We Need A New “Ism”
October 14, 2008
by The Stiletto
|Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen, thinks the MSM is being too kind to Gov. Sarah Palin and her performance in the veep debate with Sen. Joe Biden: “[M]uch of the media saw a credible performance. … In effect, columnists, bloggers, talk-show hosts and digital lamplighters everywhere have adopted the ethic of the political consultant: what works, works. It did not matter what Palin said. It only mattered how she said it …”
Contrary to Cohen’s assertions, a new poll by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism finds that Americans think the MSM has been fair to Joe Biden, John McCain and Barack Obama but “too tough” on Sarah Palin. Overall, 38 percent of survey respondents didn’t think media coverage of Palin was fair – with 63 percent of Repubs, 41 percent of Dems and 41 percent of Indys agreeing that she got a raw deal from reporters. And voters are paying attention, according to poll results:
Public interest in news about the presidential campaign reached a new high last week, though the national news was dominated by coverage of the faltering economy. Fully 57% of the public followed news about the election very closely and another 31% followed developments fairly closely.
Perhaps Cohen should contemplate the staggering level of disrespect – for which an “ism” has yet to be coined, seeing as “sexism” and “lookism” aren’t even remotely adequate – to which Palin is being subjected because of her gender and comeliness. You may disagree with her positions and even look down on her lack of pedigree – as Cohen so obviously does – but she is her party’s nominee for vice president and that alone should guarantee a modicum of decorum in the media’s and public’s behavior toward her, even if deference seems a bridge too far.
Some examples (click on these links at your peril; The Stiletto assumes no responsibility for delicate sensibilities):
† Times Heir: ‘Sarah Palin Can Suck A D–k’, Gawker, October 6, 2008
† Sarah Palin will be “gang-raped by my big black brothers” if she enters Manhattan, Sandra Bernhard, Without You I’m Nothing (second item), c. September 17, 2008
† “Palin has a toned-down version of the porn actress look favoured by this decade’s woman, the overtreated hair, puffy lips and permanently alarmed expression. Heather Mallick, “A Mighty Wind Blows Through The Republican Convention,” Canadian Broadcasting Corporation,” September 5, 2008
† “She’s sexy. Men like sexy women … This is new feminist ideal. Women want to be her, men want to mate with her. It’s as simple as that,” Donny Deutsch, host of “The Big Idea” on CNBC (video), September 5, 2008
Then there are the “drill” T-shirts, the “action figures,” the inflatable doll, the porno flick featuring a Palin look-alike …
The Boston Globe’s Jeff Jacoby has collected several other (tamer) examples of “the left’s scorching assault, so ugly and unhinged.”
Perhaps ‘gynophobia,’ as so much of the hate springs from fear.
Palin is the object of hate speech. Whether we should be legislating against it or not should be the subject of a vigorous first amendment debate, but hate speech should at least be socially unacceptable. When the hate speech rises to the level of calling for her to be raped, there should be legal recourse. If someone were to advocate that an African-American be lynched, the response would not be that it was “comedy”. The main impediment to reaching a level of societal outrage that might make a difference is women who do not seem to be bothered by this behavior either because they have been de-sensitized or are afraid of what a world where women are truly equal would like like. Someone convinced my mom that passage of the ERA would make single sex public bathrooms illegal and turned her against its passage. Fear of change is a compelling force- especially when the fear is irrational.
I don’t know why more men aren’t trying to shout this down. It is an outrage equal to that of women not trying to shout it down. If such sh** were said about any man’s wife,sister, mother, aunt, daughter, testosterone levels would elevate and it would be headed to fist city. Her mate Todd must be stuck in some remote region devoid of electricity, eh? Get the grime off your jeans and say something, Todd. It is your wife and mother of your children being treated like a sexual object here.
How about the DNC speaking out against this stuff?
What has happened to the Democratic Party?
Whoever wins this election, we need new leadership at the DNC!
[...] McCain has never defended the honor of his running mate, who has been called a whore, a c**t – and worse. He should have turned to Obama and said: “As a son, a brother, a husband, a father, an officer [...]
I call it what it is ABUSE! It’s the kind of abuse that is only leveled at women because they are women and apparently it’s used on purpose be even the so called democratic party against one of their own. They are not going to defend a woman in another party because their sense of right and wrong is so skewed they don’t even see this for what it is.
If someone were using this same language I see happening online and in the media face to face, one would be justified in calling the police.
When i worked on Hillary’s campaign, a young man named “Larry” showed up on her website blogs and threatened in great vile detail how he would brutally rape a young woman who was blogging there when she objected to his use of the word “cunt” to describe Hillary Clinton. It was so abusive and disgusting I went to find out who this young man was. “Larry” turned out to be a team leader on the Obama campaign with a page of his own.
I copied the post, along with Larry’s information and sent it to Obama’s campaign thinking *this was early on* that this person would be dismissed as a “team leader” Two months later I returned to find out that nothing had been done at all.
The D.N.C. is not only condoning this, it’s Alinsky’s rules with the heat turned up….on women. Open season for abusers, rapists, and all misogynists.
The party leaders *Pelosi, what sexism? I didn’t see any* and her co hort *Dean I don’t watch t.v. I didn’t know* are liars at best and co conspirators at worst. They knew, they knew it was helping Obama and stayed silent because of that.
They did not care about the larger real life problems they were causing. Calling them fully to task for that is my mission in life now. I didn’t carry water for them to let them get away with this hatred against my gender going unanswered for after all this time.
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