No One Owns the Female Vote. Why is There Such Misogyny Toward Sarah Palin?

I have been absolutely appalled at the behavior of American citizens in the past two weeks and repulsed by the media, both televised and printed. It has been stunning to watch the insanity that has enveloped Governor Sarah Palin.
I have been disgusted at the behaviors of those who have gone to great lengths to trash a successful woman and her family.
Women have been (supposedly) wanting to be recognized for being strong, able to make tough decisions, handle a family and do good things for others. We have an opportunity to have such a woman in the second highest position in the nation now and yet she is brutally smeared and cut to ribbons for what reason? Politics?
I simply don't get it.
This has gone so far beyond partisan politics and frankly I am sick at the actions that I have witnessed as a result of Sarah Palin being selected to run with John McCain.
The questions are even stupid! "Was she PROPERLY vetted?" (Did you hear one word regarding the vetting process of Joe Biden? No.) Is she a good mother? (Palin's husband seems to be quite happy and capable of HELPING her and being an ACTIVE PARTICIPANT in the raising of THEIR family. (So what is the problem with that? Are families uncool nowadays?) Look at her proven reform accomplishments in the state of Alaska. North Carolina Governor Mike Easley would NEVER do without his helicopter rides from Raleigh to Southport, where he has spent most of his time!
She sold the jet on Ebay! She fired the chef and opted to save Alaskans money by deciding that she and her husband Todd, could do the cooking themselves! WOW! THAT is REFORM! Has ANY other governor done that? Not to my knowledge.
As a woman, I can say this:
WOMEN OF AMERICA, WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU THINKING?
Never in the history of this country has an elected official who is running for office, male or female, been placed under the harsh scrutiny that Sarah Palin has been by her "fellow Americans." Even if I didn't agree with Palin's politics, I would have to side with her based on the sheer tenacity and the gutsy stand she has managed to maintain over the past two weeks.
Is America really still "a free country?" I have to ask that question. The "media" has abused freedom of speech to the "Nth" degree. Ask any attorney....slander and liable are not even worth prosecuting. So she has no recourse there.
What do I LIKE about Sarah Palin?
I LOVE THE FACT THAT SHE IS NOT A LAWYER! PERIOD. How wonderful is that? It seems that attorneys become attorneys to get into politics. I find it novel that Sarah Palin got into politics because she wanted to do good things for her town, her state and now her country. Since when did actually serving your country become a "bad thing?"
She is a self-made woman. She knows what HARD WORK is. She hasn't had everything handed to her in life. Her roots are not dissimilar to my own...or any other normal, middle class, American woman. Please tell me what is SO wrong with that? Would this election have been even remotely exciting without McCain's choice of (gasp!) A WOMAN?
Well, of course not! I love the fact that no one in America saw this ball of fire coming!
The "feminists" have been SO sure for all these decades of pleading the causes of women, THEY would get first dibs on "all the firsts for women" regarding politics. They were sure "their brand of politics" would be placed squarely in the faces of us regular women in the United States...not caring if us "average women" agree with them or not. John McCain took a shot with Sarah Palin, he threw out a wild card and the anger can be felt in waves all across the country via the main stream media.
John McCain "pulled the curtain back" on the "great and powerful Oz"...aka...the mainstream media! Sarah Palin is now paying a high price for it. She has maintained humor, dignity and poise during it all. Lest we forget...she can field dress a moose! That's always a plus! I LOVE IT!
Never in my life have I seen such concerted effort to destroy a woman's character. So, where is the NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR WOMEN now? I have to laugh. Sarah Palin is demonstrating the very "ideals" Gloria Steinem and groups like NOW have pushed for years and years. It happens to be a REPUBLICAN woman, so she is immediately discounted. NOW and groups like them have totally blown their credibility (as if they ever had any) in their slamming demonstrations against Palin. I can assure you that most women...both Democrat or Republican do not wish to be represented by the militant feminist groups like CODE PINK (and what IS their agenda anyway?). These groups do not speak for me or really any other women I know.
Woman have FOUGHT to vote, to be paid fairly, to be given positions of distinction, and we have scraped and clawed our way for every crumb that has been pitched to us since the founding of this country.
Was any MAN in history scrutinized so heavily who had a family, children, worked long hours and was seeking office? NO! NEVER.
Yet, I'm hearing now that Palin is "not worthy of the Vice Presidency because she has a son with Down's Syndrome and may not be able to care for him properly?" Wow. That too is a stunner.
Have we become such hypocrites that we are going to judge a family situation that involves a teen pregnancy? Give me a break!!!
Go to any high school in America and see how many girls are walking around pregnant. Is that not what groups like Planned Parenthood have said we are supposed to accept as "normal?" And no family should ever judge what happens in any other family when it comes to raising children. Parents can only do the best they can.
Palin is even showing love, compassion and support to her own daughter who made a choice that has had consequences. Mom's should do that, you know.
