Thursday, September 11, 2008

Come, come, my conservative friend, wipe the dew off your spectacles, and see that the world is moving.

—Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Following up Gloria Steinem's excellent op-ed piece on Sarah Palin for the LA Times, I highly recommend that everyone -- especially any woman, socially conservative or not, who may be considering Palin as a viable Vice-President -- take a look at this website:

Women Against Sarah Palin

Nevermind what I see as a directionless campaign based solely on blind patriotism and fear on the part of John McCain -- the last straw is that in an era of articulate Republican female leadership that is not only well-versed in US-foreign diplomacy (our repair of which should, IMHO, be one of the main foci for the next administration) but also the rich tapestry of what it is to be a woman in the US and abroad, here instead my Republican friends are being assaulted with someone with little experience and even less diplomacy, who holds so many distasteful, anti-woman views. Someone being held up as a gutsy, groundbreaking woman who in reality is best known for her anti-feminist ideals and who revels in the old boy network.

I shudder at the thought of Palin not only being a "heartbeat away from the presidency" but also meeting with foreign heads of state, or, god forbid, being a role model for young women.

And I am especially proud to say in the week we celebrate the anniversary of women's suffrage [that she is] a devoted, a devoted wife and mother of five.

—John McCain introducing Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin's selection by the Republican party as a vice-presidential candidate is a mockery of women in politics, a mockery of the working class, and a slap in the face to American women. I have never felt the need to formally work against a political campaign until now. Please consider the following, and get the word out.

Obama-Biden in 2008!

Friends and compatriots,

We are writing to you because of the fury and dread we have felt since the announcement of Sarah Palin as the Vice-Presidential candidate for the Republican Party. We believe that this terrible decision has surpassed mere partisanship, and that it is a dangerous farce-on the part of a pandering and rudderless Presidential candidate-that has a real possibility of becoming fact.

Perhaps like us, as American women, you share the fear of what Ms. Palin and her professed beliefs and proven record could lead to for ourselves and for our present or future daughters. To date, she is against sex education, the pro-choice platform, environmental protection, alternative energy development, freedom of speech (as mayor she wanted to ban books and attempted to fire the librarian who stood against her), gun control, the separation of church and state, and polar bears. To say nothing of her complete lack of real preparation to become the second-most-powerful person on the planet.

We want to clarify that we are not against Sarah Palin as a woman, a mother, or, for that matter, a parent of a pregnant teenager, but solely as a rash, incompetent, and all together devastating choice for Vice President. Ms. Palin's political views are in every way a slap in the face to the accomplishments that our mothers and grandmothers so fiercely fought for, and that we've so demonstrably benefited from.

First and foremost, Ms. Palin does not represent us. She does not demonstrate or uphold our interests as American women. It is presumed that the inclusion of a woman on the Republican ticket could win over women voters. We want to disagree, publicly.

Therefore, we invite you to reply here with a short, succinct message about why you, as a woman living in this country, do not support this candidate as second-in-command for our nation.

Please include your name (last initial is fine), age, and place of residence.

We will post your responses on a blog called "Women Against Sarah Palin," which we intend to publicize as widely as possible. Please send us your reply at your earliest convenience-the greater the volume of responses we receive, the stronger our message will be.

Thank you for your time and action.

VIVA!

Sincerely,

Quinn L. and Lyra K.
New York, NY
womensaynopalin@gmail.com

**PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY! If you send this to 20 women in the next hour, you could be blessed with a country that takes your concerns seriously. Stranger things have happened.

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