This letter is associated with the following article:
Letters
Tuesday, September 9, 2008 12:00 AM

The dominatrix

Sarah Palin is trying to seduce independent voters. But she comes across like a whip-wielding mistress who wants to discipline a naughty America.

Read other letters about this article

  • Tuesday, September 9, 2008 09:55 AM

    whiners...

    ...who demand equal images of Hillary, or Michelle, or Obama as a houseboy, etc.... you're missing the point - clearly you lack the intellect to understand the nature of parody. Parody exaggerates a trait to make a point. Sometimes parody is offensive, but it doesn't mean it's inaccurate.

    If Obama acted like a houseboy, then a picture satirizing him as such would be spot on. But he doesn't act that way, so an image of him would be simply a racist fantasy (see Limbaugh's characterization of Obama as a man-child, and yes, "boy")

    If Obama were dressed as a "dancer" appealing to a certain enthusiastic demographic, the image may be hard to take, but it would be legitimate satire.

    If pumas were depicted as a crowd of angry vaginas, that would be accurate. If depicted as a crowd of thoughtful, rational voters... that would be so far off the mark it would be sad.

    Had Palin been dressed up in a sheer teddy with a submissive look, that would have fallen flat - it's not in character for her, and would be simply gratuitous titillation.

    But that's not Palin. If you deny that she appeals to the gonads, then you have virtually no understanding of sexuality. I'm completely against everything she stands for - but I see her carefully-cultivated "librarian fantasy" persona clearly, and it is not unappealing - on the surface. She is clearly *very* pleased when she's dishing out vindictive invective to the left (or fatal knife cuts to mooses). And if you listen, you will know that the rightist yappers - men and women alike - celebrate her as a dominatrix, hoping she will whip the left into submission, and are obviously sexually energized by this thought. Is this sexist? Nope. But it IS sexual - only a moron misses that fact. It's human nature, and if you will open your eyes, you'll see it playing out.

    So right on, Gary and Salon; you nailed her for what she is to the right.

    Now, let's make sure everybody knows what a liar, what a fascist, and what a fundamentally nasty person she is as well.

Most Active Letters Threads

523

The crazy, irrational beliefs of Muslims

Tom Friedman explains the real problem: stupid Muslims think the U.S. is about war and aggression.
424

The face of rotted Washington

Evan Bayh demands more debt-financed war - fought by others - while boasting that he's a stern "deficit hawk."
187

Bigotry wins in Switzerland

By voting to ban the construction of minarets, Switzerland apes the most extreme intolerance in the Muslim world
130

Facebook, the mean girls and me

At 34 years old, I finally feel like a popular seventh-grader. How sad is that?
103

Polanski moves from jail to ski chalet

The rapist director is granted bail, and one of his most vocal apologists celebrates

View all »

Letters Help

Currently in Salon