Obviously, I'm disappointed in the outcome of this year's presidential election. I truly hope that all of my dire predictions will be proved wrong. That remains to be seen...
Obama's success is not the primary reason for my gloominess. It is what this election has done to change my perception of America, and my place in it.
The first concern I have in review of this campaign season is the way America let the mainstream media influence our perceptions of the candidates and the issues. Research tells me this is nothing new, and I am only just becoming aware of it. Elite newsrooms decided who they wanted to win, and they orchestrated Obama's rise to power brilliantly.
The second issue is one that the media has influenced as well, and it's one that I'm taking personally.
Growing up, I never felt that I was a second-class citizen because I was a girl. The first time I ever felt looked-down upon because of my gender was actually on my mission, but that's another story. I never felt it again until this election. The rabid attacks on Sarah Palin's character can only be explained by sexism and elitism. In the interest of brevity, I won't site all of the arguments leveled against Palin which I deemed as irrelevant or unfair, but to summarize:
Here is a person who has served the people of Alaska for many years, and is the most popular Governor in the country. Yet the media got away with labeling her as "inexperienced" and "unintelligent." Why was Obama not given the same scrutiny given his two years only of service in the Senate? I am led to believe it is because she is a female, and not just any female, but a wife and mother who is not afraid to be feminine. Being a woman was the main offense, but I also think the attacks against her reflect the media's disdain for small-town conservatives.
I am no Sarah Palin, but I am a girl who grew up and got married and had a family--and in arguably the most conservative state in the Union. I do not believe a woman needs to win a seat in the Oval Office to prove that women are "equal." It is imperative that women believe in their own significance, especially when they choose to stay home and raise the next generation. But the treatment of Sarah Palin by the mainstream media showed me how little respect women are given--whether they work outside the home or not, and it's disheartening.
7 comments:
Yep - feminism, IMHO, has got to be one of the most Satanic things ever to happen to real women, and real men. If you're not a man, you're not as good as a man. (But wait, men are horrible, right? ;-) And the media was HORRID to Palin.
I was listening to a little of Rush & Glenn today, and they resisted getting too doom-and-gloom... (although Rush did call it something like the triumph of public education, LOL... which reminds me, I need to get some links together for you; still working on my own thoughts, though, too, LOL...). We've had our rude (VERY RUDE) awakening that people no longer understand our Constitution and the nature of our country - nor do many of them care to. But that means we have a responsibility to "go forth and inform," LOL... a lot of people call it a defining moment for conservatives and the conservative movement, and I agree - we're having to take more deliberate, sometimes more public stands, but it's good to be kicked out of complacency on occasion, I suppose; I know I can always use reminders, LOL! :-)
I watched an interview with Governor Jindle last night. As Governor of Louisiana, I'd say he's had a tough job with post-Katrina problems. Yet, my understanding is that he's done really well. Anyway, he spoke about the importance of Conservatives being true to their ideology (my interpretation--the Constitution), and then he named names of a group of energetic up-and-comings willing to go back to basics.
If the trend we've seen in this election to adopt socialist ideas is indeed a defining moment as wrote, and it reawakens the conservative base as I think it has--and will continue to grow, I am very much reassured and optimistic. It's going to be O.K.
Amen...and what is even worse are the women that are attacking her for being a woman. I mean come on! yeah...I dislike the majority of the media...and Hollywood...who do they think they are anyway?
Oh, I have so much to say about this, and so little energy to do so. Yes, yes and yes to all things said. America, I feel let down by you. At the same time, I'm feeling very optimistic about people taking a better stand in the future because of the poor choices that will be made in the next four ears. THings are going to directly affect everyones lives and at this THIS will force them to look some what into the why.
Laura, I totally agree with you regarding the Hollywood crowd, and like Cheri, I'm too tired to address them at the moment. They deserve a whole separate post!
Amen to that!
I especially like Cheri's point, that it will help us put more thought into our future decisions... *fingers crossed*
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