One More Thing...

I'm frustrated and disappointed. The media asked questions about Palin and McCain refused to give concrete examples (all I heard was, "Well, she was Commander and Chief of Alaska National Guard." That's fabulous and all, but as my 11th grade AP English teacher always said-- "Show. Don't Tell.) He even canceled his interview when Campbell Brown asked something hard. So the media does what the media does in this infamous 24 hour news cycle world that we live in-- it finds something else to talk about. The McCain camp wanted Palin to be discussed in the media, but then threw a fit when the "liberal" media found some skeletons in her closet. Here's a hint--- if McCain had given them something concrete to talk about, they wouldn't have had to go digging. And now, after the political pundits have been berated for talking about her daughter (which they should be- leave the poor girl alone) and ridiculed for finding a 22 year old DUI charge against her husband (guess what, DUI's stay on a record that long because they are THAT bad-- there's no excuse for him) they are now discussing the recently released information about her record.

And for all this trouble, what do they get? Labeled as sexist. I don't understand why asking questions regarding Sara Palin is considered sexist.

To me, this makes women seem weak and is belittling. What? She can't stand up to some tough questions? Guess what-- we're talking the VICE PRESIDENCY-- there must be tough questions asked. When George W. Bush was being flown around in Air Force One to keep him safe on 9/11 it was Dick Cheney who was in the strategy room trying to decide if we should shoot down American passenger planes. That's how serious the VP is. The other candidates have been torn apart in the media for at least two years now, and Governor Palin can't take two weeks? It's a sham and even worse, it is demeaning to women.

Why is it wrong to demand concrete examples of things she has done? Why is it wrong to question her claims? Why are women sitting by and allowing this whole sexism claim to gather steam? If we are EVER to be taken seriously, we have to act seriously. We cannot demand equal pay but then cry about equal criticism. Women are tough enough to handle it and we shouldn't give Palin an out. Even Palin agrees.

She said, regarding the Clinton campaign complaining about a double standard,

“When I hear a statement like that coming from a woman candidate with any kind of perceived whine about that excess criticism, or maybe a sharper microscope put on her, I think, 'Man, that doesn't do us any good, women in politics, or women in general, trying to progress this country,'”

So why don't we take her advice and allow her to be scrutinized just as much as anyone else?

DISCLAIMER-- I do not think that calls for her to go home and raise her family are fair either. I am not saying that anything and everything said about her is fair, I'm simply saying that Governor Palin is going to have some hard things thrown at her and woman or not, she's going to have to deal with them.

No one is going to be nice to her as the VP just because she has female anatomy. Terrorists are not going to stop their attacks because she's a lady. She is going to have to deal with the real world and so she better face it now. The McCain camp needs to lay off the sexism cry-- It just makes her look like a victim and that's the last image they should portray for the second in command.

I'm excited to have a woman running for a major office like this-- it's amazing to think that in just the past few years we've had women hold positions such as House Majority Leader and Secretary of State. We've had a woman make a very serious run for the Democratic Presidential Nomination. And for the first time ever, we have a woman running for VP on the Republican Ticket.

My mother's mother was born before women even had the right to vote. I'm proud to be a woman in this day and age, but we must be willing to really accept equality-- in all its forms-- if we are to ever actually receive equality.