Huffington Gets Palin-ized
February 11, 2011
by Amy Siskind
|The following op-ed is featured at The Daily Caller.
You’ve really done it this time Arianna Huffington. You’ve violated the unwritten rules of our culture. Rose above our comfort zone. Now, sadly, we must destroy you. But don’t take it personally. It’s simply because, well, you’re a woman.
Here’s how we’ll do it…
First, we’ll need to create a caricature. Something we can use to demean and diminish you – and right away! Distract you and get that darn hammer away from the glass ceiling. Hmmm, let’s see. Which tools haven’t been deployed against a powerful woman lately? We used not likable with Hillary Clinton. Stupid and talks funny with Michele Bachmann. Bitchy boss with Meg Whitman. Hmmm, what’s left?
Hold on. Got it! Arianna Huffington is a SELLOUT! (assist to Dana Milbank: happily he had time to pitch in since he’s taking the month off from bashing Sarah Palin.)
Yep, that’s right. Huffington is a sellout. She co-founded and grew a media empire and then made a profit. How dare she? She sold her soul to the devil (a/k/a corporate America). It’s true. And it’s been confirmed: one of her competitors counted comments on her website. Yep, she’s a sellout alright! My gosh, this is simply awful. What’s next with this Huffington woman? Maybe Tim Rutten is right: child labor?
We’ll need to take action and right away. Here’s what we’ll need to do…
We’ll need to bring the “sellout” caricature to life by branding her with real world examples (or make them up). Then, we’ll spread these stories all over the media: an all out media blitz! We’ll explain that she only cares about her own financial benefit. We’ll claim she uses the realm of politics as a vehicle for making money. We’ll let everyone know that she sold out her followers for her own celebrity and wealth.
Yeah, this plan will work just fine. Branding Huffington will work like a charm. She’s a sellout, alright!
But, not so fast. There’s a problem. Those news stories seem kind of familiar. Like maybe, the stories have been around for a while? Oh, no! These are all stories about Sarah Palin. We’ve overlapped and inadvertently: Arianna Huffington has been Palin-ized!!!
But, wait a moment. Would the “sellout” caricature work if Huffington were, say, a man? No way! Not for a minute!
If Arianna were Donald Huffington, we would label her a titan of industry. If Arianna were Jeff Huffington, we would label her a true visionary. If Arianna were Stephen Huffington, we would extol her business savvy for cashing in on her years of hard work. If Arianna were Kenneth Huffington – hold on – Kenneth Leher is an owner of HuffPost and did cash out alongside Huffington. But, hey, he’s a dude. So, here’s what we say: Ata boy Kenny!
But back to Huffington. Let’s just keep going with the sellout caricature. Works like a charm. For now, let’s just keep this as our little boys’ club in the media secret!
I have always found the Huff Puff anti woman and most of their comment section participants are foaming at the mouth misogynists. I always found it odd that Huffington gave this sort of thinking a home and it is not that surprising that they turned on her.
I agree with Bes. Arianna led the Left in the Democratic 08 primary in its all efforts to destroy Hillary Clinton. Arianna and Maurine Dowd both attacked Hillary, and they’ve been known to trash other women who dared set foot on the national stage. I remember Dowd’s vilification of Teresa Heinz, John Kerry’s wife during that presidential election.
I’m guessing that one of the reasons Arianna is “selling out” is that she’s become so disillusioned by Barack Obama after she played a large role in getting him elected.
Ha ha! Brilliant Amy! Women can’t get too uppity. If they do, they’ll get Palinized. True so true.
I don’t like everything HuffPo stands for and I don’t like everything that Michelle Bachman stands for either. But when it seems that they are both held to different standards than the boyz I will definitely call that out.
DEFINITELY a different standard is being held for Arianna here than for any of the boyz in the biz. Not cool!
KARMA!! Arianna baby, karma! See what you do to other women affects all women! Couldn’t have happened to a better example of a woman that we don’t aspire to be..
Arianna Huffington, more than anything, is a political opportunist who changes her stripes with the prevailing winds. While no woman should be attacked for being a woman (or for being a woman and getting ahead) with Ms. Huffington it is less about her building a media empier than being a hypocrite.
