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Don Bendell Responds to Palin Attack by Catherine McNicol-Stock, PhD
Dear Dr. McNicol-Stock;
In your opinion piece for the Philadelphia Enquirer dated September 14, 2008 entitled INTOLERANCE THRIVES IN PALIN’S PACIFIC NORTHWEST, which I include a link to here for readers’ convenience http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/28361149.html , in your trashing of Governor Sarah Palin and the residents of 6 states you not only exceeded the boundaries of good taste you have provided a new definition for “low-class.” What is scary to me is the fact that you are part of academia and influence the brains of naive young students at the Connecticut College where you teach history.
I know that I am just another one of those “rural” hicks who lives in “fly-over country” out in that vast space between New York and Los Angeles , and I am not a person of privilege living in New England or anywhere along the northeastern seaboard. Shucks, in fact I am just one a them old dumb Colorado cowboys, but doctor, in your editorial you stated, “Sarah Palin's political views - ardently pro-gun, pro-censorship, anti-choice and anti-gay - make John McCain's conservative credentials pale in comparison.” and that was the nicest thing you said about her. Before attacking your grievous insults of those who live in the Pacific Northwest as well as Governor Palin, I first want to correct some mis-statements of fact by you. Governor Palin has never, not one time, ever advocated censorship. In her interviews, she has made it quite clear that she supports man-woman marriage legislation, but she has also stated that she, like many Americans, has gay friends and does not judge them. In regards to her being pro-gun, it would be more appropriate to say that she is pro-second amendment. She is also clearly pro-life. Cool! You could not simply present an argument that she had differing political ideology from you and argue why you feel that she is wrong. You attacked all residents in the states of Alaska , Washington , Oregon , Idaho , Montana , and Wyoming as being racist, hate-filled, and you used serial killers, miscreants, and psychopaths to represent such residents, also clearly trying to use this guilt by association to attack Governor Palin.
Like many self-proclaimed want-to-be feminists you would not recognize a powerful, independent, liberated woman of honor and dignity if she was standing before you, slapping your jowls back and forth with a caribou steak.
My wife Shirley is the sexiest, most beautiful woman I have ever known, but also the strongest, most courageous person, man or woman, I have ever known. Graduating from college with honors when she was a grandmother, she is public about being a former victim of both gang rape and acquaintance rape before I knew her but now is a master instructor in several martial arts and put together one of the top sexual assault prevention programs for women and girls around and has helped thousands. She is also public about being a recovering alcoholic and prescription drug addict for almost three decades and has helped literally hundreds of people with addiction or alcoholism-related problems.
Both of my daughters were afflicted with MS in their late twenties or early thirties and neither has slowed down. My oldest daughter, Brooke, has been a Christian missionary in Africa and India converting Muslims into Christians as well as a missionary in Central and South America, lost a 4 year old physically and mentally-challenged daughter who received a family’s love instead of simply becoming an aborted fetus, almost died from a head-on collision, and a deadly medical condition in Africa, and she is now a mural-painting artist and interior decorator, home-schools a ten-year old daughter, and maintains a household, family, and emotionally supports and stands by her loving husband through thick and thin.
These women; Governor Sarah Palin, my wife Shirley, and my daughter Brooke Bendell Stark are indicative of the millions of women in this great nation who provided the faith, toughness, tenacity, moral and emotional strength, and character to help make America the greatest and most successful nation in world history. Sarah Palin likes to fish, hunt, and shoot a rifle, which she started doing as a little girl bonding with her father, yet you look down your nose at it. My wife also likes to fish, bowhunt, ride horses high in the Rockies , yet enjoys getting her finger and toenails done once or twice per month and loves ballroom dancing.
One of my daughter’s most treasured memories is wearing camouflage make-up on her face, wearing cammies, and escorting me as a little girl while I bow-hunted in southern Ohio, years ago, and that happens to be one of my favorite memories, too, almost as much as having pretend tea parties with my daughters and their dolls.
These are real women, Doctor, women of substance, women of faith, and they provide the true backbone and life blood of America . They are America . Getting a subscription to NOW magazine, beating your chest, and singing “I Am Woman” does not make you strong. Possessing the qualities of Governor Sarah Palin is a high standard for not only women and young girls to aspire to, but she sets the bar high for all Americans, including men and boys. She is all that we could ever hope for in a leader, and she and the courageous, wise Senator John McCain form a dynamic duo that this country sorely needs. These are good things, not bad things, but one more problem needs addressing. You used the term “rural” in your opinion piece as a derisive term. Listen up, Doc. If it was not for rural Americans, there simply would be no America . I am not talking about you not having corn flakes for breakfast, or garden salad, or portabella mushrooms to flavor your chateaubriand when ordered in your favorite Concord restaurant. There would be no America , period. You have a PhD and do not need me to spell it out. Most of America is rural, and we are a society ruled by the majority. The majority opinion in this nation is not originated in Connecticut . Thank God.
You also write of the disproportionate ratio of blacks living in the Pacific Northwest , as if westerners are all racist. This is by individual choice, not exclusion, Doctor, but in the states you mention there is the largest proportion of Native Americans from many American Indian Nations and tribes compared to any other geographic area in the US . There are also large pockets of Hispanics living throughout the areas you mention. It has been factually proven that culturally many black Americans as a whole tend to prefer living in predominately black communities, but this is the
21st century and any American can live anywhere they want.
In fact, if you want to address exclusion: Senator John McCain employs a much larger percentage of female employees on his campaign staff than Senator Obama, and McCain’s female employees are paid 104% higher wages than male co-workers, and Obama’s female staffers are paid considerably less than male co-workers. Look it up, Doc, just Google it. In fact, George W. Bush, the favorite target of angry feminists, has had a much more culturally, racially, and gender diverse Cabinet and Administration than any President in US History.
Incidentally, my family came from England , Germany , and France . Racially, that makes me Caucasian or more easily described as “white.” That does not make me a European-American. I have never been there. If you are going to profess, please be accurate. Unless one is born in an African country and emigrates to America , they are not an African-American, but are technically Negro or Negroid, but can be more easily described as “black.”
Finally, some day your grand-daughters and mine will be in a history class and learn of the extreme moral courage of just a few women who braved it all, and who crashed through the brick wall of sexism, scaling the steep cliffs of chauvinistic injustice to show the way for other women and girls. These women will have names like Sarah Palin, Hillary Clinton, Geraldine Ferraro, and who knows how many more. John McCain is a true red, white, and blue American hero and he is getting trashed for political expedience and gain. What a sad commentary on where we place our values. Do not trash Sarah Palin in kind, as she too is an American hero paving a pathway of excellence and building a legacy of honor for all girls and women to follow, not just republicans or Christians, but all American women.
Don Bendell, 61, is an author of 26 books including a number of military thrillers with over
1,500,000 copies in print worldwide and is a popular editorialist who has appeared on FOX NEWS LIVE, many national radios shows, and his editorials have been published all over the world. A 1995 inductee into the International Karate Hall of Fame, he and his wife also own karate schools in southern Colorado . A 60% disabled vet, Don served as an officer in 4 Special Forces Groups, including a
1968-1969 tour on an A-team in Vietnam as well as in the Top Secret Phoenix Program and has offspring serving in Special Forces now. He lives in Florence , Colorado . Write him at don@donbendell.com .
Don Bendell DETACHMENT-DELTA: Don's newest novel. Worldwide release winter 2008. Visit our newly-re-structured website. Learn how to get your first book published!: http://www.donbendell.com "Life is tough and for stupid people its even tougher." John Wayne
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