Sarah Palin, The Great Divider

Sarah Palin has the knack to upset and alienate several different groups of people.

Women

Sarah Palin appeals mainly to white middle-aged men, flaunting her sexuality as a weapon. Older_Wiser summed it up very well when she commented on the NRA thread:

"And if it seemed $P was in her element, I have a theory. This event was probably 75-80% male, all of them more than likely considering themselves "alpha males"--the kind of man Daddy was, the person she always talks about and was taught to emulate, the person who tried to raise her like a boy, with not much input from her mother, a seemingly weak person who went along to get along, deferring to Chuckles in all things, really. $P connects more with men because she caters to them, wants to be one of them. She is what we feminists used to call a "male identified" woman, not one who relates easily to other women, nor who understands the female perspective, nor has much empathy with women, just gives women's lives lip service at best. To her, most women are "weak" because they don't emulate men; she will tolerate women but only if they don't compete with her, only complement her. She has no real women friends, only the hired help. She really does see women as the "weaker sex"--except herself, of course. Caring for children is weak--even though you're too ignorant to use birth control (and use "religion" as an excuse--but I question her maternal history), you can birth a few but let others take care of them or let them raise themselves--no TLC for those kids or much interaction.

Her goals have always been much larger. Her persona is carefully crafted--the "sexy" image which insinuates hard f*cking, not tender lovemaking. Is there any wonder how easily she was mocked in a porn film? She never really talks about her kids in a normal mother's voice; there's no protective instinct there, for chrissakes, she uses them as props for her own agenda.

During my working career, I met a few women executives who she reminds me of, the kind who loved it up there with the power males and who treated the female "help" like shit. They also wore those male-inspired "power suits" except with the short skirts just like she does (face it, pants just are not sexy enough, they make you seem less open to sexual contact; in fact, I worked for one attorney who forbade us to wear pants and he engaged often in sexual harassment and taken to court for it--all the younger women were game). Those women used sexual promise as one of their tools in their climb, aggressive and negative in their approach to women, using their power over others no less than men do.

Notice her speeches to groups with lots of women and on issues women really care about--special needs kids, reproduction, etc. She simply repeats rightwing talking points in a canned way, tells inappropriate jokes or talks about herself, no real preparation, just there to collect the money because she disdains her own sex. Of course, she does this with predominantly male groups, too, but they are more easily tricked by her complicatedly constructed persona which flatters them. Even though she may not have been paid directly for this NRA gig, she was in her element--as twisted as it might seem.

I know this may seem pretty simplistic to some, but this is the way I see her--she's no friend of women, and the polls themselves reflect this, with much fewer women admiring her than men, and I would venture that those women don't really think for themselves but just follow the male lead."

Sarah Palin, the beauty queen, is a feminist in name only and had the nerve to criticize Hilary Clinton for whining.

Environmentalists

Sarah Palin loves to call the studies on climate change "snake oil science". Her "Drill Baby Drill" mantra is well known and although she loves blowing her own trumpet about regulating the oil industry in Alaska, the reality is very different. She taxed them, yes, but the oil companies simply saw it as paying it forward. It was a good investment, as they had the governor of the state fighting their dirty battles with the "Feds", as she affectionately calls the federal government. The state of Alaska initiated law suits against the government regarding the listing of polar bears and Beluga whales as endangered species. Regulations and safety measures were routinely ignored or cheating in the tests went on, before during and after her half-term as governor.

She took her governor's hat off to make a mockery of the Clean Water Act when Pebble Mine paid millions of dollars in bribes to corrupt the outcome of a ballot that, if won by the environmentalists, would have prevented them from polluting Bristol Bay and threatening the livelihood of salmon fishermen in the region.

Sarah Palin rejoiced when the Supreme Court sided with Kensington Mine in another mockery of the Clean Water Act, risking the delicate eco-system of Berners Bay.

Animal lovers

Sarah Palin's stance regarding endangered species was already covered above. Which leaves her predator control programs...

She offered a bounty of $150 for each wolf's left paw when she was in office. In the NRA speech, she said that there is no aerial hunting of wolves. That's correct, it's not hunting, it's extermination, pure and simple. She joked about smoking a pack. She attacked Hollywood little starlets and wildlife groups, saying that they don't respect people and put the lives on Alaska Natives at risk. Sarah Palin played the race card in the most cynical way. She doesn't want to preserve moose and caribou herds for the natives, she wants to protect the interests of commercial trophy hunters.

On a less political note, there are stories about how she hates cats and how her family couldn't control a dog gifted to them by the Menards so they had to return the dog Agia to the Menards. Now she's talking about her dad and her own family getting Labrador dogs to find antlers or something like that. Poor dogs!

