Womenomics
ABC News' Claire Shipman and the BBC's Katty Kay on women, work and what it really means to "have it all."
Claire Shipman is Good Morning America's Senior National Correspondent. She covers everything from politics to international affairs to family issues.
Katty Kay covers American politics and society for the BBC. She can be seen in the US on BBC America.
Claire and Katty have a new book called Womenomics. For more information visit the web site www.womenomics.com
RECENT POSTS
- Can women save the economy?
- "Katty, tell us they think Palin's crazy!"
- Palin not kid-friendly
- Palin potshots
- Wall Street Journal Womenomics///and Leave Dads Alone!
- Women Rising in Iran
- Answers to more of the flextime-womenomics emails!
- Alpha-males are out! More proof.
- Feeling the Vibe
- Claire on This Week with George Stephanopoulos
MONTHLY ARCHIVES
« Previous | Main | Next »
"Katty, tell us they think Palin's crazy!"
July 06, 2009 9:15 PM
Every now and again I get a call from a friend in Europe asking me to translate America. For much of the Bush administration, and in particular after his reelection in 2004, the question dripped disdain and even anger. "How could you even live there?" my husband's Scottish relatives would moan, with that particular brand of barely disguised sanctimony only dour Scots are capable of. It was as if I was somehow personally responsible for the election of GW, the bombing of Afghan civilians, the invasion of Iraq and the atrocities of Abu Ghraib all in one neat package. Those years of war induced anti-Americanism were the low point of my thirteen years here. So in contrast, the question I got from home the other day, "Katty, tell me they think Palin's crazy," seems a relative breeze. Except it isn't. Because I don't know how to answer. Defending the right, even the need, of objective foreign journalists to live and work through the doctrine of preemptive action was frankly simple compared to explaining the puzzle that is the Palin effect. Yes, clearly a lot of Americans I meet do indeed think the soon to be former Governor of Alaska is not only deranged but dangerous (see Al Franken on the subject.) But I live in Washington DC and have begun to wonder whether my political true north isn't better found by assuming that on this subject the views of most people I meet are simply the diametric opposite of those in much of the rest of the country. How else can I account for her high approval ratings? And how else to make sense of moves which the political establishment assume amount to political suicide but her supporters tell me amount to political genius. In all my years here I have never encountered a figure more fascinating, more divisive and more indicative of this bi-polar country. It is not even so much that Palin is enigmatic (although I'm still waiting for someone to tell me what she really meant in that resignation ramble) it is the enigma she reveals in American society that is so hard to put my finger on. It is testimony to the degree of international interest in Sarah Palin that I was asked last week by editors in London to do a 5 minute piece on her (an epic in TV terms) and the request had come before she even announced her resignation. During the course of interviews for the piece one thing friend and foe alike could agree on is that there is nothing traditional about this politician. She operates according to her own agenda often defying all political norms. Whether she can get to the White House without at some stage becoming a more conventional politician is a different question, but certainly this singularity makes both her and her impact even harder to read. Was that speech in her back yard on Friday inspired in its break-out-of-the-Beltway unconventionality or was it the bizarre wild gamble it seemed? In other words, is she crazy, or are we? So when that question came through from Britain, I was stumped. At the risk of sounding Clintonian, it depends of course on the definition of "they." Which is where Europeans so often fall down in their understanding of this huge country. They simply assume there is one national response and that there is a united "they" to talk about. They are wrong, of course. But help me out, and I'll send back a more coherent reply, do you think she's crazy? Katty
July 6, 2009 | Permalink | User Comments (14)
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.
Sarah Palin as any other politician, is very ambitious. She is trying to prepare herself for the 2012 elections. From what we have witnessed from the campaign , she is not really prepared for the national stage. She needs to be really coached and fast. Her resignation should give her ample time to do that. It is also a gamble. People may see her as a quitter, someone that cannot be trusted if she cannot deal with the adverses from her own state, how will she be able to govern America. Is she crazy? No, her move may be bizarre but at the long run may benefit her if she want to her from her past mistakes and have a broader view of the national and the adventures she plans to embark herself. She needs to change some of her ideologies, and be more opened to the view of the new America where young people are playing a big role and will determine the result of future elections to come.
Posted by: Getho Delva | Jul 7, 2009 2:05:06 AM
Well she could have done what BO did...milk the senate while campaigning, ripping off the tax payers and allowing US to pay him a salary for a no show job...that would be more ethical and "not crazy", now wouldn't it?
Stop bashing her. Your fear is showing.
Posted by: mary | Jul 7, 2009 8:01:29 AM
Yes, she's crazy.
Posted by: Maggie | Jul 7, 2009 6:56:17 PM
Palin is what she is. She is not crazy just erratic. Her supporters are crazy though if they think her style provides for effective leadership...
Posted by: indy_voter | Jul 8, 2009 10:32:31 AM
Surviving & Profiting From The Economic Crisis
Hi my name is Mary Collins. I am a 66-year-old writer and my husband Art Collins is a 73-year old retired aerospace engineer. We have survived the Great Depression in the 30s and the recession in the 90’s.
