# For Sarah Palin **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 17, 2008, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-sarah-palin/473186 "2008-11-17T22:05:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-sarah-palin/473186/41 "2008-11-18T01:36:39Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > 1. Researchers have [known about polar bear cannibalism](http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic52-3-307.pdf) for a long time. Yes, but there’s evidence that it’s functioning under a different dynamic now. [ > [@](#): > > ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Polar bears in the southern Beaufort Sea may be turning to cannibalism because longer seasons without ice keep them from getting to their natural food, a new study by American and Canadian scientists has found. > […] > “During 24 years of research on polar bears in the southern Beaufort Sea region of northern Alaska and 34 years in northwestern Canada, we have not seen other incidents of polar bears stalking, killing, and eating other polar bears,” the scientists said. > […] > Researchers in spring 2004 found more bears in the eastern portion of the Alaska Beaufort Sea to be in poorer condition than bears in areas to the west and north. > […] > In April 2004, while following bear footprints on sea ice near Herschel Island, Yukon Territory, scientists discovered the partially eaten carcass of an adult female. Footprints indicated it had been with a cub. > > The male did not follow the cub, indicating it had killed for food instead of breeding. ]([http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/12/AR2006061201266.html](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/12/AR2006061201266.html)) My google fu is weak at the moment and I can’t seem to track down the original study that is free to read, [only this copy](http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/klu/300/2006/00000029/00000011/00000142). But the abstract states: > [@](#): > > Intraspecific killing has been reported among polar bears (Ursus maritimus), brown bears (U. arctos), and black bears (U. americanus). Although cannibalism is one motivation for such killings, the ecological factors mediating such events are poorly understood. Between 24 January and 10 April 2004, we confirmed three instances of intraspecific predation and cannibalism in the Beaufort Sea. One of these, the first of this type ever reported for polar bears, was a parturient female killed at her maternal den. The predating bear was hunting in a known maternal denning area and apparently discovered the den by scent. A second predation event involved an adult female and cub recently emerged from their den, and the third involved a yearling male. During 24 years of research on polar bears in the southern Beaufort Sea region of northern Alaska and 34 years in northwestern Canada, we have not seen other incidents of polar bears stalking, killing, and eating other polar bears. We hypothesize that nutritional stresses related to the longer ice-free seasons that have occurred in the Beaufort Sea in recent years may have led to the cannibalism incidents we observed in 2004. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-sarah-palin/473186/42 "2008-11-18T03:03:44Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Oh, **SA** isn’t outraged at all, he’s just a conservative gadfly™ (thanks, **luci** ;)) who delights in pricking the hypocrisies of the left (so many hypocrisies, so little time). > > But apart from that, this is the kind of thing that makes it so difficult for conservatives (or anybody not seriously wedded to leftie politics) to take you seriously. On the one hand, we’re supposed to be tolerant of people we disagree with…but not you guys. And we’re supposed to be PC and not use offensive terminology…but not you guys. Etc., etc., ad infinitum. > > Surely you can see how confusing this is to people looking to the left for guidance on how to properly live their lives. Do a search for “Hillary” + “cunt” and try again. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-sarah-palin/473186/43 "2008-11-18T03:43:48Z")
Perhaps my standards are low, but this is the weirdest damned thread I’ve read today. It’s… weird is what it is. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-sarah-palin/473186/44 "2008-11-18T03:50:32Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > Do a search for “Hillary” + “cunt” and try again. You don’t understand. The problem appears to occur primarily when conservatives do it. Do you really think I could post an OP in which I call Chelsea Clinton or Michelle Obama a cunt and not be deluged with venom as a result? I can assure you the response would be a good deal different than the OP is getting here, and more than a little of that venom would be spent castigating me for a sexist/conservative mindset that seeks to minimize or marginalize women and/or reduce them to a body part. ---
**Author:** ![E72521](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dbc845/32.png) [@E72521](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E72521)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-sarah-palin/473186/45 "2008-11-18T04:07:37Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > You don’t understand. The problem appears to occur primarily when conservatives do it. > > Do you really think I could post an OP in which I call Chelsea Clinton or Michelle Obama a cunt and not be deluged with venom as a result? I can assure you the response would be a good deal different than the OP is getting here, and more than a little of that venom would be spent castigating me for a sexist/conservative mindset that seeks to minimize or marginalize women and/or reduce them to a body part. Chelsea, Michelle, and Laura Bush are/were not running for office, and it would be rude to call any of them a cunt, unless you know them personally. OTOH, it’s quite OK to call Sarah, Hillary, and yes, even Nancy a cunt for even the most trivial reasons, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-sarah-palin/473186/46 "2008-11-18T04:24:31Z")
Are you serious? I don’t recall reading anywhere in my _Leftie Guide to Politically Correct Speech and Other Ways to Look Down Your Nose At Conservatives_ that it was hunky dory to refer to women as cunts as long as they were in politics. This is all so confusing. