I've been checking out your letters and I like your schtick. It's cute. Typically you begin by agreeing, like a liberal would, then exaggerating that agreement, including of course, the beyond the pale arguments that no liberal in their right mind would make--you know, Ayers wasn't so bad, Obama picked nothing up from Wright, Israeli land being given away (to terrorist/Hezbola/Hammas - SCARRY!) is, after all, the key to peace in the middle east (wink wink, nudge nudge...)

But see, you aren't quite smart enough to be seen through. Like the Palin wink and the McCain shrug, you're brand of warfare, like your trite ideology, is see through. You'd do better to step up like a woman or man and state your ideas and make your arguments. The negative, Rovian trickery you employ, however appealing it is to me personally, is antithetical to the ends you intend to achieve.

If the conservative ideology cannot win the day, why bother making the argument. Until it can, head out to the shed and work on your craft. The rust is embarrassingly obvious to us all. And it's uncouth.

I have been a big paglia devotee--i mean i don't believe in human caused global warming (though I do think climate change is happening nonetheless), but this palin stuff is just godawful. what a poor example of a new feminist to put out. palin knows nothing, has no interest in learning about anything, and is fine being the electoral catching sideshow mccain has carved out for her. paglia needs to get beyond genitalia. the first dude is an absolute idiot along for the fantastical ride that his incurious wife has provided for him. he holds the kids--great. he has no idea where he is or why he is there. palin herself has little more grasp on her role as a NATIONAL figure. she is not the inheritor of feministic politics. she is yet another example of tokenism. smart women, not token women are what we need. of course, paglia thought (and still thinks) madonna was a superstar. it just demonstrates how cloistered these academic types are that they think mainstream pop cultural figures become somehow transgressive when the are championed by intellectual elites. palin is an uninteresting rube who only paralyzes feminist interest, just as madonna was a boring mainstream pop lightweight who trivialized women's lib. i guess we all need to make a buck though...

"The question that keeps popping up for me is whether Palin, who was born in Idaho, could possibly be part Native American (as we know her husband is), which sometimes seems suggested by her strong facial contours. I have felt that same extraordinary energy and hyper-alertness billowing out from other women with Native American ancestry -- including two overpowering celebrity icons with whom I have worked."

Brilliant recourse to the myth of the noble savage, Ms. Paglia. They must all be like that, those Native Americans, every last one. They are hyper-alert, like squirrels. Your anecdotal sample of four (well really three, since, as far as we know, Sarah is not actually one) is quite compelling. Please tell us more about the billowing, intangible qualities of all Native Folk. And of course, these qualities you detect are rather more significant than the thin and frightening substance of Palin's public record thus far.

...when Paglia devolved into a base contrarian who threw around exotic vocabulary to show how much she deserved to be one of the cognoscenti (yes, I'm being ironic) and then it hit me: she's ALWAYS been a base contrarian.

If everyone loved Palin, she'd be on here making fun of her swallowed consonants.

Why do you keep bringing Paglia back? You should have stopped when her writing had acquired that musty, museum feel.

reading Paglia. I gave up on that some years ago, as life and sanity are in too short a supply. How discouraging and dreary to be reminded of someone nearly as unpleasant as Palin.

Let's see, the Dems look down on women and don't put them in powerful cabinet positions. The first woman in a presidential cabinet was Francis Perkins, FDR's Secretary of Labor. Clinton had Reno, Albright, and O'Leary. There have been more Democratic women in the U.S Congress than Republicans. First female Speaker of the House is a Democrat. First woman elected to the Senate was a Democrat. I could go on and on, but I wouldn't want the facts get in the way of your bogus talking point about how the left looks down on women.

Sarah Palin is the future of the Republican party. Make no mistake about it, her ability to connect with an audience, whether it be live or on tv, in unsurpassed in modern politics. A bold statement I know, since she has only been on the national scene for six weeks, but she has a commanding presence.

If McCain loses this election, the future is still bright for Republicans thanks to Sarah Palin.

Thank you Camille,

In this time of vitriolic partisanship (as seen by many of the responses to this article), it is refreshing to see a journalist actually try to understand and connect with people she may not agree with - politically or culturally. It amazes me that many liberals still claim to be tolerant and open-minded while pouring out this disdain upon others who choose to live in a culture of instinctive national pride, close families, and values this nation was founded upon.

I think you have nailed it on the head: there is another feminism out there embodied by Sarah - I dare say it is probably more ubiquitous and powerful, yet much quieter than the old brand of feminism. Why the old brand of feminism demands that feminists be liberal, cosmopolitan, pro-abortion and anti-male just doesn't make any sense to me.

But then, I am just a hayseed hick in fly-over country who is happily married to an incredible, intelligent, strong and sexy woman.

"And to think there was a time I actually thought you were cool."

--HEATHERS