The Palin Problem and a Palinoia Romp – UPDATED

Two exceedingly good posts today on Sarah Palin, the woman no one can stop talking about.

First from James Taranto, a very thoughtful and well-reasoned look at what is behind the Palin-hate that so many on the left seem incapable of even tamping down.

We’d say this goes beyond mere jealousy. For many liberal women, Palin threatens their sexual identity, which is bound up with their politics in a way that it is not for any other group (possibly excepting gays, though that is unrelated to today’s topic).

An important strand of contemporary liberalism is feminism. As a label, “feminist” is passé; outside the academic fever swamps, you will find few women below Social Security age who embrace it.

That is because what used to be called feminism–the proposition that women deserve equality before the law and protection from discrimination–is almost universally accepted today. Politically speaking, a woman is the equal of a man. No woman in public life better symbolizes this than Sarah Palin–especially not Hillary Clinton, the left’s favorite icon. No one can deny Mrs. Clinton’s accomplishments, but neither can one escape crediting them in substantial part to her role as the wife of a powerful man.

But there is more to feminism than political and legal equality. Men and women are intrinsically unequal in ways that are ultimately beyond the power of government to remediate. That is because nature is unfair. Sexual reproduction is far more demanding, both physically and temporally, for women than for men. Men simply do not face the sort of children-or-career conundrums that vex women in an era of workplace equality.

Except for the small minority of women with no interest in having children, this is an inescapable problem, one that cannot be obviated by political means. Aspects of it can, however, be ameliorated by technology–most notably contraception, which at least gives women considerable control over the timing of reproduction.

As a political matter, contraception is essentially uncontroversial today, which is to say that any suggestion that adult women be legally prevented from using birth control is outside the realm of serious debate. The same cannot be said of abortion, and that is at the root of Palinoia.

The piece is broader in scope than this excerpt suggests, but that’s why you need to go read the whole thing.

Taranto entitles her piece Palinoia, the Destroyer, and that’s pretty clever; it actually would be a terrific title for Iowahawk’s brilliantly satirical look at the press, in the immediate aftermath of Tucson.

KRUGMAN
Have the results gotten back from the toxicology lab yet?

MATTHEWS
Got ’em right here. Weed… acid… psilocybin… salvia… Red Bull… but so far a negative on tea. And transfats.

KRUGMAN
Looks like our perp got instructions to dry out his system [of tea] before pulled off the hit. Dammit, we need to get a solid ID on the scumbag controlling these trigger men before there’s another bloodbath! Let’s see if Sullivan has any leads.

Dimly-lit high tech laboratory under CSI HQ, filled with fetal grow charts, maternity shop mannequins

KRUGMAN
So Sullivan, who do you think Dreambrain was working with?

CHIEF FORENSIC GYNECOLOGIST ANDREW SULLIVAN
Well, if I had to venture a guess, I’d say it was a woman. Late 40’s. Likely an ex-governor of a US state. One capable of mind control and superhuman childbirth abilities.

KRUGMAN
Dammit man, I need something more solid than that! Did you say she controls people with her mind?

SULLIVAN
No, she controls other people’s minds… but not with her own. Captain, as you can see here, I’ve taken the liberty of constructing this oversized 3-dimensional model of the mastermind’s inside lady parts.

KRUGMAN
Very impressive. What did you use for the fallopian tubes?

SULLIVAN
They had a special on crazy straws at Craft Gallery. Now, if my theory is correct, the mind control waves emanate from deep here within her reproductive system, as some sort of ultra high frequency musical pitch, inaudible to human ears.

KRUGMAN
Like a dog whistle?

SULLIVAN
Exactly. But to her highly susceptible Tea Party dupes, the message comes through… loud and clear.

KRUGMAN (pointing at model)
So you’re saying the music goes round and round… whoah-o-ohhh… and it comes out here?

MATTHEWS
Like a nickelodeon… from hell.

KRUGMAN (whipping off sunglasses)
My God, Sullivan. If you’re right, then we just reopened an entire warehouse of cold cases.

SOUND F/X
Fwooommmsh

Flashback: outside Dakota Hotel in New York 1980. A man strolling along sidewalk suddenly freezes midstep. Split screen of beauty pageant in Alaska. Closeup of contestant receiving Miss Congeniality crown. Her eyes turn pulsating red. The New York man pulls gun from leisure suit.

Flashback: inside Texas Schoolbook Depository, 1963. Warehouse worker suddenly freezes. Split screen of baby girl in Eskimo papoose. Baby’s eyes turn pulsating red. Man grabs rifle and walks toward window.

I was particularly taken with the reference to the old Dorsey hit, but I do warn you not to have anything in your mouth when it gets to the part where Sullivan gives birth to himself. Again, read it all

UPDATED: Victor Davis Hanson – We’re being civil, now

Hot Air has More

Related:
When is “uncivil rhetoric” or demonizing not offensive? Depends, apparently out of whose mouth is talking.
Robin of Berkeley thinks she’s seen this before
This can’t make some happy