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-sarah-palin/473186/47 "2008-11-18T04:35:12Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Are you serious? I don’t recall reading anywhere in my _Leftie Guide to Politically Correct Speech and Other Ways to Look Down Your Nose At Conservatives_ that it was hunky dory to refer to women as cunts as long as they were in politics. Do you have the 1993 edition or the revised edition? We had to update a few things after Monicagate. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-sarah-palin/473186/48 "2008-11-18T04:36:01Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Are you serious? I don’t recall reading anywhere in my _Leftie Guide to Politically Correct Speech and Other Ways to Look Down Your Nose At Conservatives_ that it was hunky dory to refer to women as cunts as long as they were in politics. > > This is all so confusing. No dear, it’s very simple. It’s hunky dory to refer to women as cunts if they are being cunts. Michelle Obama, Laura Bush and Chelsea Clinton haven’t, to the best of my knowledge, acted like cunts (in public, anyhow). By all means, apply the label as you see fit, but it’s best reserved for cunts. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-sarah-palin/473186/49 "2008-11-18T04:37:54Z")
So **Washoe** , how does it feel to be _even dumber_ than Sarah Palin? I can’t even fathom. ---
**Author:** ![E72521](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dbc845/32.png) [@E72521](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E72521)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-sarah-palin/473186/50 "2008-11-18T04:39:24Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Are you serious? I don’t recall reading anywhere in my _Leftie Guide to Politically Correct Speech and Other Ways to Look Down Your Nose At Conservatives_ that it was hunky dory to refer to women as cunts as long as they were in politics. > > This is all so confusing. It’s right there in chapter 7. Not sure about the _Rightie Guide to Winning Political Arguments_, but I think it’s in the chapter before _Calling a Black Man a Closet Muslim Terrorist Sympathiser Without Sounding Too Racist_. ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-sarah-palin/473186/51 "2008-11-18T04:42:14Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > I don’t only notice it then. That is how I notice that it seems much less offensive PC-wise when it’s applied to Republican/Christian women. > > (And not that I would, of course, but are you saying that if I were to call Hillary or Michelle Obama or Diane Feinstein a cunt (or you, for that matter) that would be just peachy with you?) You waited until we were 12 posts in before you decried the lack of sexism accusations. However did you restrain yourself from the rush to judgment? Would you cry sexism if Michelle Obama was called a cunt? Or do you only get up on your white horse for people who agree with you politically? ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-sarah-palin/473186/52 "2008-11-18T04:53:41Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Do you have the 1993 edition or the revised edition? We had to update a few things after Monicagate. 😃 > [@WhyNot](#): > > No dear, it’s very simple. It’s hunky dory to refer to women as cunts if they are being cunts. Michelle Obama, Laura Bush and Chelsea Clinton haven’t, to the best of my knowledge, acted like cunts (in public, anyhow). By all means, apply the label as you see fit, but it’s best reserved for cunts. But…but…I thought the word wasn’t supposed to be used about women at all! Even Jane Fonda got in trouble for it. It says right here on page 118 that it disparages women and reduces them to a body part, and that "apart from the n-word it is the most offensive of all English words’. Oh, wait…there’s a footnote: \*\* Despite criticisms, there is a movement within feminists that seeks to reclaim cunt not only as acceptable, but as an honorific, in much the same way that queer has been reclaimed by LGBT people.[12] Proponents include Inga Muscio in her book, Cunt: A Declaration of Independence[13] and Eve Ensler in “Reclaiming Cunt” from The Vagina Monologues. The word was similarly reclaimed by Angela Carter who used it in the title story of The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories; a female character describing female genitalia in a pornography book: “her cunt a split fig below the great globes of her buttocks”.[14] Germaine Greer, who had previously published a magazine article entitled “Lady, Love Your Cunt”,[15] discussed the origins, usage and power of the word in the BBC series Balderdash and Piffle. She suggests at the end of the piece that there is something precious about the word, in that it is now one of the few remaining words in English that still retains its power to shock.[16]\* So it looks like the word might be gaining respectability after all. Damn, I wish I’d known that during the Democratic primary! ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-sarah-palin/473186/53 "2008-11-18T05:07:46Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > So it looks like the word might be gaining respectability after all. Of course! But now you can’t say “stupid” “disabled” or “kumquat”. Do try to keep up. