less than reassuring

so palin's interview with katie couric was like watching the second half of Titanic, except there was no kate winslet to make the pain go away.

here's a quote on newspapers and other media:

Palin: I’ve read most of them, again with a great appreciation for the press, for the media.
Couric: What, specifically?
Palin: Um, all of them, any of them that have been in front of me all these years.
Couric: Can you name a few?
Palin: I have a vast variety of sources where we get our news, too. Alaska isn’t a foreign country, where it’s kind of suggested, “Wow, how could you keep in touch with what the rest of Washington, D.C., may be thinking when you live up there in Alaska?” Believe me, Alaska is like a microcosm of America.

for one thing, alaska seems like an amazing place that i'd love to visit one day. but you cannot honestly tell me it is the freaking epitome of america. also, is there a reason why she does not name one single news source after being asked twice? it is not supposed to be a stumper.

she also decided to call herself a feminist, which is interesting considering that she has not one feminist value. she talks about equal pay (more on that later) and says that:

I’m a feminist who, uh, believes in equal rights and I believe that women certainly today have every opportunity that a man has to succeed, and to try to do it all, anyway. And I’m very, very thankful that I’ve been brought up in a family where gender hasn’t been an issue. You know, I’ve been expected to do everything growing up that the boys were doing. We were out chopping wood and you’re out hunting and fishing and filling our freezer with good wild Alaskan game to feed our family.

okay, for one thing, feminism is about more than just equal rights. my favorite definition of feminism comes from bell hooks: "Feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression." sarah palin is not a feminist by any definition, because she has done nothing that supports the feminist cause. i'd argue that she is an anti-feminist: she does not support women's reproductive rights, she does not support ending gay oppression, and she hasn't spoken out against racism, but i'd be shocked to find out she gave a damn about that. she's just using feminist language to try and appeal to the womenfolk, we vagina voters, and i'm pretty sick of it. also? we get it, you lived in alaska, you chopped your own wood and hunted rabbits and fed your family like Little House on the Tundra. ENOUGH already, please.

anyways, since palin is such a great feminist crusader, she of course supports equal wages for women. shockingly enough, she doesn't support an act that could have made that happen.


Couric: Where do you stand on the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act?
Palin: I’m absolutely for equal pay for equal work. The Ledbetter pay act - it was gonna turn into a boon for trial lawyers who, I believe, could have taken advantage of women who were many, many years ago who would allege some kind of discrimination. Thankfully, there are laws on the books, there have been since 1963, that no woman could be discriminated against in the workplace in terms of anything, but especially in terms of pay. So, thankfully we have the laws on the books and they better be enforced.
Couric: The Ledbetter act sort of lengthens the time a woman can sue her company if she’s not getting equal pay for equal work. Why should a fear of lawsuits trump a woman’s ability to do something about the fact that women make 77 cents for every dollar a man makes. And that’s today.
Palin: There should be no fear of a lawsuit prohibiting a woman from making sure that the laws that are on the books today are enforced. I know in a McCain-Palin administration we will not stand for any measure that would result in a woman being paid less than a man for equal work.
Couric: Why shouldn’t the Ledbetter act be in place? You think it would result in lawsuits brought by women years and years ago. Is that your main problem with it?
Palin: It would have turned into a boon for trial lawyers. Again, thankfully with the existing laws we have on the books, they better be enforced. We won’t stand for anything but that. We won’t stand for any discrimination in the workplace - that there isn’t any discrimination in America.

yeah, thank god we have laws in place that say women should have equal rights. and all we have to do to fix the whole "77 cents to a dollar" problem is just say really sternly that those rules better be enforced and lo and behold, they will be. i just love it when magic solves my problems for me!

and then we got her views on the queer community. jill at feministe put it best, so i'm going to quote her here:
Did you know that Palin has a gay friend? Because she does. Or rather, not a gay friend, a friend who just happens, coincidentally, to be gay. Who Palin just loves. But not like that. Because Palin has made a different choice in life; the choice to be straight, which she apparently sat down and thought about. Unlike her gay friend, who has chosen to be gay. Also, who has chosen to be her friend. Good friend. Who happens to be gay. Who she is not judging.

but the worst part of the interview was when couric asked her about roe v. wade. i'm not talking about her anti-choice views, we all know that. i'm talking about the fact that she doesn't seem to know any other Supreme Court cases. transcript here.

Couric: Why, in your view, is Roe v. Wade a bad decision?

Sarah Palin: I think it should be a states' issue not a federal government-mandated, mandating yes or no on such an important issue. I'm, in that sense, a federalist, where I believe that states should have more say in the laws of their lands and individual areas. Now, foundationally, also, though, it's no secret that I'm pro-life that I believe in a culture of life is very important for this country. Personally that's what I would like to see, um, further embraced by America.

Couric: Do you think there's an inherent right to privacy in the Constitution?

Palin: I do. Yeah, I do.

Couric: The cornerstone of Roe v. Wade.

Palin: I do. And I believe that individual states can best handle what the people within the different constituencies in the 50 states would like to see their will ushered in an issue like that.

Couric: What other Supreme Court decisions do you disagree with?

Palin: Well, let's see. There's, of course in the great history of America there have been rulings, that's never going to be absolute consensus by every American. And there are those issues, again, like Roe v. Wade, where I believe are best held on a state level and addressed there. So you know, going through the history of America, there would be others but …

Couric: Can you think of any?

Palin: Well, I could think of … any again, that could be best dealt with on a more local level. Maybe I would take issue with. But, you know, as mayor, and then as governor and even as a vice president, if I'm so privileged to serve, wouldn't be in a position of changing those things but in supporting the law of the land as it reads today.


this is who we're going to get stuck with if mccain gets elected president. this is the woman who will be our first female president if mccain dies. i want to be able to tell my daughter that the first female president was someone who i was proud to support, not someone who thinks that being close to russia will help her with foreign policy.