AddieStan

Cross-posted from The Huffington Post There's nothing surprising in Sarah Palin's decision not to run for re-election as governor of Alaska. After all, if you've got a shot to become leader of the free world, it helps to have nothing but time to give the people of Iowa and New Hampshire in the year leading up to their caucus and primary, and that's hard to do if you have to run a state from which you can see Russia. But Palin's decision to step down this month from the governor's mansion? Now that's a whole 'nother kettle of wild salmon. Today we heard and saw Palin as we never have before. No, I'm not talking about the incoherence of her resignation statement ; her incoherence in the infamous Couric interviews became the stuff of legend . Yet with all hectoring she took for her not-ready-for-prime-time performances during the campaign, her confidence never seemed to flag. But today brought us a different picture: Her voice quavering, Palin seem...

Cross-posted from The Huffington Post There a lot of things one can say about Sarah Palin, but this one cannot be disputed: by one measure, at least, she is true to her word. Sarah Palin is not going anywhere. That, you'll recall, is what the Alaska governor and former vice presidential candidate told ABC's Elizabeth Vargas on the day before Halloween, "I think that if I were to give up and wave a white flag of surrender against some of the political shots that we've taken, that -- that would bring this whole -- I'm -- I'm not doing this for naught." When her remarks were widely interpreted as indication of a likely 2012 presidential, she artfully dialed back. The day after the Vargas interview, she told me , "I'll be campaigning for John McCain's re-election in 2012." That commitment now wiped off the slate by reality's eraser, Palin has set off on a charm offensive that will serve her well should she choose to toss her hat back...

Here's a transcript of my Election-Night liveblog for The Huffington Post . I've cleaned it up a bit. Your blogstress so hates to learn that her slip is showing. Adele Stan: Election Results Liveblog (11/04/2008) 3:26 p.m. Adele Stan: The religious right, it seems, is already looking past today's election, looking to rally the base once more around the culture wars. Tonight the Family Research Council will host its first-ever election-night Webcast, following not just the presidential and congressional-level races, but paying special attention to those all-important ballot measures -- like California's Proposition 8, the passage of which will end the right to same-sex marriage that California's people won via a court decision several months ago. The issues touted in the teaser video sent around via e-mail by FRC's Tony Perkins include "abortion, gambling, man-woman marriage and stem-cell research." Below find the code for doing your own oppos...

cross-posted from The Huffington Post Can you be a supporter of Sarah Palin and still be a feminist? Well, I guess you could call yourself a feminist -- that is, if you think that, as a woman, you still have rights equal to those of a man when: * You do not have the right of self-determination over your own body * Even if impregnated through rape or incest you are forced to bear a child * You're told you're entitled to equal pay, but forbidden to sue for it under most circumstances * Information on how to prevent your own pregnancy is withheld from you in sex education classes * If you're a spiritually powerful or otherwise unusual woman, your harassment can justified as protection from "witchcraft" In that case, I guess it could be said that Elaine Lafferty, a former Ms. magazine editor proudly stumping for Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, is a feminist. Otherwise, it just doesn't add up. In an apparent diversion from answering the questi...

Cross-posted from The Huffington Post While at first she seemed a formidable force, Sarah Palin, in recent days, has offered her critics the delight of feeling blithely superior as she stammered her way through questions put to her by two network news anchors. But while liberals and progressives revel in the riches of embarrassment that Palin has rendered in her interviews with Katie Couric and Charles Gibson, they're missing the opportunity to exploit the Palin boondoggle for all it's worth. Taking on Palin's shortcomings on their merits is all well and good but, alas, there are plenty of people, a.k.a. right-wing voters, who don't give a hoot about what she knows and doesn't know, so long as she opposes abortion and same-sex marriage. A bigger bang for the buck exists in exploiting the fissures within the right that the Palin candidacy has exposed. Yes, a certain cadre of conservative columnists has called on Palin to remove herself from the McCain ticket for th...