On dividing and conquering ourselves, and on $150,000 makeovers

Please take five and a half minutes out of your day to watch Senator Obama in Richmond, Virginia, yesterday. In the brief speech, he strongly refutes the divisive language of the other party's candidates, reminding everyone that America works best when we consciously put our differences aside and work together, rather than seek to divide and conquer ourselves in the face of adversity:



Governor Palin speaks of small-town, rural America as the "real America." That would not include me, even though I live six blocks from Independence Hall, in one of the oldest neighborhoods of the United States of America, among houses that were built before the United States of America existed. That said, don't get me wrong. I am not saying that the fact that I walk past Independence Hall on my daily commute makes my neighborhood "more" American than any other place in the country. It simply makes Palin's statements completely absurd and un-American. My neighborhood is as American as any other neighborhood in the country. "There is no caste here." I may live six blocks from Independence Hall, but I also live six blocks from Starbucks; an interstate highway; people who are not native speakers of English; people who trace their ancestry to the Mayflower; thrift stores and high-end fashion boutiques; and churches, schools, and parks.

I joked on a chatroom the other day that I was amused to hear Governor Palin insinuating that people like me are not "real Americans." But in fact, I'm deeply offended. And I reject her lame statement to the press, where she apologized for people misunderstanding her, but where she did not apologize for her hateful words. Palin did not say she was sorry that she used the phrase "pro-America areas of this great nation" to describe only the more rural regions of the country. She did not apologize for denigrating my city, where the document was written that makes it perfectly legal (as opposed to seditiously libelous) for her spew her vile, hateful, divisive speech all over our great nation. Rather, she apologized for my misunderstanding what her plain language said.

Palin's plain language insulted me and my family. She used this McCarthy language, promoting small-town, small-business, small-farm America, condemning urban America, and assuring us she knows how middle-class people live -- while wearing clothes and jewelry that cost as much as what I owe the bank on my home mortgage. And the past two weeks are hardly unusual; she's been a huge fan of perks and emoluments for years. How anyone can continue to drink the McCain-Palin kool-aid any more is beyond my comprehension. McCain and Palin are seeking to further divide the country along class, race, and income lines while we're at war on multiple fronts and while the economy is tanking to depths we haven't seen since my grandmother was a teenager.

At least they appear to have quit defending Palin over on the Feminist Law Profs blog. There hasn't been a "leave Sarah Palin alooooooone!" post since last week, when someone complained about the "sexualizing of Sarah Palin" at a topless Palin look-alike contest in Vegas. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Palin was tapped for VP almost solely because she's a good-looking woman. She campaigns in short skirts, deep-cut blouses, and figure-hugging jackets; and she just spent over $150,000 in clothing, makeup, and accessories. The very basis of her campaign is that she's a sexy, younger woman you should vote for because she's sexy and young. She lies during her speeches that she reined in spending and rejected federal money as mayor and governor. So Palin shouldn't be heard to complain that people are basing satires of her on her appearance and sex and on how much the RNC spent of their donors' money on her clothes. I mean, really, are you kidding me? Sarah Palin sexualizes herself, with or without topless look-alike contests in Las Vegas that would get little publicity unless blogs like the Feminist Law Profs linked to them.

You can be a feminist and reject Palin. You almost have to reject Palin if you're a feminist -- though certainly it's not feminist for me to tell another woman what to do or what to believe. So let the facts, Palin's words, and Palin's actions speak for themselves.