Gollum and Gandalf´s wisdom.

The presidential elections in the USA are fast becoming a complete nightmare. Well, not complete, but...

-Hillary Clinton lost, and I think it will have grave consequences, as I have pointed out.
-The misogyny on the left is utterly despicable and omnipresent, and that genie won´t go back to the lamp easily, as commenters at Shakesville have said.
-The moral corruption of the Democratic National Committe has reached unbelievable levels, and they have lost all track of basic democratic principles internally, so how are they to defend every oppressed voice in the USA?
-Barack Obama won by perpetuating the most dangerous myths about politics, that is to say, that speeches and charisma are the traits that define a good ruler. This couldn´t be more wrong, more absurd, and more problematic.
-And finally, I believe the Republicans are now in the driver´s seat, thanks to some truly devious moves on their part and many truly abhorrent decisions taken by the Democratic party.

Sarah Palin´s nomination as the GOP´s Vice-President nominee is now one of the deciding factors in these elections. And sweet gemini cricket, have the democrats got off to a horrendous start on that front!

The misogynistic attacks against her started barely an hour after her nomination. And they haven´t stopped since, obviously. Strategically, I have no idea how anyone can be dumb enough to believe this to be a good idea. Obama already has deep issues regarding his sexist stances, and some people concerned with a Democratic victory in November want to unleash a new misogynistic storm? Clearly, SOME women and feminists are going to think : "with friends like these..."

And that´s without even mentioning how energizing the political discourse will be for republicans, and especially fundamentalist wingnuts. Look, it´s not a secret: when you identify really strongly with a cultural entity and outsiders attack one of its member, you circle the wagons and start fighting as one. And Republicans have no problem whatsoever falling in line, dontcha know? In fact, that´s precisely one of their defining characteristics: they don´t need to assert their individuality by behaving critically against the norm.

But nooo, Sarah Palin is fair game and since she´s "dumb" and a wingnut, the end justifies the means.

Yes, these elections have been depressing so far, and it is far from finished.

Yet, some shards of feminist light are appearing within this context, and from seemingly the most unlikely of places. When it was announced that Sarah Palin´s daughter, Bristol Palin, was pregnant, the most despicable of attacks began pouring all over the internet. Because of her age, her unmarried status, and her mother´s political positions, many people felt that it was perfectly justified to use her as political point, a direct refutal of her mother´s statements amd ideology.

Think about this for a second. Many people who consider themselves pro-choice began judging a 17 years-old decisions, coming to firm conclusions about the hows and whys she had come to be in that position. It goes without saying that nobody knows for sure what has happened, but Governor Palin´s positions justified assuming that things had happened to Bristol Palin in a politically convenient way for the Democrats.

Sarah Palin´s political ideology embodies everything that is vile about religious fanaticism. She believes abortion should be illegal in every case, she believes religious viewpoints should mold and define the law, she supports a party and a platform that deny women their bodily integrity and autonomy over their own lives. And that´s without mentioning her stance on death penalty, oil drilling, environmental protection, etc, etc...

But how strange life is, indeed... It is because of an evangelical icon that forefront issues of ableism and feminism have popped up in the public sphere. The fact that she is a religious fundamentalist has interesting effects on the public discourse. On the one hand, rightwing people see the fact that a mother of five, mother to a child with Down´s Syndrom, mother to an unmarried, pregnant teenage daughter, and successful working mother is running as Vice-President candidate as the triumph of fundamentalist ideology. And on the other hand, people who consider themselves liberal-minded and progressive are now in a position where they are supposed to react progressively to a despised opponent´s culturally different from the perceived norm personal life.

So wingnuts celebrate the choices the Palin family has made because they see them as the only moral possibilities. She is the poster child for fundamentalist morality. But if they take such pride in it, it´s because subconsciously, they acknowledge there was indeed a choice. They may feel comforted in the coherency of their ideology displayed by Sarah Palin´s family, but if she´s admirable, it´s because there´s a silent admission that she stands out, even from many other fundamentalists. Which is why, even if Sarah Palin´s life appears to reinforce many religious paradigms, it instead subtly subverts them, since it brings into the back of fundamentalist people´s minds the cognitive dissonance that makes their ideology personally sustainable.

And people on the left are now forced with a clear ultimatum. Either they walk the walk and abstain from mentioning Sarah Palin´s family private matters and her gender to attack her, or they become to the eyes of many the reactionary forces behind public life in the USA. Make no mistake: that´s a massive cultural shift of perception that IS possible given the magnitude of sexism displayed by the left against Hillary Clinton first, and now Sarah Palin, and also because Palin´s history (leaving aside her political positions) strikes a chord with many people on a personal level, no matter their political affiliation.

Given what´s at stake, I fear the complex irruption of these issues of misogynysm and ableism in the public discourse will have serious negative effects in the short run; but in the long run, the seeds of cultural change and the insistence on personal coherency will challenge prejudices in the USA on a grand scale.

In spite of all the evils promoted by Sarah Palin as a fundamentalist politician, against her will, she is introducing progressive elements in the public sphere.

"Oftentimes, an evil person, by perpetrating an evil deed, paves the way for a good deed they can´t even imagine."

And the only thing that we have left, the only thing we ever have left, is stick to our principles, no matter what. That´s how the compass keeps working.