Promoting sexism to attack Palin is no better than promoting homophobia to attack other GOPers

[dsc]

Palin is wholly unqualified to be President. She also undercuts McCain's whole experience argument. It is hard to attack Obama as not ready to be President on the basis of his lack of experience when you put her one heartbeat from office while being the oldest and likely least healthy man to ever run for President. But all that said, her special needs child out to be off limits. The notion that having a special needs child should disqualify women but not men from elective office is outrageous and sexist plain and simple. Shame on us for entertaining that notion.

[TomInTib]

1. Thanks, dsc.

I was so outraged to see those threads and posts that I just stayed out of it.

Otherwise, I probably would have been bounced off the site for saying what I felt like saying.

[dubeskin]

2. The way I see it

Is that if the Republicans and John McCain are willing to bring patriotism, race, and gender into the race and try to encourage in-fighting, I say bring it on, and nothing is off limits. If the Obama camp refuses to hit low, so be it. However, that will not stop me from using everything in my power to get Obama elected.

On edit, I just re-read the statement. I think that entertaining the notion of anything to disqualify someone for President or VP is bad. But I think bringing into question the special needs child should not be off-limits.

[TomInTib]

6. That sounds so Rovian.

While I hate the Enemy, I would never attack a woman on the basis of her being a mother to a Down's (or in any other way afflicted) child.

[mitchum]

11. She's not the mother; she's the GRANDmother

[jwirr]

18. Now that you can talk about - because it could have been any child. nt

[jwirr]

17. Why? Do you not understand that when you attack that child you

attack my child? It is fine if you wonder who is taking care of the child but to do as another DUer did and talk about how they are somehow lesser citizens than we are is NOT okay.

[emilyg]

20. A child is off limits.

[mitchum]

3. Her lying about her special needs GRANDchild is not off limits

Her shoddy cover story reflects the contempt that she has for her constituents

[Captain Hilts]

4. Guessing on whether or not she loves her kids as much as we think our candidates do is unsat.

Our kids were rotten...and we weren't great parents....

[LongDistanceRunner]

38. any links for this?

[maximusveritas]

5. Who said that?

Where did anyone say it would only disqualify women? I haven't seen that.

[dsc]

10. The words weren't directly said but the implication was clear

especially given that two male politicians who had done it were cited with no apparent dimunition in the threads.

[progressivebydesign]

7. we have a right to express our opinions..

and many of us women who have given birth, and have kids, are free to express their disagreement with leaving a 4 month old special needs baby while you campaign for months away from your remote home. I've had friends who have done similar things, but not to that extent, and I was just as honest about my feelings about having strangers raise your small baby. Bonding is a function of human biology and is not pop psychology. Many of us are just really shocked that she'd make that decision, after returning to work 3 days after the baby was born. It's not an attack is a disagreement. Her husband works on the North Shore oilfields and has returned to work there....

It's the hypocrisy of the 'family values' crowd that riles us. The fact that they have always believed that women should stay home to raise the kids... and now it's fine to leave a newborn with special needs while away for days on end? If she were a soldier being deployed, everyone on DU would be screaming their heads off at the govt making her leave her baby so soon. And you know it.

[renie408]

8. I agree. That dog won't hunt and will get us in serious trouble. n/t

[Fearless]

9. Are we treating her with kid gloves because she's a woman? Isn't that sexism too?

[renie408]

12. Are you seriously implying that not attacking her choice to have a child

is the same as treating her with kid gloves??

There is so much else to attack, why bother with a subject that is going to repel a lot of people?

[Fearless]

16. I am saying that I'm tired of people saying oh no...

Don't go HERE, don't go THERE. She's a woman. Whoop-dee-doo. Is calling her a whore any different than calling McCain a womanizer? (I'm not making that argument, but it has been made.) Is calling her out as being a hypocrite for possibly passing off her daughter's child as her own because of the shame of it all with respect to her ardent family values beliefs different than saying that Cindy McCain ignores her sisters money problems? Is saying that she has put her own personal plans ahead the needs of a Down's syndrome infant any different than John McCain's divorce?

