And the stars are certainly coming out to bash Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.
What better place to do so than at the fabulous Huffington Post?
Up first was Jamie Lee Curtis with this Wednesday posting (emphasis added, readers are warned to prepare themselves for some truly insipid nonsense):
The scariest thing I hear about the Palin nomination was that she would appeal to voters because they would be able to relate to her and she to them. I get that. There are many places where relatability is key. I am a recovering addict alcoholic and finding another group that relates to my struggles is/was key to my sobriety. When I am at school I find myself grouping with others whose kids share the same issues, interests. People tell me all the time that the More magazine article where I showed what my real body looked like in comparison to the air brushed images most women are fed, was important and made me relatable. That too is great. The problem is I may be relatable and share some of your experiences and concerns but you don't want me as president of United States.[...]
I couldn't hold my own for one minute in a debate on any issue with someone like a Barack Obama or Joseph Biden and neither can Sarah Palin. When the call comes at 3AM I want a mind who was at the top of their class, who has gravitas and a real intellect. I want a leader who is a scholar who can hold the history of civilization in his head and will read and learn from the past as he charts the future.
Fascinating. So, because Curtis couldn't hold her own in a debate with Obama or Biden, that means Palin can't either? What led Jamie Lee to such a conclusion?
As for the importance of leaders being at the top of their class, why doesn't Curtis apply this same requirement for the candidates she actually supports?
As my colleague Tom Blumer referenced in his piece about editing of Joe Biden's Wikipedia page shortly after he was announced as Obama's running mate, the Delaware Senator actually ranked 76th in his law school class out of a total of 85!
That put Biden in the whopping eleventh percentile, meaning that 89 percent of his class did better. Is THAT what you call scholarly, Jamie?
Furthermore, this standard wasn't essential in 2004 when Curtis supported John Kerry for president. After all, he only averaged C's while at Yale.
With this in mind, is Curtis demonstrating a sexist double standard by requiring academic prowess from a female candidate that is non-essential for the men she supports?
For the record, according to Wikipedia, Curtis only managed to complete one semester of college. You go, girl!
Moving forward, next on the hit parade was Alec Baldwin who wrote the following about Palin Saturday (emphasis added throughout):
Palin is Bush. What helped propel Bush into the White House was not only some effective electoral nullification. It was his lack of a record in public office. The governorship of Texas is one of the more ceremonial of all the governorships in this country. The state legislature calls the shots. Bush came into power with less foreign policy experience than Barack Obama has now. And was "elected" to two terms. Bush had no foreign policy record to examine. He had only his father's rich friends and their stranglehold on the Republican National Committee to call upon. It proved to be more than enough.
Umm, Alec: What foreign policy experience does Obama have? You think being Senator for two years -- he's been campaigning since January 2007! -- represents foreign policy experience?
Furthermore, what foreign policy experience did Bill Clinton have as governor of Arkansas? Or any of the governors that have been elected president in this nation's history? Hmmm?
But Baldwin's inanities and vitriol didn't end there...not by a long shot:
We know nothing about Sarah Palin. Nothing. Which is not anywhere near enough information to elevate her to the position whereby she would succeed McCain if he died in office or suffered a catastrophic illness. At 72 years of age and in questionable health, McCain's fitness to coach a high school football team would be in doubt, let alone the grueling reality of the presidency of this country.
A team of doctors from the Mayo Clinic declared Friday that there appears to be no physical reason why Sen. John McCain, the 71-year-old presumed Republican presidential candidate, could not carry out the duties of the office."Sen. McCain enjoys excellent health and displays extraordinary energy, and, while it is impossible to predict any person's future health, I and my colleagues can find no medical reason or problem that would preclude Sen. McCain from fulfilling all of the duties or obligations of the president of the United States," said Dr. John D. Eckstein, an internist who has been overseeing McCain's treatment for 16 years at the famed research center's campus in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Yet, this didn't stop Baldwin from continuing with his health argument:
John McCain is, statistically, more likely to die or suffer some catastrophic illness during his first term than any other man that has sought the office. Who would succeed him? George Bush would succeed him. Someone with no record. No experience. Only question marks. Everywhere. Forget about the fact that Palin looks a lot like a really attractive TV star I know. Underneath all the Tina, she's George.
Well, Alec, George got elected governor twice and president twice. If she's George, that works for me.