Rather than asking Palin REAL questions about her politics, she has been attacked personally. How exactly is that going to offer the voting American any knowledge of her POLITICALLY? Isn't that what this is about, by the way?
It is like this folks: It is ALL smoke and mirrors to "kill" days before the election so that we can't find out what is behind the woman, what she believes and what she stands for. The media KNOWS we know very little about her and if they can keep the focus of off HER as a politician, then we cannot make informed choices about WHO we are voting for. It's simple really. The media is trying to railroad an election because the focus was removed from "their candidate." Again, disgusting. The media does not have my permission to "run my country."
I am so proud that Sarah Palin is "every woman." She is not a militant who is angry, argumentative and causing trouble instead of settling issues. She hasn't had to "bust up" conventions to make her point. She hasn't had to scream, yell and make a total fool of herself to get her points across. She has been successful because she is like MOST women...she is able to LISTEN, able to WORK at what she believes in and most importantly, she is not afraid to take action. Again, what exactly is wrong with that?
As a woman you do have an obligation to stop this nonsense and sheer character slaughter of a good woman.
I find it a bitter irony that the very women who "claim" to care so much for the rights for American women are the very ones who are setting us back decades and decades.
Let's look at Oprah Winfrey's behavior of late. I thought she had done a lot of good things for others. I loved her commitment to help others help themselves. Yet she refuses to interview Palin until AFTER the election? WHAT? Come on Oprah! OK...you got me! I thought you really cared about women bettering themselves. Now, you are transparent. It's easy to see that you care...as long as it's in the correct political leanings that suit you. You too Oprah, are a "false prophet."
Something of this magnitude has come to pass and we women are the very ones stabbing ourselves in the back after having to fight tooth and nail for any bit of progress we have come to enjoy.
This is a sad, sad period in the history of women in the United States. What do we tell our daughters?
My daughter is 23. She is registered Independent, but leans to the left. I am 46. I am a Republican, but find my leanings more toward Libertarian. Do we discount history because of political affiliation? Let history "happen." Don't allow media to write it for us. Let the generations to come see the plight of women and how long it took to get to this place. Events should be allowed to unfold. Smearing and attacking a woman who has already made her place in the history of this country cannot be taken back. The genie is out of the bottle.
I'll give you a couple of examples to consider, regarding history.
Abraham Lincoln was a REPUBLICAN and abolished the atrocity of slavery in our country. Did the Democrats slam him and say NO!!! YOU can't free the slaves! It HAS to be a "Democrat who makes that part of history?" No. He simply DID WHAT WAS NECESSARY FOR HIS FELLOW MAN (AND WOMAN!) AND THE RIGHT THING FOR THIS COUNTRY. Thank God for him.
John F. Kennedy, a Democrat, led us into the Vietnam War. EVERYONE hated that war. Yet, how is Kennedy remembered? Do we re-write history to say that a REPUBLICAN led us into that war because it seems the media today seems to think that is "all" Republicans do?
It's just nuts!
AMERICA NEEDS TO TIGHTEN UP. SHE IS COMING APART AT THE SEAMS...AND IT IS OUR OWN FAULT. We can only point the finger right back at ourselves on this one. Our country should be better than all of this! It should be, but right now, we are simply embarrassing ourselves.
American history was made when John McCain announced Sarah Palin as his running mate, like it or not.
As women, a sorority we were blessed with by birth, can we not rejoice that we have made HISTORY and political parties aside, this is something as women we should be so very, very proud of?
Geraldine Ferraro, a Democrat and the first woman ever to be considered for the Vice Presidency, wasn't put through this kind of scrutiny. She was not bashed, she was not hammered. Conversely, she was handled with kid gloves. In my opinion that wasn't correct either. LET SARAH PALIN STAND ON HER OWN MERIT AS AN AMERICAN, as a smart, savvy, AMERICAN. Let's give her the chance to SEE if she can hold her own...WITHOUT JUDGEMENT! (Just as we have done with male candidates for over two centuries!)
The media should realize that the "silent majority" are women just like me. There might be a shock at election time when they see that us common, everyday wives, mothers, and hard working women will come out in droves to support a ticket that was brave enough to bring someone "like us" on board.
I am asking ALL WOMEN who read this...and men as well, to consider the overall harm we are doing to the female gender in acting so ridiculous at such an important time in American history.
Sarah Palin is an example of a strong, convicted WOMAN, regardless of what her political positions are.
I have to wonder if Nancy Pelosi and Barbara Boxer were put through this kind of stupidity when THEY ran for office and were elected? As I recall, they were not. So, what's the difference now that Sarah Palin is in the mix? PLEASE DON'T TELL ME THAT IT'S CATTY FEMALE JEALOUSY! I am in such hopes that we women are beyond that label that has plagued us throughout the ages.
What has happened to Governor Sarah Palin is nothing more than (the same ol' same ol') sexist hooey...
We've had over 200 years of HIStory. I dare say that one woman should be denied her right to make HERstory in America simply because SHE is a Republican.
Till next time,
I am Annie...hear me roar!

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