Monday, September 17, 2007

Sally Field: Sister Bertrille or Sister Betrayal?

Sister Bertrille or Sister Betrayal? Sally Field has become the latest celebrity to dive off the list of people I thought I knew. After watching people portray certain characters, you begin to identify them with that role and form opinions about them on that basis. I have been a fan of Sally Field from the Flying Nun days, through the Smokey and the Bandit days right up until the current medicinal ads. I have no problem with someone holding an opposing viewpoint. When I taught high school almost without exception all my friends and colleges were Liberal Democrats. When it comes to celebrities however, they are paid to entertain not interject their personal politics at nonpolitical events. With her hysterical, stuttering tirade at the Emmy Awards, she joined the likes of Danny Glover, Sean Penn and Charlie Sheen all of whom I was naïve enough to believe had at least a nodding acquaintance with reality. If she truly believes that the world would not have war if it was run by mothers, she is more deluded than the aforementioned triumvirate combined.
She has the right to her opinion as do all Americans. (Unless they have a Conservative opinion in which case they are to be muzzled and ridiculed at all costs) However to come to her erroneous conclusion, she would have to be ignorant of some of the great mothers in history. How about Russia’s Catherine the Great or England’s Queen Victoria, both of whose expansionist wars would rival any man’s. We can’t include Queen Elizabeth I due to her non-mother status as the “Virgin Queen” Or how about the more recent examples of Margaret Thatcher or Golda Meir? These two modern mothers were iron willed leaders who led their respective nations into successful campaigns against formidable opponents.
I happen to believe that women are just as capable leaders as men in peace or war. The only problem is that the most prominent female “leaders” in American politics are all well left of center. Whether it’s the scarf wearing, Axis of Evil member Basher Assad cuddling, Sen. Nancy Pelosi or the heavily medicated, second grade schoolteacher sounding drivel of alleged Republican Sen. Susan Collins, there is a serious lack of gravitas exhibited by the current crop of leaders who lack a y chromosome. Hillary? If she can be so easily fooled by George Bush into voting for the Iraq War, how would she fare when pitted against world leaders who truly wish to destroy our way of life?
In the current times in which we live with Al Queda, North Korea, Syria and a revitalized Russia vying for the chance to topple the United States from the sole superpower status, we can ill afford to vote for the next president solely on the basis of gender. However show me a viable conservative, experienced and tested mother and she would get my vote every time.