THE GOOD PROGRESSIVE'S GUIDE TO CRITICIZING (AND NOT CRITICIZING) SARAH PALIN

Be careful before you shoot

As much as I am enjoying the implosion and meltdown surrounding Senator McCain's selection of Gov. Sarah Palin, some of the criticisms of her make me cringe.

The most problematic are those being lobbed against her simply because she is a woman. (E.g., "How is she going to take care of her baby and work?" "What kind of VP wears go-go boots?")

Some of the unfavorable reviews also seem entirely hypocritical and/or destined to haunt Democrats/Obama-supporters/progressives/feminists in the future. Suggesting that her few years in office make her ineligible for high office may sound legitimate. But those criticisms hurt Sen. Obama and would also disqualify promising future leaders like Virginia Gov. Time Kaine or Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer -- who were elected around the same time as Gov. Palin -- from being appointed to high federal positions. Why aim for your own feet?

The discomforting critiques of Gov. Palin are especially curious in light of all the other arguments against her that are consistent with liberal principles of compassion, tolerance, liberty, equality, justice, and fairness.

So here's a working guide I put together to sort out what I consider bad Palin talking points from the good talking points:

Inappropriate Criticisms of Governor Sarah Palin:

1. She is a woman.
2. She is a mother of five.
3. She is a mother of a newborn child.
4. She chose to have a baby with Down's Syndrome.
5. She chose to work soon after having her fifth child.
   
6. She has an unwed pregnant teenage daughter.
7. She is from Alaska.
8. She is from a very small town in Alaska.
9. She has only been in elected office for a few years.
10. She is relatively young.
11. She is a devout Christian.
12. She is sassy.
13. She looks like Tina Fey.
    

Appropriate Criticisms of Governor Sarah Palin:

1. She believes that a woman who has been impregnated and raped by her own father should be forced to have the child.
   


2. She believes that the state should incarcerate any doctor who aborts a fetus that is the byproduct of rape and incest.


3. She slashed funding for a state program benefiting teen mothers who need shelter.


4. She opposes hate-crime laws.


5. She sued the federal government to stop it from listing the polar bear as an endangered species.


6. She believes that climate change is not man-made.


7. She said that the Iraq war is "a task that is from God" and part of "God's plan."


8. She was in the pews of her church two weeks ago when a speaker described attacks on Israelis as God's "judgment of unbelief" of Jews who haven't embraced Christianity.


9. She wants creationism taught in schools.
   


10. She wanted to ban books from the public library.


11. As governor, she asked for $198 million -- $295 per person -- in earmark requests for pet projects, which is more than any other state received, per person, from Congress for the current fiscal year.


12. She supported the Bridge to Nowhere in Ketchikan (before she opposed it).
    


13. She repeatedly attended the political convention of the Alaskan Independent Party, which supports secession from the United States and whose founder has expressed "hatred for the American government."


14. She is under investigation by the Alaska Legislature for firing the state public safety commissioner for refusing to dismiss a state trooper who was in an ugly divorce and custody dispute from Palin's sister.


15. To tout her foreign policy experience, she lied about visiting Ireland; in reality, she only stopped in Ireland for a refueling stop.
    


16. She opposes any school-based sexual education program that isn't abstinence-based.


17. She is an aerial wolf hunter.


18. She can't even run a car wash.
    

Feel free to suggest additions or amendments in the comments.

--Junichi