For the past week, we've had dreams every night about Sarah Palin and her family. We were dating Levi. We were trapped at a tedious keg party with Bristol. Sarah confronted us and we got in a fight with her. Why has Sarah Palin burrowed into our subconscious and how do we get her out?
David Plotz at Slate dreams about her too, and so do his colleagues, and he's collecting others' dreams. You can send them to IDreamofSarah@gmail.com.
Rebecca Traister at Salon has an awesome piece up today about how she, too, dreams about La Palin all the time: "She kidnaps my cats, or enjoys a meal with my girlfriends while I bang on the restaurant window. There's also a chilling one, in which a scary witch stands on a wind-swept hill and leers at me."
But why is Palin having this effect on us? Traister has an idea:
What Palin so seductively represents, not only to Donny Deutsch but to the general populace, is a form of feminine power that is utterly digestible to those who have no intellectual or political use for actual women. It's like some dystopian future ... feminism without any feminists.
Read Traister's whole column here.
For those of us freaked out by Sarah Palin, it's a very cathartic read.
Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 3)
1. Which Presidential candidate do you think the enemies of the U.S. PREFER to be President Obama or McCain? Funny how instinctively people of ALL political persuasions know where I'm going with this - think about it --Greg------http://us.imdb.com/name/nm2734923/
GregbeingFrank at 12:55AM on Sep 12th 2008
2. You can put lipstick on a Diversion, but at the end of the day (to quote Dick Cheney), it's still a Diversion! It must be an election year, because all I hear and see is the same old guns, God, gays, abortion and the American Flag - not the actual issues of jobs, health care, the economy, the environment and world peace. It's sad, but the Diversion (who is an inch deep and a mile wide) is actually working! Oh that Karl Rove!
Sarah at 1:09AM on Sep 12th 2008
3. Uhh, Greg/Frank, I'm assuming our enemies want more of the same - Bush/McCain - because they are doing very well right now under the GOP rule.
Sarah at 1:12AM on Sep 12th 2008
4. Here's something I just read. When Palin was mayor, Wasilla was the only town in Alaska that forced rape victims to pay for their own forensic tests, which cost between $300 and $1,200 apiece. That prompted the Alaska Legislature to pass a bill that banned the practice statewide.
Diane at 3:21AM on Sep 12th 2008
5. Here's something I just read. When Palin was mayor, Wasilla was the only town in Alaska that forced rape victims to pay for their own forensic tests, which cost between $300 and $1,200 apiece. That prompted the Alaska Legislature to pass a bill that banned the practice statewide.
Diane at 3:23AM on Sep 12th 2008
6. Diane : Do you know what is missing in the article that you read? The fact that rape victims had to pay for the rape kits while Sarah Palin was mayor does not mean that Sarah Palin was responsible for the policy. If the writer had any information that would show that Mayor Palin was responsible for the policy, that information would be clearly stated. The article states that the policy was in place during Sarah Palin's administration but offers no evidence that she originated the policy. It probably was the work of a prior mayor and city council but the writer does not want you to know that fact. Diane, gullibity is not a virtue but a fault.
longwalker at 6:47AM on Sep 12th 2008
7. Is it discriminatory to take the gender of a political candidate into consideration? Well, yes and no. For instance, if you were a Hillary Clinton supporter and now support Sarah Palin, (and there are quite a few) you are saying that gender is a uniquely qualifying factor for the office. If, on the other hand, you don’t support a woman for higher office, it may have little to do with her gender per-se and more to do with the things that come along with it. I’m talking about our society’s refusal to hold women to the same standards of accountability as men. Before feminists get mad at me, I DO know that some women are VERY responsible. I have known some personally. But, I think even they would have to acknowledge that they are the exception and not the rule. And I do not say that the general lack of responsibility is the result of an inherent trait or inferiority. But, as long as we have a society that has one set of rules for one gender and another set of rules for the other, two tendencies will prevail: A) Men will become increasingly resentful as women (in some cases) abuse the legal system to achieve ‘equality’---which, invariably makes some people a little ‘more-equal’ than others. B) Responsibility—like intelligence, strength or anything else—requires use in order to develop. Since women are not generally held to the same level of accountability as men, there is the tendency among some women to think of this as ‘normal’—neither knowing nor caring that it is not this way for men.
