Since Sarah Palin made her appearance at the Republican National Convention, I've been inundated with fowarded emails and blogs about Palin. When my middle schooler came home one day, wanting to know about "the role of lipstick" in this election, I experienced a migraine just explaining it to her.

Why are we talking about this nonsense?

Some 90 banks have gone under, Lehman Brothers lost $3.9 billion in one quarter, the Iraq and Afghanistan wars continue to rage on, and my daughter and the rest of the country are debating the "lipstick on a pig" comment?

Then I read another forwarded email about Palin, which put this all into perspective. It was credited as having been written by Cathryn Michon. I don't know this writer, and I certainly do not agree with everything she had to say in her email.

But her meta-message--Palin is a huge distraction--made utter sense to me. She wrote:

The GOP is trying to distract us with Sarah Palin and her endless drama, and it's working. It's the best free advertising they've had in this election cycle...
They now have a Teflon lady attack dog (if you attack, or even question her, you're automatically sexist) and they are expertly using her to distract us....

The more attention you pay Sarah Palin, the more emails you forward to your friends about her, the more it becomes a story the MSM is justified in covering Women...will be incensed that the "liberal media" is picking on her. Undecideds will decide this election, and if you give women undecideds a grudge that makes them turn out for McCain, all will be lost....
Sarah Palin and Karl Rove are Lucy, holding a football, enticing you to kick it.

Stumble It!