sarah palinIf you've spent the last several years wondering how exactly a woman who thinks the North Koreans are our allies and that Paul Revere warned the British they wouldn't be "takin' away our arms" is making a living in politics, well, wonder no more. When FOX News founder Roger Ailes explained why he hired Sarah Palin as a FOX News Channel contributor, he basically answered the question of why Palin has a place in our collective consciousness to begin with.

"I hired Palin because she was hot and she got ratings," said Ailes in a recent interview.

That clears up a lot, huh?

But wait, you might be thinking. There's got to be more to it than that. If sex appeal and public interest level were the sole determining factors, Kim Kardashian could have been John McCain's running mate.

You're right; there is more to it than ratings ... sort of.

Sarah Palin was promoted to the frontlines of the GOP precisely because of why she gets ratings: Because she makes sexist Republican men feel smart. And because they like to imagine her hunting deer in combat boots and a fur-trimmed bikini.

FOX News is an undeniably misogynistic empire. Its viewership largely shares the same woman-hating views. Meaning, they hate the idea of a woman in the White House, apparently even more than they hate the idea of a black man in the White House, which is saying a lot. Unfortunately, they can't ban women from politics entirely.

What they can do is choose a woman to shove in the spotlight who actually manages to support every sexist stereotype in the book. Who has no idea what she's talking about half the time. Who makes working mothers everywhere look bad. And who also happens to have that sexy librarian thing going on. (Because why else would anybody even pay attention to this dumb chick politician if she wasn't a gun-totin' babe?)

Think Sarah Palin was just a fluke? Not so. In fact, she fulfilled her purpose so efficiently that the GOP is following the exact same formula with their current female politician decoy, Michele Bachmann.

Think about it: The factual flubs. The cluelessly insensitive remarks. The signature looks.

Bachmann may as well be Palin, the Sequel. I assume it's only a matter of time before she's a FOX News correspondent, too.

Do you think Michele Bachmann is the next Sarah Palin?


Image via David Shankbone/Flickr