In some ways, it’s a good thing that Sarah Palin calls herself a feminist. It means that, even among conservatives, women’s equality has become a normative position, the starting point for debate. It means that feminism has gone from something that the right wants to destroy to something it wants to appropriate. That’s progress, of a sort.
But reading Palin’s new book, America by Heart: Reflections on Family, Faith and Flag, it’s clear that in order to claim feminism as her own, she’s had to radically distort its history. In a chapter on feminism that’s sure to be widely discussed, she mischaracterizes the views of nearly every historical feminist she mentions.
Sometimes she does it to defame them, other times to make it seem as if they shared her ideology. As so often with Palin, it’s hard to tell whether ignorance or dishonesty is at work. Perhaps neither she nor her ghostwriter had time to read up on women like Elizabeth Cady Stanton, presented here as a pious Christian conservative. But couldn’t one of them at least have perused her Wikipedia entry?
I am very heartened to see women standing up to Palin's bullying and defending the brave pioneers who struggled and sacrificed to help them achieve the level of autonomy that Sarah Palin takes for granted.
It is becoming very obvious that, rather then do the hard work of learning the history of this great nation, Sarah Palin and her ilk would rather to simply change the facts to match their belief system and hope that nobody will confront them as they rape the memories of our forefathers and foremothers.
We have recently heard this same sort of sneaky revisionism applied to the pilgrims who landed on Plymouth rock on the 1600's. In the conservative version of history the pilgrim's were NOT fleeing persecution, they were fleeing "socialism." Which, by the way, did not even exist yet.
Just listen to this amazing mutilation of the history that every American school child knows, delivered on the floor of Congress by Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO
More from Raw Story:
Not only did socialism not exist in the early 1620's, communal production efforts were crucial to the survival of the first European settlers to arrive in America.
Akin's fiction also runs roughshod over a fact even school children know: that Pilgrims left Europe seeking freedom from religious persecution. Quite contrary to the Congressman's allegation, their migration had nothing to do with differences on economic policy.
By the way this is no accidental misunderstanding of the historic record, this is an organized effort to rewrite history by the Conservatives, as evidenced by John Stossel making the same claims on Fox News.
What is happening is that Sarah Palin and her ilk are vilifying the "Lamestream media" so that Americans will not trust them as they attempt to correct the lies and misstatements by the Grizzled Mama and the Republican party, which then allows them carte blanche to rewrite history to fit their unsophisticated view of what history SHOULD be teaching us.
And just to make sure that future generations will not be able to differentiate truth from fallacy, they have attacked the public school system in an attempt to marginalize it and keep it from educating our children well enough to defend themselves against these blatant lies and misrepresentations.
"Gee Mommy how do we know that Susan B. Anthony WASN'T a rabid anti-abortionist? Sarah Palin says she was, and our teachers are too afraid for their jobs to even talk about it?"
"Dad, are you sure the Pilgrims were not big business entrepreneurs? Fox News says they were, and my textbook only talks about growing corn and that the Indians were nice enough to hold our land for us, and then voluntarily go to live on reservations after we arrived, so that we could build the greatest country on earth."
Remember that the front line in this battle for America's future has being drawn in classrooms all over this nation, where the conservatives have wrestled for control over public school textbooks and the information made available to the defenseless minds of our innocent children.
Having spent her life attending school in the Mat-Su Valley, with additional influence coming from her church the Wasilla Assembly of God, Palin is both a product, and a a proponent, of this approach to the "education" our children.
Are we really prepared for a nation brimming over with Sarah Palins?
Everybody knows the Pilgrims came to America because Europe did not have cheese burgers or slurpees.
ReplyDeleteIs anyone else getting a little creeped out and scared by this stuff? It is so reminiscent of the distorted propaganda efforts that have led to some of the worst periods in human history. Unless there is a concerted massive pushback and soon, I think we are in for big trouble.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of the Palin 'lying or 'ignorant' question she is clearly both, but as she is a major player in the Fox News propaganda effort I think we can safely assume lying is the main culprit. It comes so naturally to her I don't think she even knows she is doing it.
Peggy Noonan on Meet the Press today regarding Palin's possible run for prez: "Palin takes the oxygen out of the room." She went on to say that Sarah probably will not run. Spoken by a true conservative who actually knew and wrote speeches for Ronnie R.
ReplyDelete"...the front line in this battle for America's future has being drawn in classrooms all over this nation."
ReplyDeleteWell said.
