PDSS....Post Debate Stress Syndrome

I've been waiting for the Biden-Palin debate to sink in. I know I should write a blog entry about it, but......about what? My main reaction was that I doubted that I could stand 4 more years of a "leader" in the White House who pronounces the word "nuclear" as if it were spelled "Nuke-u-ler." Is that a genetic defect in Republicans?

My other distinct feeling was perhaps that Sarah Palin was the Virgin Mary dressed up to look like a Barbie doll.....It's the whole hockey mom thing plus winking at the camera, plus having just come home from Italy where we saw hundreds of Madonna and child paintings, and one tapestry where the eyes of Christ follow you no matter where you stand relative to the tapestry. Very spooky.

And in case none of this is of interest to anyone but me, I have to say that seeing Sarah Palin as the Vice Presidential candidate makes me think long and hard about my brand of feminism. Shouldn't I be delighted to see a woman make it onto the ticket? Shouldn't I be rubbing my hands in glee that finally it's legitimate for women to use the fact of their motherhood as a qualification for high office? I can think of countless times when I looked for management-type jobs that could spring me out of teaching, but alas, other than managing my classroom and managing my household, I could list no management experience, and I certainly thought I couldn't list being a mom or "home manager" as a qualification. So....now, Sarah Palin, a woman who seems to be able only to parrot the McCain Straight Talk, and who shoots from the hip, both literally and figuratively, has opened the way for countless other moms, hockey or not, to qualify for every job, regardless of their other qualifications.....

Well, as you may imagine, I'm still appalled that she has risen to the level of her incompetency, and I am heartened by today's polls which show Obama ahead by 51% to 39% despite the McCain attempt to smear him by association with Bill Ayers of the Weather Underground. I hope that one month from now, Sarah Palin will be a small footnote to the history of women in politics, and that the next female candidate will be someone who actually has credentials which qualify her in addition to whatever motherly instincts she may have. The big question remains....does Sarah P. have to "rat" her hair to make it into that beehive???