But John McCain is still a pile of stinky garbage

In regards to yesterday's post where I said Meghan McCain is pretty sweet....

Her dad is still a jackass.

And suddenly I like Meghan McCain

And more than ever, loathe Laura Ingraham.

Meghan McCain may not share my political point of view but I respect the hard work she did for her father's campaign (and she blogged while doing it!) And I respect any young woman who boldly steps into the world of politics today because, well... this happens...

Some back story: Meghan McCain has been writing on a blog called "The Daily Beast" and recently suggested that republicans and Dems should play nice. Conservative talk show host, Laura Ingraham took issue with this and spoke about Meghan on her show, not about her opinions (silly!), but about her body (of course).

She called McCain "a valley girl gone awry" and a "plus-sized model." Read the full transcript of Ingraham's assholery here.

***ASIDE-- Using "plus sized model" as an insult is just a total cluster of stupid-- #1 A plus size model is probably between a size 8 and 10 -- #2 Meghan McCain is beautiful and #3 Who the F**K cares even if Meghan McCain had to be wheeled around like jabba the freaking hutt?? Also, I seem to recall Laura Ingraham being one of the republican commentators that was SO UPSET about the unfair, sexist treatment Sarah Palin received. I guess republican women are only defended from sexism if they're towing the party line. Shocker!

BACK ON TASK-- The feminist community and women's online community are well aware that speaking your mind while female more often brings up comments about appearance or worse (threats of violence) than actual political discourse.

Ingraham's comment is just one more in a sea of public commentary -- political or otherwise-- that silences, mocks and demeans women for appearance. I can think of no similar situation with a male blogger or politico of any age being treated to this type of scrutiny on weight or appearance. But for women -- it's so common -- so INSANELY common that I doubt we'll hear much more on this story. Ingraham's schoolyard harassment tactics will be labeled 'no big deal,' and we'll be expected to move on.

Thank God McCain isn't taking it lying down.



Big shocker: When commenting on McCain's response, Ingraham said, “Can I say ‘lighten up,’ or is that offensive too?” She also pulled out time-honored asshole statement -- telling McCain that she needs to learn to deal with satire and “teasing.”

Word to Ingraham-- satire should be funny. Teasing should be good natured... and oh yeah, you suck! But that has nothing to do with your looks.... just your "personality."

Hmm, just a thought

If Jesus can take care of his church, why do you need to write your religion into the state constitution to control the lives of others-- to stop people from acquiring equality and legal rights? This law would not force any church to marry anyone. And for the record, plenty of churches out there already perform ceremonies for same sex couples.

This law simply grants gay and lesbian people the same legal rights their heterosexual counterparts share.

Is that so hard to understand?

And just WHAT about that is comparable to Nazi Germany I'd like to know??

Palin depicted hanging from a noose-- but it's a "joke"

Sick and wrong.

Someone hung up a mannequin dressed as Sarah Palin with a noose around the neck.

And then defended it by basically saying: Well I wouldn't hang an effigy of Obama cause our nation has a horrible history of lynching black people.

And apparently no history of violence against women?

I am just done with sexism in this campaign season.

TRIGGER WARNING


Read also -- Random Babble's take
and Melissa's too

Picture this face

Sarah Palin's wardrobe firestorm

I defer to wisdom from CNN's Campbell Brown



...and the wisdom of the great Melissa McEwan.

It's no secret that you should "Dress for the job you want, not the job you have." Well, Palin is dressing to look Presidential, so it's understandable that she wants to look sharp. Not only that, as a woman in the public eye, she HAS to look sharp.

Throughout this campaign season, the press has made it abundantly clear that it won't be cutting female politicians any slack. Article after article was written about Hillary's pantsuits, the 'is-it-there-or-not' cleavage and the choice of wardrobe colors (did that blue really flatter her?). And forget the clothes, was Clinton even HOT enough to be President? Believe it or not, it was a concern some pundits had.... Rush Limbaugh (professional asshole) wrote an entire article about Hillary, "Does Our Looks-Obsessed Culture Want to Stare at an Aging Woman?"

So needless to say, there's pressure to look flawless. Palin's already been subject to scrutiny for outdated hair or for simply appearing as she is!

However, as McEwan and Brown both point out, we can acknowledge the sexist double standard but still point out the hypocrisy that Ms. Small Town, "Real" America, Hockey Mom, Average Joe-loving Sarah Palin shops at stores (and with expense accounts) that in NO WAY reflect the average American experience.

Yes, woman are held to unfair standards but Palin dropped a LOT of cash ($150,000 over the course of 2 months) on clothes from top designers while Michelle Obama rocked a White House Black Market dress for less than $200.

And if they were just two women living their life, that information would be none of my concern.

However, Palin's campaign crux is that she sees America the way YOU do ('you' being, middle class, small town folk) and her actions continually speak otherwise.

Besides, if I were a donor to McCain's campaign (hahahah, perish the thought) I'd be just a lil' pissy that she couldn't have shopped a few sale racks.

