Wednesday, October 15, 2008

You've Just Gotta Love John Cleese

9 comments :

  1. LOVE it! Especially the part about only 5% in Europe thinking she's qualified to be VP! They get it!!

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  2. I am SO not interested in how many Europeans like Sarah Palin. It is an incredible thing to me that liberal American women look down on her so much. What is it? Is it her hair? Her accent? Her college? Good God Almighty, she is the governor of Alaska - give her some credit! Is Alaska not a good enough state for you? All these artworks with all these flowers and hearts and messages of love for the world, and you snip and backbite at anybody that doesn't hold your views or is not sophisticated enough for you. I personally admire her candor and her pride and love for America - of course I'm only from Atlanta, and only went to Georgia Tech, so I guess I'm just a dumb ole hick.

    Molly

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  3. Yeah. Me too, Molly. It is so disingenuous for professional women to dis Palin. They might like her better if she would have aborted her children before they were born, I guess. Or maybe if she would just wear a pantsuit? It is really making the feminists have to re-define feminism. I think it is the 'feminine' part of the equation that the feminists don't like? Just because someone has religious beliefs and is pro-life shouldn't disqualify them from being professional, IMHO. I am pro-life and I used to enjoy reading this blog. Not so much anymore...

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  4. Wow. Just surfing through here via a suggestion from GoogleReader. But thanks to the two nasty comments above, I think I'll visit again just to give you moral support, Diane.

    John Cleese is very funny, and this bit was just peachy!

    Back during the primaries of 2000, I remember turning to the Consort and saying, "If McCain wins the nomination, and then the presidency, I think that would actually not be so bad" (I'm pretty pinko-commie). But then there were those nasty push polls, and McCain lost to Bush. Eight years later, and the Republican party is not what it used to be. It fights dirty, it vilifies intelligence, and it excels in spin.

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  5. Molly,

    Maybe this will surprise you, but most "liberal American women" are not so small-minded and unintelligent as to make decisions about a political candidate based on hairstyle, accent, college, or state of origin. Give us some credit (and yes, I'm proud to be a Liberal American Woman) but you've sure misunderstood my view of Palin.

    I think she's a frightening and horrid choice of potential vice president for a host of reasons, NONE of which involve the fact that she's a woman. She's uninformed on key issues, and doesn't seem to understand the depth of complexity to the huge issues at stake in our country. I appreciate her love for her country and her family, and I appreciate that she's accomplished a lot. I can admire that. I can understand why some Alaskans like her. But that doesn't mean I have to agree with her, or respect her political views, and to suggest that I and others don't like her because of her hair or her accent is pretty insulting.

    So, why can't you see that the issues I and others, have with her are all about the lack of substance behind her, in terms of what it would take to be vice president or, god forbid, president? It's not how she looks or how she talks or where she comes from that matters to me. It's that after Bush I and Quale, Bush II and Cheney, I don't want another leader who is secretive and ignorant and close-minded and uneducated about basic constitutional principles. The issues that face our country aren't simple, black and white issues, and I simply don't respect people who either 1) don't understand the complexities or 2) pretend they're simple for political expediency.

    I was prepared to like Sarah Palin as a person (well, as much as you can with a politician whose communications with the public are so weirdly controlled and restricted) while not agreeing with her views. But the more I see of her conduct, the more I'm disgusted. She's gone immediately (and always with a big smile on her face) to such nasty, dirty campaign tactics. She's working darned hard at linking Obama with terrorists, which is not only wrong but so harmful to the process that it shocks me. So, I knew I disagreed with her. But I've been disappointed in how she's chosen to conduct herself in the campaign process.

    Maybe YOU think you're a "dumb ole hick" but I sure don't, and I think you're doing a huge disservice to me and others if you assume that's why they don't agree with you.

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  6. Helen, I appreciate your willingness to express your comment, even I don't appreciate the rather harsh tone. There are so many erroneous assumptions --at least about my own views -- that it's hard to know where to start. Sounds to me that you don't have a very clear understanding of feminism, to be frank.

