on stage", as in a play. Not In state.S Wakefield Tolbert
October 2, 2008
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Eve Ensler is, like Naomi Wolf, given to much hyperbole that is out in left field and circling beyond the orbit of Neptune. I can't seriously think of a nice way to describe such a vicious and contradictory self-styled "activist" except to say that when you have adolscent females on state, as in V-DAY, acting like tramps and getting blotted tears and whoops about vulgar slang terms for body parts, it is clear she's not made inroads into how men view women. And if she ever happened to chance upon one of those cute fuzzy-wuzzy polar bears, she'd better run like the devil was after her.S Wakefield Tolbert
October 2, 2008
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I'm not real sure about the polar bear thing or the night mare part because to be honest, Sarah Palin has not crossed my mind. I'm not the most political person by any means but I think that Palin is just another attempt to gain votes from women. She might be the best candidate, that's for you to decide, but anyone who has been pushing for a female VP is going to vote for her. The republicans will probably get a ton of votes because of her. Who knows. We'll have to wait and see.missy721
October 2, 2008
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I doubt whether conservatives were trusting on the "goodness" and "solidarity" of feminists. Some conservatives probably remember Ellen Goodman's editorial where she practically disputed that Sandra Day O'Connor could be counted as the first woman on the supreme court. Over the years, I find that a lot of things have escaped Ms. Goodman, in this case it's that someone with two X chromosomes on the bench--regardless of ideology--testifies to the idea that a person with two X chromosomes can do the same job as an a person with a Y. So no, observant conservatives have seen feminist "eat their own" a number of times. We know that women won't vote for other woman no matter what the cost. Being married to a strong, independent conservative woman, I am aware of what liberal feminists so often forget, they don't have a corner on women with a can-do attitude. But besides being a scary look into the bizarre mind beset by PDS, the narcissism is staggering. It's like that joke about the old boyfriend who marries, prompting the girl to think that he's really desperate to get her back if he's going to go to this length. I love the liberal narratives, they not only tell you what they are thinking, but they tell you what you're thinking as well.jjcassidy
September 30, 2008
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Wow.... You know, a few days back (after spending FAR too much time playing Warhammer Online) I had a nightmare that was framed in the context of a public quest, down to the user interface I'd been playing on.... I too that as a sign I really, really needed to take a break-- even if the game is great.Foxfier
September 30, 2008
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It is amusing to watch self-described feminists like Ms. Ensler succumb to a case of what would have been called in a more genteel age "the vapors." ;-)BarryA
September 30, 2008
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Reading the first paragraph I was also convinced I was reading parody:
I dreamt last night that she was a member of a club where they rode snowmobiles and wore the claws of drowned and starved polar bears around their necks.
This is indistinguishable from a parody of the left (hence this post's category). While pondering how it might be possible for someone to scribble these words, and yet have every expectation of being taken seriously, a novel idea occurred to me: What if we elected candidates based on their policies, and neglected to consider their race or sex? Then I could easily vote for the candidates who didn't wear necklaces of aborted fetuses around their necks, regardless of their plumbing or skin shade. It's a difficult choice. Polar bears are much cuter than fetuses.Apollos
September 30, 2008
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