A Polar Bear's Oppo Guide to Gov. Palin

McCamy Taylor

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Sun Sep-07-08 06:05 PM
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A Polar Bear's Oppo Guide to Gov. Palin

To some of you out there, this may just mean the difference between $5/gallon gas and $3/gallon gas, but to me, this means the difference between life and death, so listen up.

Here are some suggestions for how to handle John McCain's pick for Vice President.

I. Always refer to her as Gov. Palin . This is respectful, it is accurate, and it does not conjure up any cutesy images of American Girl Dolls that people just want to snuggle and collect (and protect). You can never be accused of sexism if you refer to the GOP Vice Presidential candidate as Gov. Palin. Say it as often as you like. Gov. Palin. Gov. Palin. Gov. Palin. Gov. Palin. Gov. Palin. The Obama campaign never did learn this lesson when dealing with Sen. Clinton, and it is one of the reasons that they were unable to close the deal until all of the states had voted (not that this was a bad thing for the Democrats). Note that Gov. is the abbreviation for government as in alaska.gov so there is a subliminal effect when readers see the "Gov" juxtaposed with the "Palin". And we all know that the same old government in Washington is what got us into the mess we are in right now.

II. Know the different flavors of Christianity Part 1. Catholics. This article at National Catholic Reporter caught my eye.

http://ncronline3.org/drupal/?q=node/1766

“It is shocking that a vice presidential candidate would disparage an essential component of the Catholic social tradition with her condescending attack on urban community organizing,” said Dr. Patrick Whelan, president of Catholic Democrats, an association of state-based groups advancing understanding of Catholic social teaching.

The group criticized Palin for mocking Obama’s work “in the 1980s for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development.” The Catholic Campaign for Human Development is an arm of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and it partially funded Obama’s activities in Catholic parishes on the South Side of Chicago. At the time it was known simply as the Campaign for Human Development.

After you read the article, be sure to study the reader responses. For those who were not raised Christian (atheists or people from Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, Native American Spiritual or other backgrounds) you can see some very typical Catholic viewpoints represented here. Note that there are also some Puritan/Protestant viewpoints---in the U.S. secular Puritanism has penetrated the Catholic community plus there are bound to be Republican political operatives posting at a site like this. However, the Catholic Church is very different from the right wing Christian Conservative movement. For many Catholics, pro-life really does mean "pro-life"----no death penalty, no war, lots of aid to children, the disabled, care of the environment, charitable works, no income disparity. This is what the right wing calls (pejoratively) the "religious left", and this is the reason they created the Religious Right---to serve as a check to the religious left which had become such a powerful force against the war and for civil rights and economic justice in the 1960s and 70s.

For those who have been living on a desert island in the Pacific, here is a link to "Catholic Charities", a huge social service organization which devotes itself to a wide range of programs

http://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=193

Our Catholic Tradition

"Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”
—Matthew 25:35-40

Whether we are helping people meet their most basic needs or advocating for social change to reduce poverty in America, our Catholic values, teachings, and traditions provide the foundation for the work we do in Catholic Charities. We are called to witness the love of God through compassionate care of all God’s children and to work prophetically, as Jesus did in his time, to build a more just and equitable society.

These are the people with whom Barack Obama worked. Almost everyone who has been involved in charitable work in the U.S. has worked with Catholic Charities. These are some of the most "responsible" people in the country.

Despite their repeated denigrating remarks about "community organizers", the McCain campaign is already trying to portray Gov. Palin as an "ethnic" Catholic, who simply objects to the prohibition against women in the priesthood.

http://deacbench.blogspot.com/2008/08/sarah-palins-catholic-roots.html

This site claims she was baptized a Catholic (which all Catholics know means she is now qualified to go to Catholic heaven if she just accepts absolution on her death bed). Note the reader's remark that goes:

Palin appears to be a good Christian women with a Catholic heart. Her catechises might have been poor, but God, in his greatness and all things for the greater good syle, appears to have fed her baptised Catholic heart and most likely, many graces from that initial Catholic baptism.

Let's face it, a women is one thing, but a CAHTOLIC women a breath away from the POTUS--I don't think so; not in this country. IMO, this is perfect! Perhaps when the country starts praying for her, in God's time, she will go back to her Catholic roots.

The irony of it all is that she is LIVING the JPII "womanhood"--open to life, marriage, and all of it's necessary sacrifices. I'd much rather see the shining example of a Protestant (with a baptised Catholic heart of course), than the name only hypocritical catholic of which Washington already has far too many.

