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By Mina Xavier, October 26, 2008 11:13 pm

Let’s admit it.

If this woman were to show up on the White House doorstep wearing that American flag bikini and carrying that automatic rifle, half of you would laugh her out of the district while the other half held the tv remote with just one hand.

That having been said, even Mr. Blackwell would be wagging his finger at this latest flap.

As giddy as we can be in picking apart celebrity females on the red carpet, we must keep in mind that Washington is an awards show of a different kind.
We rationalize the Oscar night bitch bashing because the dimunitive golden statues are secondary to the parade itself, as these women are worth several million apiece and lavishly adorn themselves with the intention of being judged competitively.

On the national carpet, however, the expectation has always been for the women to look well kept and neatly covered up as political arm-warmers.

But is this really a double standard?

Cindy McCain has never been modest about her wealth and, as the heiress to a substantial family fortune, her contribution to husband John’s political career has been less about appearances and almost exclusively about the bankrolling.

Hillary, for her part, reportedly spent $42,000 on her duds before her campaign speech and Michelle Obama, while often touted as the budget-minded wife in a $34.90 dress from H&M, clearly has her share of no-wash couture in her closet. A Harvard Law graduate who spent her own money on her clothing, Mrs. O has caught the favorable attention of Vogue lead designer Patrick Robinson.

Palin, on the other hand, is now the focus of a scathing media outcry by Dems and even some Reps alike.

The critical difference is that Cindy was using her own family’s resources in supporting her husband’s bids for office, and presumably hers and John’s to finance that now-infamous $313,100 outfit. The estimate varies from $150-172k for Palin’s outfits including the private traveling makeup artist, which most hockey moms across the nation would be hard-pressed to afford.

Had Palin used her own salary ($230k when combined with husband Todd’s) the reports may not have been so offensive. To accept the opportunity to use funds donated by party supporters, however, is shady at best and worst shows a lack of restraint when given access to deeper pockets than her own.

Given the Governor’s tacky move to sell copies of her office’s Troopergate investigation emails, it is doubtful that these clothing pieces will indeed be “donated to charity”; more likely they will appear on Ebay by mid-November.
If so, let’s hope she has better luck with these than she did with that pesky executive jet.

For another generation’s angry rant, look no further than my favorite 82 year old’s own blog regarding Palin.
I love it when sassy ladies are gutsy enough to use the term “bullshit” this way!