When I first heard that the Republicans had put a woman up for VP, I was, like, man, oh, man. I know she’s not going to be Hillary, but let’s see what they’ve got. They can’t be all bad, right? I mean, sure, they’ve had their Phyllis Schafly. (There’s a woman who should pray she never meets me in a dark alley). They’ve got their Ann Coulter. (Calling her a hot tranny mess is an insult to transexuals everywhere. And to hot messes, for that matter.) But they’ve also got their Peggy Noonan. They’ve also got their Christine Todd Whitman. (She’s still dirty, but at least she’s smart. She’s hella smart.) Hell, even Heather Wilson earned a from me a modicum of respect for the work her office did on behalf of the people in my homestate. So I was willing to take a wait-and-see attitude about McCain’s pick for VP.
Here was my first impression and gut reaction to Palin:
Palin made me absolutely livid with rage from the very first time I saw her. Even now, just the sound of her voice and the sight of her face poison me with a deep, abiding hatred that I can feel in my throat, that makes my heart feel like it’s being strangled. I despise her. I am not the only woman who feels this way.
But in the end, I really strive to be a critical thinker and I wanted to get down to the bottom of my very visceral response to this woman. Why does she provoke so much hatred in me?
1. She’s inept. It’s clear that she doesn’t have even the barest minimum of requirements she needs to do the job she wants to do. She’s every inept boss you’ve ever worked for. She’s every person who was ever promoted above you because they were friends with the boss or were sleeping with the boss. She’s the coworker who doesn’t know anything but who makes as much money as you do--if not more. She’s the person who fucks things up and then comes to you to fix them, even though it’s not your job. She’s the one you do these things for and she never give you credit (in fact, she sits back when she is praised by the boss and she smiles and she never says a word about you) and she never even thanks you. She expects it.
2. She’s not very intelligent, but she’s got just enough intelligence to be pointedly petty and mean. She’s every person who fought over the will before the body was even cold. She’s the one who pushes her kid to the front of the line so he’ll be first, even if it means pushing other little kids out of her way. She’s the one who doesn’t complain about something unless it’s unfair to her, then she won’t shut up about it. She’s the person who asks you about personal things, then tells everyone what you said. She’s the coworker who keeps track of when everyone else comes in and then reports it, unasked, to the boss. She’s the person who screams at your kids for playing rough and then turns a blind eye when her own kids misbehave. She’ll be nice to you until you don’t do what she wants you to do, then she’ll do everything she can to get rid of you.
3. She’s a suck up. She’s the person who kisses up to the boss and then sneers behind the boss’s back. She’s the person who smiles at her date across the dinner table and then treats the waitress like crap. She’s the one who says hi to you in a fake voice and gives you a fake hug all the while looking past you for someone more important than you to talk to. She’s the person who is only nice to you when she wants something from you, like a ride, or to borrow money. She will tell people exactly what they want to hear to get what she wants.
4. She will do anything to get ahead. She’s the person who will sleep with the boss and who thinks you don’t do the same because the boss thinks you’re ugly. She’s the person who cuts in front of you when a new line opens at the supermarket. She’s the person in the “15 Items or Less” line with a full basket who smiles and bats her eyes at you--but who doesn’t let you go in front of her--when you give her a dirty look. She will lie about her qualifications to get the job and then tell you with a smirk how she fooled the person who interviewed her.
5. She’s untrustworthy. She’s the person who calls her sister her best friend and then sleeps with her brother-in-law. She is the person who says your one of her best friends, then doesn’t invite you to her party. She’s the person in church who prays the loudest and then yells at her kids in the vestibule for talking during the service. She’s the one who is slipping the extra charges in on the expense report. She’s the one who is getting into the computer and looking at people’s personnel files.
I saw all that in her ugly voice and her ugly, fake demeanor and I was done with Palin.
But I don’t think that a lot of other people are yet finished with her. There are a lot of people out there who look at her and see--what? They see some ordinary schmo, a Wal-mart housewife with five kids and an amiable idiot of a husband. They see that she goes to church just like they do and she prays so very fervently, just like they do. They see the perfect little appearance of her life, the life that she works so hard to make appear perfect. They see someone who is just like they are.
They see an ordinary schmo just like they saw an ordinary schmo in George W. Bush, who isn’t very bright but who is running the country. No, that was a cheap shot. Unlike Palin, George W. Bush comes from a very rich family, went to a top notch Ivy League university, and served his country honorably in the Texas Air National Guard for nearly two of the six years he signed up for. That he’s turned out to be the worst president in the history of the U.S. is just a bonus, really.
I Don't Want A President Who Is Like Me
I don't want a president who is like me. I want a president who is better than me. I want someone who is smarter and more diplomatic than me. I want a president who understands things that I don't. I want someone who approaches the job with intelligence and integrity. Most of the people I know couldn't do this job. I couldn't do this job. Don't kid yourself: You couldn't do it either.
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