BlogHer - Sarah Palin: The Chess Queen - Comments

Bad html

Denise — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 07:14:54 -0500

The commenter has an html problem - here's the link that was intended:

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager

Flamingo House Happenings

Finally

Brigette — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 23:33:02 -0500

Finally, a woman who disagrees with Sarah Palin but is willing to give her credit for her accomplishments rather than tearing her down with cheap shots and name-calling ("Caribou Barbie" and the like). I've written on my blog about the sexualization of Palin, which sad to say is being perpetrated in large part by female rather than male critics.

That is a dead link, FYI.

miteegirl — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 22:39:10 -0500

That is a dead link, FYI.

UPDATE on the teen mom budget item

Jill Miller Zimon — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 21:25:02 -0500

At this post on my blog, a bloggy buddy left a comment with a link to information about that particular item. I'm going to link back to the link that the other links link to with the pertinent information, but here's a letter from the Covenant House.

“Covenant House Alaska is a multi-service agency serving homeless
and runaway youth, including teen mothers. The majority of the agency’s
annual operating budget is privately raised, with no more than 10 to 15
percent of funds coming from state grants in any given year. We are
grateful for the support we have received from Governor Sarah Palin,
the Alaska legislature and our Congressional delegation over the years.

Despite some press reports to the contrary, our operating budget was
not reduced. Our $3.9 million appropriation is directed toward a
multi-year capital project and it is our understanding that the state
simply opted to phase in its support for this project over several
years, rather than all at once in the current budget year.”

Emphasis mine. Many thanks to my friend.

Jill
Writes Like She Talks

As a late aside...

LisaRenee — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 21:17:22 -0500

The Washington Post article about Palin does not appear to be true according to this:

The group sent out a release to clarify the misinformation that was being reported.

You disagree with her on issues.

Eric Jaffa — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 00:10:29 -0500

You should be concerned that Sarah Palin may obtain more power, not celebrating that.

That might be, but I never

Trisha — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 16:43:38 -0500

That might be, but I never said I'd vote for him for VP or president either.

And while a few really intelligent people might be able to do well without additional education it doesn't change the fact that a person's level of education is important.

my last post:

10 Reasons Why Sarah Palin Should Not be the VP of the U.S.

But he isn't running for VP

Laracolvin — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 16:41:39 -0500

and you better darn well bet it would be an issue if he tried.

Notions of Identity

The Education of Sarah

Jane Becker — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 16:37:23 -0500

Dear Trish,

Bill Gates is a college drop-out.

Jane

Well, she only has a

Trisha — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 16:14:45 -0500

Well, she only has a bachelor's degree - nothing higher than that. Both Obama and Hillary have law degrees, for comparison. I don't see how a BS (Or BA, don't know which it was) in journalism makes a person qualified to lead the country.

And did you see her on July 31 say she didn't know what a VP does? Comments like that do not lead me to conclude a person is very bright. And even outside of the fact that she didn't know what the VP of the US does - it was very unprofessional to say it like that. It would not have been that difficult to come with a reply that sounded more mature, professional and intelligent. She came across like a silly girl. Her judgement in thinking that was an appropriate way to respond concerns me greatly. Here's the utube video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=006axc2aELE

my last post:

10 Reasons Why Sarah Palin Should Not be the VP of the U.S.

The Education of Sarah

Jane Becker — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 15:56:22 -0500

Trish, curious why you would say she's not smart or well educated?

Jane

I agree that its wrong for

Trisha — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 15:53:48 -0500

I agree that its wrong for people to dismiss her because she has young
kids But she's no chess queen - she just isn't that smart or well
educated. There are plenty of women who do fit that description - even
conservative ones - but not her.

my last post:

10 Reasons Why Sarah Palin Should Not be the VP of the U.S.

What makes you think that

mmd0330 — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 12:48:51 -0500

What makes you think that McCain is going to let Palin do anything other than sit around looking pretty once she draws in enough votes for him to win?

This is bad for women because she's only there BECAUSE she's a woman, and that's not what we want for our chess queen.

Jane, would you agree with

miteegirl — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 11:27:54 -0500

Jane, would you agree with how Jill is defining these? Or would you define them differently?

How would it look if someone was questioning Palin's policies versus attacking Palin's policies, in your opinion? Could you give an example of how these would look? I think this would make it easier to understand your thoughts on the questioning versus attack issue.

Respectfully and thanks.

Linguistics, emotion

Jill Miller Zimon — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 11:19:17 -0500

you wrote, "How would you define "attack" versus "challenge" or "question", by the way? I'm very interested in knowing."