And I believe it. The fascists in this country who have beaten up liberals, unionists, feminists, civil rights workers, immigrants, etc, haven't been able to completely destroy this nation because while they own the corporations, and own the radio waves, and television, and newspapers and magazines, and politicians and judges,...they have not yet taken over public schools. That means with every new generation, you have a new tide of skeptics, freedom lovers, and voters. That tide lifted Barack Obama into office. And it can be done again and again.
So really, imo, the public schools and the programs allowed within those schools are our most important battleground.
Wow - historians have discussed the dumbing-down of America since the Reagan era (remember, he said you didn't need to go to college, tech school was enough for anyone). George H. Bush and his phrases such as "economic thing" or "economic-wise" and other such nonsense fillers. Then, George W. Bush with his fake aw-shucks Southern country-boy persona and his constant malapropisms. None of them wanted to reveal themselves as the well-off, educated people that they were. They wore the mask of "everyday folks," all the while basking in the opportunities that wealth and privilege afforded them.
ReplyDeleteNow, Sarah Palin, Sharron Angle, Rand Paul, and all the rest are trying to polish-off the one great equalizer in America: education. Whether they are doing it on purpose or because they themselves are ignorant and not aware of it remains to be seen, but they are trying to destroy our knowledge of and trust in history.
The entire world is looking at us now and seeing us allow this madness to engulf us.
This kind of revisionism usually happens in countries dominated by dictators or other forms of intolerant, authoritarian regimes.
Now it's happening here, and unless we stand up against these fools and tricksters, we will indeed lose what so many before us fought so long and hard to create - a hopeful future for ourselves and the next generations.
The Puritan who first spotted wild turkeys would have immediately claimed ownership over them in order to sell them to the rest of the gang at a huge profit (IOU's accepted).
ReplyDeleteObviously, Puritans needed to help catching the turkeys would have been compensated at minimum wage (no health benefits). God bless America!
I won't let it happen in my family, I am a direct descendant of a family who fled religious persecution in England in the 1640s. My first foremother in this country was a feminist. She ran her own business and successfully fended off a lawsuit . I've been to Plimoth Plantation many times, and the re-enactors there always refer to the religious reasons for leaving England. My children will know that education is important. But, clearly it is time for me to get involved in my local govt and hold the line.
ReplyDeleteThe congressman is right that many left England to seek their fortunes, such as those at the Jamestown settlement in Virginia. But they weren't fleeing socialism.
Since we just celebrated Thanksgiving, which is supposed to have been the cooperative dinner between the local Indian tribe and the Pilgrims celebrating their first harvest in Massachusetts colony, maybe we should revisit some facts.
ReplyDeleteThe Pilgrims were very strict Christians, and their religion in England had become liberal. They even fled to Holland, hoping to live there with strict members of their sect. When the kids were speaking Dutch instead of English, and the money was running out, they returned to England to join up with a commercial venture heading to North America.
They were originally heading to the mouth of the Hudson River (NY) but either got blown off course or diverted. They landed at Provincetown, at the tip of Cape Cod. It was swampy and unlivable, so they scouted for a better location, and moved to the harbor at what is now Plymouth, MA.
The story about the rock wasn't invented until the Civil War as a means for the Northern anti-slavery movement to raise patriotism.
The original Massachusetts Bay Company and Colony WAS a commercial venture, and provided a place for people to practice their strict Puritan beliefs (a pure religion).
poor Scarah, this must have been a blow to her big fat ego and hollow head.......call out the cult troops! stat.
ReplyDeletehttp://tinyurl.com/29g3sub
"Borders Books in West Des Moines was oddly quiet at 3 p.m. today, just hours before former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was scheduled to bring her national book tour to the suburban bookstore.
About 300 people had stopped by the store for wristbands to get copies of her new book signed. The event is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. The store made the wristbands available beginning at 9 a.m. But there were no lines, no crowds, awaiting the Republican Party’s biggest celebrity."
Not just Akin and Stossel. They got the same memo Rush did.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHExwrJnPyk
Anon 8:06:
ReplyDeleteLet's hope the the simple error of "North Korean allies" for "Southh Korean allies" informed those thinking about purchasing Caribou Barb's latest book and kept the B&N empty!!
This is small and petty, but it's just so indicative of Sarah's twisted motivations that I have to say it.
