Me Me Me

I have spent too much time this week contemplating the absolute ridiculousness of Sarah Palin as a Vice Presidential nominee — and the sorry spectacle of a hall filled with Republicans cheering a woman who favors book-banning, teaching “intelligent design” and having her state secede from the union. Never mind how her abstinence campaign turned out! Can anybody imagine what the Fox newshounds would have said if Karinna Gore had shown up (secretly!) pregnant at the Democratic convention in 1992? Thank goodness Bristol has Jamie Lynn Spears to turn to as a role model!

The mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, who just got a passport a couple of years ago, is supposedly the most qualified person to be second in command to a 71-year-old with a health file as thick as a novel? It’s insulting to every woman in America to suggest such a thing. With the exception of Nancy Pelosi, the state of women in politics is pretty darn disheartening. Forget Hillary: The playing field was never even for her, and the first woman President doesn’t need to wake up next to somebody who already had the job — and wishes he still did.

As for political spouses, nobody could top Michelle Obama for class and smarts (with the possible exception of poor Elizabeth Edwards), and yet Americans “can’t warm up” to Michelle. Ay yi yi! Meanwhile, men like Edwards and that egomaniac Eliot Spitzer make all politicians seem like losers. If I had the talent, I’d write a solo stage show from Silda’s point of view. Just like Elizabeth, this super-smart lawyer basically gave up her career to keep her family going. And where did it get her?  

After Gore lost to Bush (correction: after the Presidency was stolen), I swore I would not let my heart be broken by politics again, but this election will be a huge test of America’s sanity. I just wish Obama’s mother was still alive and on the stump with her visionary son and the other three women in his life.