Lipstick On A Pitbull
September 10th, 2008 by 
Kevin
Ok to be more than fair, Sarah Palin has taken a lot of heat in the media. The Democrats simply have no idea how to deal with her and have obviously resorted to the the kitchen sink approach. Just toss everything they can think of at her and see what sticks. Unfortunately, I think they took the \”kitchen sink\” analogy too far and are also tossing the gunk from the drains and whatever is in the garbage disposal too.
So I understand that McCain and Palin\’s supporters are a little on edge but seriously…really??
The group’s first objection came just a couple hours later when Obama drew a pig analogy when describing his opponents before a Lebanon, Va., crowd.
\”John McCain says he’s about change, too, and so I guess his whole angle is, ‘Watch out George Bush.’ Except for economic policy, health care policy, tax policy, education policy, foreign policy and Karl Rove-style politics … That’s not change. That’s just calling something the same thing, something different,\” Obama said.
\”But you know … you can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig. You know, you can … wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called change, it’s still going to stink after eight years.\”
The \”lipstick on a pig\” expression is common in Washington, D.C., and Obama’s campaign said he wasn’t referring to Palin.
But McCain supporter Jane Swift, former Republican governor of Massachusetts, said the line was clearly directed at the Alaska governor. That’s because Palin frequently jokes that \”lipstick\” is the difference between a hockey mom like herself and a pitbull.
Come on now people. Let\’s not get silly. Lipstick on a pig is clearly a common phrase even outside of DC. I\’ve used it more than a few times myself, and have heard it used in a non-political context.
There are plenty of asinine, if not downright false, attacks on Palin that could use this treatment, but let\’s not spike our credibility right off the bat by attacking something silly like this.
For example, claims that because Palin is a mother, she\’s therefore incapable of being Vice-President, like…
\”Children with Down’s syndrome require an awful lot of attention. The role of vice president, it seems to me, would take up an awful lot of her time, and it raises the issue of how much time will she have to dedicate to her newborn child?\” CNN anchor John Roberts asked during a live segment on Aug. 29, the day McCain announced Palin’s candidacy.
Well actually the role of the Vice-President is pretty much restricted to breaking ties in the Senate (rare) and inquiring daily on the health of the president. Now granted, due to McCain\’s age that second duty takes on extra significance but generally the Vice-President is whatever the President wants him/her to be.
The President\’s job on the other hand is pretty strenous and time-consuming and very stressful. In fact, one wonders how, for example, a father of two young girls, hypothetically a 10-year-old Malia and a 7-year-old Sasha, would be able to handle it and be a good father at the same time.
Oh wait, that question isn\’t being asked….presumably that would be racist…instead of just being sexist.
In either case, it\’s irrelevant. The requirements for the job of Vice-President are the same as that of the President. Since everyone seems to have forgotten those, let\’s refresh ourselves.
No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.
Constitution, Article II, Section 1
Let\’s see, does everyone meet that?? McCain? Check. Palin? Check. Obama? Check. Biden? Check.
Fine then can we dispense with this stupidity? Cause that\’s exactly what it is. You can put all the lipstick you want on pitbulls, pigs, llamas, wombats, or whatever your favorite animal is but it\’s still gonna be that same damn animal. And now I\’m not sure if I\’m paying attention to a presidential race or a county fair.
Eh, nevermind…not cheesecurds, gotta be a presidential race.
UPDATE : It\’s nice to see the gang at The Corner agrees with me….even better for mostly the same reasons. In turn I agree with them, that if the McCain campaign is going to throw a tantrum about this, the least they could do is do it in an amusing, nonchalent, \”above it all\” way. The wheels are coming off the Obama campaign, responding in such a way at least makes you look calm, in control and unflappable….just the way a President should.
[Crossposted at True North]
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13 Comments »
September 10th, 2008 at 12:55 am
put “black face” on any socialist white guy and he’d still be as ignorant as Obama. Offensive? When Obama HIMSELF, trys to warn people about the subtle ways Republicans will inject race (dollar bill comment, my funny name, say I’m muslim) It’s incumbent upon him to watch his language and be smart (maybe not possible) about his choice of words or cliches. When he fails the test/criteria that he himself has laid down for what could be deemed offensive his opponents should seize that opportunity to highlight that the though police are only looking in one direction.
