What I’ve noticed in all the Sarah Palin outrage/excitement

Welll…. the blogosphere is just hopping with opinions and rants about Sarah Palin’s nomination to be John McCain’s VP.  Every freaking blog I read is talking about it, and the comment wars are in full-force.  That’s not somewhere I’d like to go because politics isn’t really my forte, and I don’t want to pretend that I actually know what I’m talking about when it comes to things like that.  BUT.  I have noticed some pretty unsurprising things about how everyone is reacting to her nomination.  I’m unbelievably NOT shocked at how inconsistent people are being in regards to the “controversial” aspects of her candidacy.

Here’s what I’ve noticed:

* Most Christian Republicans I’ve come into contact with are thrilled about her.  She’s a woman who is pro-life (and lives it out in her life even when it’s tough) and is firm on every other social issue that Christian conservatives tend to see as primary.  Be that as it may, I’m a little confused why the same people who would never vote for Hillary as President simply because of her gender have no hesitation with Palin being a heartbeat away from the Presidency.  (a very real possibility since McCain is old as dirt)  She’s not seen as stepping out of “her place” or role as a woman since she is championing the conservative agenda.  The same Christians who are adamant about never putting a woman in any position of leadership over a man seem to suddenly not have a problem with it.  Hmmm….

* The Democrats, particularly women, have big issues with her job as a mother.  The same feminists who fight for a woman’s right to have equal opportunities with men in the workforce without respect to her family obligations and gender are suddenly all over Palin because of her responsibilities at home.  Not sure if I could imagine them saying the same things if it were a Democratic nominee.

* All of a sudden this has become a tension point in the ongoing Mommy Wars between stay-at-home moms and work-out-of-home moms.  Oddly enough, the way the party lines fall, the responses have been kinda funny to me:  Conservative Christian SAHM’s who tend to make working out of the home a moral issue are in great support of Palin.  Because she’s a Republican Christian, she’s all of a sudden one of them.  I’ve also noticed some Democratic WOHM’s who won’t vote for her because they think she can’t be good at her job because of her mommy responsibilities.  Hmmm….

* The liberals who want to drop condoms from the rafters in high schools and whose mantra is “they’re gonna do it anyway” are all of a sudden so concerned about Palin’s parenting skills since her teenage daughter is pregnant.  Because surely she could’ve prevented it.  Surely it’s a negative reflection on her parenting.

I do feel badly for Palin with all the horrible slander and lies that are being told about her.  But what annoys me is that people’s opinions about her are just sooooo convenient.  She’s living a life that a feminist should be proud of, but instead they’re condemning her because of her gender.  (No one is asking Obama how in the world he’s going to hold office with such young children.)  She’s a walking contradiction for many Christian conservatives because she’s someone whose policies they want to vote for as well as being a woman in leadership over men with the potential to rule the entire country.  (Obviously this isn’t an issue for everyone, but it is for some and I’m noticing people totally glossing over it in a way that they wouldn’t if it were a Democratic nominee….and the way they didn’t gloss over it when it could’ve been Hillary.)

PLEASE watch this video, if not for the fact that Jon Stewart is hilarious and entertaining, then because it’s such a scarily accurate picture of how two-faced people are being when it comes to Palin.  Politics-schmolitics!!!!!!