Liar Liar, Thong on fire

Sarah Palin has relieved me of any feminist obligation I may have felt to empathize with her in the wake of her Katy Couric interview fiasco.

After selling her soul to the demon mind-set of Karl Rove by hate mongering on the campaign trail, Ms. Palin has now stated in public, on camera, for the record, that the Troopergate report found “no unlawful or unethical activity on my part,” and that the report “vindicates” her.

Huh?

An editorial published Monday by the Anchorage Daily News stated, “Her response is either astoundingly ignorant or downright Orwellian.” It continued: Ms. Palin and her husband, Todd, “had no sense that the power of the governor’s office carries a special responsibility not to use it to settle family scores. They had no sense that legal restrictions might prevent the troopers from firing Wooten. They had no sense that persistent queries from the governor’s office might be perceived as pressure to bend state personnel laws.”

It added: “And her Orwellian claims of ‘vindication’ make this blemish on her record look even worse.”

Sarah Palin has now demonstrated that she can lie with the best of the Bush Administration’s henchmen. Her response to Troopergate is a reminder that, far from being a maverick in heels, she is just another Republican yes-woman who thinks it’s OK to lie because the end justifies the means. And adding insult to injury, she continues to claim that Barack Obama is lying to America about his “real identity.”

Palin’s hypocrisy is so foul it could induce vomiting in case of accidental poisoning. Too bad there’s nothing accidental about the rabble-rousing lies she uses to poison the minds of McCain supporters, who are desperate for any distraction from the vat of fecal matter into which their party has dumped them.

Palin’s facility with dismissing the truth should also disqualify her, in my opinion, from any further credit for advancing women’s interests. She is a big, fat, phony dead weight on women’s issues, and her rise in Republican ranks will only drag down women who aspire to the authentic power of earned respect.

Palin is among the most male-identified of all women in politics. She is so snuggled into the blinders of fundamentalist Pentecostal Christianity that she joins in prayers for witch routing. She is staunchly aligned with principal-based patriarchal ideology, as evidenced by her blood-tick attachment to the belief that abortion is never warranted, even in cases of rape or incest. And for those who need another example, she is among the Neanderthal chauvinists who think it’s sporting to slaughter wolves with high-powered rifles aimed from helicopters.

John McCain did not select Sarah Palin as his running mate on the basis of her accomplishment, intelligence or vision. He selected her because she is a telegenic woman who is willing to accommodate whatever tactics squirm out of Rove’s spin-mill.

By contrast, Hillary Clinton was chosen by 18 million voters, both men and women, on the basis of her proven leadership, commitment to middle- and lower-class needs, and, oh yeah, her record. She is both a feminist and a politician, in the best and highest sense of those descriptions.

Hillary has too much class to say this to Palin, but I don’t:

“Liar, liar, thong on fire.”