    It's not disingenuous for professional woman to dislike or enjoy sarcastic humor about Sarah Palin. I find her lack of qualifications to be shocking (and McCain's poor judgment in naming her as his running mate even more so) but I was equally shocked and appalled by Dan Quale. It's not that she's a woman that I dislike about her. It's that she's pathetically, embarrassingly ignorant about federal and world policial issues, she's uninformed on even basic domestic issues, she's hypocritical on being grateful to be able to help her daughter choose how to deal with an unexpected pregnancy, while wanting to deprive other women of the same choice... I'd feel just as strongly about any man who displayed the same ignorance and small-mindedness.

    Why can't I as a feminist disagree with a woman politician? I don't have to like Sarah Palin or agree with her just because she's a woman. Feminism is about being able to interact in the world and be treated fairly without regard to gender. But that doesn't mean that I have to consider one woman interchangeable or equally qualified as another.

    "They might like her better if she would have aborted her children before they were born, I guess." Yikes. I'm not sure how to respond to this pretty repulsive comment, except that you are clearly confusing the concept of being "pro choice" with being "pro abortion." Do you know anyone who is "pro abortion?" I don't. I want every woman to have as much flexibility as possible to decide what is right for her, her body, and her family ... just as Sarah Palin's daughter and family have had the right to make the choices that were right for them.

    "Just because someone has religious beliefs and is pro-life shouldn't disqualify them from being professional, IMHO" Professional has nothing to do with being religious or pro-life. But being a candidate for vice-president means understanding the basic principle of separation and church and state, and NOT deriding or mocking or insulting other religions. Sarah Palin is probably an efficient professional. And I don't care what her religious beliefs are, as long as she doesn't try to impose them on me or anyone else in this country. And as for the pro-life view? I respect it, and am happy to let any pro-life woman make whatever decisions she needs to around her life and her family's. I'm just offended when "pro-life" means taking away choice from everyone else.

    So I'm frightened by Sarah Palin's ignorance, I'm repulsed by her hypocrisy, I'm shocked by her nastiness in attacking Obama and getting so dirty, so fast, AND I just don't agree with her world view. She could have testicles and a bald head, and I'd still be equally appalled at the idea of someone like that as vice president.

    It's clear that I use my blog to talk about what's important to me, and I'm sorry if you've decided you don't want to read it any more. But isn't it great that you have the choice to go and read other blogs instead?

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  7. I'm enjoying your blog very much, Thanks for having the courage to mix your art and politics. It is comforting to me that people who share my interest in quilting and fiber stuff also share some of my other view points!

    One of the many distressing thing to me about Sarah Palin is that I'm afraid she represents what Republicans, and maybe a some significant segment of the American public, think affirmative action is: selecting a women or a person who is of a minority/disempowered group for an expedient reason, not for their ability that has been overlooked because of their minority status. That is cynical tokenism and not affirmative action.

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  8. I do love John Cleese and enjoyed the clip. Also loved your reasoned and intelligent answers to Molly and Helen. I am so offended by Sarah Palin's extreme, right-winged views and her nasty rhetoric and believe she is simply not intelligent enough for the position she has been put in. I'd feel the same if she was a man.

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  9. I am neither a republican or democrat... I have vote with the candidate and my beliefs. To be perfectly honest, I am so disillusioned with politicians, I don't know who to vote for. But, I was very disappointed in McCain's choice for running mate when there were so many others more qualified. It was so obvious they were directing their choice at a certain segment. I don't dislike Sarah Palin. I actually admire her for taking action. She didn't like the way things were being done and she did something. I admire that... so much better than sitting around whining about it. Now, does that qualify her to be #2? Not in my book.
    At the same time, I knew four years ago that Obama (speaking at the Democratic Convention) was going to be a force to reckon with. His speech was inspirational. It does bother me that he has been running for president ever since that speech. I would have preferred him to get more experience and to pay attention to what was happening in Washington more. I am very tired of this election and that is sad. It shouldn't last for years on end and this one seems it has.
    My advice is the change has to happen in Washington. Make our representatives true representatives of ours. Remove their golden parachutes, give them the same health care and social security we worry about. Remove the "pork" from the bills so we know what is being approved and who is passing it. That's the kind of change I am supporting. Now... who has the courage to tackle it?
    (Thank you, Diane, for allowing this conversation to take place.)

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