ReplyDeleteWhy, oh why, is she wearing such an inappropriate outfit in this photo? The lacy little camisole that she's wearing looks just like the top of a slip. I'll admit to having a couple of them, but I wouldn't be caught dead wearing them to a function like this because, as every (well, I guess ALMOST) every woman knows, it's inappropriate. They are meant to exude sexiness. I might wear one on a date, peeking out from a (buttoned) sweater or jacket, but never, ever, the way she's wearing it. It looks like lingerie. But then, when sex is the only tool in your tool chest, I guess you gotta stoop to using it, even if it does paint you as a $2 Wasilla Ho.
I didn't realize that feminists made rape victims pay for their own rape kits.
ReplyDeletePlease run Sarah
To paraphrase Bob Seger,
"You can come back baby, the Internet never forgets!"
Granting its a old photo by why does TriG never seem to never have his glasses or hearing aids, Mommie Dearest?
ReplyDeleteThat kid still resembles Levi to me.
ReplyDelete8:05, You are correct, however, I hope you are not implying that the Mass Bay Colony Puritans were fleeing socialism on the basis that it was a commercial venture. My understanding is that they, like the Separatists, aka Pilgrims, were fleeing "liberal" religion.
ReplyDeleteMy apologies in advance if I misunderstood.
$arah, aka Juicy, just creamed in her granny panties......McCain compared her to Reagan. That confirms it, he's really lost it.
ReplyDeletehttp://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/11/28/mccain-compares-palin-to-reagan/#more-137181
The Dark Ages are back.
ReplyDeleteI got a kick out of the the following paragraph from Michelle's Daily Beast article........(pssst Scarah, ya should have done your homework. Tsk, tsk).
ReplyDeletehttp://tinyurl.com/22wbrdc
" Stanton was a famous freethinker, eventually shunned by more conservative elements of the women’s movement for her attacks on religion. In one 1885 speech, she declared, “You may go over the world and you will find that every form of religion which has breathed upon this earth has degraded women.” Ten years later, she published the first volume of The Woman’s Bible, her mammoth dissection of biblical misogyny. Stanton was particularly scathing on the notion of the virgin birth: “Out of this doctrine, and that which is akin to it, have sprung all the monasteries and nunneries of the world, which have disgraced and distorted and demoralized manhood and womanhood for a thousand years.”
You know, I hate to say it, but we asked for this. When you don't defend something passionately, when you don't believe in it, speak of it openly, be proud of it, and teach it to your children then it either dies, or the enemy co-opts it.
ReplyDeleteFeminism is pro-woman, obviously, and it stood for all women, not just women from New York or San Francisco. But we somewhere along the line became ashamed of it, and allowed Rush to call us feminazis, and allowed the younger generations to drift away, and distance themselves from it. We don't need it anymore, they claimed, it's a post-feminist word. Bullcrap!
So now Sarah Palin and her band of anti-gay, anti-masturbation, anti-abortion, pro-war, pro-abstinence, former witch, former AIP, former radical church-goer CLAN......wants to co-opt feminism. Are we surprised?
Same thing with Abortion. That right was to protect not just the choice for women but their health as well, protecting the "life" of the woman. But somehow we got ashamed of that too and now the anti-abortion crowd is somehow the only group which is for life.
Same thing happened with the word Liberal. We got ashamed of it, let it be discredited, and now it's gone. Can't be used anymore. No Democrat can be elected and still claim to be a liberal, or as Dukakis was called, a "card carrying member of the ACLU."
And the same thing believe it or not is now going on with the Constitution. Democrats respect and defend the Constitution. After Bush and Cheney ripped it to shreds, and then mockingly called it "just a piece of paper," I said to myself, this is wrong, we should take this issue by the horns and ram it down their throat. People have to understand how important the Constitution is! And before the Democratic Convention, I thought, hey we should hold the Convention in Philadelphia, land of our forefathers and hammer the point home. Make that a theme. But we didn't. Guess who is, now? F*cking Teabaggers!!! And Sarah Palin!!!
Look who's waaaay more popular than Sarah Palin:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.zimbio.com/Justin+Bieber/articles/fiCpF-X_x8M/Justin+Bieber+Signs+New+Book+2+000+Fans+NYC
What you described, the historic revisionism, was exactly what the Soviet Union did during the cold war times...
ReplyDeleteI remember my parents telling me that they had to learn in school during the Soviet Occupation, that it was actually a Russian who invented the helicopter, and many other things also, too...
Probably slightly off topic, but this story Malia posted is interesting.