The next step in the all too predictable GOP smear campaign will be for some Catholic priest/GOP operative to refuse Sen. Joe Biden communion on the grounds that he has voted for a pro-choice bill at some point in his career. He will be labeled apostate, and Catholic voters will be told "Vote for Biden, and you are going to Hell."

Those who have lived without religion do not understand how much religion permeates the lives of many Americans. The issue of who is a better Catholic---Joe Biden, lifelong practicing Democratic Catholic and Barack Obama, nonCatholic who devoted a part of his career to doing good works with a Catholic charitable group----or Gov. Palin, who may have been baptized a Catholic but has chosen to become part of a Protestant Church and whose political beliefs and policies are at odds with Catholic teachings and John McCain, a lifelong Protestant (current Baptist) whose idea of "charity" is to have lobbyists donate money to his own charity which in turn pays his campaign staff's salaries---is one that will become very important.

That is why we must not be distracted by non issues like sex, paternity, divorce and other soap opera stuff. Team McCain proved that they do not understand Catholicism when they attacked community organizers. They continue to compound their error, by sending Gov. Palin on the road to mock those who tithe their time, people like Obama who chose to spend part of their lives doing low paid or unpaid charitable work rather than launching straight into lucrative careers.

III. Know the different flavors of Christianity Part 2. Puritans and Protestants. Max Weber's The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (Amazon has some bargain prices as low as $2 on used copies or check out any well stocked public library) is one of the great books of all times. Weber breaks down the different sects of Protestantism using economics rather than ideology or morality, so you do not have to believe in God or Jesus to read this book. All you have to believe in is history and the human urge to survive. It helps a lot to be a social liberal. Before McCamy read this book, she did not know a Calvinist from a Lutheran from a Baptist. After you read this, you will understand the European origins of the different sects, which will help to explain why Protestant Christianity is so complicated in America.

The main point that I want to illuminate here, and the one that Weber's book can help Democrats understand is why Republicans are so receptive to Gov. Palin's nasty, mean spirited, ignorant remarks about community organizers.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/03/sarah-palin-rnc-conventio_n_123703.html

Palin: I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a "community organizer," except that you have actual responsibilities.

Now, check out this quote from Weber online (yes, you can read the book online, too). Weber discusses how in a Calvinist belief system, the only way to determine if one is among God's elect or saved is to observe if a person achieves material success on earth. Therefore, to the Puritan (or modern member of the religious right) the most important sign of grace is

http://books.google.com/books?id=fo9OIS7I0XAC&pg=PA51&lpg=PA51&dq=The+peculiarity+of+this+philosophy+of+avarice+appears+to+be+the+ideal&source=web&ots=59bm-jbnXH&sig=RS0HFFaMVKiWGwbbK7JpwVGTPK4

the ideal of a duty of the individual towards the increase of his capital, which is assumed to be an end in itself.

snip

Man is dominated by the making of money, by the acquisition as the ultimate purpose of his life.

Snip

"Seest thou a man diligent in his business? He shall stand before kings" (Prov. xxii.29)

Compare that Bible quote to the one chosen by Catholic Charities and you can see that we are almost talking about two different religions.

America's wealthy class created the political movement that uses the religious right because it serves to justify their mad acquisition of wealth and rising income disparity. The people who lead Christian Conservatives around like children on a leash are not doing what they do to please the Lord. They just want more money and power. However, their base believes that if you are not always attempting to make money, then there is something wrong with you---you must have a scam going. Your "charitable works" must disguise some ulterior motive that involves making money. That is why they talk about Mary as a W word. Note how many of Obama's critics hint that his community organization work was a cover for some other, more sinister activity. In their world view, no one does good deeds.

If the Bushes are an archetypal rich Protestant family----they used their ill gottem money and power to get into politics so that they can accumulate more money and power, the Kennedy family is an archetypal rich Catholic family. After Joe made his money the old fashioned way (criminally), his kids set about redeeming the family with good works through politics. They have been champions of the poor, minorities, women.

The Gov. Palin who goes around preaching the Gospel according to John Calvin is most definitely not Catholic. The McCain campaign will try to make her look Catholic by pushing her unwed pregnant daughter in front of the camera as much as possible (while complaining about all the press coverage she gets). We will hear Trig cry more than we will hear Gov. Palin talk--and again Team McCain will complain about "sexist" coverage. This will all be part of a plot to make the governor look like an "ethnic" Catholic. However, she does not have a true Catholic bone in her environmentally unfriendly, big business loving, social program slashing body. This woman is Calvinist through and through.