I'm asking honest question and I want to know why some of us are falling for her sob story. I think we're forgetting which side we're on. This isn't about being nice. This is about WINNING. Do you realize what will happen if they're elected? To the SJC? That deep social conservatives will be running this nations justice system for three to four more decades? That Roe v. Wade WILL be overturned? That the Defense of Marriage Act WILL be upheld?

These are risks I cannot and will not take. We cannot afford a McCain presidency. We cannot afford to play with kid gloves. To do so would be unconscionable.

NTF

[Sisaruus]

22. whoop-dee-doo up yours

First of all, if (big IF) all this speculation is true, I prefer not to be the one to cross the line of her family's right to privacy on this matter. And there would be little that would qualify her as a hypocrite (she doesn't support abortion rights, there was no abortion).

On the other hand, I would be inclined to call you out as a hypocrite. You cannot trade women's rights to promote a Democrat victory. I didn't play with kid gloves to gain those rights over the past 40 years and I'm not going to play with kids gloves when you diminish them. There are many other ways to fight that ticket.

[Fearless]

25. Clearly whatever I say you're going to think I said something else.

Firstly, it would make her a hypocrite. Anyone who supports abstinence and so forth and then covers up her daughter's pregnancy is not only a lunatic, a hypocrite, but also neurologically damaged by the warm fuzzy 1950's feeling that religious evangelism touts.

Secondly, why do you call it a DemoCRAT victory? It is a DemocratIC victory.

Thirdly, your actions towards her PROMOTE her and her anti-woman agenda. I do not attack her because she's a woman but because she's a conservative. We cannot afford her and we cannot afford to be nice to her because some people feel guilty attacking her fully solely because she's a woman.

[NashVegas]

27. How About This: Because We're All Freaking Supposed to Be On the Same Side Here

You don't have to resort to disgustingly low campaign tactics here on DU because on Democratic Underground, there's no one for you to campaign against.

You want to make misogynist posts against Palin, feel free - to take it somewhere she might actually have voters.

[Fearless]

32. Well that's well and good...

However, we differ on what misogynistic is.

But I digress; as no one has given actual quotes of said topic, this thread is a waste of my time.

[WindRiverMan]

13. I would agree with you

except that Palin is in line with James Dobson, Dr. Laura etc. Could you imagine what Dr. Laura would say about the mother of a special needs baby going 5000 miles from home to boost her career?

Do as I say not as I do does not work for many people. I don't think pointing out hypocricy is shameful. On the contrary, I fnd it quite enlightening.

[hulklogan]

14. Well said. Working mothers are no less qualified than working fathers.

Sarah Palin's unqualifications are completely unrelated to her children.

[beachmom]

28. Ugh. Not a working mother issue. This is about a never home Mother.

She will never be home. And she described herself as a "hockey mom".

[hulklogan]

33. My sister is a single parent and has to work two jobs to support her family

Is she a "never home mother" too?

I'm sorry. I don't hold that against my sister and I don't hold it against Governor Palin no matter how much I don't want her to be the next VP.

[Chovexani]

39. Thank you

DU really needs to cut it the fuck out. There are a metric fuckton of legit reasons why Palin should be nowhere near a position of power. This is not one of them and I will defend her to death on it. Because I'm an actual liberal and not just somebody playing one on a message board.

I wonder if these judgmental assholes with diarrhea of the keyboard realize that every time they spout this excrement, they're not just insulting "some Repuke", but women on this board.

[Chovexani]

37. My mother was "never home"

Because like millions of women of color, she didn't have a choice as to whether she should work or stay at home. She was a single parent who worked two jobs to put my sister through college and myself through a private school so I didn't have to go to the shitty neighborhood public school.

