September 26, 2008

Briefly displayed: a video of Sarah Palin, in her Miss Alaska bathing suit, was a brief internet sensation.

I missed it, but I see Andrew Sullivan had it along with Huffpo, both without significant comment. Hot Air has it with the comment: "Fun and humanizing for most of us, fun and humiliating for media types already given to comparing her to Miss Teen South Carolina."

"Humiliating for media types" is ambiguous, and I realize that Hot Air means that those media types think she is being humiliated, but when I first read that I thought he meant that the media type were humiliating themselves, which is what I would say. Do these people seriously want to suggest that all of the young women who participate in beauty pageants are being humiliated? What snobbery! What prudery! And I bet they look like hell in a bathing suit.

Really, what is the point of thinking this old video means anything at all?

UPDATE: Andrew Sullivan posts "Fighting The Power: An alternative version of the pageant video. As often as they try to remove it, the people will replace it." Does Sullivan have any feeling for how creepy it seems for him to exult over his power to continue spying at the woman's body? I would like to hear him explain the point of this.

73 comments:

Ron said...

the "comparing her.." link is broken!

Eli Blake said...

Gosh, my TWELVE year olds participate in pageants (have since they were five.) They have fun. They learn important skills for the future, like how to give a good interview and how to speak on a stage in front of a roomful of strangers.

I don't expect them to win (we don't go Jon-Benet nuts-overboard about it) and if they ever decide they aren't having fun and they don't want to do it anymore then they are free to get involved with something else (though we have a rule that our kids always have to be involved with something and it has to be an activity that we approve of.)

I actually think that continuing to go after Palin is counterproductive for liberals (though I'm not surprised that the media obsession continues, maybe McCain should have picked Paris Hilton-- the result would be the same and Paris is more comfortable in front of a camera.)

The real weakness on the GOP side is McCain. Erratic, inconsistent and impulsive.

DaLawGiver said...

Look, this woman could be one step away from the highest office in the freakin world. I've never even seen her in a pants suit. Is this the vision we want to project about America to the rest of the world?

UWS guy said...

I'm fairly certain it's republican men who want to see sara palin in a bikini.

and me.

Republican men and me.

Maybe AlphaLiberal also.

UWS guy said...

Not AlphaLiberal in a swimsuit. Pardon my sentence structure.

Bissage said...

After Mrs. Bissage and I made love for the first time, I asked, “Was it good for you?”

She shook her head “no” and said, “I don’t think that was good for anybody.”

Same thing with the video clip, sort of.

We’re sorry, this video is no longer available.

Booooooooooo!

DaLawGiver said...

Better yet, at Huffpo one commenter swears Rove leaked the video to draw attention away from McCain.

I love it.

And you can still see it at Huffpo.

former law student said...

That was supposed to be a big deal?

An attractive woman, in no way remarkable, in a modest one-piece suit.

I was hoping it would be her "World Peace" answer, or the talent competition (field dressing a moose I hope.)

michael farris said...

Am I the only one who thinks the current election is being run like one giant Reality Show to distract people from something else?

Bissage said...

Thanks, Lawgiver.

I didn’t do a very thorough job of finding all the sites.

That's funny.

Mrs. Bissage accused me of the very same thing.

Anonymous said...

Nice. She has great legs because she was an athlete.

Email Warning! -

If you get an e-mail with "Nude Photos of Sarah Palin" in the subject line, do not open it. It might contain a virus.

If you get an e-mail with "Nude Photos of Hillary Clinton," do not open it.

It might contain nude photos of Hillary Clinton.

PogoПОССУМ said...

In my country we have more the прекрасный beautiful type female than this killer of fish and moose.

Here is my date Sasha after the making out in back of the seat car.

She won first place in Miss Socialist pageant. Second place was Janeane Garofalo.

Zachary Sire said...

In defense of Sarah. Yes, I am coming to her defense, for once.

Lorelei Leigh said...

Am I missing something?

Andrew Sullivan cries foul when the video is removed, and then cheers when "the people" replace it with another one?