IV. Ignore the soap opera that is Gov. Palin's entourage. If she attempts to use a family member as a shield to deflect questions or criticism (as she used her daughter's pregnancy to deflect questions at the convention), go around the shield and ask the questions as if the family member was not there. Her family members will secretly be grateful that you respect their privacy and dignity. No one asked them if they wanted to be part of a national sitcom, with the governor playing the role of Mary Tyler Moore and the rest of them assigned the roles of the wacky, bumbling, comic relief characters that make poor MTM's life so difficult.

V. Forget Rove's strategy for a moment and remind people of her weakness. Rove says he never goes after his opponent's weakness, only their strength. However, in this case, Gov. Palin has a really glaring weakness. She is mean . Not only that, she looks mean. Americans have been preconditioned by years of watching TV to assume that the character with the dark brown hair and the glasses is going to be the heavy (and also smart and tough). The people who presented her to 40 million Americans at the GOP Convention had one job--make her not look mean, and they failed. Continue to help them fail. Avoid using any language that is sexist. She is an asshole, not a B word--which is quite literally true. Her meanness does not derive from any sense of powerlessness for which she is trying to compensate. She is a very powerful political figure, the governor of a state rich with oil revenue, who exploits her position for maximum gain.

Ever wonder why Americans like southern politicians? Southerners are taught that when they occupy positions of authority, one way to get along with employees (or constituents) is to act kind, sympathetic, polite, friendly. For this reason, you will see southern bosses adopting a folksy manner. They roll up their sleeves. They drink beer with their workers. They know them by name. They inquire after family members. They use this kind of friendliness to their advantage, since workers often hesitate to unionize. However, it is not always an act. Having a close, respectful relationship with your employees really does help your business prosper. And LBJ, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton really did attempt to help the plight of some of the most oppressed people in the country and the world.

W. was able to fool people into thinking that he was the "same" as Gore, because he was also a southerner. Therefore, they bought the "compassionate conservative" line. Team McCain is hoping that voters will assume that Gov. Palin must be softhearted, because she is a woman, and therefore, she can say and do whatever nasty thing she wants, and the voters will still assume that she is on their side. Because she has a uterus.

Sen. Hillary Clinton's high negatives should be a warning to Team McCain that America knows enough women to understand that not all women are maternal.

Every single mean spirited thing that Gov. Palin says and does is news worthy. John McCain selected her primarily to shore up the right wing base, and so he would have someone who could hit the campaign trail saying negative things about Sen. Barack Obama, the way that Nixon used Spiro Agnew, while McCain pretends to be Mr. Nice Guy, above the fray.

While I am on the subject...

VI. Gov. Palin is Spiro Agnew Agnew was Nixon's verbal hatchet man. Palin is supposed to be McCain's verbal hatchet man--except we are supposed to like her (because of the uterus). If McCain steals this election through fraud, and if something were to happen to him early next year, there would be tremendous pressure on Congress to remove Gov. Palin, just as the Congress in 1972 had to clear out Spiro Agnew, so that Gerald Ford could become Richard Nixon's vice president. Why did Agnew have to go? Because Agnew was not fit to be president, and the nation had no will to see him president.

For those who have read some of my earlier posts about general election strategy against John McCain, you probably recall that one piece of advice was that his running mate also had to be presidential material. Gov. Palin is not even a roll of the dice. She is a spin of the roulette wheel. With her bachelor degree in journalism, her sports announcer's career, her history of catering to the oil and gas lobbies, her draconian environmental record, her self described lack of foreign policy opinion and experience, her non-mainstream American value system, her suspect deal with TransCanada (who gives a company a bribe of half a billion taxpayer dollars so that they will accept a contract that other companies also want?), the ongoing investigations into abuses of power Gov. Palin is the exact opposite of what John McCain needs to reassure voters. With her just a heart beat away from the presidency, Americans are going to be monitoring McCain's heartbeat like one of these.

He needed someone just like him someone like Kay Bailey Hutchinson of Texas, whom everyone, Democrat and Republican, would have agreed is well qualified to be president, a moderate Republican, whose pro-choice position would have made her acceptable to women, someone who would have been able to hit the Sunday morning talk shows running (since John McCain no longer speaks for his campaign). The fact that McCain passed up likely candidates to shore up the base tells us a lot about his judgment. Winning is more important to him that what might happen to the country after he wins.