Update: Just found a great post from Echidne on this issue.

Proof that we're winning

A lot of people are pissed that McCain came right out and admitted that picking Palin was a "cold, calculated political move to counter the liberal feminist agenda."

I see this as proof that we're winning, folks.

Next time someone asks, "Isn't feminism dead?" We have pretty strong proof that no-- on the contrary, we're whipping politicians into a frenzy.

Apparently our cause is so threatening that McCain felt the need to pick an unqualified, untested person just because she could "counter our movement."

And lo and behold she is simply energizing our base and Obama is poised to wipe them both off the map.

Missed the debate?

Watch it here



Thoughts?

I like Melissa's take on it

2 very silly thoughts from me.

#1 I wish Obama hadn't laughed so much. I realize McCain was spouting some serious crap but it can look very arrogant and rude to see the split screen and one man speaking seriously and the other one--- apparently -- laughing at him.

Also

Why does McCain have to whistle like that groundhog from Winnie the Pooh when he talks? ANNOYING.

Palin = "terrorist" = extremist

Them's fighting words I know, but hear me out.

For the past few days I've watched Sarah Palin speak at rally after rally asking "Who is Barack Obama?" And I just want to shout at the top of my lungs, "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?"

She goes around insinuating that Barack is a bad guy because he "pals around with terrorists." Meaning he once worked in the same organization as Bill Ayers who attacked the U.S when Obama was 8 yrs old. So guilt by association = terrorist, eh Sarah? Well watch this video and -- using her logic -- PLEASE tell me, what type of person is Sarah Palin?



Today I read on CNN that in Pennsylvania, Palin spent 10 minutes of her 30 minute speech attacking Obama's position on abortion saying,

"In times like these with wars and financial crisis, I know that it may be easy to forget even as deep and abiding a concern as the right to life, and it seems that our opponent kind of hopes you will forget that," Palin told a crowd in Johnstown. "He hopes that you won't notice how radical, absolutely radical his idea is on this, and his record is, until it's too late."

I'm glad the gloves are off, Sarah. And I hope Obama takes this opportunity to talk abortion rights, a topic he hasn't really hasn't been that strong on (in my opinion).

The majority of Americans are pro-choice. It's Palin's ideals that are radical and extreme. You remember those ideals right? She's the one that thinks you should be forced to carry a pregnangy to term, even if you were raped.... even if a family member raped you... Charming.

Yeah, not even Cindy McCain agrees with that view.

So I submit here that all evidence points to Palin being the anti-American, extremist canidate.

That's all I'm saying.

Perino = person I want to hit most right now

I know, I know... violence is not the answer. But I also know I'm not the only person she's pissed off lately.

But this makes my blood boil.

From Oct 7th (FOUR DAYS AGO)



Could she be a bigger brat here folks? Is it possible? First of all her attitude is so cavalier it's disgusting.

When asked if our economy is in a recession she says:

You know I don’t think that we know. Obviously, this next quarter is probably not going to be a very good one. And we know that. But we know that the last quarter we had about a 2-percent* growth, which is not too bad. But obviously, right now we are in a very difficult situation.

When asked what has changed since February when Bush assured us "We're NOT in a recession" vs. now "maybe we're in a recession," Perino snarkily bites:

Just look at what’s happened. That’s what’s changed, is what’s happened in the market.

The reporter says:

"No, no, I’m not being flippant — I mean, I know things have changed. But he was emphatic, saying we’re not in a recession and we’re not going into one. And just last week you were standing at the podium — you and Tony stood at the podium, saying –"

MS. PERINO: I wasn’t here last week.

REPORTER: Well, the week before. Okay, let’s –

MS. PERINO: I don’t know — look, April, I don’t know if there’s — if we are in a recession right now. And in fact, there’s no one who could actually tell you if we precisely are in a recession right now.

REPORTER: All I’m just saying –

MS. PERINO: Last February, when the President was asked that question — again, if you look at the classical definition of a recession, we were not in it. That doesn’t mean that the President doesn’t understand that people are hurting, or that people are concerned about their savings accounts, or people are concerned about their retirement accounts. But it doesn’t mean that we are necessarily in a recession. And I think we should be careful about throwing around words like that until there’s actually some evidence.

Evidence like Steve Forbes saying we're in a serious recession?

Or taxpayers having to pony up 700 billion (apparently so AIG wouldn't have to cancel their spa retreat)

Or the Dow plummeting thousands of points and bouncing around like a drunk on a trampoline?

As one commenter so aptly put it:

If you are standing in a boat, and there is water around your waist, you do not have to ask anyone, “Are we sinking?”

The fact that all this goes on and the White House press secretary is STILL trying to claim "We dunno" when asked if this is a recession... it makes me see bright spots everywhere.

No Colored People-- err-- Obama supporters allowed

No, the McCain campaign isn't putting out ugly energy... not at all

Not that desperate!

So, in the middle of this huge economic tumble I am reminded of my own credit crisis. The one that started with college and then continued when I took an Americorps internship for 9 months and made about $400/month.

