No matter what former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin does, she's not going to win any friends in the mainstream modern feminism activist movement in the United States. But that might not be a bad thing.
On HLN's Feb. 8 "The Joy Behar Show," Eve Ensler, the writer of the infamous "The Vagina Monologues" appeared on the broadcast to promote her new book "I Am an Emotional Creature: The Secret Life of Girls Around the World." During the interview, she was asked by the show's host Joy Behar what she thought about Sarah Palin, her political prospects and her belief system.
"Back with me is a woman who has done more for the vagina than the Brazilian wax - the talented Eve Ensler," Behar said. "You know, I must talk about Sarah Palin quickly with you because you do mention her in one monologue in the book. And you say a woman running for U.S. vice president believes in creationism but not global warming. What were you driving at there? May I ask?"
Ensler took the global warming opening and ran with it, but probably should have exercised better judgment. She took a shot at Palin's anthropogenic skepticism, either by mistake or by exhibiting a total ignorance of natural disasters, by suggesting Palin look at "earthquakes and tsunamis" if she needed to evidence (emphasis added):
ENSLER: Well, I just think the idea that she doesn't believe in global warming is bizarre.
BEHAR: Every scientist at every note believes in it but Sarah Palin doesn't believe in it.
ENSLER: And I think we just kind of have to walk around the world at this point and look at what is happening to nature and earthquakes and tsunamis.
BEHAR: Right.
ENSLER: And weather changes to just feel it. But I think that idea that she doesn't believe in global warming and she could actually run for vice president, and we have a country where that is possible, it seems insane.
BEHAR: It's unbelievable. It does seem insane and the fact that she has not negated the possibility of running in 2012.
ENSLER: But we have. We have negated the possibility of her winning.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), earthquakes are a phenomenon of "sudden rolling or shaking events caused by movement under the Earth's surface," not the earth's atmosphere which concerns the theory of anthropogenic global warming.
Ensler also took issue with the Tea Parties, particularly last week's Tea Party Convention in Nashville, Tenn., where Palin spoke and insisted that the media should give her V-Day events (an inspiration of The Vagina Monologues) more coverage:
ENSLER: But I think part of it is like why are we giving her so much attention. You know I was looking at that Tea Party thing last night. How many people were there? 600? Why is the entire media covering an event with 600 people.
BEHAR: I don't know.
ENSLER: V-day has 5,000 events this year. At one event there's 600 people, why are they covering that? What do we choose to cover in the media? Why is anyone giving attention to people who have really have a level of intelligence that hasn't really evolved yet?
BEHAR: I agree with you.
ENSLER: You know, you know, it's problematic. It's problematic.
But the shots kept coming at Palin from both Behar and Ensler - why she is so popular, why she didn't criticize Bush more and her ideologically conservative stances on certain social and economic issues:
ENSLER: Well I'm not talk you can about the people who necessarily are following Sarah Palin. Because I think people have the right to be afraid right now. I identify with working people. I feel for people are out of jobs and they don't have money. What` I'm talking about is people who are creating Sarah Palin and Sarah Palin herself putting out information that is manipulated, that's distorted, and illusory. That's the people I have problems with.
BEHAR: Well she plays fast and loose with facts.
ENSLER: Oh, does she ever.
BEHAR: And the other thing I wanted to bring up about her with you is that I saw her being interviewed by Chris Wallace on FOX yesterday. Or was it Saturday, I think it was yesterday. And he says -- she says that, you know, Obama is losing some sting right now. People have short memories. They forget what happened eight years ago.
ENSLER: Hmm.
BEHAR: When Bush was here. But she says, I'm saying she'd like to change his image around. How would she do it? She's saying, I'm saying if he did things would dramatically change, if he decided to toughen up and do all that he can do to secure our nation and our allies, I think people would perhaps shift their thinking a bit and decide, well, maybe he's tougher than we think that he is today. In other words, I think that she's talking about going in and starting more wars. I mean, I can't believe that she gets away with statements like that.
ENSLER: Well, I think it's the whole mentality of being in the NRA, of believing in drilling. Of shooting all those animals from the plane, of drilling, this constant -- she wouldn't drill.
As for the "drilling" metaphor, Behar couldn't let the opportunity to take a cheap shot at Palin at her daughter's expense and mock the concept of abstinence:
BEHAR: Isn't that how her daughter got in trouble in the first place?
ENSLER: I thought it was abstinence myself.
BEHAR: Oh yes, abstinence, that really works.
ENSLER: Really successful technique.
