BlogHer - rnc - Comments

Not the best candidate for RNC chair ... Yup!

Nordette — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 04:28:17 -0600

Whether Saltsman is a racist, I wouldn't know. You have to hang around with a person and hear what he or she says in private conversation to really know. However, I sincerely doubt that he has any sensitivity to the concerns of African-Americans and other people of color.

I can agree with the following:

... Saltsman had to have known that this would cause a torrent of bad press
because people would completely miss the point - and that the entire
thing would cause a deluge of racism accusations and in turn, be a PR
nightmare. Because he lacked the foresight needed to anticipate such an
outcome, Saltsman should be yanked from the RNC Chair race. We already
had one giant boob manhandling the party, we don't need another.

I hate it when people play ignorant and pretend they don't know something is offensive, and so if Saltsman really claims to not know that this was going to blow up in the party's face, then he's out of touch with the world and too stupid to be in charge. And if he's that stupid, I don't think he has the brains to appreciate any irony in the song or potential sociological truth or myth in Ehrenstein's piece, except in its basest sense. So I wouldn't buy any defense he may have of using the song other than the idea of Al Sharpton singing about the hood and calling Obama a "magic negro" amused him. It takes linguistic smarts to flip irony, and so, if Saltsman's a doofus, then ...

If, however, Saltsman knew distributing the song could blow up, but he did it anyway, then he's too reckless to be Chair of any party that hopes to move forward with inclusiveness.

Thanks, Dana.

Nordette's personal blog is WSATA, and her most recent BlogHer post is "Is Black Life Worth More than a Wine Cooler?" Also @ Twitter.

Thanks for the background, Dana

Kim Pearson — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 23:22:50 -0600

I'd not heard of Ehrenstein or the column before. I can't guess whether the people who declared their outrage about the song knew about the essay. Then again, I'm out of touch with a lot of popular culture. I haven't listened to Limbaugh since the late 80s, because I personally can't abide people who think name-calling is a form of argument or humor. (FWIW, I have trouble with Al Franken for the same reason.) I think the song is stupid, and I agree with you that it is insulting to Obama and his supporters to reduce his election to spasm of racialist expiation. As for whether Saltzman is a racist, i don't pretend to know.

The Republican Party has been confused for a long time about what it means to be inclusive. (I'm not saying that the Democrats don't have their problems, too.) It will be interesting to see how they sort it all out.

Thanks again for a thought-provoking post.

Kim
BlogHer Contributing Editor|Professor Kim|

Do you appoint friends?

Soccer Swim Mom — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 20:14:14 -0500

Do you appoint your friends to positions of power because they're qualified? I bet you do. I don't think Sarah did.

Sarah appointed several people from her high school for key positions in Alaska. One, who's a realtor, was appointed to a 120K + per year job, for a top level agricultural position because, get this.... she liked cows.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/us/politics/14palin.html?hp=&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1221343324-tGxa66AkDRYq1tsNYpjoIw&pagewanted=all

One friend who was appointed admitted to having no experience managing people but was confident that he's learn along the way.

Sarah IS one of me

erivera — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 15:24:05 -0500

I am a 34-year-old, non-white, working mother of two, who stayed at home for more than five years before finally re-entering the workforce. I am the primary breadwinner in my family, by a long shot, and when I have client functions it's my husband who takes care of the kids. I care more about the state of the economy, national securtity and education in public schools than whether or not someone has to drive to Canada to abort a baby. Every day I have to balance doing my job, which I am phenomenal at, and raising my kids. Sarah Palin represents me more than all the liberal women journalists, leaders of feminist organizations and the Hilary Clintons of the world combined. And I bet I'm not the only one.

I know, she's doing now what

Janers0217 — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 21:33:24 -0500

I know, she's doing now what Obama used to do, saying the same stuff over and over again until it's completely tiring and makes you want to gag. Of course, if she opened her mouth about issues and spoke her mind, that might make me want to gag, too, since I haven't found anything I agree with her on.

Janet + http://fuzzypinkslippers.com = love

http://urban-sunrise.net - a blog for 18-25 year olds

The problem is that Sarah

media girl — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 21:30:42 -0500

The problem is that Sarah Palin does not speak for herself. Not so far. If they threw open the doors and said, "Hey folks, go ahead, ask her questions and find out why she's so fabulous!" you would get a very different response.

