Palin's nomination a cynical slap in face to women voters

Editor,

I love the hypocrisy the neocons have shown in their pathetic scramble to portray vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin as qualified. They have been reduced to claiming that having five children should be more than enough to qualify her for the second most powerful position in the free world. Let's face it, it wasn't easy to find a woman who hates women and loves war, so they had to take what they could get, but that by no means makes her qualified. There are certainly more qualified women in the Republican Party, but they're all old and ugly.

Imagine what the Republicans would be saying if she were a Democrat. Just think for a moment about what they've been saying for the past two years about Hillary Clinton - a woman who actually is qualified. I don't expect most people to recognize this sort of blatant hypocrisy for what it is because I know many of my fellow Americans occupy a parallel universe where hypocrisy and critical thinking simply don't exist. But it's still worth mentioning.

Palin's choice as VP is a cynical slap in the face to the women of this country. The Republicans actually assume women are dumb enough to vote for a woman - any woman - just because she's a woman. Fortunately, none of the women I know are that stupid. They see it for what it is - a cynical ploy to pander to disgruntled former Clinton supporters. And also because a lot of really lonely men think she's hot. Apparently, just being hot is the only qualification she needs for the likes of the Rush Limbaugh crowd. How pathetic is that?

The women I know aren't interested in voting for just any woman simply because of her gender. They want to vote for an experienced, competent woman whose knowledge and accomplishments can stand up to any man's - not someone they have to make excuses for.

Jason Darensburg

UNM student