Here comes the attacks

Michele Bachmann has formally announced her candidacy for President of the United States. As soon as the announcement had been made (and for some reporters, even before Congresswoman Bachmann's announcement), the attacks were starting. I even saw a post from one blogger who referenced her breasts!

Every slip of the tongue is magnified to make Michele Bachmann look stupid. Good luck with that, reporters. Congresswoman Bachmann is extremely intelligent and will prove each and everyone of those reporters wrong in the long run.

This brings us to the double standard in the media when it comes to women candidates for national office, regardless of the political affiliation.

When Sarah Palin was running for Vice President in 2008, the media attacked her with a viciousness never before seen in the United States. Her folksy manner of speaking was ridiculed. However, Joe Biden's profanity laced asides were just laughed off. Personally I would rather hear a "Golly gee" than the F-bomb that comes from the potty mouth of Vice President Biden.

Also in 2008 Hilary Clinton was running for the Democratic nomination for President. We heard constant attacks on her laugh, her attire (she of the pant suits - nothing wrong with that, really), and her thick ankles as ankles would have any bearing on her ability to lead. Although I would probably not agree with even a fraction of the issues with Ms. Clinton, how she looks and how she dresses should NEVER have been a topic for discussion.

In 1984, Geraldine Ferraro became the first woman to run for Vice President of the United States from either the Democratic or Republican parties. Perhaps we were more civil 27 years ago but I don't recall Ms. Ferraro being attacked like today's modern women. What is the difference? Perhaps it is because there are more news outlets and every one of them is vying for market share and feel the need to some how stand out. Here's an idea - how about we reward those reporters who take the high road and discuss qualifications and not personal attributes!

~ Patty

Bias and Hatred Against Conservative Women

Conservative women in the national spotlight seem to be the target of a great deal of hatred from those on the left.

In the 2008 Presidential campaign, John McCain, the Republican nominee, selected Sarah Palin, then Governor of Alaska, to be his running mate. The words were hardly out of McCain’s mouth before the attacks began. Governor Palin was vilified in the press as being stupid, uninformed on national issues, and an airhead. I’m not really sure why other than those attacking must have felt threatened to go after her so viciously. She was misquoted as saying “I can see Russia from my house” (that was a Saturday Night Live skit.) Her intelligence was questioned (she has a Bachelors degree in journalism.) In fact, just about every area of her life was examined, ridiculed, and trashed including her private life.

Let’s just compare her in just a few areas to the man that did become Vice-President, Joe Biden.

As a law student, Biden plagiarized a paper. He admitted to it but said it wasn’t “malevolent,” whatever that means. He isn’t bright and is often caught with his foot in his mouth either with a racist remark (regarding Obama he said "the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy" or on another occasion he said "you cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent") or just plain stupid (discussing the stock market crash of 1929 he said “Franklin Roosevelt got on television and didn’t just talk about the princes of greed” – so wrong – Herbert Hoover was President when the stock market crashed and broadcast type TV cameras weren’t around then) and often his remarks are laced with profanities (when the health care bill, ObamaCare, was signed, he was caught, on camera, dropping the F-Bomb with his “this is a big F***ing deal.)

Personally, I think Sarah Palin would have made a much better Vice President.

The current new face of the Conservative Movement is Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota. Ms. Bachmann holds a Juris Doctorate degree specializing in tax law and was a United State Treasury Department attorney. This is not a stupid woman but a quick Google search for either information on Ms. Bachmann or an image will show you that she is starting to attract some of that same hatred we saw directed at Gov. Palin.

So why is it that Conservative women seem to this kind of extreme hate? I firmly believe that first and foremost is because the left is extremely worried and threatened by strong, powerful, and Conservative women.

~ Patty