Over half a million people took the time to sign a petition protesting Discovery's decision to buy her Sarah Palin's Alaska series.

Special needs community

Sarah Palin addressed a special needs event in Alabama, where she offered the usual platitudes about how Trig was a blessing from God and the best thing that ever happened to them. She couldn't find anything meaningful to say about how they're investing in Trig's future independence through early intervention programs or how much faith she has in the work of advocates for people with special needs. She chose instead to bash what she calls "Obamacare" and repeat her death panels negative message.

We all saw how Trig was paraded during the book tour, at all hours, poorly attired for the weather conditions, rarely wearing his glasses. We saw her "reading" him a book during an interview and how she quickly got rid of him when he became fractious with her flicking the pages in front of his nose. The prop misbehaved, get him out of here! Grandma Sally and auntie Kate attempted to force feed him solids, Piper helped him take a stroll for the delight of the fans, Trig was carted out to pose with other children with Down syndrome, was passed like a sack of potatoes to Franklin Graham, Jason Recher or anybody who would take him off Sarah's hands when she needed to yield a microphone to address the adoring crowds.






We had the Family Guy incident, when Sarah Palin used Bristol to issue a Facebook rant, showing this family's ignorance about special needs. Andrea Friedman, the actress who voiced the character in that episode of Family Guy, showed the Palins what people with Down syndrome can achieve when their families are truly supportive and provide them with the necessary nurturing (instead of carrying them around like a loaf of French bread). Many parents of children with special needs commented or contacted us to say that Sarah Palin doesn't speak for them.

Christians and non-Christians

People who follow the real teachings of Jesus Christ are absolutely appalled by Sarah Palin's version of Christianism. God speaks to her and through her. She's not charitable, not forgiving, not anything that could be found in the hearts of a true Christian.

Jewish people can only laugh at her tales of Queen Esther and are very suspicious of her praise of Israel. When she said the Jews would flock to Israel in the coming weeks and months (to Barbara Walters), defending the expansion of Israeli territory, sensible Jews heard alarm bells. What was she on about? It seems to be related to the Rapture, when all Jews who don't convert to Christianism will be destroyed.

Sarah Palin's interpretation of the Constitution is just as skewed as her interpretation of the bible. She believes America is a Christian nation and that the governement should follow Judeo-Christian tenets. That's where the non-Christians come in. They should be patted on the head and tolerated by the "real" American believers.

She seems to have a close association with Franklin Graham, an opportunistic Evangelist who, in a role reversal, appears to use his father as a prop...


Parents

Oh, Mama Grizzly really upsets committed parents. All her children have been used relentlessly since Sarah Palin hit the national scene. Track the brave, fighting for the First Amendment in Iraq. Bristol the knocked-up teenager, campaigning for revirgination and other BS, Willow the statutorily raped, desperately trying to keep a low profile, Piper the cute, the babysitter who should be at school and finally Trig the prop, as explained above.

Bristol, the retroactive virgin, has already jumped on the grifting bandwagon. Speaking engagements and a book are in the pipeline and she has a more manageable prop, poor Tripp. Sarah Palin loves to ram her "family values" down our throats and we can only shake our heads in disbelief... where is the CPS?

Immigrants, ethnic minorities

Sarah Palin's record regarding Alaska Natives is absolutely terrible. From taking cookies and the Evangelical circus, led by the ubiquitous Franklin Graham, to starving, poverty stricken communitites to appointing Wayne Anthony Ross to the office of Attorney General.

She married a token native and exploits it every step of the way.

She sided with the governor of Arizona on the unconstitutional law against Hispanics or any other minority the local police decides to target. Not content with that, she's now meddling in the affairs of a school in Illinois.

Her references to "Real Americans" are simply an underhanded way of implying that the president is not a real American. He's black, a Muslim and god knows what else...

***

Intelligent, peace loving, sensible people are all disgusted with Sarah Palin's hypocrisy, divisiveness and vindictiveness. Her shallow statements, repeated platitudes and word salad may make us laugh, but deep down we're all horrified.

Sarah Palin is loved and admired by people who can't see beyond a pretty face or a shapely body, by people too ignorant to seek information, too racist to be objective. She's in a comfortable relationship with ruthless Neocons and large corporations. They see each other as useful tools to achieve their own ends. And she gets a pass from the media because she means big bucks for them.

Hopefully the intelligent, sensible people are in the majority and will continue to see through Sarah Palin's lies, continue to be outraged by her ill advised statements and will show their power when the mid-term elections take place later this year and again in 2012.

BONUS PICTURE

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