This woman spent 2008 trashing Hillary Clinton, by far the best candidate, and then Sarah Palin. All one needs to do is go back over the horrid HuffPo headlines against both ladies to realize Arianna has betrayed any sense of fairness toward women in favor of her own profit margin, as her site appealed to those who would bash both Hillary and Palin. That is not journalism and it has nothing to do with feminism.
I would never begrudge her success but I do begrudge someone who has propelled herself forward by being trendy rather than honest. In so doing, she has put herself in a class no better than the men who are criticizing her for doing what they themselves have done for years.
Articles like Milbank’s are criticizing her hypocricy and while he is an egregious offender who has likewise found any excuse to bash Hillary and Palin, Huffington cannot get a pass for selling out her website supporters for corporate profit simply because she is a woman. She has simply proven that women can be just as ruthless in business as men. If it is Amy’s point that men don’t get called out for doing the sort of hypocritical thing she just did, fine. But I will not forgive or forget her behavior via the website she leads.
Hypocrite and opportunist she is BUT even she needs to be protected from the MSM and their sexist behavior…
Selling a business for profit( which perhaps few know was designed by Drudge and Breitbart- for money even though it was opposite of their politics) is fine by me but those lefties, they can’t understand that it is successful women and men like Arianna( 3% of the country) who pay 80% of the total taxes paid in this country- if they don’t pay taxes whose money will get redistributed?
I stand for equality of the sexes and Huffington like Palin, Whitman etc deserves to be defended against the MSM- no exceptions for me should be based on the woman’s political agenda- all need to be defended against the msm
I went to the DC link and looked at the comments. Even though some didn’t agree with Amy, they aren’t even a smidgen as sexist and misogynistic as HuffPo’s comments are for just about any blog written by a woman.
I am not an Arianna fan but I agree with Amy that she is only getting this flack because she is a woman. If men are calculating it is considered a good thing. If men find a way to leverage a business deal off of the backs of others it is considered a good thing. Business saavy women are cold biaches. And if the liberals think she created HuffPo just so the Left had a free megaphone then they are seriously deluded. Popular internet websites are big business and she was able to create a giant. I hate the place [HuffPo], but good for her.
I can’t stand the woman, but absolutely, she needs to be defended against the sexism. Women have a right to make money and to be successful.
I’ve heard the “sell out” accusation many times, in regards to Hillary, to Palin, and to many others. What it means is a woman has “sold out” and is now actually being compensated for her work. We’re all supposed to work for free for noble causes, donja know, self sacrificing martyrs who never expect any thanks or financial compensation for their labors. Naturally Ariana was expected to provide a free forum for others to advance the liberal cause. Now that she’s built an empire, she’s certainly not allowed to profit off of it. That wouldn’t be lady like.
Arianna and her Soro’s funded blog has not been Palinized. Sarah Palin was slandered and abused by the media and American Trash Pop Culture. The JourNOlist conspired against her while prompting Barak Obama for the goodies their parent companie i.e. G.E. would be rewarded by a president Obama.
Palin is in no way what the lame stream liberal media has made her out to be. But the carricature of Arianna Huffington as described in this post I have to say rings 100% true. Arianna Huffinton is a joke. Her knowledge and courage of conviction in politics is no better than other liberal circus clowns like Jon Stewart of Bill Maher. Arriana’s oppinions go where the political winds take her. Just like Jon Stewart and Bill Maher, she will go back to hating Islam when it becomes popular again like after a future major terror attack on the US. She is a joke and should ever be compared to Sarah Palin.
Yes, you are so right, Yttik. Any extremely successful top dog woman is a called a sell out. Way to keep us in our places!
Juliette, a joke perhaps, not Gov Palin certainly- but not deserving of sexist comments about her business decision definitely
Juliette as different as Huffington and Palin are, it seems not to matter to the media attacks who will always brand women who eye power positions as sell out for money. it is irrelevant whom you like and I agree with you it is quite unlikely to like both of these women, their values, world views are in so many ways contrary. however, women who step out of being assistants to anyone in the male hierarchy will get the treatment and that alone is the string holding them together. and where they need our defense.
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