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-sarah-palin/473186/54 "2008-11-18T05:13:49Z")
> [@Rubystreak](#): > > You waited until we were 12 posts in before you decried the lack of sexism accusations. However did you restrain yourself from the rush to judgment? As much as it warms the cockleburrs of my heart to see that you are speaking to me again, I have to point out that I may very well not have been here for the first 12 posts. > [@Rubystreak](#): > > Would you cry sexism if Michelle Obama was called a cunt? Or do you only get up on your white horse for people who agree with you politically? No, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander. I’m just confused, that’s all. For nigh onto forty years now, the left has been telling us that cunt is a dirty word that demeans women and I’ve seen (and read) lefties and feminists get into high dudgeon indeed and behave angrily whenever it might be used. Now, on this most unquestionably left-leaning board, I find it being flung about with abandon. Sometimes this is within the context of a failed love affair or some shabby treatment from a member of the fairer sex, and these are sometimes but not always met with gentle reminders or entreaties from others (most usually women) not to use such demeaning terms for women. Other times it is within the context of a conservative poster or political candidate and not only are excoriations nowhere in evidence, one rarely encounters even a gentle reminder that such words are not appropriate. So the result is that I’m left to think that, just like with tolerance, the left requires it of the right but exempts itself. What say you? ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-sarah-palin/473186/55 "2008-11-18T05:17:52Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Of course! But now you can’t say “stupid” “disabled” or “kumquat”. Do try to keep up. I know. It really is hard trying to keep up with all this and still lead a productive life. I only found out just the other day that “Oriental” is now considered offensive. But have no fear. As a ‘compassionate conservative’ I will continue to soldier on and do the best I can. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-sarah-palin/473186/56 "2008-11-18T05:20:41Z")
I’m with you on “Oriental”. It means “Eastern”. I mean, really, fuck’s wrong with that? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-sarah-palin/473186/57 "2008-11-18T05:21:25Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > I know. It really is hard trying to keep up with all this and still lead a productive life. I only found out just the other day that “Oriental” is now considered offensive. > > But have no fear. As a ‘compassionate conservative’ I will continue to soldier on and do the best I can. “Soldier on”? _haughty sniff_ Terribly insensitive of you in a time of war. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-sarah-palin/473186/58 "2008-11-18T05:22:37Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > So the result is that I’m left to think that, just like with tolerance, the left requires it of the right but exempts itself. > > What say you? That the left isn’t a hive mind? I too have heard people claim “cunt” as an inherently sexist, or misogynistic, or just generally degrading to women term to use. I personally think that’s nonsense; it certainly may be used that way, but not necessarily, and plenty of words can be given a twist of those bad things while being acceptable anyway. But i’ve never claimed otherwise, either. Am I a hypocrite, a person requiring of the right that which I am unprepared to require of myself? No. I’m not responsible for people who have different ideas yet share my leftiness. If you can find _examples_ of people who have said “cunt” is a dirty word that demeans women turning around and using it happily themselves, then you might be able to start making a case. If you can find a person or persons who does show that double standard, fair play, you have a case that can be made on them. But you can’t hold all lefties responsible for the words of some. And it does rather appear to me as though that is what you’re doing. ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-sarah-palin/473186/59 "2008-11-18T05:24:02Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > As much as it warms the cockleburrs of my heart to see that you are speaking to me again, I have to point out that I may very well not have been here for the first 12 posts. Exactly my point. The thread was about polar bears. The word cunt was there. In 12 posts, you decided that none of us hypocritical liberals was going to chastise the OP for sexism, and then used that as a springboard to make assumptions about all liberals. It’s par for the course for you but it’s not particularly a fair or warranted response to the thread. > [@](#): > > No, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander. I’m just confused, that’s all. For nigh onto forty years now, the left has been telling us that cunt is a dirty word that demeans women and I’ve seen (and read) lefties and feminists get into high dudgeon indeed and behave angrily whenever it might be used. Some of us are used to it. I’ve had the word directed at me several times on this board, by men and women, and occasionally IRL. At no point in time did anyone ever mention sexism or fly to my defense on their white charger. I don’t expect you to believe me, but… this is not a liberal v. conservative culture war issue. People of all ideologies use the word. Go ahead, call Michelle Obama a cunt, if it blows your skirt up for ya. You’re not going to offend me, only show the world something about yourself. > [@](#): > > What say you? I say the word is in wide use on the left and on the right. Making this yet another partisan issue in your culture war is a rather blinkered approach. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-sarah-palin/473186/60 "2008-11-18T05:24:29Z")
I know. Sometimes it seems like people just look for things to be offended about. 😉 > [@WhyNot](#): > > “Soldier on”? _haughty sniff_ Terribly insensitive of you in a time of war. Oh dear, I’ve done it again, haven’t I? Please forgive me. I assure you I meant not the slightest offense. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-sarah-palin/473186.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-sarah-palin/473186.md?page=4)