Is he doing a parody of his normal, hyperbolic style over something that's seemingly unimportant, or is there something hidden in that video that matters?

Seriously, I don't get it. With all the legitimate ways to go after Palin, why waste time on this? If the McCain camp (or whoever) is out there deleting these videos left and right, it doesn't strike me as that big of a deal. It's not like they're hiding something important. (I recognize that they may, in fact, be trying to hide important things as well, but this isn't it.) It only makes me less willing to take these people seriously when they offer up more serious criticism of Palin.

My initial question is not rhetorical. I genuinely wonder if I'm being dense here.

Sara (Pal2Pal) said...

There is no point at all, except to teach the rest of us that one should not write when green-eyed with envy.

What is Sarah Palin's crime? She had to enter a beauty pageant to earn money for college. How terrible? What do these catty Bs think most women do when they aren't trustfund babies?

Peter V. Bella said...

Look, this woman could be one step away from the highest office in the freakin world. I've never even seen her in a pants suit. Is this the vision we want to project about America to the rest of the world?

Joe Biden. Nuff said.

TMink said...

"Really, what is the point of thinking this old video means anything at all?"

Well, hasn't the most attractive candidate won the presidential elections for the last several go rounds?

No contest this time.

Trey

Sara (Pal2Pal) said...

I didn't mean all women enter beauty pageants, just that when you don't have family financing, you usually have to find a way to earn money to pay for college at jobs a whole lot more demeaning and/or humiliating than a beauty pageant. Try waitressing in a truck stop some time.

Hoosier Daddy said...

I missed it, but I see Andrew Sullivan had it

I wonder if he'll admit he got a hard on.

Anonymous said...

The significance of the clip, of course, is that having now seen her in the swimsuit competition, we can better understand and appreciate where she developed her habit of answering serious questions in the same manner one would expect from a beauty pagaent contestant. I'm also thinking that she did better in the swimsuit competition than she did in the Q & A.

UWS guy said...

Who's going after sarah palin on this? The actual air in the comment sections over at the right-leaning HotAir.com are becoming humid and moist with all the posts about men masturbating to the video.

All the pocket pulling over at right-wing websites over this reminds me of the song by the Flight of the Concords

Politics really is Hollywood for Ugly People.

UWS guy said...

I liken it to googling "ann coulter nude".

All you get is left wing websites making fun of people who google this. I mean wtf?! Obviously there are a lot of pent up republican men out there...

I mean, who would google ann coulter nude?

Anonymous said...

Sarah Palin is super-hot, no doubt about it!

UWS guy said...

Why did my google ad bar just change?

clint said...

As with so many screaming rants from the left (like the discovery that McCain's senatorial chief of staff is openly gay) -- I'm left wondering what the big deal is supposed to be.

Anonymous said...

Hot Air has it back up on another link.

former law student said...

I mean, who would google ann coulter nude?

One of those 1200 lb. housebound guys?

Remember how the Amazing Colossal Man's shorts magically expanded as he did?

Speaking of which, I always wear at least a pair of Bermuda shorts when I sit in front of the computer.

ricpic said...

A womanly woman, no doubt about it.

TWM said...

I think I remember seeing Hillary in a swimsuit once, but I'm not sure because I had an immediate attack of shock-induced blindness so I can't tell you where exactly.

Beldar said...

Sarah Palin's participation in the Miss Alaska contest tells us two things, only one of which is relevant to her political qualifications, and that only indirectly.

The completely irrelevant thing, which nonetheless is the reason for 99% of the interest, is that she's an attractive woman who was an attractive young woman.

The indirectly relevant thing is that as a middle child in a large family headed by two working parents who were public school teachers (and who also had to take odd jobs, e.g., in her father's case, as a hunting guide), young adult Sarah Palin figured out that the Miss Alaska competition was a ticket to a college scholarship — and she got it.

