A crisis for feminists

Naturally enough, I am enthralled by the sight of Governor Sarah Palin, the representative of middle America, so despised by our own clever-dicks and those who take their views from them, storming onto the political arena and cutting a swathe through the enemy.

This is not a blog about American politics, so I shall not discuss the details of her views (though if it is wished by the readers, I can do so, having followed the whole story in the American rather than British media and blogosphere).

One aspect needs to be pointed out though. Sarah Palin is a crisis for modern, left-wing feminists and that applies to Britain and the EU as well. Since John McCain's announcement of his choice, Governor Palin and her entire family have been subjected to a barrage of deeply unpleasant personal attacks, among which the mantra that she should not take on the Vice-Presidency but stay at home and look after her children has been pre-eminent. This came from journalists who rarely see their own children in pursuit of their careers but, more importantly, have praised many a left-wing woman for doing just that: running a career with a family in the background. (And yes, someone needs to ask how many times has Barack Obama has seen his adorable little girls in the last year and a half outside the photo opportunities.)

We have seen no outrage from the feminist organizations. But then we have seen nothing from the feminist organizations on the subject of women's position in Islamic societies, as a random example.

Now that I think of it, we have seen no outrage from the usually vociferous disability lobby at the repeated mantra that she should have aborted her Down's Syndrome baby because such people should not be polluting the earth.

How is this? Well, the obvious explanation is that feminist organizations and the disability lobby, like all such lobbies, see their position on the left, that is on the side of big government with plenty of hand-outs. To this end, the victim mentality has to be encouraged in order to get greater hand-outs.

The EU has, therefore, managed to insert itself into all these discussions by presenting itself as the true defender of women, minorities, disabled people and the old (as the various lobby groups on behalf of the elderly have been silent on the subject of all those insults flung at John McCain because he happens to be a vigorous 72 year old).

The theme is that these people cannot be allowed to lead their own lives but must remain under the aegis of the benign government in a communal society. Anyone who cuts across these ideas is to be thrown to the wolves of the media at their nastiest, be they truly conservative women, disabled people who just want to get on with their lives or right wing members of what might be termed ethnic minority. If these people succeed then the entire extended, government-funded industry of "helping the weak" will collapse. Given the EU's claims of providing better help out of taxpayer funding and employing more people to provide that help to these groups than national governments do, those who show disdain for such "help" are a threat.

Sarah Palin is a threat to the whole cosy consensus.