In the weeks to come, we will see Team McCain attempt to portray Gov. "Right of Rightwing" Palin as a "compassionate conservative" "maverick" "much more liberal than people realized at first, my god, she is almost a Ron Paul libertarian!" candidate as a victim!!!!!. The base will know that this is all political posturing. It will be important to remind voters that she was chosen, because she is an uber-right wing candidate, and if Gov. Palin becomes President Palin---well, let's just say that President Agnew was something that no one could bear to contemplate for even a moment.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiro_Agnew

Consider the words bully, power hungry, "Dick Cheney", "right wing extremist", intolerant over any that have gender connotations. Remember that Gov. Palin is one of life's "winners", someone who has exploited her privileged status as white in America, as well as her health, her looks, GOP politics of fear and the favors of oil and gas lobbyists to make a meteoric rise. Anyone who calls her a "victim" is secretly laughing out of their asses.

BTW, responsible human beings do not promote the value systems of beauty pageants.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jill-filipovic/the-miss-usa-pageant-how_b_44130.html

The norms that these contests promote are unfortunately not nearly as obsolete as many of us would like to believe, and pageants continue to serve as a reflection of contemporary culture -- one in which we pay lip service to women's rights, but focus more on how good women look in a bathing suit. If we actually want to move on from beauty contests, we need to tackle the broader problems of positioning women as consumable products, state attempts at controlling female sexuality, and the continued marginalization of women in the workplace. We need to drop the obsession with women's bodies and with what women do with their reproductive organs. In a nutshell, we need to recognize that women are human beings worthy of full human rights, and that we are not decorations or vessels or servants.

I guess, in one sense, Gov. Palin is a victim---of Team McCain and their attempts to market her a Gov. Babe instead of as a serious politician.

VII. Follow Rove's advice and go after her "strengths". Palin has dark hair and glasses, because they make her look smart and tough. Katherine Harris of Florida darkened her hair when she decided to run for public office. Why have brains and tenacity, when you can make yourself look as if you have them? There is a reason why Gov. Palin will have photo ops but will not give interviews. Again, avoid words with gender connotations. Choose spineless, ill prepared, puppet, shill, hack, "Dan Quayle", mediocre .

VIII. Consider making me a mascot of the Obama/Biden 2008 Campaign

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/05/opinion/05palin.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

From January 2008, read Sarah Palin's oil and gas industry friendly letter to the federal government, in which she lobbies to keep polar bears from being protected as an endangered species. Her reason?

The Center for Biological Diversity, which petitioned for the polar bear to be protected, wants the listing to force the government to either stop or severely limit any public or private action that produces, or even allows, the production of greenhouse gases. But the Endangered Species Act is not the correct tool to address climate change — the act itself actually prohibits any consideration of broader issues.

Such limits should be adopted through an open process in which environmental issues are weighed against economic and social needs, and where scientists debate and present information that policy makers need to make the best decisions.

Caching! goes the cash register for the oil and gas industry, and another polar bear dies.

For the record, here is a Catholic perspective on Global Warming,just so that you know that not all Christians want to see polar bears go extinct.

http://www.osjspm.org/globalwarming

"We need to commit ourselves to caring for the created world, without squandering its resources, and sharing them in a cooperative way. In particular, environmental degradation makes poor people's existence intolerable."
~ Pope Benedict XVI

Archdiocesan Global Warming Action Team

Explanations of Catholic Social Teaching (CST) always include "Care of Creation" as one its key elements. CST has largely focused on social justice, that is, the care of humanity that is "made in the image and likeness of God." There is a need for an increased emphasis on eco-justice to ensure that the non-human portion of God's great gift of Creation "that God looked at and saw that it was good" is likewise given great attention and care. Furthermore, social justice and eco-justice are tightly interconnected, and must both be addressed holistically.

Care of Creation is an essential part of Catholic faith and practice because:

* Creation is of God, and therefore care of Creation gives honor to God the Creator;
* God has commanded us all to be stewards of the great gift of Creation;
* Creation supports human existence, and to abuse it negatively impacts human existence as well; and
* The poor of the world suffer disproportionately from the impacts of environmental degradation.

We have chosen to focus on Global Warming, of all environmental issues, because of the severity of the problem and its great potential for negatively impacting humanity and the overall ecology of the earth.