Political Comment

About twenty years ago when I was in graduate school, I made a little extra money by substitute teaching in a local high school. I did that for several years and since it was also the district in which I student taught, I got to know most of the students there fairly well. There was one girl who I remember talking to at some length about her ambitions and plans. She was in mostly remedial classes (I remember filling in a number of times for her English teacher) and clearly struggling (for whatever reason) just to pass these basic courses. There was nothing about academics that held the least bit of interest for her, and it was pretty obvious that she had little intention of doing anything more than the bare minimum to, hopefully, eke by in her classes. But here's the interesting thing: she was incredibly ambitious with regard to how she imagined her life turning out. She was going to be a successful, highly paid lawyer, she told me , get married when she reached thirty, have a couple of kids, but have nannies or her husband take care of them so she would not have to derail her prosperous , glamorous career. She had it all mapped out, the kind of house she'd have, the money, the clothes, the fancy car, etc. As she talked about all this stuff that she frankly felt was her due, all I could think about was "don't you think it would help you reach those goals if you were to pass a basic high school English class?" When I broached that question to her, she sniffed and countered that women today can have it all, as if that somehow made the question moot.

I think of that girl when I see Sarah Palin. There's no doubt that she has great ambition, an engaging persona, and even some talent as a politician. But it appears that the first of those has trumped all other considerations-- she evidently sees little need for for knowledge or expertise or understanding of complex issues; little need to be in the least bit curious about what's going on in the world beyond her own immediate setting; little need to recognize that true empathy transcends mere stereotyping (whether its the "hockey mom" or "Joe Sixpack"). The story coming out today that Palin feels that she is being constrained by her handlers in the McCain campaign clearly speaks to her ambition-- apparently she believes that if she could just be herself, she might single-handedly rescue the candidacy. But there is nothing in her history (at least what we've seen of it so far) to indicate that that would involve anything more than reiterating platitudes, provoking bigotry, and coasting on her looks. I guess she thinks that is all she needs to do to realize her dreams-- after all, women today can have it all.*

* Just to be clear-- it's not that I think women can't have it all, I just don't think saying so is enough to make it happen.