Of Lipstick and Animals

I'd like to make one thing perfectly clear: I'd never put lipstick on an animal.

Now that we've cleared that hurdle, let's look at Obama's full quote from yesterday's speech:

“John McCain says he’s about change, too — except for economic policy, health care policy, tax policy, education policy, foreign policy and Karl Rove-style politics. That’s just calling the same thing something different.”

With a laugh, he added: “You can put lipstick on a pig; it’s still a pig. You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called change; it’s still going to stink after eight years.”

And Palin's from last week:

"The only difference between hockey moms and pit bulls is lipstick!"

Okay, students of rhetoric, what do they have in common? If you answered, the word lipstick, you are correct. If you answered "Obama's making a sexist comment about Palin," you couldn't be further from the truth. Instead, you have conveniently ignored the context of Obama's speech (delivered to an Appalachian audience who would get the joke). Nevermind the fact that he is referring to McCain (who, as you recall, is the person really running against Obama), and not Palin.

Once again, pathos scores political points, and logos takes a holiday. Advantage: Republicans.