I watched a scene from the new film "The Stoning of Soraya M". I watched as a young mother was buried waist deep in the hot earth, preparing to be stoned.
What led to her stoning were lies about her moral character and her actions. False accusations.
I watched as people who were once close to her cast the first stones at her - purposefully or under pressure to do so. My heart broke as one lone loyal voice cried out and begged for them to stone her and not Soraya because Soraya has young children. Spare her life, says the woman. The woman is dragged away and tossed to the ground.
A stone is angrily pitched at Soraya's forehead. Her head is tossed back. Slowly she brings it forward to reveal a gash. There is blood. A woman in the crowd smiles excitedly with pride.
Soraya had done nothing wrong.
I was frustrated, disgusted, angry, sad, and confused at what I was watching.
This was a true story.
And this story is not old.
Nor have these stories ended.
What was shocking to me is that I thought of Sarah Palin.
Now a caveat.
Sarah and Soraya have glaringly different stories.
It's like comparing apples to oranges, but they are still both fruit.
Walk with me.
There is a terrifying similarity in their stories. Sarah has been THE target of the main stream media, the angry left, and the bitter right. They've tried to bury her in the mud of frivolous ethics complaints that they sling at her day in and day out. She gets hit with pieces from jealous op-ed writers (yes you Mo Dowd, and it's getting embarrassing for you how much time you spend on Sarah). She gets hit with sexist commentary and 'jokes'. She gets hit with every derogatory slur for a female in the book. Those who should have her back, are often the ones throwing the first not-so-subtle insults - undermining her abilities, her intelligence, her gravitas.
I watched as the haters gleefully hoped for Sarah's downfall. Reveling in rumors and falsities.
Why is it okay that this still happens? Why is it acceptable that a conservative woman can be the recipient of a maelstrom of hate? Vicious, seething, foaming at the mouth type of hate.
What has Sarah Palin done?
I really want to know.
I don't want to hear lies or rumors repeated. I don't want to hear ignorant comments like, "it's 'cause she's dumb". Frankly, if that's all you can come up with, then look in the mirror.
Is it because she doesn't belong to the Left? If you think Sarah Palin would've been persecuted and stoned the way she has had she been a Democrat, you are mistaken.
She speaks plainly as Lincoln did. She speaks truth from her heart as Reagan did. She honors the beauty and value in every individual life as MLK did.
Is it really down to the "don't hate me because I'm beautiful"? Is it because many don't like her because she's truly happy in her life?
What gives?
Why are we all not ashamed of the stoning of Sarah Palin?
What is distinguishable from Soraya's story is that there is no one lone voice in the crowd of many to speak up for Sarah. There is no ONE person willing to stand with Sarah.
Rather, there are MANY of us who will stand with Sarah. There are MANY who will make sure that the stoning of Sarah comes to an end. So that one day, there will be no more stories to tell.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
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15 comments:
I'll answer you. She's been stoned because she stood up and declared that she was competent to run our country, but then demonstrated that she does no preparation for the job and makes no apologies for it. She declares that she's ready because she says so. She refuses to brush up on world affairs and take intellectually informed positions. Her positions are formed from her gut, without reading. That's a disaster. She deserves what she gets.
It's morally different from the girl being stoned in your story. Palin volunteered to be in the national spotlight. She chose this life. She signed up for it willfully. The public and the media are allowed to, and supposed to criticize and critique her. That's what we do in free society.
To be president, you must work very very hard, and that includes intense reading and study. Nobody is singled out by God to be president by right. One must work and study very hard to be qualified. She thinks otherwise. She thinks she's a special case. That hard work and reading and study don't apply to her.
The stoning is justified. How are you going to deal with Kim Jung Il if you can't deal with the main stream media? How are you going to deal with Kim Jong Il if you don't know any history about the country or the people, and worse, refuse to read up about them? How are you going to govern our country if you refuse to learn an even basic concept of civics? There is no "Department of Law."
Anyone who stands up and declares themselves to be ready to lead deserves the utmost scrutiny, including challenges to her preparedness and ethics. It's what makes our country so great. She's not qualified not because she's smart or dumb, but because she simply doesn't recognize her weak points and refuses to put the work in to fix them.
Anonymous,
Your comments are plain ignorant.
Geraldine Ferraro didn't have the qualifications for VP when she was tapped by Mondale yet she was not tarred and feathered in the media nearly as badly as Sarah Palin was and still is.
Hillary Clinton wasn't qualified to run for president yet was not tarred and feathered in the media nearly as badly as Sarah Palin was and still is.
Barack Obama was and still is not qualified to be President yet he is not tarred and feathered as Sarah Palin was and still is.