ReplyDeletehttp://malialitman.wordpress.com/2010/11/28/inaccessible-describes-palins-book-signing-in-iowa/
What kind of an organization doesn't allow leaders to be questioned?..... Hmmmmm all I can come up with is a CULT. A CULT leader cannot allow anyone to show that they are not all knowing, or their whole gig falls apart. What's funny about this CULT leader is, she turns around and shows it all the time herself with her lame media efforts. Then by labeling anyone who points out the error of her thinking "haters", she is setting up the "us against the world" mentality that all CULT leaders need to keep their followers in line. If the whole world is out to get you, then anything they say, even if it's true is unbelievable or doesn't matter to the member of the CULT. All that matters is the perception that the CULT is being persecuted and that is what binds the CULT together. Facts don't matter any more. If Sarah Palin were exposed as a complete fraud tomorrow with plenty of damning evidence, her true believers would say it was all a plot to discredit her. They aren't going to say to themselves, "boy did I make a mistake". That's not the way CULTS work.
The only difference I see in the Sarah Palin CULT and the Branch Davidian, or Jonestown CULTS is she hasn't started using her authority to sexually abuse people as far as I've heard and they haven't had a mass suicide yet. But as far as giving their "Queen Bee" carte blanche as far as anything she says or does, they are right there with any CULT there is.
Rick
Rick
anon@7:44 : You reminded me: It was Chairman Mao who made sure that all intelligentsia would be 're-educated' in hard labor farms. Intellect was totally frowned upon - just like it seems to be more and more the case here in the US...
ReplyDeleteThis is exactly the kind of thing that frightens me about the whole "Palin" thing - it's not her, she is mean, crazy, and pathetic - but it's the larger conservative movement and those with money that are behind her who have a broad long term plan to take over America and mold it to their twisted imagine so they can rule and control all the money and power.
ReplyDeleteFrustrating thing too many folks (including my hubby who is a high school history teacher) just dismiss her or laugh at her -- yes she needs to be dismissed and laughed at -- BUT the threat that backs her is a serious one and needs to faught against and too many are ignoring it which is why this blog and others like it and all of us here need to keep tabs on what's up with Palin and her backers and keep others informed and fight tooth and nail when we have to
Anonymous 8:47:
ReplyDeleteIt's not small and petty, it's subtle, and subtlety is often the most powerful form of manipulation. I noticed the "sexy", pink "slip" too, and it's no accident. She knows exactly what she's doing.
It sounds like we already have a nation with too many at $owah Palin's level of knowledge.
ReplyDeleteI think you're on to something here. Carry the message. I'll re-state it every chance I get. I hope the mainstream media uses it; a win-win: they get the draw that $Palin brand provides plus the chanced to insure the truth is told.
You'd think journalists would be faithful to that purpose.
Hopefully MSM won't be too intimidated by $Palin's puppeteers to maintain their integrity.
Propaganda. It's what we have used against other nations to destroy their moral.
ReplyDeleteNow we're letting $owah Palin be used to do the same thing to the USA.
I truly hope god doesn't hate us that much.
I am no fan of Peggy Noonan, but I completely concur with that description of Sarah.
ReplyDeleteShe takes the oxegyn out of any room she is in, she is unwilling to graciously cede the focus, the spotlight. She is not a team player and she is a demanding and controlling personality who is extremely clever about manipulating those who would give her a public forum
She is one scary b, in other words.
The Conservatives need to push back on her just as much as we do, or she will flippin' take over.
From the Daily Beast article:
ReplyDelete"One could go on and on parsing America by Heart like this; it packs a lot of deceit into a small package. Indeed, it’s an object lesson in the power of right-wing propaganda to create imaginary histories."
Gryphen - This may be one of your very best posts! Deconstructing Sarah is a huge task. I'm thankful you have the fortitude to keep at it. You did a superb job of summarizing the dangerous attack on the press and education.
"As so often with Palin, it’s hard to tell whether ignorance or dishonesty is at work." (Daily Beast)
It's both. She's ignorant and dishonest. Add to that her mental and emotional instability, and it's time the LSM stops playing around with her.
Your lead photo is quite amusing considering that in 1773 Women and children with Down Syndrome had no rights (not to mention that unmarried mothers like Bristol would have been ostracized by the community). Party on, Sarah you clueless idiot.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the book "Shock Doctrine" by Naomi Klein, I keep noticing how all the Neo-cons continually sing the same song.
ReplyDelete(That the way to Nirvana, economically at least, is to PRIVATIZE absolutely everything, tax the corporations and the rich at a lower rate than anyone else, and remove all regulations, so that corporations will be free to pollute and cheat the public, without restrictions.)
