The Feminine Mystique

So here's another segment of the infamous Palin/Couric interview. It's a bit long as Palin continues to just talk around Couric's questions while not really answering some of them, but at this point, would we expect any less?

She starts it off with telling Couric that she considers herself a feminist. Hmmm, that's interesting.



Things to study for the quiz:
1) McCain and Palin are mavericks and agreeing with each other only makes them boring.*

2) She's so feisty. But only when there's a script.**

3) Around the 3:08 mark:
Couric: What newspapers and magazines did you regularly read before you were tapped for this to stay informed and to understand the world?
Palin: I've read most of them, again, with a great appreciation for the press, for the media...
Couric: But like, what one specifically, I am curious... that you...
Palin: Oh, all of them. Any of them that have been in front of me over all these years...
Couric: Can you name a few?
Palin: I have a vast variety of sources where we get our news. Alaska isn't a foreign country...***

4) It doesn't matter if global warming is man-made... "It kinda doesn't matter at this point as we debate what caused it, the point is that it's real and we need to do something about it." Like get that oil out of there while we can because Alaska is melting. Right now, it's melting.****

5) Then Couric launches into the abortion issue.
Couric: If a 15-year-old is raped by her father, you believe it should be illegal for her to get an abortion. Why?
Palin ends up saying that she would "counsel to choose life."

I just wonder if Palin would choose life if she were carrying her father's rape baby.*****

6) Oh, and she doesn't judge gays, but thinks it's a choice.******

* The creepy giggly, elbow-rubbing moment around 1:50 where McCain makes a comment on how 2 mavericks won't always agree on everything. Then he makes a comment on how they are "anything but boring." Which I guess he has a point. Horrifying, cringe-inducing, and never boring. Yippee.

**They comment on how feisty she is and then show a clip where she makes a quip about Biden's age (ironic) and then show her leaning on the podium waiting for the laughter. If this doesn't work out, she could obviously go into stand up.

The problem here lies in that when she has a script, or better yet a teleprompter, she's just great. She can win over the crowd with her "trademark feistiness" and her little quips, but when she is asked a question at random, she's out of control. Anyone can study for a vocab test, but the American Presidency is probably a little more like a critical thinking essay test. Plus, anyone can follow a script or read a teleprompter when they spent 6 years in undergrad training for a career in broadcast journalism.

***Katie Couric probably knows that Alaska was the 49th state and isn't a foreign country, but Katie was all like, "Just say the name of ONE!" and Palin couldn't, which is weird because she was a journalism major AND she's been on the cover of several very recently... Yikes.

****Here again, there is more talking around the question: "Alaska is the only arctic state." Yes... you have stuff melting... yes, go on... and then to Couric's pressing on whether or not it's man made she sums it up with "it doesn't matter" that man's waste and inability to recycle or respect the earth is causing the world to end.

Palin can't admit that global warming is man-made because then she won't be able to drill in Alaska bringing in millions of billions of dollar for the home team and she'll have to admit things like polar bears do belong on the endangered list and that maybe shooting those wolves from planes was a bad idea. The environment... boo...

*****She does go on to say that counseling to choose life isn't enough, that we need to support these women and make adoptions easier. It is nice to hear a pro-lifer actally talk about supporting women in this situation instead of just talking them into keeping the baby and then leaving them and the baby to fend for themselves. But I would be interested to know what kind of "support" we're talking about here. If you are really willing to bring about a "culture of life" you need to realize that life includes health, finances, and quality of life issues among other things for both mother and child.

******There goes the gay vote, if there was one left. Most feminists I know think the same thing. Wait... no that's wrong.