Why it's impossible to take Salon's Camille Paglia seriously

There are lots of reasons, actually. But just to pick the most egregious in the light on the right-leaning feminist writer's latest (where she gets bogged down in paragraph after paragraph of Bill Ayers speculation), it's the part where she condemns Democrats for their “sadomasochistic, anti-Palin orgy.”

She continued:

A shocking level of irrational emotionalism and at times infantile rage was exposed at the heart of current Democratic ideology -- contradicting Democratic core principles of compassion, tolerance and independent thought. One would have to look back to the Eisenhower 1950s for parallels to this grotesque lock-step parade of bourgeois provincialism, shallow groupthink and blind prejudice.

Basically, Paglia was shocked by the hate and certainly suggested it was fueled by the fact that Palin's a woman.

Of course, it's possible that the 2008 campaign produced writers who uncorked more irrational, gender-bashing hatred of Hillary Clinton than Paglia did, but it would be a pretty short list.

As Jessica at Jezebel notes today:

Paglia decries what she describes as “A shocking level of irrational emotionalism and at times infantile rage,” Democrats displayed when dealing with Sarah Palin. If she wants to see a shocking level of irrational emotionalism, I suggest she look in the friggin' mirror.