But she's being hidden from the press, and speaking tired talking points. And it doesn't help that she's lying so much.

One of us? Not that I can see.

--media girl

Nice to read these voices

Jill Miller Zimon — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 21:21:13 -0500

Thank you for expressing these thoughts. Just nice to read.

Jill
Writes Like She Talks

I noticed. Her whole

Janers0217 — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 21:09:47 -0500

I noticed. Her whole speech was full of hate-filled remarks. It was shocking of someone who wants to gain votes of people who might have voted for someone a bit more liberal than her.

Janet + http://fuzzypinkslippers.com = love

http://urban-sunrise.net - a blog for 18-25 year olds

I thought that voting for

Janers0217 — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 21:07:23 -0500

I thought that voting for someone only like oneself was a dangerous thing to do, but apparently, like you, I'm naive, too.

Janet + http://fuzzypinkslippers.com = love

http://urban-sunrise.net - a blog for 18-25 year olds

It isn't half bad

Janers0217 — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 21:03:39 -0500

Um...I've actually read part of Michelle's thesis, and it isn't bad. It's a sociological study, nothing more, nothing less.

Janet + http://fuzzypinkslippers.com = love

http://urban-sunrise.net - a blog for 18-25 year olds

OK

Southerngirl — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 15:52:59 -0500

Us Citizen

This whole thing pissed me off so much I had to stay away. But I feel sane enough to reply to you now. If we are to protect Sarah Palin because she is a woman then we should protect Michelle Obama as well. She is the wife not the canidate. Sarah Palin has not sat down for any substanative interveiws and not to be snarky but there is no thesis for us to examine. How then do we examine her judgement? By what we see. She claims to be an average hockey mom. Well the mom part doesen't look so good to me.

As for Rev Wright. I hope others are praying for him besides you.

As for my parenting I am not and have never professed to be the best parent ever. I am a single parent who does the best I can and pray a LOT!!! Sarah Palin has choices and resources I do not. She fired the Gov. Chef what about a nanny because she and her husband were working full time. Have I made bad parenting decisions HELL YES! Luckily for my children I have sisters and girlfriends who call me to task for doing the stupid. I am just wondering where are all the adults in this situation?

Be careful of the eys rolling thing.

Michelle

AAAAAMEN

DCSweetie — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 14:10:49 -0500

DCSweetie (http://dcsweetie.blogspot.com/)

Or should I say, "a-woman"? I especially like #5 here. Does it concern anyone else that Palin returned to work THREE DAYS after giving birth to her 5th kid? That doesn't bode well for her support of extended family leave.

Thanks for your insightful piece.

Palin Gaffe's on her first public question

topsyturvy86 — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 13:01:21 -0500

She's still not allowed to give interveiws but this was when she was with the rest of her team speaking to voters. I guess she still has a lot of schooling to do!

---------------------------------------

Gov. Sarah Palin made her first potentially major gaffe during her time on the national scene while discussing the developments of the perilous housing market this past weekend.

Speaking before voters in Colorado Springs, the Republican vice presidential nominee claimed that lending giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had "gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers." The companies, as McClatchy reported, "aren't taxpayer funded but operate as private companies. The takeover may result in a taxpayer bailout during reorganization."

Economists and analysts pounced on the misstatement, saying it demonstrated a lack of understanding about one of the key economic issues likely to face the next administration.

You could find the rest of the story here : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/08/palin-makes-her-first-gaf_n_124792.html

Temi

well said

ynnej — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 12:41:13 -0500

I was thinking these things but unable to verablize them enough to blog. Thanks for summarizing so well!

http://ConscientiousConfusion.blogspot.com

That's It!!!

Southerngirl — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 12:35:40 -0500

Reality Chick

I have stayed away from this for the last few days because I needed to figure out why this whole thing pissed me off soo much. You hit it on the head. I was that teenager shuttling the younger ones around and making sure they got off to school in the morning. There are many more pictures of me holding the younger kids than my mom. My family was not well off and my mom worked from 6am to 6pm most days and my dad worked 2 jobs so someone had to step in and it was often me. I see that in the Palin family. I realize now that I feel this poor child's pain and Gov. Palin has choices that my mom never had but wants me to think she is just like me. I really resented being put in that position even though I was smart enough to understand why. I too see a very different picture.

Michelle