Incendiary Article by Camile Paglia On Palin In Salon

[MyUncle]

Is she with us or against us? I read this and I am simply amazed. Is this a future branch of feminism?

...It is certainly premature to predict how the Palin saga will go. I may not agree a jot with her about basic principles, but I have immensely enjoyed Palin's boffo performances at her debut and at the Republican convention, where she astonishingly dealt with multiple technical malfunctions without missing a beat. A feminism that cannot admire the bravura under high pressure of the first woman governor of a frontier state isn't worth a warm bucket of spit.

link below:

http://www.salon.com/opinion/paglia/2008/09/10/palin/index.html

[Zuiderelle]

1. Camille Paglia sucks. That's pretty much all.

[TwilightGardener]

2. She's just trying to be a contrarian for her largely liberal readership--

just a way for the professional attention whore to get more attention.

[ellenfl]

15. she has a liberal readership? she is the original faux liberal . . .

long before colmes came on the scene. :eyes: she should never be confused with liberalism or feminism. she's the liberal ann coulter . . . they both open their mouths for the shock value. i doubt anyone knows what they really believe.

ellen fl

[Phredicles]

21. "liberal Ann Coulter" - I'd've called her a kinky Maureen Dowd;

Or, as the late, great Molly Ivins called her, an asshole.:P

[no_hypocrisy]

3. This is pure Paglia. I'm not surprised at all.

[riverwalker]

4. another myth

"she astonishingly dealt with multiple technical malfunctions without missing a beat."

I think McCain camp prepared the "failed teleprompter" story before her speech in case it sucked. Witnesses say there was nothing wrong with the teleprompter.

[eShirl]

5. she sounds patronizing in the part you quoted

[bemildred]

6. Not Ms Paglia's best stuff.

Almost bland.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

8. Paglia's stuff has never been good. She's a fraud.

20 years ago she discovered a schtick that got her notoriety.

[bemildred]

11. Opinions will vary.

I thought some of her early stuff was good, in an ego-driven sort of way. She had some wit and a talent for invective. But she has lost her way since then.

[emilyg]

22. Agree.

[NikolaC]

7. Paglia is one of the reasons

that I no longer go to Salon's site. Glen Greenwald is the only one who I would bother reading there any longer.

[IndianaGreen]

9. The Bolsheviks accomplished more for women than feminist literature ever has, or will

Women were chattel in Russia before the October Revolution. Abortion was illegal under Tsarist rule. The Bolsheviks changed all that, making women the equal of men.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

10. Paglia's pro-choice, but thinks women aren't guilty and apologetic enough about abortion

Fuck Paglia.

Sideways.

With a chainsaw.

[On the Road]

12. Like a Lot of Her Articles

This one is thought-provoking and worth reading, especially if the party wants to effectively neutralize the Palin effect.

What I can't understand is her refusal to draw any conclusions from Palin's beliefs, associations, or actions:

If Sarah Palin tries to intrude her conservative Christian values into secular government, then she must be opposed and stopped. But she has every right to express her views and to argue for society's acceptance of the high principle of the sanctity of human life. If McCain wins the White House and then drops dead, a President Palin would have the power to appoint conservative judges to the Supreme Court, but she could not control their rulings.

I think we've seen how that's played out with the last several appointments.

Comparing Palin to Reagan is instructive, because it may be a common perception. I had never thought of it that way. But Reagan never went to church, much less a pentecostal church. They don't seem comparable at all. But the depiction of her as an extremist has obviously not stuck yet.

I am still waiting for substantive evidence that Sarah Palin is a dangerous extremist. I am perfectly willing to be convinced, but right now, she seems to be merely an optimistic pragmatist like Ronald Reagan, someone who pays lip service to religious piety without being in the least wedded to it. I don't see her arrival as portending the end of civil liberties or life as we know it.

[alfrankenaynrand]

14. an intelligent perspective

Its refreshing to find an intelligent opinion. Thanks, Ribofunk

[On the Road]

16. Thank You

She is an Obama supporter, as difficult as that is to believe given her vilifying attitude toward the Clintons and her portrayal of certain parts of the Democratic party. It's difficult to read through some of that stuff. But her expertise is gender roles, and I've been wanting to read her take on Palin.

It's very important IMO to limit political attacks to those that will stick, especially in this case. When they don't, an image is being created of a "damsel in distress" (actual words from New York Post headline) and her support grows.

For example, saying her church believes in the rapture or is against gays (both of which are common) distracts from the much more potent issue of speaking in tongues, prophesying, and the pastor's apparent support of Latter-Rain/Third-Wave/Joel's-Army elements (which are deeply disturbing to a lot of evangelicals). Saying her husband is an AIP member is not as effective as her own message of support to a group whose leader hates America and the flag with a "white-hot" passion and believes US servicemen are occupying troops. If she herself was a member of this group (as the AIP claims), THAT is in incendiary charge that could change the election.

