Dianne Williamson Commentary from Worcester Telegram

No questions, just follow the script

Dianne Williamson
dwilliamson@telegram.com
T&G STAFF


I’m honestly trying to keep up here, but my head is spinning.

Last week I felt powerfully disconcerted. Wednesday night, the nation watched a dynamic, funny and down-to-earth female politician captivate a crowd and speak powerfully about helping special needs families. The next day, we saw a tired-looking, gray-haired guy in a stiff blue suit grouse about the economy. I was confused, until I remembered that Sarah Palin is the Republican, and Joe Biden the Democrat.

That’s just the beginning of my befuddlement. I’m also trying to keep up as a journalist, because suddenly the media is the “elite” and the enemy of regular people. This is due to our bad manners in asking nasty questions about a political candidate, such as, “Who is she?” And “What has she done?” Worse still, “Is she qualified to serve a heartbeat from the presidency?” This shows that the media is sexist, mean and hopelessly out of touch. The nation is having a love affair with this woman and she has five kids and she loves God and America and we should leave her alone. If we behave like journalists, who tend to be somewhat nosy when pursuing a story, we’re now considered out-of-bounds bullies. More mooseburger stories, STAT!


Furthermore, which of Sarah Palin’s kids are we not supposed to talk about? I believe that it’s acceptable to speak of Track and Trig — the oldest is headed to Iraq and the youngest has Down syndrome — because the candidate spoke glowingly of both of them at the convention. I think it’s OK to talk about cute little Piper or Pine Cone or whatever her name is, but we’re not supposed to talk about the pregnant daughter.

Bristol is off limits, not because kids in general are off limits, as evidenced by that 4-month-old baby being passed around so much at the convention, he should have had a sign reading “Political Prop” stuck on his forehead. It’s because Bristol’s story doesn’t fit neatly into the family narrative and doesn’t help her mother’s cause. Even though the media doesn’t work for Sarah Palin — although we’re always open to offers — we’re expected to hush up and advance her political aspirations.

And whatever happened to dependable cultural touchstones? We’ve counted on nutty evangelicals to scold working mothers and warn that if they don’t stay home with their kids, something awful would happen, like one of their teenage daughters ending up pregnant. And working mothers got blamed for everything, because real women choose families over careers, unless they’re selfish shrews.

Now, suddenly, the religious right is praising Sarah Palin as a woman for the ages and a female role model. The fact that her 17-year-old daughter was impregnated by an 18-year-old hockey star known as “Sex on Skates” has nothing to do with the mother! Not her fault! Hey, kids will be kids! It’s cold in Alaska! What can you do?

Speaking of which, since when is it considered advisable for a 17-year-old girl to marry a young stud who writes on his MySpace page that he doesn’t want kids? Why was Bristol’s bethrothed waving from the podium as part of a family dream tableau, rather than relegated to the status of Every Mother’s Worst Nightmare?

A few other semi-related questions:

Whatever your thoughts about off-shore drilling, since when did the jarring “Drill, baby, drill” become a rallying cry at a national convention?

Is Cindy McCain actually a Vulcan?

Do you think John McCain’s dignified, white-haired mother was secretly horrified when the Republican National Convention ended with the pulsing but unseemly Heart tune “Barracuda”?

Is it sexist to wonder if Sarah has even better hair than Mitt Romney?

Isn’t it interesting that, even though Hillary is out of the picture, women (Michelle and Sarah) still managed to upstage the men at both conventions?

Do you think the Republican speechwriters used up their best lines before it was McCain’s turn to speak?

If Sarah Palin gets the 3 a.m. phone call, can we feel confident that this woman would be prepared and wide awake, because she’d already be up feeding the baby?

Was that sexist, too?

Contact Dianne Williamson via e-mail at dwilliamson@telegram.com.