Lipstick or Diva, which is worse?

In-fighting over the last couple of days raises concern that a McCain-Palin administration will be able to co-exist or that it won't have the ending of a Greek tragedy. Two McCain aides have gone so far as to declare that VP candidate has "gone rogue" and is a "diva... playing for her own future" after Palin rejected advice from Bush and McCain aides on different occasions. Gov. Palin has blamed the Bush aides for her tarnished public image after her national interviews. Sorry Gov. Palin, the bad PR was because you couldn't answer the questions - but of course that was just a symptom of her annoyance at the inane questions of Katie Couric. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before we'll hear from the victim of a hunting accident apologizing for being under the helicopter.

On a more serious note, has the party that wagged their collective fingers at Barack Obama for being sexist when he used the phrase "lipstick on a pig" fallen victim to - actual - sexist critiques of Gov. Palin? I seriously doubt the word "diva" was used to describe Gov. Palin's singing ability or as praise in comparing her to a divine nymph. The negative connotation of "diva" refers to women who are high-maintenance, manipulative, fussy, and demanding. If a man is demanding or high-maintenance we usually say he's being stubborn. Instead of using "stubborn" or "obstinate," the McCain aide, I assume purposefully, used a pejorative term reserved for - to steal a term from Rep. Lynn Westmoreland - uppity women; more specifically women that ask for more than their skill or status deserves and are extremely superficial.

Perhaps then, it is apropos that this statement comes on the days preceding Halloween; I believe we have heard this story before, and I believe the quote goes something like this, "It's aliiiive!" When you throw an inexperienced politician into the national spotlight for the second-highest office in the country, protect her from the media, dress her up like a Milan runway model, tell her she is the spark of the Republican party, allow her to shirk her responsibility in her abuse of power, constantly heap praise on her despite actions that deserve rebuke, and allow her stylist to be one of the highest paid members of your campaign... don't start complaining you've created a monster.