[MyUncle]

18. Backlash Against The Backlash Is Hurting Obama

We are guilty of fanning the flames of some of the more outlandish Palin backlash in the first weekend (not her baby). In the Mushy Middle, where I feel this election will be won, Democratic hysterics only play in to the Republican hands and visa versa.

It almost Rovian how at this point in the campaign that the more pointed the attacks on Palin, the more support she gets and the better her polling.

Measured, issues oriented, surgical disection of McCain then Palin is what we need.....maybe...if that don't work....let's get in the pit.

[alfrankenaynrand]

13. Paglia opinion

You can disagree with her opinion on Palin, but don't deny Palin's impact. To do so would be ignorant and dangerous.

[HomerRamone]

17. Hitler gave great speeches too nt

[shrike]

19. The teleprompter did not malfunction

That's pure propaganda that Paglia is repeating.

Oh, and she's an ass.

[MyUncle]

20. Shrike, can you point to me another source for the telepromptergate story?

Thanks. I have to ask, is "Shrike" from the Hyperion novel? If so, very cool, but scary.

[shrike]

23. there might also be something on the talking points site

this was in U.S. News and World Report

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/robert-schlesinger/2008/09/04/the-sarah-palin-broken-teleprompter-myth.html

The Sarah Palin Broken TelePrompTer Myth
September 04, 2008 05:54 PM ET | Robert Schlesinger | Permanent Link


ST. PAUL—Interesting bit of myth-making, mistaken reporting or both. Did Sarah Palin's TelePrompTer malfunction? A very little bit, but not much.

RedState is reporting that Sarah Palin's TelePrompTer broke last night, scrolling "significantly from where Governor Palin was in the speech." Politico's Jonathan Martin disputes the report. "Perhaps there were moments where it scrolled slightly past her exact point in the speech," Martin writes. "But I was sitting in the press section next to the stage, within easy eyeshot of the Teleprompter. I frequently looked up at the machine, and there was no serious malfunction. A top convention planner confirms this morning that there were no major problems."

I too was sitting in the press section, (behind Palin and off to her right side). I had a clear view of the TelePrompTer, and read along with her.

At one point I noticed, and remarked to a colleague, that it would jog a line or two ahead of where she had paused. I noticed that she seemed to use the pause afforded by applause to glance down at the papers in front of her. Having found the missing line or two (it was not more than that), she would resume.

snip



And no, I did not take my screen name from fiction. I took it from the very real, and rather ordinary, north american bird known as a shrike.

[NoFederales]

24. "...don't impale me, bro'..." nt

NoFederales

[MISSDem]

25. Some of you must have not read the whole think. It is fab!

And I agree that one needn't be a Democrat to be a feminist. Palin is a feminist.

[Doctor_J]

26. Du is overrun with right wing propaganda lately

don't we have a place for Nazi Noise? Why do I have to sift through GOP campaign posts while trying to read Democratic Underground?

[Piewhacket]

30. Lol

Yeah, that kinda stood out like a sore thumb, but I thought it might be just me.
(I'm new here, and still easily amused, but also easily unamused. its...er, complicated)
anyway, thanks for the chuckle TOJ

[struggle4progress]

27. Rightwingers, pretending to be liberal democrats, have been common of late. Paglia's a rightwinger.

The technique is pretty easy to spot: it's usually something along the lines of

"As a die-hard Democrat, I <insert irrelevant and disarming blah blah blah>. But <insert rightwing talking point>. Of course, <insert irrelevant and disarming blah blah blah>. But <insert rightwing talking point>"

[Waiting For Everyman]

28. A so-called "intellectual" who praises a total idiot???

Very impressive. Prolly a Palin fan b/c both their last names start with "P".

They're both dopes.

[Waiting For Everyman]

29. I decided to send her a love note

Re: Fresh Blood for the Vampire, article on Salon.com

Well it's pretty simple, Ms. Paglia... As per the Declaration of Independence (life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness) on inalienable rights, women have the right to control what goes on within their own bodies, and it is not the business of government (federal or state) to determine those decisions. The pro-life movement should be addressing its concerns to women's consciences through persuasion in the marketplace of ideas, not attempting to impose the will of a particular group through the force of law - maybe their effort to do that could stand some better justification on their part, which you could bring up instead? The dealth penalty is idiotic because of the number of wrongful convictions. But even one would be too many - I think that covers it.

As to Palin, you are reckless in bolstering the "appeal" of such a completely inappropriate candidate. We have had enough unthinking presidential buffoons, and this dangerous moment is not the time to nominate another one. Your disregard for the future of this country, like McCain's, is childish.

(My Name, City)