Some examples of how women are not held to the same standards of accountability follow:
1) Debra LaFave—a teacher found guilty of having sex with a 14 year old student. Her attorney argued—and the court agreed—that she was, “Too pretty to go to prison” and that, “she would be ‘fresh meat’ to other inmates”. It is well known that male rapists, child-molesters etc., are treated particularly harshly yet, no consideration of that is given when sentences are handed down. Yet a woman who commits the same crime is afforded special consideration? It is also worth noting that while an attorney is barred from arguing for jury nullification, there are no prohibitions against arguing in favor of gender bias. Is America ready for female leadership while officers of the court are free to make such arguments without violating the ethical boundaries?
2) Lorena Bobbet—used a knife to cut off the penis of her husband whom was sleeping, left the house with it, drove off and threw it from the car on a highway! Her sentence? Scott-free!! She was free to leave the room while he slept. She could easily just left the house and kept going but, no…instead, she got a knife, returned to the bedroom and viciously attacked her husband—purportedly because he’d been abusive to her. Supposedly, the psychological abuse made her actions acceptable—with the judge saying “A penis is not a life.” Meanwhile, no matter what the abuse by a wife, were a man to similarly attack and disfigure (maybe cutting off her breast) his wife while she slept---you know that man would never see the light of day again! Just try getting the American judiciary to swallow the idea that ‘A breast is not a life’! If a judge ever made such a statement, it would be their last day on the bench!! How is the same act ‘self-defense’ for a woman yet ‘revenge’ for a man?
3) Women web casting the details of the marriage and divorce: Yes, it may hurt them in the end with a less-than-favorable settlement but, in the meantime, they have the emotional satisfaction of being able to ‘vent’ and the men suffer the embarrassment of private details, lies and half-truths being aired for all the world to see. Conversely, men have been threatened with jail for contempt of court for merely blogging about their understandable frustration with divorce proceedings. Why is it permissible for a woman to vent but not a man? Are only women allowed self-expression?
Even if all of these types of examples have nothing to do with an individual’s worthiness for the job, it still contributes to one inescapable fact: Image. A society that can accept a woman’s immaturity as ‘youthfulness’, her fear without branding it ‘cowardess’ and whatever her natural limitations may be without branding her ‘inept’—while readily holding all of these things against a man—is not ready for female leadership. Especially, if the reason for her election is solely gender based.
Keith J. Mohrhoff at 7:30AM on Sep 12th 2008
8. Longwalker:
"The fact that rape victims had to pay for the rape kits while Sarah Palin was mayor does not mean that Sarah Palin was responsible for the policy." WTH????
EVER hear the expression, "The buck stops here?" As mayor, she automatically became responsible for the policies of city government and, where those policies were wrong, she had a responsibility to change them. This is especially true in smaller towns whereas, the mayor of a big city might inherit such policies and not have it brought to their attention. In a small town, 'mea culpa' doesn't fly! It's called 'responsible government.'
