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And speaking of lead balloons

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If Wente wants to talk lead balloons, let’s talk a McCain candidacy without Sarah Palin. The reality is that McCain is a weak candidate. The only inspiring thing he’s done is choose Sarah Palin as a running mate. Certainly, this is not the view of the media elite, of that I’m well aware.

It may take years to see who has the last laugh, because I don’t believe the McCain ticket will win. But they won’t lose because of Sarah, that’s for sure. As for all the femme fatale nonsense? Seems to me Wente’s fallen into the trap of thinking good looks and brains are mutually exclusive. And that only men like her. Oh dear.

Palin is a strong and attractive candidate. But how she looks is neither here nor there, save for columnists who use that as an excuse–when really, not so secretly, it’s her ideas they abhor.

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Rebecca adds: “Seems to me Wente’s fallen into the trap of thinking good looks and brains are mutually exclusive.”

If I thought in stereotypes as shallow as those Wente indulges in that column, I’d be tempted to expand upon Andrea’s observation.

Palin has lots of male fans, but the news has been for a month and a half how she has energized the Republican base and women. Wente isn’t dumb, so she must be pretty blinded by her obvious resentment to have missed this point.

Why imagine? This is real life

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This link asks us to imagine strong pro-life women running for office:  

Imagine a strong charismatic crunchy conservative pro-life woman with special needs baby running for for office. Now imagine that same woman with years of national and foreign policy experience. That is a very very scary thing to the pro-death left.

This article goes on to talk about Michele Bachmann, a strong, pro-life Republican in Minnesota.

At 13, Bachmann was forced to become almost financially independent after her parents divorced. She used her babysitting money to buy her own clothes and lunches at school and saved up enough to purchase her first pair of contact lenses. Between college semesters at Winona State University, she took her hardworking streak to Alaska where on one memorable day she cleaned 280 salmon.

In Canada, there’s no political alignment on the life issues: you can be left, you can be right. So I’ll imagine more and more strong right and left wing women rising up to assert why they are pro-life, while being the very best in their fields. Meanwhile, I’m glad to hear about women like Bachmann, Palin, Laura Ingraham…

Strong pro-life women are a very scary thing to the pro-abortion side. Not to belabour the point, but they should be worried. We’re not just coming. We’re already here.

Peggy on Palin

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Two readers have pointed to Peggy Noonan’s piece on Palin. Indeed, it is worth a read–she is way more positive about Palin’s performance than I, and way more experienced to comment with authority, too. Reading and listening to American sources, in particular the right-of-centre ones–lead to a better understanding of America, these days in particular.

I don’t think Canadians really get how much Americans hate the mere idea of a bailout package, and this is where I thought Palin was incredibly weak last night. (Even Jay Leno made fun of the bailout, after making fun of Palin, on his show last night.) She could have capitalized on Washington greed, instead of focussing on Wall Street.

Anyway, if Noonan thinks she was this good, it’s worth taking note.

Debates!

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But which debate? Well, the first blog post from your Ottawa-based correspondent would have to be on… Sarah Palin. (Now to be sure, I watched both. At the same time. That’s just the kind of multi-tasking woman I am. But my comments on the Canadian debate largely revolve around what a great moderator Steve Paikin is. Kidding! Sort of.)

Back to Sarah Palin. I thought she did well; it was not a knock out to be sure, but she certainly was not a failure, either. Which leads me to think there simply is no parallel to the hostile media test (the one she previously failed). Any given day, fighting the Taliban may in fact be easier. Furthermore, the hostile media test generally has little bearing on how competent you are. (What’s too bad, is that after you fail the hostile media test, they pull more pundits out of the bag to kick you while you’re already down. By discussing, on repeat.)

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Update: Interesting to read commentary from around the globe. This from South Africa:

If she doesn’t get into the White House now, Palin could be a better contender in 2012. After a few more years of experience and with more time to polish her political skills, Palin might get where she wants to be. For now, I think her entry into this level of politics might be premature.

Plus, she wouldn’t be with McCain, who I believe is very weak indeed. Far weaker than I thought.

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Brigitte cheers Steve: I didn’t watch much of the Canadian debate, choosing instead to watch the U.S. one (I’ve seen the Canadian debate last election, and the one before that; these guys keep repeating the same inane platitudes year in, year out). I would absolutely vote for Steve Paikin. He rocks.

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Andrea: That makes two votes for Steve. Paikin, not Harper.

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Tanya adds: Is it me, or are they trying to make Harper smile more…and at wierd times? BTW, I vote for Paikin, too.