So I was sitting around thinking how much I hated my credit card balance and how much I wanted to start making money so I could travel and have stability and just.... be less worried.

So it occurs to me that with holiday season coming up (fast!) I could probably secure a temp job. I figured with my schedule, it'd either be waitress work or retail. The idea of serving food again nearly had me breaking out in hives. I also hated the idea of going back to retail and giving up any shot at a real holiday. Seriously, forget your turkey hangover, your ass will be in that store at 5 am day after Thanksgiving!

Naturally I was stoked to hear women in my office talking about a better job. A phone survey position that would run from now until election day. I was fuzzy on the details but was told it was something about "getting people out to vote."

Cool.

I got a call back from the company and the woman and I are yammering on when she says, "Now would you have a problem calling people and encouraging them enthusiastically to get out and vote republican this year?"

Pause.

Needless to say the rest of the conversation was a short one.

I could use the money. But I could use my soul more...

Sexism against Palin

This is getting frackin' ridiculous! That poor anchor!


Also -- I was wondering when some version of this story would come along -- Todd Palin: 'first dude' or 'shadow governor?'

Ah yes-- how can it be that a woman in power isn't really puppeted by her husband?

But after reading the story, some red flags are going up:

- Palin copied her husband, Todd on hundreds of state e-mails
- Todd supposeldy "has spoken to numerous government employees" regarding trooper Mike Wooten and Walt Monegan
- Republican state Senate President, Lyda Green said she has a meeting with Gov Palin and was "particularly surprised that Todd was there. I had never seen a spouse stay in the room through the meeting."

So, what do we think? Questions about Todd's involvement... sexist or sound?

Best thing I've seen in weeks

I want to be best friends with Poehler and Fey!

Selling sexism to kids

It's no secret that wrestling shows are hugely popular with men. Not just adults, but plenty of young boys watch these shows and idolize their wrestlers. It's also no secret that wrestling's "plotlines" often revolve around racism, homophobia ands staggering displays of sexism.

For a great example of this, see the documentary "Wrestling with Manhood: Boys, Bullying and Battering." Now, other than that documentary (made in 2002), I watch zero professional "wrestling" on TV but-- from the looks of this... things haven't changed much.

Who better to talk politics than a roided-out, greased-up wrestler who talks about himself in the third person?



In this clip "Santino" laughs at the idea of a woman being chosen as John McCain's running mate. As if we weren't thisclose, to having a woman President in Hillary Clinton!

He claims McCain will "regret this decision" because of all the scandals coming out about Sarah Palin (good point.) But then he says, " Santino feels like he's watching an episode of desperate housewives." (sexist asshole non-point)

He also has this gem (which we've never heard before)...

Santino does not feel a woman should have a finger on the nuclear button -- what happens when Aunt Flo arrives and she doesn't get enough chocolate? Will this woman throw a tantrum? Santino knows best, ok?.... Women do not belong in the White House, except to clean the tub maybe! So please, Sarah Palin, do the world a favor... grab a dustbuster and just accpet your role okay?

Oh and that wouldn't be complete without the photoshopped photo of Palin in the Oval Office in a skanky maid's uniform.

Note to self: No offspring of mine will watch wrestling. EVER

McCain-- caught with his pants on fire

Headlines and headaches

Biden's in hot water for saying people who advocate for special needs kids should support stem cell research. McCain camp says Biden "sunk to a new low" because Palin's son has Down syndrome and she opposes stem cell research

Obama delivers a speech where he says McCain camp is not about change: "You know you can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig." McCain camp says Obama is attacking Paling and playing "gender card" -- even though when McCain talked about Clinton's health care plan he said, "I think they put some lipstick on the pig, but it's still a pig." --- Mellisa McEwan of Shakesville explains why Obama is not being sexist here and why McCain is the real pig for twisting feminism into a "funhouse mirror."

Study shows majority of black teenage girls from urban cities are uniformed of how the morning after pill works or how you get it.

In case you missed this... last month, the American Psychological Association said that women who have a single abortion do not have a higher risk of mental health problems (like depression) than women who have their babies.

Read this blog entry about men invading women's online spaces ....
then check out the reaction her post got.

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Sarah Haskins on Panthers

Yes. Hooray.

See more Sarah Haskins awesome here

Jon Stewart hands the GOP it's bum

Sorry that this blog has been so video heavy lately... but I just HAVE TO share this wonderful wisdom.



Pointing out hypocrisy of GOP is my favorite hobby :)

Sex Education in Mexico kicks our ass

Sex Education that tackles healthy sexual practices and promotes safe relationships? Sign me up.

No surprise that the morality police want to shut the whole thing down. Never mind that studies show sexually transmitted infections are a public health concern and most teenagers are becoming sexually active at 13... best fill their head with lies and ignore them. Or tell them that as homosexuals, they are abnormal and need psychiatric help.

I hope the government and administration responsible for this safe message stays strong on the issue and doesn't back down!