We would like to share our secret to survival in very hard times. It’s very simple. Use any and every natural resource at your disposal. If you don’t, the competition will and you won’t survive.
That principle applies to our nation today. The US will survive the current economic crisis if we create a business-friendly environment that rewards businesses that create new and novel technologies and products that use our vast natural resources like off-shore oil, gold, silver, land, lumber and people to compete in the world market.
Our myriad of laws, rules and regulations have driven businesses and jobs overseas. It’s time to bring them back. Declaring a regulatory holiday, reducing lease rates for off-shore drilling to 5% as opposed to the current 12-37%, developing hold-harmless agreements between lease holders and the government for all/ most statutes, regulations, penalties, impact statements and plans, increasing tax-deductions for start-up expenses and lowering the tax rate to 28% is a good start.
We must also push oil, gas, hydrates, minerals and exploration to become Energy Independent and fund research to create technical breakthroughs that leave the competition in the dust. Much like Eli Whitney’s cotton gin.
This will stimulate factories to produce products and feed a multitude of service jobs for the FIRE (finance, insurance and real estate) industries.
A quick look at the value of goods and services that the US buys worldwide now will give us a idea of how many jobs we can create here and help us develop a plan to bring them home. To say nothing of the billions of dollars that will stay in the U.S.
Our Energy Policy is the key to that equation. Let’s start by creating a business-friendly environment to encourage offshore drilling, hybrid cars, solar, wind and natural gas power to buy time to build clean, safe and reliable nuclear reactors in two years to provide enough clean, green, energy to power our country for centuries.
France’s nuclear driven economy is so successful that it recently convinced Saudi Arabia to form a partnership to develop enough nuclear reactors to provide power for the rest of the world.
The US has slipped 19th in terms of a desirable place to live. Are we going to sit back and let the Middle East rule the world, or are we finally going to use all of our natural resources and reclaim our position as Economic Leader in the free world?
Posted by: Mary | Jul 9, 2009 6:16:14 PM
Sarah, probably, is not "crazy".......in so far as she, probably, doesn't have an Axis I or
Axis II DSM-IVr diagnosis. She's just terminally stupid.
Posted by: Sammy | Jul 10, 2009 2:39:35 PM
Can you imagine Palin being elected in 2012,and all the reporters having to suck up, espeaially Couric who tried to make Palin look as stupid as she could. Couric, don't underestimate Palin, you're not the sharpest knife in the drawer.
Posted by: Gail | Jul 26, 2009 1:02:14 PM
Crazy, no. She's just not presidential material and would be as, if not more, embarrassing as Bush.
Posted by: V LEVERINGTON | Jul 26, 2009 2:56:18 PM
Are you kidding about Palin....the Republican party is behind every move...they are going to groom her in the next two years for the run to the White House...they don't care if their candidate is lacking intelligence they want a personality and that is what they have with Sarah...too bad we have no one in the news media that does their job and look into this and make sure she doesn't get any press coverage....if she doesn't get press coverage it will sink her. She is a quitter and we do not need quitters as our President....anyone can run a state when times are good but when times get tough the weak run....that is exactly what she is doing. How can anyone vote for a person that runs for the governor of a state and less than three years quits that job.....disqualifies her in yet another area. She loves the spotlight and the flare...well America wake up and show the woman the sidewalk. Her family is a leech...what does her husband do for a job...her daughter is a 18 year old with a baby...it seems to me she can't run her family why should she run the country...she is a failure in her state and as a mother....she should stay at home and try to give her family the attention they need...not feed her own ego....Come on Charlie Gibson, Katy and Brian ...do your jobs as journalist and do some investigating reporting....we are getting tire of the news media creating the news....report it.....no Walter Cronkites among any of the Journalist out there...including Fox and CNN. This country is falling apart and our journalists are afraid to report the hard news that they might lose their jobs....Sad state of affairs we are now in.....
Posted by: Shirley | Jul 26, 2009 7:10:51 PM
Obama is a ONE TERM prez...the signs are out there...polls dropped lower than any prez since ww2...bumper stickers that are anti obama...town hall meetings erupting in anti liberal protests...
YUP, unless ACORN and the Black panthers can contaminate our votes, He's OUT!
Posted by: marymary | Aug 3, 2009 5:14:18 PM
Sarah Palin is crazy to think that she could run the country. She doesn't have the ability, intelligence, honesty, or the desire to learn. She will say anything or make up anything to further her agenda. She is dangerous because she has a large following of people who, strange as it may seem, can't see through her distortions, lies, and double talk.
Posted by: Sharon Jones | Aug 10, 2009 2:25:31 AM
It will be an American pride day when Palin pulls the rug from under Dumbo's feet.........can't wait! (Maybe Michelle will also tumble when the rug is pulled).......LOL
Posted by: lyineyes1956 | Aug 19, 2009 2:23:14 PM
What a crazy
Posted by: Petra | Aug 23, 2009 8:18:58 AM
So much attention on one lady. Despite all the name calling, she sure has your focus, doesnt she. Doesnt sound so crazy to me.
Posted by: Francine | Nov 2, 2009 11:16:33 PM
Post a comment