The fact that this crazy theory has FAILED over and over since the first example of it, Pinochet's Chile, in the early 70's, matters not!
And the reason WHY, is that each time it is instituted, there are several thousand already rich people, who make out like BANDITS on the deal...meanwhile, the REST of the people, even those who were once doing reasonably well, nearly starve to death.
Or WORSE: the ruling class does NOT like anyone mouthing off about how things should go...so they are tortured or killed, by the MILLIONS, across the world.
I now see this insanely criminal ideal being touted by the right wing...and using "logic" like John Freaking Stossel does, in the linked piece, there are huge numbers of middle class people, SUPPORTING what will be their downfall, should these measures be put in place.
I meant oxygen above, of course. Don't get any pens out.
ReplyDeleteThe Pilgrims had ZERO desire for religious freedom. The Pilgrims sought a place where they could force their religion on everyone else. It was exactly the same policy in the place they left with only a change in the type of religion shoved down people's throats. The Pilgrims were arrogant, narrow-minded, obstinate and greedy.
ReplyDeleteAnd not too long later their kind of people were burning witches.
The religious freedom myth is as much propaganda as the drivel Palin and her crowd are spinning.
Jessica Gavora is the reported ghostwriter.
ReplyDeleteBio found on the web: Jessica Gavora is a Washington, DC, writer on politics and feminism. She has written widely about feminism and federal gender equity law in sports and education. In addition to writing about politics and culture, Gavora served as the chief speechwriter for Attorney General John Ashcroft and a senior policy advisor at the Department of Justice. She has also written speeches and articles for a number of political candidates and elected officials. Master’s degree in American foreign policy and international economics from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in 1993. Graduate of Marquette University with degrees in political science and journalism. She was born in Fairbanks, Alaska & is married to Jonah Goldberg.
I get that she'd (Gavora) have an agenda. I get that a lot of what's in the book is dog whistle. What I don't get is the vitriol. I mean sure, we know that Sarah is a bitter, hateful person. But you'd think her handlers would want to hide it better than this. I guess I'm hoping that they decided to let the real Sarah come thru as part of a plot to end her political career.
FEED UP!! @9:47 AM:
ReplyDeleteThat's EXACTLY what I've been saying around my house for the last 2 years!
Beginning to believe the H in Sarah H. Palin stands for Hitler.
ReplyDeleteDamn!!!! Didn't Akin take American History and Government in high school? I'm going to hos website and tell him a few things.
ReplyDeleteSarah Palin claims to be a devout Christian, as some of those rewriting the history of the Pilgrims may also. But they are ignorant of, or are deliberately ignoring, the Christian bible which says (emphasis mine):
ReplyDelete"All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. "
Acts, chapter 2, verses 44-45
Anon@8:53 AM, $paylin's brand, you know, the new feminists, do charge rape victims for their own rape kits. Ask their leader.Her administration started it. I understand the kits are so expensive that many women do not report the rape. This new brand of feminists do not, and I repeat, do not, respect women, or their rights. This pack is out for themselves only. Watch, and listen carefully and you will see.This pack acts tough, manly, yet are nothing but whining cowards, who cry sexist at every opportunity. Phony to the core. This old bird is riding on the backs of decades of hard working women. As with everyone else she uses, dismisses the women, in the most vile of ways, and throws them under the bus. $p's handlers are women haters, and she is a parrot for them.
ReplyDelete@3:44 said,
ReplyDelete""Sarah Palin claims to be a devout Christian, ... ignorant of, or are deliberately ignoring, the Christian bible: ...
"All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need."
Acts, chapter 2, verses 44-45""
Proof: A true Christian is a Communist.
New real estate agents are using technology to build trust with their listing area and become the expert. They use blogs and integrated newsletter broadcasting tools but many real estate agents are slow to adapt. The new kids on the blog will slowly erode the way the traditional real estate agent makes money.
ReplyDeleteI find it ridiculously appalling that THIS woman (who survived breast cancer and braved it to the world with an amazing tattoo) gets BANNED from Facebook, while "Teudy Perez's -Abortion video" (NOT adding the link, NO ONE needs to see that shit!!) does NOT!! REALLY??!! NOT really sure whats MORE fucked up!!
ReplyDeleteI find it ridiculously appalling that THIS woman (who survived breast cancer and braved it to the world with an amazing tattoo) gets BANNED from Facebook, while "Teudy Perez's -Abortion video" (NOT adding the link, NO ONE needs to see that shit!!) does NOT!! REALLY??!! NOT really sure whats MORE fucked up!!