As I Was Saying (III)...

The grand dame of all things Venus has weighed in on the Palin pick. Gloria Steinem:

"To vote in protest for McCain/Palin would be like saying, "Somebody stole my shoes, so I'll amputate my legs."

This is not to beat up on Palin. I defend her right to be wrong, even on issues that matter most to me. I regret that people say she can't do the job because she has children in need of care, especially if they wouldn't say the same about a father. I get no pleasure from imagining her in the spotlight on national and foreign policy issues about which she has zero background, with one month to learn to compete with Sen. Joe Biden's 37 years' experience."

Yup, poor Sarah Palin, baby factory extraordinaire, is going to have a hell of a tough time against wise Father Joe. No paternalism there.

Thanks, Ms. Steinem. I couldn't have asked for anyone better than you to back up my claim that the harshest critics of Palin are going to be the women who stand up for women...as long as they're cut from the proper political cloth.

Palin got barefoot, pregnant, and successful. What a disgrace.

According to Queen Gloria, the only thing Palin has in common with Hillary Clinton is one chromosome. Sighs of relief all around. Gloria goes on, "[Palin] opposes just about every issue that women support by a majority or plurality. She believes that creationism should be taught in public schools but disbelieves global warming."

Is this the best that Steinem's got? Global warming? Creationism? If believing in man-made global warming is at the top of the list that a plurality of women should be worrying about, then we're in deep trouble.

"Feminist" Gloria Steinem
As for creationism, big deal. When I was in a Catholic school, I had to learn about Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Taoism, on and on. And I'm glad I did. English Lit made a lot more sense once I knew what the hell Shakespeare and Hemingway were using as symbolic reference. Try reading any number of poets without a rudimentary knowledge of world religions, and you're out of luck. Besides, if we're all supposed to be one happy, inclusive family, isn't it a good idea to teach our kids what other people think of the world and life itself? (Sorry, forgot. You're only supposed to learn creationism in documentaries about dead civilizations like ancient Egypt and Rome).

I do like how the Big G put creationism and global warming together, since both are matters of faith. Message for Gloria: Al Gore may be your god, and environmentalism your religion. But it isn't everybody's. And Gloria, just for the record, there might be a reason Palin doesn't buy the global warming routine: she lives in Alaska.

Cartoon: Daryl Cagle
Photo: New York Magazine