Sarah Palin loves grizzly bears. And while they make great afghans, the former vice presidential candidate has found a better use for the species.
Few can “refudiate,” a word Palin invented on Twitter, the former Alaskan governor’s influence on the sphere of politics. And now she’s turned the mama grizzly into a symbol for the type of strong Tea Party women she represents.
In September 2009, after a visit to a nature reserve, she tweeted, “She sees danger? She brazenly rises up on strong hind legs, growls Don’t Touch My Cubs & the species survives & mama bear doesn’t look 2 anyone else 2 hand her anything.”
Not only are the species protective of their young, but they also apparently forgo welfare checks and opt-out of unemployment benefits. They are the perfect symbol for Tea Party women, according to Palin. Indeed, these women have unexpectedly taken charge of the party.
A Quinnipiac Poll, cited in a recent Wall Street Journal column, found that 55 percent of Tea Party members are women, while a Rassmussen poll said that women make up about 40 percent of voters who say they support the Tea Party.
Women tea-partiers were omnipresent in the most recent election, and while Christine O’Donell and Sharron Angle lost, other mama grizzlies won.
Michele Bachmann was re-elected to the U.S. House in November, and has been one of Palin’s Tea Party darlings. Palin joined Bachmann for a campaign rally in Minneapolis last April and lauded her for standing up to Democrats in Washington.
Like O’Donell and Angle, Bachmann has had her fair share of political guffaws, like the time she said, referring to multiculturalism, that “not all cultures are equal. Not all values are equal.” Or the time she slipped up on a little Middle East geography.
So now that we know what and who mama grizzlies are, what are they doing for women’s rights? Are they the true feminists? Are they working toward equal rights?
It seems like they are. They’ve taken the Tea Party by storm, contested seats in Congress and prepared for future endeavors in politics.
Although they’ve put women in positions of power in a party that seems like it should be run by the good ol’ boys, they’ve done it while making complete idiots of themselves.
According to Gail Collins, in a New York Times column, real mama grizzlies actually mate later than other bears, have less cubs, wait longer in between having cubs and can re-absorb their embryos if they feel the circumstances for having cubs aren’t right.
Palin and her mama grizzlies would like you to believe that her favorite bear is a Bible pounding, baby-churning, GOP-voting ball-buster. But in reality, the bear is famous for its reproductive freedom.
It’s not even so bad that Palin, O’Donell, Angle and Bachmann publicly humiliate themselves in ways that would make Dan Quayle laugh. I’m not even mad at Palin for telling Glenn Beck that “we’ve got to stand with our North Korean allies.” Everyone makes mistakes.
What’s upsetting is that Americans buy into this brand of rogue politics that involve outrageous hyperboles, unfounded statements and a disinterest in critical thinking.
Whether you consider yourself a Republican, a Democrat, or an Independent, you should judge potential representative based on evidence and make decisions based on real facts.
Refudiate Ben’s hyperboles at benjamin.negley@asu.edu