September 10th, 2008 at 2:22 am
we may not agree on politics, but i’m glad that you see this comment for what it is.
heck, McCain has used it a handful of times in the last 18 months himself.
much to do about nothin’
people are grasping at straws on both sides at this point.
is it Nov 4th yet?
September 10th, 2008 at 8:01 am
*thought police
September 10th, 2008 at 8:28 am
Silliness is no stranger to a political campaign, and your criticism would be warranted (though certainly unheeded) except for one thing. That is, that Obama is a smart man, and knew EXACTLY what he was saying. His supporters “got the joke” the minute he said it, and /they/ knew what he was saying. The news media knew the insult that he was making. The McCain campaign, true or not, has made political hay of it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZd_Y_D-RaA
So let’s not say it doesn’t matter. Clearly, to all involved, it does.
September 10th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
J. Ewing : You know very well that if McCain had made a similar “joke” most conservatives would just snicker and write it off as a clever turn of a phrase.
At worst, that’s all this is as well, and I see no reason to get our panties in a bunch about it.
September 10th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
Of course not. But we need to learn the “faux outrage” game that the Dems play all the time. We can think it was a good joke, a bad joke, or a good joke gone wrong, or no joke at all, but it doesn’t matter. He said it and we can use it against him, it’s all that matters. Politics ain’t beanbag, and rookies make rookie mistakes. Especially arrogant rookies.
September 10th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
Why go to that level. Like I just posted in my update, I agree with the gang at The Corner, if we have already committed ourselves to responding let’s at least do it in a way that’s productive.
Whining about sexism in a statement like this just makes Republicans look just as petty and trite as the Democrats.
With the wheels coming off the Obama campaign and the McCain campaign having the momentum, that is NOT the approach to take.
September 10th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Well, there might be a better way of expressing that “faux outrage,” but you have to give them points for being so quick out with it. If it was me I would say something about BO being a pompous O-hole that wouldn’t know a joke if it sat on him, but that’s why I’m not in charge of McCain’s advertising.
I understand your point, but as long as the public is willing to accept the premise that Obama is a sexist pig unworthy of the competition, it ill behooves us to keep silent and let the jerk slip away from it.
I know, it’s a fine line, easy to go overboard, and not very nice. Sorry. But if Lord Obama doesn’t want to be pilloried for the things he says, he’ll have to stop saying stupid stuff. Since the MSM won’t publicize it, McCain (or surrogates) must.
September 10th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
Look if McCain said something like, “talk about the pot calling the kettle black”, and Obama cried racism, you’d think it was petty and silly.
That’s exactly what McCain looks like now with this whining. And either by design or by chance, they’ve cultivated a pretty good image of being the adults and fairly unflappable in all this. Why are we destroying that now…especially over something this trivial.
September 10th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
Why are so many Republicans sexually perverse / homosexuals / pedophiles??? While at the same time trying to jam “family values” down our throats???
F’ing liars and hypocrites!!!!
September 10th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
And you base this upon what?? And somehow that has relevance to this topic how?
Why don’t you come back when you can make a coherent argument.
And you might not want to make statements like that from work. Even though you try to conceal your identify….
IP: 138.162.0.43 , gate3-norfolk.nmci.navy.mil
September 10th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
As I said, it’s a fine line. How far can you push before you get pushback? How high can you run the volume on your PA system before you get feedback? I don’t think they’ve crossed the line yet, you obviously do. Either way, it’s their show, and they don’t call me for advice.
To me the measure of this is how Obama reacts. If he can get away with calling McCain silly and petty, he wins the round. Everything I see says he goes on the defensive and claims he said no such thing, thereby “doubling down” on the initial “unforced error.” (nothing like mixing your sports metaphors.
September 11th, 2008 at 10:15 pm
Obama might as well be as offensive as he can now, in a few months he’ll be playing his race card to an audience that isn’t there. Dhimmierats always eat their presidential losers.
Can’t wait to see him eaten by his own. I might even send him a lipstick and smelly fish.