Keith J. Mohrhoff at 7:40AM on Sep 12th 2008
9. Monday, September 8, 2008
Seed and Bread
Just in case somebody could use the encouragement, I thought I'd pitch something out on the table that God ministered to me this morning then led me to share at staff prayer time. Maybe some of you are like us. We each have some long term prayer requests out there that we're still waiting for God to bring to wild fruition. Like you, we get tempted at times to give up on that thing ever coming to pass even though we were so sure it was God's will and had the support of His Word. Maybe we got what we thought was a vivid word from God about something but now we're confused. Sometimes we really do misinterpret what He said or what His Word promised and God graciously reveals that to us. Other times, however, we let impatience strangle our spirits and near-sightedness steal our vision. We lose sight of the fact that He's using time and subsequent events to bring the word to pass. His point to me recently has been that if I'd live in a greater present reality and awareness of all He's brought to fruition, I will be more patient and full of faith concerning what is still in process. The thing is, we're on to the next request before we've even gotten a chance to sit and savor how He answered the last. Maybe this is too much review for some but I'm one of those kinds of people who needs to constantly relearn things.
God's been reminding me of the powerful words of Isaiah 55:8-11.
'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the Lord. 'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.'
The part He's really been highlighting to me is the 'seed for the sower and bread for the eater.' Seeds: words we're planting and waiting on. Bread: words that have endured the test of time and the heat of the furnace and finally made it to our tables. Here's what occurred to me. At any given time, we have both: words from God we're still waiting on and words from God that have recently come to pass. Sometimes we're so focused on the seed that hasn't shown a harvest that we ignore the bread sitting right in front of us. We faint from sowing the seed because we're not eating the bread. Stop a minute. Consider what God has done. Marvel over how He's answered prayer and brought words to pass. Think about a crisis five years ago that doesn't even take up ink in your prayer journal anymore. Reflect on how many things God has taken from seed to bread in your life. Note it. Meditate on it. Don't drive through it. Dine on it. Slap some butter on that warm bread and savor a slow bite of it!
I don't know about you but sometimes I'm so busy pestering the seed that my bread gets stale.
While you wait on that seed, eat that bread.
Kristin Watkins at 8:14AM on Sep 12th 2008
10. Get over Sarah. Get back to the issues. The only thing Sarah is good at is changing diapers.......which is good for John McCain.
pambaron at 8:49AM on Sep 12th 2008
11. 9. Monday, September 8, 2008
Seed and Bread
Dear Kristin:
Very interesting musings on your part, but what do they have to do with the subject of this (political) Blog? Do you post this here because Mrs. Palin is a fundamentalist Christian? Please enlighten us if your post has some relevance to her candidacy.
Harvey at 8:45AM on Sep 12th 2008
12. Ada,
Sarah Palin is absolutely fabulous isn't she. I'm just about ready to put her name on my favorite politician list, which at the moment only has the great Ronald Regan on it.
Go Sarah!!
I hear that AOL is reorganizing News Bloggers and you and the Big Guy over there at TYT won't be around after September 28? Well, it's a big world go sample some of it and see it for yourself....first hand. It's not anywhere near as bad as the various media outlets would have us believe.
Willet at 9:09AM on Sep 12th 2008
13. "The only thing Sarah is good at is changing diapers.......which is good for John McCain."
So weird, I just had that dream 2 nights ago!
Mokele Mbembe at 9:29AM on Sep 12th 2008
14. I'm a Arizona Republican but I am sick of politicians that look into our eyes and say belive me there are weapons of mass destruction.
Belive me we will be greeted with open arms.
Belive me Iraqi oil will pay for this needless war.
Belive me Sedam Hussein was responsible for 9-11.
Believe me the economy is basically strong.
Believe me I'll be ready to lead when I learn all my talking points.
Sorry! I do not believe your lies any more.
Kwaayesnama at 10:55AM on Sep 12th 2008
15.
I think the reason that you're dreaming of Sarah is that she threatens your worldview. Although we hear about the value of diversity and tolerance from many on the left, the fact that Sarah Palin displays a different kind of feminism is threatening to them. Her "choice", a term so many so-called feminists are fond of, was to blend traditional and unconventional notions of what it means to be a woman. In doing so, she not only promotes ideals that leftist feminists despise (religion, protection of the unborn, capitalism, etc.), but she's done it, unlike Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton, without a man opening the door for her.
bookmark at 10:58AM on Sep 12th 2008