Herban Sprawl

So conservative columnist Kathleen Parker is publicly acknowledging the inappropriate choice of Sarah Palin as a vice presidential candidate, but now she’s calling on Sarah Palin to pull the plug for the good of the party. Am I the only one who sees the sexism in this request? Even hospitals use an ethics committee to help loved ones make those kinds of decisions! Oops. Republicans and ethics – big oil and water.

John McCain and his political operatives made a huge blunder, but the blunder is supposed to fix it for them?

Her swipe against Joe Biden as an inappropriate choice was ridiculous, to say the least. Biden may well suffer the same verbal issues as Bridget Jones, but the man knows his way around the Senate and has served his country with distinction and a great deal more honesty than either McCain or Palin. Senator Obama made a good choice in terms of giving himself an experienced running mate, rather than window dressing. Senator McCain played a pandering game and he’s holding a losing hand.

But the hockey mom is supposed to rescue them all by fixing the problem for them?

Kathleen, honey, I have news for you. Except in your rarified world, when the going gets tough, the first ones to be shown the door are the women in the company. And it’s almost never direct. It’s almost always by means of emotional games played with them to force them to resign. What this shows about you and your party is that you both mirror what is broken about our business and industry culture with regard to women. Businesses are so fearful of accepting responsibility for the blatant sexism that still exists that they will run off a woman because a direct firing can result in a huge lawsuit. Unfortunately for women, thanks to the Bush administration’s Supreme Court, it generally means women won’t win those suits. Just ask that lady who was paid less than her male peers at the tire company…

If you want to save the party from itself, then maybe what you need to do, Kathleen, is quit adopting the cowardly methods employed by manipulative men and just stand up and say you will not support John McCain in this election because you are offended by the miserable choice he made for a running mate and that his age and health are too dicey for you to take the chance. Show the rest of the women of this nation that at least one woman has the courage to call them on this most egregious decision.

Don’t expect another woman to fix the problem for you.