I'd try to be fair and say that this depends on how the speaker and the listener or reader experience the exchange. Also - remember - with the Internet, esp a community like BlogHer, it's really one dimensional even though we get very used to one another through these posts or emailing or the conferences - but that doesn't change the fact that the written word is going to be or can be written with way different intent and meaning and read with different inference than was ever intended.

Even tho I think I write like I talk? Well - not everyone knows what that means or likes it - and sometimes, I do a crappy job at it. :)

This is in part why I think we have to ask others - what di dyou mean - but also realize, maybe I got it wrong. But it's impossible to know anything about how someone has read what you write if they don't comment. :)

Jill
Writes Like She Talks

Sarah Palin: The Chess Queen

Jane Becker — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 21:10:21 -0500

There once was a woman who ran not one but two empires, who bore ten children, subsidized a non-profit arts group for poets and later managed the empire for her older son when he went off to war.

That was the 12th century, but right now it’s the reaction to Sarah Palin that’s looking medieval.

The headlines about the Governor have included, “Baked Alaska”, “Former Beauty Queen” and “Vice in Go-Go Boots. Last week the media debated whether the Governor could be an effective Vice-President because she’s nursing a four month old infant. Yesterday the debate turned to of whether or not the Governor could run as Veep now that her daughter will soon be nursing an infant.

This evening I watched Bill O’Reilly – O’Reilly for Pete’s sake! – defend Sarah Palin’s right as a woman to give birth and govern a state. I listened as Campbell Brown, a Democrat, impugned Governor Palin’s mothering capabilities for “exposing” her teenage daughter to the scrutiny of the press, which is code for, running for office.

Seriously: 12th or 21st century?

In 1166 Eleanor of Aquitaine (a region then encompassing most Southwestern France) was managing her empire in France, birthing her 10th child (who would go on to become King John, he of the Magna Carta), and co-managing England with her husband, Henry the Second. She was traveling regularly between England and France—crossing the Channel even when pregnant—and also devoting a fair amount of time to the poets who were busy composing the legend of King Arthur.

Shortly after, she tired of her husband’s love affairs and took four of her sons and launched a war against him, but that’s beside the point. No one doubted that Eleanor was capable of running two countries, even though she was twice as fertile as Governor Palin. But last week, a headline in the Huffington Post screamed out the number of Palin’s progeny—“Five Children!”—citing it among the reasons Palin was not qualified to run for office.

You can see how much we’ve progressed in a thousand years.

What the people decrying the Governor’s parenting abilities don’t get is that Sarah Palin is more than a working mom cum grandmom. She’s not a token move on McCain’s part, either.

She’s the Chess Queen.

When chess was first introduced the Queen had limited power in the game. Much like the King she could only move one space at a time. But as chess evolved the Queen was given more and more power until, around about the era of Eleanor of Aquitaine, she became the most dominant player on the board, able to move as many spaces as she needed to, in any direction.

Joe Biden is the equivalent of a pawn. In his opening move he got two spaces. After that he is limited to one space at a time, in a forward direction only, unless he is attacking, in which case he can move one space in a diagonal direction.

Obama is like a bishop, sliding up and down but limited in his path to a diagonal cross of the board.

McCain is like a knight: he gets to break formation, moving in a one-two, two-one pattern. True to form, it is the most unusual pattern on the board.

But Sarah Palin gets to go wherever she needs to. Move over to the union member area of the board? Check. Attack the status-quo? Check. Domestic energy policy? Slide right over to that one. Chief Executive? Which executive direction do you need her to move in? City Council? Mayor? Governor? Check, check, and check.

Last week smug Democrats thought they could weaken her position on the board by attacking her lack of experience but they obviously couldn’t see the whole board from where they stood. Proof? Today Obama claimed he had more executive experience than Ms. Palin because he’s been running a campaign for 18 months.

Putting aside the fact that he’s trying to compare the management of an 18 month long political campaign to Palin’s elected executive experience governing a city and a state, as well as a Gas and Oil Commission, the reality is:

Obama is suddenly running himself against Palin.

Not against McCain, his competitor. And he’s not he sending out Biden as a surrogate, either. He’s comparing himself to her because, in mounting an attack against her small town credentials, he and his strategists failed to see that Ms. Palin is more than the sum of her child-bearing parts: She can give birth, shoot, fly, administer, deal with oil, win elections, take on corruption and govern a frontier state that borders Putin’s Russia.

I may not agree with her views on abstinence and abortion (and I don’t), but I’ve read enough history to recognize a Chess Queen. Like Eleanor of Aquitaine—who, by the way, was thrown in jail after losing the war to her husband, managed to get out, outlive him and govern England after his death—Sarah is a woman who will survive to control the board.

Check.

Mate.