Look Inside

Is Wassila really middle America? Not according to crime and substance abuse statistics. And although this can be substantiated by the “National Enquirer” it is also part of the Wassila crime records—which are all over the internet and can be verified. Here’s something I don’t understand, all these middle class, middle American women say she is someone to whom they can relate. I am a kid from a small town in New Jersey— and despite my years in Washington – still very middle American. But I (like so many of my middle class sisters) don’t shoot wolves from a helicopter. I don’t speak in tongues. And I don’t want anyone telling my daughter what she can do with her uterus.

This morning I was watching the Today Show. Well, actually I was walking by the TV and it was on and I wanted to see if it was raining in NY. There is always a crowd outside and the hosts often make conversation with them. I don’t remember who it was that spotted a woman in the crowd who looked just like Sarah Palin. And much to everyone’s surprise she was from Wassila, Alaska. They were all amused and discovered that this woman and Sarah have pedicures in the same place (it is Wassila, how many places could there be?) I watched for only another moment and then my heart stopped. “My God”, I thought, “there is more than one Sarah Palin!” I hope this Sarah double is not part of the God’s will she talks about so frequently. Even more frightening is the possibility that maybe Wassila is the place the Stepford wives migrated to when they were driven out of Connecticut. Scary huh?

On another matter that has been discussed even by me, there is a Wall Street Journal article HERE...
that addresses the issue of censorship in the Wassila library. It seems that some people reported that Palin tried to have books with questionable language banned from the library. This did not happen. Palin merely made inquiries about whether or not books could be banned. Whoever started the rumor did not check their “Harry Potter” dates and some of those books were not even published yet when Palin was Mayor. It’s not a crime for elected officials to ask questions about censorship – it’s just dumb. And it’s not a crime for bloggers to make up information – that is also just dumb. So my feeling about the whole incident and the reporting about it was, as my mother always said “smart, smart, stupid” – you figure it out. And I guess, as long as we’re talking about truth in journalism, I should admit that when the Delta Shuttle offered free newspapers and magazines to their customers, I always picked up all the Wall,Street Journals and threw them in the trash. Some blobbers are incredibly opinionated.

Now back to the Stepford wives. Or maybe back to when my heart stopped. I, like so many other people (regardless of party) have been wondering why the Obama campaign is allowing the McCain campaign to ‘swift boat’ them with accusations, innuendo, outunnendo, pigs and lipstick. Even Torie Clark, former Press Secretary to Donald Rumsfeld, who wrote a book called “Lipstick on a Pig”, had the chutzpah to say something like “anyone who was paying attention for the last week knows Sarah Palin owns lipstick”. Oh yeah, then what about Revlon and Mac, and Kiehl’s? Forget Kiehl’s, they make creams. Does she not understand that in order to promote her book she needs to own lipstick? Hey, maybe Torie wrote the speech and used the line in order to promote her book. That would certainly be Republican genius – let’s give credit whether due or not.

The campaign rhetoric needs to move away from animals and make-up and toward the issues. People can’t afford health care for themselves or their families, they can’t afford the mortgages on their homes, they can’t buy gas for their cars, they don’t want to send their children to war. I yearn for the days of “It’s the economy stupid.” I want Barack Obama not ever to mention Sarah Palin, and rather to challenge John McCain to a duel—at sunrise, or maybe at “High Noon”. But instead of using a gun or a sword I want him to say, “sticks and stones can break my bones but I’m not going to let you tell anymore lies about who I am, or who you are. Let’s look at voting records and visions. Let’s ask the voters to look at the future. Let’s ask the people to open their pocketbooks as well as their hearts to see what’s inside and then cast their vote.”

picture of the Pig: http://unplanning.blogspot.com/2005/08/greenwashing.html