It is amazing that how easy to realize that a great deal of politics is about personality, fluff, and appearance when the politicians are female. Chris Dillow takes the efforts of comparing Ruth Kelly (the former British Transport Secretary who resigned to spend more time with her family) to Sarah Palin and of course his conclusion is that Palin has no skill and Kelley is slightly better (that must be because in Britain there can never be a politicians as incompetent, clueless, as Palin). Is it just me or are the few women who ever dared to admit that they want power and who weren’t considered“normal” by being either too mean, too unlikable, too dumb or too pretty, are always the dumbest politicians ever? What is the female equivalent in the western world of leader who can bewitched much of the people by who he is and what he says without being accused to be without skills and obviously farcical? What I never understand is the need for people who are so sure that Palin is a female clown to take upon themselves the task of undressing her as if they were the smartest people in the world and especially as if the point that they are making isn’t really as smartness, skills, and the desire for substance and reflection in politics, but about what they considered to be “acceptable dumbness” in politics. Bush was able and allowed to be president of the United of America for 8 years, but I guess Palin is worse even though everything is telling us that she isn’t and that if she had the “acceptable” political views even without “perceived” reflectiveness, she would be adored and beatified as the best thing since Mother Theresa. Why can't we have female messiahs, you know those people who supposedly meant to save us because they were chosen and because they are "special"? Why can't the One be a woman? Idiotic sugary excerpt:
There was a time when it was thought that politics required the sort of characteristics that only come to must of us with maturity: judgment and cool-headedness.
Today, though, these skills matter less. Instead, what matters is simply who one is. Which is where Sarah Palin comes in. It’s increasingly obvious that she has no obvious ability. Instead, she was picked to be vice-presidential candidate simply for who she is (or appears to be) - because it was thought that she would appeal to the right demographic.
Politicians are selected in the same way that manufactured pop bands are - for their media-friendliness, and ability to recite others' words, more than any great skill they have.
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