Tuesday, December 30, 2008

No double standard


During its interview The New York Times lobbed softball after softball at Carolyn Kennedy. And she responded with a shtick straight out of the movie Valley Girl.

It really makes you wonder: what if Ms. Kennedy-Schlossberg had been pelted with the same questions Governor Palin received? Remember?

Brian Gibson interviews Barack Obama:

How does it feel to break a glass ceiling?
How does it feel to “win”?
How does your family feel about your “winning” breaking a glass ceiling?
Who will be your VP?
Should you choose Hillary Clinton as VP?
Will you accept public finance?
What issues is your campaign about?
Will you visit Iraq?
Will you debate McCain at a town hall?
What did you think of your competitor’s [Clinton] speech?


Brian Gibson interviews Sarah Palin:

Do you have enough qualifications for the job you’re seeking? Specifically have you visited foreign countries and met foreign leaders?
Aren’t you conceited to be seeking this high level job?
Questions about foreign policy
-territorial integrity of Georgia
-allowing Georgia and Ukraine to be members of NATO
-NATO treaty
-Iranian nuclear threat
-what to do if Israel attacks Iran
-Al Qaeda motivations
-the Bush Doctrine
-attacking terrorists harbored by Pakistan
Is America fighting a holy war? [misquoted Palin]

I'm shocked -- SHOCKED -- that Ms. Kennedy-Schlossberg hasn't been attacked the way Palin was. Recall these golden oldies?

Democrats


• Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) described Palin as "disabled".
• Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) said Palin "doesn't know anything".
• Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) believed that Palin's election would be a "backward step for women".
• Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) believed that Palin's "family background, including the pregnancy of her unwed teenage daughter, should be fair game for campaign discussion."
• Obama Finance Director Howard Gutman claimed that Palin "puts [her] career above [her] family."
• Michigan Democratic operative Barbara Theaker, introducing Joe Biden, called Palin "a bucket of fluff."
• South Carolina Democratic Chair Carol Fowler: "[Palin's] primary qualification seems to be that she hasn’t had an abortion."
• Obama supporter Lincoln Chafee called Sarah Palin a "cocky wacko."
• Former Gore advisor Bob Shrum: "However much the Republican base hoots and whistles, Palin may not become their Miss November; she’s been a runner-up before."

The Mainstream Media


• The Cleveland Plain-Dealer's Connie Schultz claimed "[Palin] outed her pregnant daughter... [abortion] was never really a choice for this girl, unless she was willing to derail her mother's political career."
• The New York Times' Judith Warner characterizes Palin's selecton as a "thoroughgoing humiliation for America’s women."
• The New York Times' Maureen Dowd quotes a Palin detractor: "She’s a child, inexperienced and simplistic."
• The Kansas City Star's Mary Sanchez headlined a column "Palin is gloriously, fabulously unfit for duty."
• Chicago Sun-Times Columnist Mary Mitchell said "Sarah Palin makes me sick... [she] scares me... I couldn't help but wonder what it's really like for [her] kids."
• The New York Times' Maureen Dowd described Palin as "our new Napoleon in bunny boots."
• The Atlantic's Andrew Sullivan: "She is the biggest joke to be put on a ticket in national politics... [She is] Princess of Alaska."
• The Washington Post's Wendy Doniger: "Her greatest hypocrisy is in her pretense that she is a woman."
• The New York Times' Gail Collins: "Given Palin’s affection for shooting wolves from airplanes with high-powered rifles, it’d be more appropriate to have them cowering in their dens while she aims her machine gun from a diving Cessna."
• The Boston Globe's Peter Gelzinis characterizes Palin as a "snow princess."
• Salon's Cintra Wilson said Palin is a "Christian Stepford wife in a sexy librarian costume... like one of those cutthroat Texas cheerleader stage moms."
• Salon's Juan Cole: "What is the difference between Palin and a Muslim fundamentalist? Lipstick."
• Air America's Randi Rhodes: "She’s friends with all the teenage boys. You have to say no when your kids say, ‘can we sleep over at the Palin’s? No! NO!’."

Hollywood


• Sandra Bernhard warns Palin: "[don't] come into Manhattan lest she get gang-raped by some of Sandra’s big black brothers."
• Bill Maher: I will send (Obama) whatever I have to to keep this snarling bitch out of the White House."
• Chevy Chase instructed SNL to "decimate this woman [Palin]."
• Pink: "This woman hates women... the woman terrifies me."
• Brad Garrett said Palin is "White trash."
• Roger Ebert described Palin as "A shallow, chirpy person with those vaguely alarming eyeglasses."
• Pamela Anderson said the candidate "can suck it."
• Linda Carter: "She’s judgmental and dictatorial... I think America should be very afraid."
• Lindsay Lohan: "Is our country so divided that the Republicans best hope is a narrow minded, media obsessed homophobe?"

Caroline Kennedy makes Sarah Palin look like Madame Curie.

No, there's no double standard here. None at all.

Update: Senora Kennedy is make very good Senator.

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