And, you clearly missed the point that women, particularly conservative women, in politics are treated extremely rudely and crudely by the mainstream media and liberal Democrats versus their male counterparts.
Conservative women are asked questions that are NEVER asked of liberal Democrat women politicians. The mainstream media ALWAYS asks questions of conservatives that are specifically designed to trip them into giving the media a great, dumb sounding sound bite. Yet, this tactic is not done to liberal Democrats.
And in the case of Obama, some are actually covered up, i.e., there still is no clip, video or audio, available of Obama thanking himself with the Irish Prime Minister. If this had been GWB, it would have been plastered all over all media outlets for months.
I'm sure you are one who doesn't see the blatant bias and discrimination conservative women have to tolerate that men do not. Sarah Palin is even getting tarred and feathered by the men in her own party!
Not liking Sarah Palin for her policies or her stand on the issues is one thing. People can disagree yet still be respectful of each other as human beings – it’s called “debating on the issues.”
Stooping to the level of spreading vile myths and lies, initiating frivolous lawsuit after lawsuit at no expense to you but hindering the Alaskan governments ability to do its work and practically bankrupting the Palin family, and telling vile, disgusting women’s jokes simply because a candidate is a woman should be beneath every educated, civilized human being whether you are a man or a woman.
that's crazy talk. hillary clinton, geraldine ferraro and barrack obama are painfully educated. they are all avid readers and incredibly prepared. i may not like their policies, but it's absurd to place them in the same category of unpreparedness as palin. palin refuses to prepare. she thinks she doesn't need to read or study. there is no bias, zero, against conservative women. meg whittman and carly fiorina would have made wonderful VP candidates because they're willing to work. sarah palin is most certainly NOT being tarred and feathered. she continues to show us how unprepared she is. she still refuses to read the damn papers.
all politicians are fodder for stand up comedians. all must learn to be thick skinned. both sides are guilty of going too far on personal attacks. but you're painting with a broad brush and lumping all of her fair criticisms, like her refusal to read and ignorance of world and domestic affairs (fair) with the unfair attacks like the ones on her family (unfair). most are fair, some are not. but taken together she is absolutely not singled out because she's a woman and is absolutely not singled out because she is conservative. she is singled out because she's woefully unprepared to be a leader because she refuses to educate herself and sees preparation as beneath her.
look, i'm not stupid, you're not stupid, it's plain as day that she doesn't know anything about the world or energy policy, or history, or ethnic crises around the world, etc. hillary clinton, obama, ferraro, whitman, and fiorina all DO know a lot, and what they don't know are all clearly willing to invest the time to read and learn. she is not. that's fair. monica crowley reads and studies a lot. olympia snowe reads and studies a lot. there are lots of conservative women who read and study a lot. palin is not one of them.
you're being an idealogue if you believe palin is willing to prepare and study. it's plainly obvious that she isn't.
if you agree with me on that point, then we can move forward, otherwise, you're talking about the religion of sarah palin, not the rational assessment of her qualifications and we can't go any further.
conservatives do themselves no favor by propping up someone who is not prepared to study. it makes us look like we don't see that the sky is blue. you have to accept that she's not willing to study or else you're just fabricating qualities about her that are plainly wrong and you make the conservative movement look stupid.
Sarah Palin has been targeted because she is a credible Conservative spokesman (sic). She must be destroyed by the Left.
If the left didn't take Sarah Palin seriously they wouldn't have put as much effort into attacking her as they have. It's quite obvious they're afraid of her, otherwise they wouldn't be paying her any attention now that the Obamessiah is in the White House.
However, I think by the same token she's a threat to the tired, crusty leadership of the GOP, the same watery lightweights who stuck us with John McCain in the first place. She makes them nervous because she excites the base- people who recognize a genuine conservative when they see one- and they can't control her in the manner to which they're accustomed.
Perosonally, I think she's a much needed breath of fresh air. Even if she never runs for anything again, I think she's got a great future in the movement as a fresh new face.
Well, for one thing, I think that a lot of people are sorta ticked off because she's a woman against abortion.
Another reason, they are afraid of her.
Its as simple as that.
If they weren't, they wouldn't be obsessed with 'Palin-bashing'.
I believe that Palin is just as capable as being president, as Obama is. Though that's not saying much, because Obama is currently a horrible president.
LOL! That's funny. I'm not racist in the least. If Obama was against abortion, I would have voted for him in a heartbeat.
and yes i will continue to delete ignorant troll comments. get a life.
Anonymous people bug me.
It would be an honor if any or all of my four daughters turned out to be just like her.
Sarah Palin rocks
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