It hasn't hurt Barack Obama that he's considered by some to be a hunk. Dubya had his own heart-throb clique not that long ago. John Kennedy certainly didn't mind competing with James Bond as the sexiest guy of the early 1960s. If a politician has a nice asset, even if that's a nice ass, he/she ought to be alert to ways to put it to work in non-crass ways. If the president of Pakistan is inclined to come on to the VPOTUS and that can lead to better Pakistani cooperation on border raids against al Qaeda, then more power to our hottest national politician from our coldest state.

UWS guy said...

I think congresswomen Wassermann-Shultz from Florida is much hotter than Sarah Palin...

Anonymous said...

Is this the vision we want to project about America to the rest of the world?

Absolutely. Women in bathing suits drive jihadists absolutely ape shit. Their moral indignation then causes them to spend money and time planning terrorist attacks, and such activity helps us identify and kill them.

Works for me.

Oh, and I hate one-piece bathing suits. I was very disappointed in the video.

Sigh.

Lisa said...

Have they ever dug out 20 year old video of Obama, Biden, McCain, Clinton, or Bush in a bathing suit?

People have been SEARCHING for this with hope they can use it to humiliate her or damage her candidacy somehow.

That's disgusting and frankly, it just pisses me off.

Lisa said...

Oh and the nasty Hillary comments here are pissing me off too.

It's not funny.

Anonymous said...

UWS guy said...I think congresswomen Wassermann-Shultz from Florida is much hotter than Sarah Palin...

Yep.....

I think you are blinded by ideology and hatred.

Hoosier Daddy said...

I bet Sully is pissed because 100 gay men just saw that video and turned straight.

Ruth Anne Adams said...

Just to be pedantic: it's not a 'bathing' suit competition. It's a 'swimsuit' competition. Think about it. What do you bathe in?

Sprezzatura said...

Lisa,

We have seen recent video of BHO in a swimsuit. Are you saying that the media is hiding some old video of BHO in a beauty pageant? I'm sure it would be shown if it existed.

And, bigger picture, who cares about this video ?

It's not damaging to Palin. I can't imagine someone changing their vote because of this video. This is not like the damaging Couric interview. That video has made some folks newly question Palin's ability to take over as president and CIC.

r.a.a.,

Are you one of those who disprove of folks calling a restroom a bathroom?

Unknown said...

Those of you of the praying persuasion, pray for Ted Kennedy; he has been taken to the hospital.

William said...

Bess Myerson, sometime back, ran to be the Senator from NY. The fact that she was a former Miss America was presented in the most positive light by the media. It was a different time with different customs, but I think the operative difference between her and Palin was that Myerson was a liberal....Life is too short to research things like this but as I recall Myerson's campaign eventually melted down not because she lacked poise or intelligence but because--despite her intelligence and poise--she had a total bimbo relationship with some low life....The important point to be made about beauty contests is that there are no important points to be made about beauty contests. Many here wish to poke fun at Biden's hair plugs. Perhaps they say something about his vanity, but, really, they say nothing about his intelligence or competence. Hair plugs and beauty contests are moot issues in choosing a president. Now growing up in Inodnesia--that's foreign policy experience we can take to the (WaMu) bank.

Unknown said...

Kathleen Parker on Palin. Even the conservative women are turning on her now?

http://article.nationalreview.com/print/?q=MDZiMDhjYTU1NmI5Y2MwZjg2MWNiMWMyYTUxZDkwNTE

Palladian said...

Nope, just Kathleen Parker.

Lisa said...

1jpb,

The recent picture you have seen of Obama in a swimsuit was taken during the course of this campaign while he was in Hawaii, no?

Did they go back, eagerly searching for one of him in a speedo in college?

Palladian said...

"I bet Sully is pissed because 100 gay men just saw that video and turned straight."

Yes, that's what us queers need, a purty woman to set us straight. I despise Andrew Sullivan, but c'mon.

Sprezzatura said...

Palladian,

K-Lo says she's not there herself, but the idea of dumping Palin is "not crazy."

Palin is not holding up. But, she will blow away her debate expectations, so she's got that going for her.

