Character assassination?

[tahnan]

I'm totally enjoying liveblogging of the RNC by a Guardian reporter. (After Huckabee's speech: "I'm sorry, I'm almost incoherent with confusion and must pause for a few moments. Luckily it's the governor of Hawai'i now, so it's a good opportunity for that.")

But I also learned, from an earlier column, the following. From Sean Hannity:

I mean, I don't remember Chelsea Clinton being attacked. I don't remember Al Gore's children being attacked. I thought there was a general rule that children of candidates ought to be left alone.

But as Burkeman points out, "An excellent argument, were it not for the fact that attacks on Chelsea Clinton were a standard part of the drumbeat against Bill Clinton's presidency, without even the pretence of a legitimate motive." And then he alludes to, though does not repeat, the following joke:

"Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because her father is Janet Reno."

Not said, admittedly, during a presidential election. Said instead in June '98, at a Republican fundraiser. By John McCain.

Comments

B-but WHAT ABOUT THE CLENIS

[prog.livejournal.com]

Also, framing: nobody (at least nobody worth listening to) is attacking Palin's daughter over this. In fact, few are attacking Palin herself. Mostly I'm seeing attacks on McCain and his camp for choosing a running mate that they clearly barely knew - with this pregnancy being only one of the more colorful pieces of evidence - and then for talking up unmarried teen pregnancy like it's a classic American value and a core principle of the GOP platform, hurrah hurrah.

Re: B-but WHAT ABOUT THE CLENIS

[zundevil.livejournal.com]

Attacking the McCain camp for some perceived vetting shortage of Governor Palin is extremely meta.

If there's something wrong with her, then what is it? If there isn't anything wrong with her, then what's the matter?

As a McCain supporter (or, truth be told, a Palin supporter and a McCain teeth-gritter) I'll admit -- the whole "unmarried girl gets pregnant -- might as well shuffle the boyfri...*future loving husband* off to MN" angle is frustrating, and I've little doubt the esteemed Mr. Johnston would be in Alaska if this story hadn't broke yet. But it's such a distraction, and in no (or very little way) speaks badly about the Governor herself.

Re: B-but WHAT ABOUT THE CLENIS

[tahnan.livejournal.com]

So here's the thing, or really, both things.

I'm not going to list what I think is wrong with Palin (short answer: lots). But as far as the lack of vetting goes: it's symptomatic of, perhaps even synecdochic for, the fact that the choice of her is out of left field. There doesn't seem to be much indication that McCain knew anything about her beyond "she's female, a Republican, and a governor", which makes it look like a cynical attempt to win Hillary supporters (because, you know, vaginas are interchangeable). He passed over candidates who were much more likely and much more experienced (e.g., Pawlenty), and it's just not clear why.

Now, as for the governor's daughter, and imminent grandchild, and so forth: I think it does speak badly about the Governor herself. You've got a representative of Family Values(tm) who seems to have failed to instill at least some of them in her daughter. You've got a pro-abstinence-education candidate whose daughter is evidence that that doesn't work. You've got a woman who announced that she's "proud of Bristol's decision to have her baby" but who in fact doesn't want girls like Bristol entrusted with that decision. In essence: if Bristol insisted on singing very bad karaoke every Tuesday night at an all-ages club, that would be positively no business of the press and would have no bearing on Palin's candidacy. But teen pregnancy is too deeply part of who Palin is as a candidate for it to be written off as a "distraction".

(Note that I don't think Bristol should be under attack in any way. You're not going to hear me telling jokes about how a female moose is the father of Bristol's child; that's part of what distinguishes me from McCain. But the above criticisms are of Sarah, not Bristol, Palin. I've shied away from some of the other personal questions about Sarah Palin, though I have to admit that I'm not sure I trust the judgment of a woman who travels twelve hours by airplane and car after her water breaks in what she already knows is a dangerous pregnancy for the child.)

Re: B-but WHAT ABOUT THE CLENIS

[zundevil.livejournal.com]

What little I knew about Governor Palin (before last Friday) I liked immensely. I still don't get the criticism of "You don't know her well enough to pick her rightly" -- what's there not to know? If there's no there there, well? If people on the fence want to vet her themselves and conclude she's not worth their support, that's cool. But usually there's something about someone -- even if it's "I don't know her that well" -- behind that decision. "Sen. McCain doesn't know her that well" -- I don't get it. Anyhow, I'll agree to disagree.

And hey, if you want cynical -- the "Oh boy are we glad Sen. Clinton's not on the ticket...what a STRONG STRONG VP candidate she would have been" -- now *that's* cynical. It may even be true, but it's not why Mayor Giuliani and them have spoken so highly of her...

The family-values critique is plenty trenchant, and I wouldn't try to convince you otherwise. The playing up of unwed teens getting pregnant as some sort of sacrament -- yuck. They're certainly making the best of a "bad situation", but we both know this doesn't make her a better choice than if Bristol were married, or "more careful", or whatever.

It does provide an extremely stark contrast with Sen. Obama's "I wouldn't want (my daughters) *punished* with a baby" (emph. added), albeit a contrast unlikely to shift many voters from one side to the other. In this regard, tho, I don't think Sen. Obama will be netting any votes.

That joke about Chelsea Clinton is terrible, btw. In addition to the bad taste -- she's not even ugly!

Re: B-but WHAT ABOUT THE CLENIS

[kahuna-burger.livejournal.com]

(wandered in from a link in Zendonut's LJ)

In regard to being "punished with a baby" (and I've never heard the quote in context, so there's not much to contrast for me) Bristol has essentially dropped out of school and is marrying a boy for all the wrong reasons, so from my point of view that's exactly what's happening to her.

Additionally, it is very common, ime, for some prolifers to say of women in financial difficulty, young women who will have a much harder time finishing school or going to college, etc "She should have thought of that before she had sex" "She has to take the consequences of her actions" and yes even "Don't do the crime if you can't do the time." There is a subset of the prolife population who very much seems to view the mental, social and financial burdens of an unplanned child and even the prospective of marrying someone totally unsuitable as your life partner as what she deserves for being a Bad Girl. So I don't really get the righteous indignation at the "punished" quote.

[jofish22.livejournal.com]

Thank you for pointing me to the liveblogging. It's awesome.

10.29pm: Sarah Palin walks on stage. The crowd are uncontrollable, completely uncontrollable with ecstasy. She swiftly slaughters a moose, and then two minutes later the noise subsides and she begins.