My take on the VP Debate
Watched the debates Thursday night. (Yeah, I do the politics thing!) Hardly as entertaining as I thought it would be. I would've much rather watch Tina Fey and Steve Martin do a parody. One thing does burn me up, though. I think it is insulting to women everywhere that Sarah Palin was somehow considered successful for not falling on her face. As much as women don't like the glass ceiling, we should despise the closer tee. Low expectations are as dangerous as limited opportunity. If she's going to be in the race for vice president, we need to apply to her the same standard as we would a man. We should expect the same level of intelligence and the same command of the issues as we would from any other candidate. Why? Because we can meet it! When Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama went at it in the Democratic Primary, nobody was saying, "Wow, Hillary isn't making mistakes! She can win!" The stride she made was that she proved we can go toe-to-toe, we can be as capable and knowledgeable as any man. I respected Obama because he never tried to belittle her or act as if he expected anything else. A woman meeting the same academic or professional standard as men is normal! (And to all of you trying to apply this to my arguments for the WNBA -- this isn't about dunking, this is about mental aptitude and political expertise.) A woman not making herself look stupid is not an accomplishment! The fact that Sarah Palin didn't implode at the podium is not a victory. That's like somebody saying I had a good game because I didn't double-dribble. Or being surprised when a Black man "speaks so well." Or Sue Bird accusing me of not knowing the meaning of unevolved and antiquated. LOL Sorry. That whole hooray-she-didn't-fall-on-her-face bit just pisses me off a little. Anyway, there were some highlights, though: *Sarah Palin was a gangsta. She came out practically from the get-go and punk'd the moderator and Biden. "I ain't answering yo questions, fool!" I can't believe they let that go. I would've kept asking her the same question. Why agree to a debate if you're not going to, uh, debate? She should've at least explained why she was different from Bush when Biden went on that tirade about McCain being the same as Bush. *Biden choking up talking about his kids was deep. Something about seeing a grown man cry, or on the verge of tears, is touching. Well, not any grown man. It's always some dude crying on Project Runway and, somehow, it doesn't tug at the heart strings. While we're talking about tears, it is kind of shady that when Biden cries, it's accepted as genuine and moving (and no disrespect to him, what he went through has to be painful still). But when it was a woman, such as when Hillary Clinton caught a little fur ball in her throat during the primaries ? actually, it wasn't even choking up as much as it was a sudden switch to a somber tone ? it's a sign of weakness! What if Palin had choked up? The Sandman woulda came on stage with a cane and yanked her off and asked her if she was on her period! It just amazes me, the double standard. *Those winks into the camera were a knee-slapper. What was that? I felt like I just got holla'd at in the mall, like she wrote her number on my hand outside of Cinnabon and the wink was the goodbye. C'mon, Mrs. P! This is the presidential arena here. The winking and the Joe Six-Pack lines make you sound like the prep jock running for Student Body President. This debate was the time to show them you are also intellectual and intelligent. We know the hockey mom, pit bull with lipstick, moose-hunting stuff. You missed a chance to show us more. In fact, you probably made yourself a little too down home. Nuff politics for now. Check out the WNBA Finals. Game 3. Going down tomorrow night.
