I'm an AVOWED conservative... but that doesn't stop me from enjoying (almost!) every word of your intelligent, insightful prose.

Your 'Nobody's Dummy' piece about Sara Palin was particularly good.

I really appreciate how you use your enormous writing talents, and deep understanding of history -- particularly feminism -- to give us lucky readers a provocative and engaging opinion piece about one of the most interesting central characters in an election that will be talked about for decades to come.

Camille -- THANK YOU for your brillance. You are a treasure!

Ms. Paglia,

You are full of crap. As I read your multi-syllabic, supercilious circumlocutions defending Sarah Palin's intelligence, your justifications about your childhood listening to brilliant immigrants speak fractured English, your contention that bright, artistic people often speak and sound like morons, I used up my cringe reflex, to paraphrase Kathleen Parker. The idea that well-educated Americans wanting their leaders to possess a high level of analytic skill, critical thinking and strong verbal and conversational ability is somehow a sign of elitism is on its face, bullshit of an order fitting for a Yale PhD. If I wanted the people who run Mayberry RFD to run the country, I'd move to Wasilla, Alaska.

I realize now you are a professional contrarian, a snide one at that, and you were probably in some autoerotic reverie as you wrote this drivel because you know it goes against the received opinion of millions of your contemporaries, those with a reasonable education, some critical thinking skills and the modest expectation that a vice president of the United States can speak in clear sentences, expresse complex ideas without sounding like a stroke patient, and not be a religious fundamentalist wingnut to boot, which is what Palin is, no doubt about it, with a little anti-semitism thrown in for good measure.

You are a pain in the ass, and I am done with you.

Then she would be a George W. Bush sans the money and the blue blood line.

Thank heavens you're stuck at a third-rate university where the damage you can inflict on young minds is limited. I don't know why Salon gives your a forum to spew your shit, which is generally unilluminating, trite and overblown, all at the same time.

I completely agree

Sarah's nobody's dummy

She's EVERYBODY'S!

It's always diverting to see a feminist's response to a woman out of her depth in a position of authority.

Who would have guessed that Palin's chronic inarticulacy and almost zen like lack of engagement are actually a cunningly fashioned artistic statement?

I think Ms. Paglia is way off regarding Sarah Palin, who I think is more accurately described as a good looking, ambitious opportunist who was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. For the McCain election team, Palin was the perfect solution to energize an old and dull seeming 'brand McCain--one that seemed doomed to fail--without some miracle fix. That miracle fix came in the form of Palin--and for a while there it was working. Until she opened her mouth and tried to say something more than teleprompted "gipper" slogans.

All this hogwash about "don't underestimate Palin's vitality and smarts" and this intellectualizing about her being the "powerful new symbol of contemporary feminism"!? Please, give me a break.

Palin certainly wasn't chosen for her "smarts", like Paglia suggests. Palin seems to have a very average IQ, and even less experience. She's young, fresh, conservative and female: the perfect running mate for old man McCain. What's more, she's a female version of GW Bush: anti-intellectual, a born-again Christian, and very appealing to red-staters. She's a perfect red-state vote getter, and that's why she was chosen. Palin in no way revives any feminist values; instead she will push the gains of contemporary feminists backwards.

The advent of Palin is very damaging for republicans and for the conservative movement, as well as for women. She is a cynical ploy by the republicans to get votes for McCain, and nothing more. As David Brooks stated, Palin's anti-intellectualism is a disaster for the future of the conservative movement, and she would certainly be a disaster for the future of this country which is in very, serious sh*t right now.

I honestly don't know why I bother even attempting to read Paglia's essays. I could only make it through the first page of this one before I threw up in my mouth.

I can only conclude that she has a major crush on Palin and that is blinding her to the absolute FOLLY of supporting Palin...a woman who does absolutely nothing to support other women!

Who even knows if The First Dude is a househusband...or if he is indeed the primary caregiver. I've only seen Bristol Palin holding the baby, or Palin herself. The First Dude seems more like a gold digger, a stud or a gigolo, which isn't exactly the feminist ideal of a mate in my book. He joins in on policy decisions without either a) being elected or b)having much of an education.

To support this reactionary anti-intellectual who is so virulently nasty, so greedy, so selfish, so blinded by her own ambition, so unwilling and unable to show any generosity of spirit or heart towards others, who wraps herself in the flag and the cross...and then, at every opportunity, attack a true feminist icon like Hillary Clinton who IS educated, knowledgable, has put in years of public service, and is attempting to pull other women upwards with her, as well as the poor and the needy...doggone it Camille, there you go. I just threw up in my mouth again.

I don't get the Madonna obsession, I don't get the Palin obsession, and frankly I have had it with the stunning narcissism and total lack of coherent thought in Paglia's essays. Please Salon, give her a rest. Let her go elsewhere.

I am appalled that Paglia admires Palin's "always shapely and syncopated syllables" when she stops just short of calling Obama a terrorist and has no response when someone at her rally calls out for him to be killed. Is this really what the new feminism is about?