Of course, Biden's got a fairly low bar too. I'm looking forward to debate night when all the pre-debate blatherers will be highlighting how these two folks could go off the rails.

Maybe they'll both blowup, that would be great entertainment.

Palladian said...

"Maybe they'll both blowup, that would be great entertainment."

I keep hoping for the same tonight. Not in a literal way, mind you!

Palladian said...

Actually, I don't read The National Review so I don't even know who Kathleen Parker is. I've heard of K-Lo. I don't like partisan magazines.

Matt said...

Did anyone see Cafferty's response to one of Palin's answers in the Couric interview?
Cafferty is tough.
Watch it. It is true Palin's answer is somewhere between clueless and pathetic.

Palladian said...

"Cafferty is tough."

Yes, tough shit.

Goatwhacker said...

I think I remember seeing Hillary in a swimsuit once, but I'm not sure because I had an immediate attack of shock-induced blindness so I can't tell you where exactly.

How could you forget this "candid" photo?
here

Ann Althouse said...

Ruth Anne, the original term was "bathing suit," and people spoke of bathing to mean going for a dip in the water. We speak of bathing beauties, not swimming beauties. I think the revision to the term "swimsuit" is ugly and prissy.

Matisse's "Bathers" were naked, but they were at the beach.

http://www.stlouis.art.museum/images/collections/medium/241964.jpg

Lorelei Leigh said...

UPDATE: Andrew Sullivan posts "Fighting The Power: An alternative version of the pageant video. As often as they try to remove it, the people will replace it." Does Sullivan have any feeling for how creepy it seems for him to exult over his power to continue spying at the woman's body? I would like to hear him explain the point of this?

Thank-you. That is my thought exactly. That's why I've stopped reading Sullivan and started reading this blog more. It's possible to legitimately criticize her (or anyone else) without being insane.

Ruth Anne Adams said...

I think the revision to the term "swimsuit" is ugly and prissy.

You're using the language of an artist. I would wager you're not familiar with 'pageant-speak.'

Fen said...

After his recent antics, I regret that you pay any heed to what Sullivan says and does.

Really, shouldn't Sullivan be ostracized by now? Is there no consequence to his actions?

blake said...

To paraphrase what someone said about Vanessa Hudgens, "Pictures reveal what men already knew: Sarah Palin looks good in a bathing suit".

Unknown said...

The campaign is breaking her.

Stand up to them, fight back, SArah!

Fletch said...

UWS-

Who's going after sarah palin on this?

HuffPo, Andi, Kosmonuts, LiarDogFake, etc.

The actual air in the comment sections over at the right-leaning HotAir.com are becoming humid and moist with all the posts about men masturbating to the video.

So, the left engages in their orchestrated "two-minute hate", while the right responds with two minutes of love?
:o)

TWM said...

"Oh and the nasty Hillary comments here are pissing me off too.

It's not funny."

Sure it is funny. But only in light of how Obama treated Hillary in the run for the Dem nomination.

Synova said...

Please. Someone found an old picture of Hillary in college and all the conservative blog guys were talking about how attractive she was. And wasn't that Hillary bust with a lace bra thing supposed to be empowering?

It's so dang hard to keep up with the rules.

I watched the video of Palin meeting the president of Pakistan and him complimenting her on her beauty and offering to hug, if a handshake wasn't enough. He was cute. Only a complete *ss would see his appreciation as anything other than a desire to compliment and be gracious. And she was gracious back.

The comments on the network web page following the clip were down-right vile.

It was sexist and horrible. SHE was sexist... somehow. What was she supposed to have done? Something, apparently, because by smiling and putting up with it she completely enslaved women, destroying every possible good thing accomplished toward equality.

Who can figure out the rules? Palin is horrible because she seems f*ckable without ever giving the impression she'd be willing to f*ck? Oh sure, the conservative blog dudes have been pretty dang clear on her do-ability... why is this supposedly a bad thing when the last-wave feminists are all about the goddess given right to f*ck like a bunny?

