Innnnnnteresting ....

[veronica_rich]

Supposedly, according to McCain campaign staffers, Sarah Palin didn't know Africa was a continent, not a country, and she was guilty of other asorted dumbnesses. Let's break this down:

In defense of the woman - and I cannot believe the text is coming from my fingertips - I know more than one smart person who has made this initial mistake. Including me. Not in the lasting, insistent sense - "Uh huh! Yes it is! South Africa's part of one country!" - but in the initial, unthinking sense when the topic first comes up. Because I've known since I was in at least the fourth grade that there are various and assorted countries in Africa. All I'm saying is, if you've ever heard anyone toss off "the country of Africa" before thinking, or someone reminding them "it's not a country, dummy" and then they go "what'd I say? oh shit, I wasn't thinking" - yeah. So, is this what the staffers are exaggerating? Or is it a case of her insisting it IS a country even after someone says "um ... it's not one country?"

Because I have to say - George Bush went to Yale and Harvard, and frankly, I think he's about as dumb as an actual president can get. (Not knowing the philosophical differences between Sunnis and Shi'ites before going to war is WAY worse than a slip of the tongue on Africa, IMO.) And while his lack of intelligence has been lampooned, spread out over eight years, the fact is that it took a lot longer than three months for people to start pointing and laughing at it. So why with Palin?

Is it - again, I have to wonder at this coming from ME - because she's a woman? Because it very well could be. (Bit of a lesson to the casual fandom pheminists out there: THIS is the sort of shit feminism was REALLY invented to combat. Not your crocodile tears over a fictional character not getting the right man.) Make no mistake about Palin - I don't want her anywhere NEAR my White House, now or in the future - but there are plenty of things to legitimately criticize about her besides lack of geographical knowledge IF it's just being exaggerated as I reference above. (And I suspect this may well be the case. I don't think the woman's the sharpest tack in the corkboard, but I really question if she's THAT ignorant.)

And if she is that ignorant? Well, it's not the fact she's being criticized for it, because certainly basic geographical knowledge is important. It's HOW she's being criticized. (See previous paragraph.) Certainly the electorate has the right to know, just as they should be cautious when listening to her tell a third-grader about the duties of a vice president and getting it out of whack. All I'm saying is, let's watch how we do it, and maintain a healthy skepticism about the extremity of her reported "ignorance." (If she were truly that dumb, wouldn't we be hearing about something far more egregious than the Africa thing? That's what makes me suspicious.)

Comments

[captsparrow4evr.livejournal.com]

IMHO, the McCain camp wants a scapegoat and Palin is it. Now, that's not saying she isn't "dumb as a box of rocks" but she is going to be reviled for quite a while because McCain lost "because of her." Now, we know that's not the truth. He lost because the majority of voters saw him as Bush v. 3.0 and said "Enough is enough" but that isn't going down well with the right wing. Furthermore, the Republican Party can now use this in the future when someone suggests another female candidate for VP or President.

[porridgebird.livejournal.com]

McCain lost a ton of endorsements over Palin. I lost count of how many articles started out describing how the writer supported McCain until he brought Palin on board. Some were put off by Palin herself, some were scared by the horrendously bad judgment demonstrated in the selection of Palin, some both. If he'd picked someone else, he might have actually had a shot at winning this (imo).

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

Just so long as it wasn't Lieberman, either. *shudder*

[crevette.livejournal.com]

Actually, Lieberman might have swung it. Moderate Repubs have no problem with him--He's square center on the major issues.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

Furthermore, the Republican Party can now use this in the future when someone suggests another female candidate for VP or President.

This does bother me. Selection of an incurious man won't stop 20 from being selected later, but one ignorant woman may be all it takes. Which is why I want her hammered for important ignorances that either gender could be accused of. If that makes sense.

[justawench.livejournal.com]

Yes to this. I cringed everytime she opened her dumb mouth, think she was setting women back 100 years. Hopefully someone intelligent like Olympia Snowe can rise up and remind everyone Palin's not indicative of women as a whole.

[crevette.livejournal.com]

Ahhh. I love Olympa Snowe but she is one of the party's "most hated" right up there with Ahhhh-nald because of her socially moderate vies. I get stuff from the far right wing about them and other "RINO"s all the time. She's never going to be pushed to the front of the party unless they figure out that the reason they lost is because they've let the religious fundies run the show.