Watch what the fuck you say about working mothers. I'm sure you wouldn't appreciate some random asshole on the internet making judgments about your commitment to your own children based on the fact that you seem to have so much free time to pass judgment on other mothers on a message board.

[jwirr]

15. Thank you.

[emilyg]

19. Thank you.

[JohnnyLib2]

21. Thank you.

[LittleClarkie]

23. It's the hypocrisy.

Larry Craig was rabidly against gay rights, then turned out to be gay.

The point was not that he was gay, but that he was a hypocrite.

Palin is rabidly pro-life, and belongs to a party that touts their family values.

It's not that she is a woman with children. It's the hypocrisy of bringing a child into this world she won't actually be around to raise all that much, and then putting down the choices of those who don't have the same resources she does.

[Chovexani]

31. God don't y'all ever get tired of trotting out that tired horseshit to defend bigotry?

[LittleClarkie]

36. Then why defend a bigot?

I don't care that Larry Craig is gay. I care that he's a hypocrite. Call that what you want.

[Chovexani]

41. For fuck's sake

IT'S NOT ABOUT LARRY CRAIG.

I'm not sure how many motherfucking times we have to tell you that. It's about the near childlike glee that comes over this board any time y'all get an excuse to trot out bigoted jokes. It's about the fact that every time Ann Coulter spews something 90% of the thread is devoted not to what she said but to "Mann Coulter" jokes. It's about the fact that every single fucking Republican and/or public figure this site hates has had at least one thread at some point questioning their sexual orientation, like a junior high locker room.

You are not only insulting the Repuke when you engage in this kind of behavior, you are insulting countless Democrats, including your fellow DUers.

Don't make me get out the Crayolas and break this down to you in pictures.

[sandnsea]

42. Here's the thing

Some of us don't engage in any of the stuff in your post, but the hypocrisy of these people drives us crazy. I think some of these mothering threads are way over the top. However, the very limited point that she uses her Downs Syndrome baby to glorify her anti-abortion stance, and then turns over the responsibility to others, is a very legitimate point. It's like the hypocrisy of the McCains glorifying their adoption of a minority child when they almost never allow that child to appear with them. It's stomach churning. So please don't dump all the behaviors of DU on every individual who is narrowly upset about legitimate hypocritical incidents.

[NashVegas]

34. Larry Craig Was a Great Sex Scandal

That a lot of people used as an excuse to make gay jokes and scream 'pervert.'

[NashVegas]

24. Thanks dsc

Many times today, I've thought back to the 2007 Superbowl commercial involving that candy bar and the reaction on DU. Milky Way? Snickers? Mars? I forget. Anyway, I'm pretty sure I automatically took the 'free speech' side of that one and am sorry for it. Thanks for sticking around.

[beachmom]

26. Sorry this is about character. Look, this won't be on TV, it's not

going to be a talking point. But Moms like me were shocked to hear she had an infant, let alone one with special needs, and yet she was going to be essentially gone for several months, possibly taking on a job after those months that would require extreme hours and endless travel.

Since her persona is that she is a "hockey Mom", then she has put it on the table.

But really, I hope nobody mentions it on TV or in newspapers. Every mother is going to notice what choice she has made, and then make a judgment on her as to that choice.

Watch the "soccer Mom" demographic closely. I think this move by McCain will throw it even more in Obama's direction than before.

[JoFerret]

29. Correct. And my - how excitable

everyone is tonight.

We just had the most wonderful convention -and now- bouncing up and down like fleas over a GOP vp pick.

[Chovexani]

30. Thanks.

I only hope it doesn't fall on deaf ears.

[KittyWampus]

35. Her Fundie base expects women to be stay at home moms. Or, if not, for dad to do it.

[Arrowhead2k1]

40. McCain selected her for sexist reasons.

Let's not forget that. But I agree, there's no point to offend all women while attacking Palin. There's more than enough substance to launch attacks on her from.