Sexist? Nope, because I'm not talking about the veep candidate.
Sure, Palin could use a few choruses of "Smile a while for me, Sarah" after her angry speech last night. But it's John McCain who needs some happy juice before he speaks tonight.
Palin really gave three speeches. A touchy, homey look at her family which was good. An awkward policy section that felt like GW Bush trying to get out the names of foreign leaders phonetically, then grinning if he succeeds.
And an angry set of personal insults aimed at the Obamas, full of lies and just plain sarcasm. Compare it to the positive nature of the Obamas' speeches, in which they went out of their way to praise McCain personally, and it was shameful.
Such attacks are best left to pit bulls like Giuliani. As an introduction to the nation, it hardly makes anyone want to have her over for coffee.
But the fact is, she's not nearly as bitchy as McCain. John McCain is simply a jerk. An a-hole. An intemperate man, to put it nicely.
We can only hope he shows himself tonight.
Sure, he beats up on rival senators. They all know it. But he doesn't stop there.
He told this joke about Chelsea Clinton, the lovely daughter who introduced her mother at the convention this week. (I'm a little surprise Hill still calls him a friend."
""Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly?
Because her father is Janet Reno."
Now McCain admits, to borrow a quote, "I have a temper, to state the obvious, which I have tried to control with varying degrees of success because it does not always serve my interest or the public's. I have regretted losing my temper on many occasions. But there are things worth getting angry about in politics, and I have at times tried to use my anger to incite public outrage. I make no apologies for that. . . . When public servants lose their capacity for outrage over practices injurious to the national interest, they have outlived their usefulness to the country."
Still, it's hard to see how that explains nasty jokes about Chelsea Clinton. Though perhaps he thinks his wife's makeup hurts the nation, judging by this story told to an author by three reporters:
In his 1992 Senate bid, McCain was joined on the campaign trail by his wife, Cindy, as well as campaign aide Doug Cole and consultant Wes Gullett. At one point, Cindy playfully twirled McCain’s hair and said, "You’re getting a little thin up there." McCain’s face reddened, and he responded, "At least I don’t plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you cunt." McCain’s excuse was that it had been a long day. If elected president of the United States, McCain would have many long days.
And what can we expect of mccain overseas? Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran, a Republican, told the Biloxi Sun Herald he saw McCain, who has a reputation for being hot tempered, rough up an associate of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega during a diplomatic mission to the Central American nation in 1987.
"McCain was down at the end of the table and we were talking to the head of the guerrilla group here at this end of the table and I don't know what attracted my attention," Cochran said. "But I saw some kind of quick movement at the bottom of the table and I looked down there and John had reached over and grabbed this guy by the shirt collar and had snatched him up like he was throwing him up out of the chair to tell him what he thought about him or whatever ..."
Chris Hitchens brought the topic up on slate last week, but his article skipped over these well-publicized events. He was more concerned about phrases like "agents of intolerence" use on public issues. Funny thing is, those I understand.
But his wife? Chelsea? This is not a man I want to represent me to the world. Or even have a beer with. He's a jerk who's liable to get us in many unnecessary barroom brawls.
Bitchy. Petty. Far from presidential. Far from the style of his hero, Mr. Reagan. Yes, Reagan could have cut the health care for Sarah Palin's baby while looking her in the eye. But he would have had a smile while he did it, and she'd say he was likeable afterward.