At what point did it become necessary again for women to be ugly to be taken seriously?

The answer to that is simple... when Sarah Palin entered the race for Vice President.

Synova said...

Oh, and shall I say... men in other countries tend to compliment women outrageously.

The sophisticated sorts are supposed to understand and appreciate different cultures.

(As for how she appears to the world... for the love of everything rational... don't people even pay *attention* to what goes on in other countries?)

BJM said...

d>I think I remember seeing Hillary in a swimsuit once, but I'm not sure because I had an immediate attack of shock-induced blindness so I can't tell you where exactly.

Ah yes, the Clintons dancing on the beach.

Palladian said...

Andrew, like the psychologically tortured, unreconstructed old queen he is, is repelled by yet obsessed with the woman's body. The blurry image of the woman in the red bathing suit walks in circles around the darkened stage, forever and ever, in his sleep-apnea fractured nightmares.

There can be no appeals to reason on this issue. Andrew probably doesn't himself know why it drives him so.

Notice the complete absence of the female principle from Andrew's world. She exists only as a dream image, a nightmare mother, a whore, the woman he can't be, the woman he can't have.

Even if Sarah Palin fades from the political spotlight, she will never leave his dreams.

Palladian said...

Forgive the pop psychology. It's all a load of crap, but irresistible to apply it to someone who has behaved so repugnantly. I can't believe I used to defend Sullivan against Michelangelo Signorile's attacks on Andrew "Glutes" Sullivan's "private life" (his online trolling for bareback sex partners) [link not safe for work]. Sullivan used to squeal about his privacy being invaded. Well, now we learn that (shockingly!) Andrew doesn't care about privacy as a principle, or anything as a principle. He just cares about Andrew Sullivan.

Roost on the Moon said...

I agree about Sullivan. Yuck.

Still, I'd like to hear again now about how Sarah Palin is good for feminism.

vbspurs said...

I don't know if you guys have seen it, but I found the video.

Beauty Pageant Contestant, Sarah Heath

Ted Casablanca referred to her booty and not her boobs.

Wait, what?

Cheers,
Victoria

Hector Owen said...

UWS guy said...

I think congresswomen Wassermann-Shultz from Florida is much hotter than Sarah Palin...

She only thinks she's hot, in a global warming kind of way. Warm, that is. If you meant attractive, then you are just as nuts as she is.

Hector Owen said...

More seriously -- it's ridiculous to disqualify a woman from anything, from participating in politics or any other activity, just because she is good-looking. What silliness.

Unknown said...

Since when did participation in a Miss Alaska contest become a "private" matter?

Sorry - but Palin is a joke. She has an IQ of 90. And scholarship money - yeah right. This is a woman who went to five community colleges over 6 years before graduating. She thinks dinosaurs walked the earth 7000 years ago. She's not very bright.

But she hunts moose!

PunditJoe said...

OMG!!!! You mean she actually wore a swimsuit!? The horror!!!

LOL I find it funny that some folks think this is a bad thing and disqualifies her from holding office.

PunditJoe said...

Heh heh - Something that strikes me as funny - I have seen some comments claiming Sarah and her supporters are either nuts and or stupid. Yup, if you don’t agree with me then you must be stupid. LOL WOW! What a great way to convince me that your position is correct!

Conservatives have a different culture and value system than leftists and as such your attacks are in direct contradiction to the left’s multiculturalists views. What happened to respecting all cultures? What happened to the view that all cultures are of equal value? Oooh, sorry - I guess your just a cultural supremacist bigot. lol

Just because someone doesn’t have the same values as you do doesn’t make them crazy or dumb by default. Watching Gore's "Current TV" channel does that! Just kidding (a little) lol

Kevin said...

So I think we can all agree that Andrew Sullivan has gone plain nuts.

But the question is: WHY? What in Sarah Palin has triggered this insanity?

David said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
David said...

What in Palin has triggered this insanity?

She's normal.

The people going crazy think they are exceptional.

They fear successful normality.