Why it's impossible to take Salon's Camille Paglia seriously
Written by Eric Boehlert
Published
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.