The Lipstick Controversy

Okay, I ordinarily don't get involved in political discussions. I study the political landscape and I form my opinions based on the information at hand, but I don't feel a lot of need to go wrangling other people into submission over my beliefs when, typically, the people in need of wrangling are too stupid to be won over anyway.

But I have to say something about this whole "lipstick on a pig" controversy, and I'd like to start at the beginning. Let's go back to Ms. Sarah Palin's speech at the RNC. As everyone knows, she told a cute little joke that compared hockey moms to pitbulls, citing that the only difference between the two is lipstick. Let me just say that it's not the joke I mind so much. I love a well-crafted joke as much as the next person, and I think Palin's delivery good.

My issue is that Palin draws on the stereotype of pitbulls as being vicious and aggressive. Don't we already have enough media attention slandering this breed of dogs? Do we really need vice-presidential candidates also reaffirming the stereotypes? I happen to own a pit bull (well, she's a mutt, but she's got enough pit bull in her to scare people who believe the stereotypes), and my little Lucy is one of the friendliest, most well-demeanored dogs I've ever met. If hockey moms were all like her, they'd love to sleep the day away, play fetch endlessly with any assorted number of toys lying around the house, and lick their asses . . . a lot. I know other pit bulls, too, who defy the stereotype. I'm a big advocate of "it's the owner, not the breed." Any dog in the hands of certain owners will become aggressive. Lack of socialization, abuse, neglect, and any number of other harmful behaviors on the part of the owner can turn a perfectly good breed into a monster. Just because these same owners also find themselves driven to collect pit bulls is not the fault of the breed. Do we blame good books for attracting so many literary snobs to read and discuss them? My point is, I thought Ms. Palin's joke played on the stereotype of pit bulls as aggressive bullies, and I didn't appreciate it.

Now, onto the "lipstick on a pig" thing. Nothing I've read or seen of Mr. Obama's remarks indicate that he was referring to Ms. Palin as a pig. It's a commonly used expression, and it is an expression Mr. Obama has used before. It's a perfectly good analogy of Mr. McCain's policy initiatives. He wants to change appearances, but he doesn't want to change the content. That's it. If you don't know what "lipstick on a pig" means, it means if you put lipstick on a pig, you make superficial changes, but you still just have a pig underneath. For those of you non-thinking automotons who don't get analogies, there you have it.

Now, I pose a question. Would you rather Mr. Obama used the phrase, "You can't polish a turd."? Would that have made you feel better? The sentiment is still the same. Who would he have been talking about then?