Lipstick, pigs and the ridiculous GOP double standard
A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS
by Amy Weiss
With the most politically motivated vice-presidential pick in years, the Republican Party is trying to take full advantage of a convenient double standard they've set up. Under their rules, Republicans can exploit Sarah Palin's sexuality, but Democrats can no longer use the word "lipstick."
When asked about Hillary Clinton and her campaign's claims that the media was sexist, Sarah Palin accused Clinton and her campaign of "whining." Now, the McCain campaign claims she is facing unfair scrutiny because she is a woman. A new favorite response of campaign spokespeople who don't have a better answer is "Would that question ever be asked of a man?"
Republicans passed out buttons at the Republican National Convention with Palin's picture that said "The Hottest VP from the Coolest State" to no objection from any of the people now crying sexism. Members of the Indiana delegation wore buttons that said "Hoosiers for the Hot Chick." Barack Obama and Joe Biden have not and certainly should not refer to Palin as a "hot chick" -- but should Republicans diminish their own candidate as first and foremost, physically attractive?
Palin embraced her tough-but-feminine image during her convention speech, delivering one of her most memorable lines: What's the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? Lipstick.
Nothing wrong with that on its own. It was very well-received by the audience and received tons of positive play in the news over the days that followed.
But now apparently, if any Democrat uses the word "lipstick," they must be referring to Sarah Palin. Lipstick is just a code word for Sarah Palin, according to the Republicans.
During a campaign event Tuesday, Obama said:
"The other side, suddenly, they're saying 'we're for change too,'… You can put lipstick on a pig. It's still a pig. You can wrap up an old fish in a piece of paper and call it change. It's still going to stink after eight years. We've had enough."The McCain campaign and surrogates immediately jumped on this, saying Barack Obama called Sarah Palin a pig and should apologize. They've even released an ad playing Obama's comments under the headline "Barack Obama on Sarah Palin."
Members of the mainstream media, who often go out of their way to avoid absolute, declarative statements are calling the McCain camp's allegations flatly untrue -- saying plainly that he was referring to McCain-Bush policies and not Sarah Palin.
Politico's Ben Smith said: "The McCain campaign is now saying Obama called Palin a pig, which he didn't."
The Dallas Morning News wrote Wednesday:
Down South, we're familiar with the phrase "lipstick on a pig." As in, you can put some on one, but it's still a pig. Barack Obama of Illinois used the phrase today during a campaign stop in Lebanon, Virginia…
The McCain campaign decided to take that as a sexist swipe at Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, though nothing in Obama's remarks targeted her specifically.
Former Gov. Jane Swift of Massachusetts -- where, perhaps, they don't have colorful expressions about pigs -- denounced the comment as "disgraceful" and maintained that since Palin is the only national candidate who wears lipstick, it was clearly directed at her.
Mark Halperin of Time Magazine said on CNN's 360 with Anderson Cooper: "Stop the madness. I think this is the press just absolutely playing into the McCain campaign's crocodile tears… They knew exactly what he was saying. It's an expression."
They did know it was an expression, as it is one John McCain has used himself. Meghan McCain admitted on Fox News Wednesday morning that she's heard her dad use the phrase. He used it to describe Hillary Clinton's health care policy:
Obviously, McCain wasn't calling Hillary Clinton a pig, but Barack Obama was calling Sarah Palin one because John McCain is a Republican and Barack Obama is a Democrat and lipstick and pigs are suddenly more important than health care or education or foreign policy. (Note our sarcasm.)
Mike Huckabee has suddenly become the most reasonable Republican (or the only one who didn't receive the Steve Schmidt talking points), as he said on Fox News's Hannity and Colmes Tuesday night that "it's an old expression" and he doesn't think Obama was talking about Palin.
D.C. gossip site Wonkette's sarcastic tongue-in-cheek take is almost identical to the actual Republican thinking. From an entry titled " 'Lipstick' is Sarah Palin's Word":
Nobody is allowed to talk about lipstick and various animals you would put it on, unless you are Sarah Palin. For example, when Barack Obama was talking about the Republican health care plan and called it "putting lipstick on a pig," this was obviously a Sexist and demeaning SMEAR against the vice presidential candidate, who already made it clear that she was a bloodthirsty and vicious dog, not a cuddly, sensitive, intelligent little pig.
Double standards abound in the Republican Party, but the "sexism" card has become the clearest. And the notion that John "No Equal Pay for Equal Work" McCain and the GOP are suddenly the defenders of women against sexism is laughable.
When John McCain said "Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because Janet Reno is her father," fellow Republicans laughed. Maybe they laughed not because the joke was about women, but about Democrats.
Guests at a fundraiser of his said he told a joke about how much women -- not just Democratic women -- but all women love to be raped and beaten, especially by primates.
Another account describes him calling his wife a derogatory word and telling her she wears too much makeup. According to three Arizona reporters covering a 1992 Senate campaign event:
At one point, Cindy playfully twirled McCain's hair and said, 'You're getting a little thin up there.' McCain's face reddened, and he responded, "At least I don't plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you c***."
Wow, at least he didn't say "lipstick."
A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS
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