Palin and pro-life consistency

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I was advised to look up footage of Sarah Palin in the Alaska gubernatorial debates on YouTube, since she apparently performed much better in that context than she did with Katie Couric, and lo and behold, it seems that she did. [youtube:http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=y1-B-OyQ-KI&feature=related] 

I am struck by how much the discussion of abortion dwelt upon abortion for a rape victim.  Why does it seem to baffle so many people that those who believe abortion is wrong also believe that aborting a baby conceived in rape is wrong?  If the issue is an innate right to life, why would the circumstances of conception be a part of the equation?

Any attempt to point out that abortion for rape victims might not be the answer is dicey, because of the need to be sensitive to the pain and horror endured by rape victims for a long time – frequently a lifetime – after the assault itself.  Pregnancy with a much-wanted child can still be a physically and mentally stressful experience; I can’t imagine how much worse this would be if the pregnancy was not only unwanted but a constant reminder of violation.  If the issue, though, is to minimize the suffering of a woman who has already been victimized, why do the reservations pro-lifers have about abortion in general – that it damages women on a physical, moral and emotional level – not still apply?

To put it more bluntly: most pro-lifers believe abortion to be wrong because it ends a human life.   How does it help a rape victim to make her an accessory to this?

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Andrea adds: It’s only in a world where abortion is viewed as compassionate that we would “offer it” as a “solution” to a victim of rape. We’re a long ways away from reversing the “abortion as compassion” sentiment. The line I’ve adopted is that I’ll get into discussing cases of rape and incest when the other 99 per cent of abortions are eradicated. So very few abortions are done for this reason. 

We recently had someone who regrets her abortion write in to PWPL. She had the abortion because she was raped. Just goes to show you, these cases are not clear cut–and the pain of killing another exists even when you were wronged in the first place, grievously so.

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Brigitte is looking for a middle ground: While I would not go so far as to recommend abortion as a “solution” to a victim of rape (nothing can erase that kind of memory) who found herself pregnant due to the rape, I could not bring myself to condemn her for choosing to end that baby’s life. In my book, when you do not consent to sex, you can’t be forced to bear and give birth to the child.

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Andrea adds: To be frank, I’m not in the business of condemning any woman–so many have had abortions, and again, 99 per cent are not because of rape. I’m in the business of nurturing good choices. Abortion isn’t one. Rape is terrible–always. So is abortion. Though I appreciate the connection Brigitte is making between sex and pregnancy–ie that’s where the “reproductive choice” truly lies–the fact that the woman is raped, thereby denying her the “choice” doesn’t make the killing of innocents into a workable thing, or the right thing to do.

Classism (and the inappropriate use of hairspray)

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Like this analysis from George Jonas in today’s Post.  

It isn’t Governor Palin’s sex that bothers them. Nor is it her politics. What they cannot abide is what they see as her class. Europeans and Asians tend to think of America as a classless society. No doubt, compared to old Europe and old Asia it is. But not entirely. The clamour we now hear surrounding Governor Palin’s candidacy for vice-president on the Republican ticket isn’t the sound of gender- but class-warfare. What makes contemporary Western-style class war confusing is that the upper classes are lined up Left and the lower classes Right.

He goes on to say:

Resign yourselves to the next inhabitant of the White House having an atrocious hairdo.

Great piece, one question though. (Here at PWPL we don’t shy away from the tough ones): What is so wrong with Sarah Palin’s hair?

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Brigitte is having palpitations: Aaaargh! It looks like a sticky helmet! I love the woman, but I do wish she let her hair fall nicely on her shoulders instead…

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Andrea defends Sarah’s hair: That’s the thing–I’ve seen plenty of photos where her hair does just that–falls nicely on her shoulders. I’ve also become accustomed to an overuse of hairspray by our female friends south of the border. I classify it as a “cultural difference” of which I should be tolerant.

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Rebecca adds: A lot of the time, her hairdo reminds me of the “twist into ponytail, then leave in a knot so the baby can’t blow his nose in your hair” fashion so popular with, well, me.

 

Since when did the Jonas Brothers care about politics? Oh wait …

Schlafly slaps down feminists

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Oooooh. Go read this. My fav quote:

The feminists resent Sarah because she’s the exact opposite of Hillary Clinton. When the liberal media sharpened their knives against Sarah, some chivalrous McCainiacs cried foul about media unfairness, but we didn’t hear any whining from Sarah. Sarah has been successful because of hard work and perseverance, not because she’s a woman, and she’s not going to pull any crybaby act now. Sarah didn’t need any Equal Rights Amendment, which Hillary is still promoting even though it was declared dead by the Supreme Court 26 years ago.

h/t Michelle Malkin

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