Posted on 11/18/2009 1:51:33 PM PST by Steelfish
November 16, 2009
Payback Time: Why Right-Wing Men Rush to Palin's Defense
Eleanor Clift
It’s nothing new when liberal women complain about sexism, but when conservative men take up the banner, calling NEWSWEEK sexist for portraying Sarah Palin on the cover in her jogging clothes, that catches my attention. Why do right-wing men rush to Sarah’s side to defend her? My theory is that this is payback time. They’ve been called sexist and racist, and subjected to media ridicule of their allegedly retro views. Palin is their way to push back against the elites that have marginalized them.
For the record, I loved Palin’s interview with Runner’s World, and the cover image that graces NEWSWEEK. She’s in great shape, and she’s shown herself capable of handling whatever comes her way─and making a tidy profit in the process. She’s turned media criticism into a cash cow. Anybody who can stir up the body politic like Palin is a force to be reckoned with. With such Christian-right leaders as Jerry Falwell gone and the Reverend Dobson retired, Palin is the new kingmaker. She may not run for national office again, but those who do will seek her endorsement as the key to mobilizing the populist energy emerging on the right.
(Excerpt) Read more at blog.newsweek.com ...
“My God in heaven, Clift and her ilk are so clueless.”
You’re right, she is. She’s come up with a little truth here and there, especially the part about Palin being an alternative to the “elites” that have screwed things up (though, personally, I have no problem with elites. Heck I want to be elite, someday. The problem is our elites suck, and we need new ones). She also throws in a lot of broad stereotypes, and not the true kind of stereotype but the stereotypes akin to how a random conservative might think all liberals are welfare queens/hot-pink haired homos/champagne-sipping New York socialite Jews.
What she misses, and the answer to the article’s real question—i.e. why do right-wing men care about libs’ “sexism” against Palin—is that everyone loves exposing hypocrisy. Do liberals care about Gov. Sanford’s cheating? No. Do they care if Carrie Prejean masturbated on camera? Heck no. But they care that we care. They care that, presumably, the day before their respective scandals broke, Sanford and Prejean probably could have been recorded saying adultery/pornography are sinful.
That’s it. We don’t care, most of us, all that much about sexism. Mostly because we wouldn’t want to be barred from continuing to call Palin “hot”. We do care about liberal media bias, and will carp about it when it’s as blatant as it is in Sarah’s case.
The article is just Eleanor Clift trying to get a rise out of people.
The charge of anti-intellectual is running around these days. Chrissy Matthews used it the other day.
What is anti-intellectualism anyway? I’m all up for ideas. Let’s hear them. We’ve (along with all recorded history) shown leftist ideas to be bad ideas so why do the Chrissy Matthews of the World keep insisting that believing in socialism is “intellectualism” and believing the facts is “anti-intellectualism”?
I think it’s a form of bandwagon logic. The charge of anti-intellectual is to appeal to the, no pun intended, weak minded among the population. Those followers who never bother to become informed and only want to be with the “smart” side.
Well, to cut to the chase, the conservative side is the smart side. Not necessarily the GOP side. We should all think of ourselves as really pretty and desirable girls and if the GOP wants to take us to bed again, they’re going to have to woo us again.
And if the GOP embraces small government conservativism and works to truly shrink the size of government, I’ll jump between the sheets in a New York minute.
Great riposte!
To Eleandor and her irk I think Sarah is wrong type of woman that she didn’t abort her child when was diagnosis with Down Syndome
Mr. Clift needs to check his facts before he pens an article ripping “right wing” men. If he did, he would have discovered that apparently the newsrag he works for used the photo improperly—a BRITISH news source is reporting the “Runner’s World” photographer was contractually obligated to NOT re-sell that pic.
But Mr. Clift didn’t do that...showing himself to be a bad journalist.
Eleanor Clift is certifiable! What does Palin have to do with Fallwell & Dobson (hated by the likes of Clift)! It must be those 'evil' Christian-right people. You can just feel the hate oozing from Clift.
Maybe Rush is defending Palin because he believes in the things she stands for, Eleanor! We can't have that now can we? At least, not without rags like Newsweak trashing her personally. How about sticking to the issues, Eleanor!
Newsweek’s Eleanor Clift: Don’t Judge Obama on Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s Remarks
March 18, 2008
Eleanor Clift, known for her defense of Bill and Hillary Clinton on the syndicated show, “The McLaughlin Group,” came to the defense of Obama in a March 17 appearance at The National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
“I think that Barack Obama represents a post-racial candidacy,” Clift said. “But not a lot Americans feel that. I think the sentiments expressed in that church are not all that unusual in this country and I think Barack Obama is asking us to judge him on how he’s lived his life and what he believes.”
Eleanor Clift Says Bush is “Way Off Track,” Needs to Behave More ...
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Clift: “I think now we are in for an examination of this young woman and her background to test her credibility.... Linda Tripp Linda Tripp (born Linda Rose Carotenuto on November 24, 1949 in Jersey City, New Jersey) was a central figure in the Lewinsky scandal of 1998 and 1999 that led to the impeachment and subsequent acquittal of U.S. President Bill Clinton. is also the link with another woman who allegedly said in a deposition that the President made improper advances. So you begin to wonder what her role is.”
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Clift was ready to defend as well as counterattack Attacking an attacker. Even though a criminal hacker or other agent is attempting to penetrate a security perimeter or damage systems, the counterattack must not violate applicable laws. . President Clinton has “been elected twice with people knowing that he has had affairs.... I think past Presidents, Lyndon Johnson for one, certainly Jack Kennedy, these things went on.” She went on to suggest that Ken Starr’s probe is somehow a threat to abortion rights.
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Eleanor Clift and Al Hunt made it their business to defend the President effectively, in contrast to a few embalmed-liberal journalists such as Lars-Erik Nelson, who explicitly took Clinton’s side at the start. But even Nelson had to give a nod to the implications of the Lewinsky tapes. And some Clinton defenders actually jumped ship.
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“Stonewalling happens to be good lawyering and I’m glad the President and Monica Lewinsky have good lawyers.” — Newsweek’s Eleanor Clift
Not the first time I’ve seen the clueless left refer to “Reverend” Dobson. Blind hatred tends to blur facts. (He’s a psychologist.)
Oh yeah, i forgot to mention all those Suburbam wives doing their gardening, the executive women who wear shorts to the companies co-ed gyms, those big city Latina women wearing shorts during the summer on their way to the store for a soda...
Newsweeks De’Morality Police” are calling you all shameless whores! Wearing shorts that only go down half way on your calves....How shockingly vulgar and stupid you are!
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