This Week in Republican Hypocrisy
By Asma Hasan
Colorado, US
Republicans, supposedly the party of accountability, have some trouble practicing that value. From the allegations that Palin's Wasilla administration charged rape victims for rape kits to the obnoxious RNC Delegate who claims he was date-raped by a female, roofie-wielding thief, I wonder if they grasp that accountability applies to them too.
It's unclear if it was Palin Administration policy to charge rape victims for rape kits, but it certainly seems very coincidental that the police chief who did not charge was fired by Palin and replaced with a chief who did. (And certainly coincidental that many rape kits include the morning after pill, which Palin is, no doubt, against.) Rape is not just a crime against the victim but a crime against all the people of the community, disruptive of the peace the town government is supposed to provide. As such, gathering evidence is the town's financial and fiduciary responsibility.
For example, let's say a blinged-out attorney named Gabriel Schwartz is attending the RNC as a delegate from Colorado. After giving an obnoxious interview to Link TV the night of Sarah Palin's speech, where he spoke graphically of bombing Iran in order to protect Israel and then taking their oil to pay for everything, Schwartz was flying so high that he didn't realize that a woman he met later in a hotel bar wasn't eyeing his booty. She was eyeing his $1000 Prada belt, $30,000 watch, $4000 earrings, and $5000 necklace, according to the police report Schwartz filed the next day, when he woke up to find his room missing his new friend and everything else of value. When his stranger-than-fiction story hit the news, he tried to paint his irresponsibility as creating awareness that men can be victims of date rape too.
Maybe I would believe Schwartz if there was some proof that sex or drugging occurred, like, say, the kind of proof you get with a rape kit? Maybe Schwartz wouldn't have hooted and hollered as loudly for Palin that night had he known he was about to be victimized too.
Do your fellow party members drive you crazy sometimes?
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Four Questions for: Elisabeth Hasselbeck
I recently spoke with Elisabeth Hasselbeck, co-host of "The View." Elisabeth is generally the sole Republican "view" on the show and, whether you agree with her or not, you have to admire that she always sticks up for her beliefs. Here are some of the reasons she thinks McCain is a hero.
What do you think is the most important issue for women to consider when deciding which candidate to vote for, especially undecided women?
There was a recent poll [that] posed the question, if you had to make the most important decision of your life, who would you call for advice? A majority said John McCain [including a majority of Independents]. I believe that's because we understand where he's coming from, where he's been. He has a voting history that has spanned over decades . . . When he was a prisoner of war, he made a choice that was better for his country than for himself, quite clearly. When choosing Sarah Palin as his running mate, though it may not have been convenient for his campaign that her daughter was pregnant, he still chose her because he knows that's right for America. I think that this is a man who... you can barely see his name without right away seeing the words conviction and fortitude.
Do you think you would be less enthusiastic about John McCain if he hadn't picked Sarah Palin?
I'm enthusiastic about John McCain because he is John McCain, and he's been a person who has decided to put his country first his entire life, and I believe that that is something of great value. He's been able to cross party lines to actually get laws made and do what's best for our nation. He wasn't known as the maverick for nothing . . . [Sarah Palin] is a woman who, many women, whether they are Republicans or not, I think will see themselves in. She is someone who has worked hard, even worked against her own party when she saw corruption, looked it square in the eye and decided that it wasn't going to go on anymore, under her control. She is a woman of strength . . . I've heard phrases like "Sarah Palin is the devil." Why? You tell me what's devilish about a woman who brings a child into this world with Down's Syndrome. . .I think that she will be able to reach and already has reached so many people, both male and female. across party lines . . . Of course, it's exciting, but I'm a McCain supporter because of John McCain.
It's pretty clear that a lot of your views aren't shared by your co-hosts on "The View." Sometimes when I watch the show, it stresses me out! How do you handle that kind of pressure?
I guess I don't find it stressful to sit at that table and have a good discussion. I would find it more stressful to not be able to have the kinds of talks that we're having. That to me would be a more stressful situation, not being able to express where I'm coming from or being able to hear where someone else is coming from . . . I think "The View" offers a chance for not only the women at the table to have that talk but for women through the screen, in their homes, at work, with a playgroup, wherever they may be, on a run, to continue that conversation about issues that are relevant to us, not only as moms and women, but as people and as citizens and as those who are going to be stepping into the voting booth in November.
You're well known as a Republican. Do people ask you why you are a Republican or where your views came from?
I wish people understood that, first and foremost, I'm an American. The fact that I'm Republican comes way second on that list . . . Should a candidate come up on the other ticket that I thought was fit and I thought could carry the torch of leadership right now, I'd be the first person to walk in and say, it isn't about my party affiliation. That can easily be changed with the click of a button on my voting status. I'm proud to be an American. The fact that I'm a Republican, it doesn't define me. I always find people wondering, how did you become a Republican, how did that happen, this curiosity of how could it happen to you? I don't know if they're asking the same question of Democrats out there!
Elisabeth was so enthused over McCain's candidacy that the former athletic shoe designer created a vintage-looking McCain t-shirt, proclaiming him the "Great AmeriCain Hero."
Do you agree with Elisabeth that McCain, as a "Great AmeriCain Hero", would make a Great AmeriCain President too?
(Editor's Note: Reprinted from Glamour.com with permission of the
author. Please read the original blog posting at: http://www.glamour.com/contributors/asma-hasan)
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