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So by now we all know the basics about Sarah Palin, first-term governor of Alaska and John McCain's utterly transparent pick for running mate: She's a self-described "hockey mom," an avid proponent of drilling in Alaska and an equally avid opponent of abortion and gay-marriage rights. (She's also so unknown as a politician that Fox News has repeatedly been referring to her as "Susan" Palin—though admittedly, getting facts right has never been the forte of that particular outlet, has it?)

Last night I co-hosted a fundraising house party for the kick-ass feminist media organization Women in Media and News. I've been involved in the organization since its planning and launch, and am proud to be its founding board chair.

Special guest report from friend of Bitch Kyla Wagener...

I have yet to read Tim Wise's White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son (Soft Skull Press) or Affirmative Action: Racial Preference in Black and White (Routledge), but have heard tons of praise for his work. So I was excited for his appearance at the First Unitarian Church of Oakland earlier this month, an event sponsored by Speak Out!. I was a little wary when he took the mic and started speaking; his manner initially conjured up memories of some egotistical, "Check me out, I'm one of those aware white folks—I'm down!" types I've run into. But he ended up being sharp, funny, and—most important—aware of his role as an ally rather than a leader in the antiracist movement, acknowledging that the majority of his sources for information about race have been people of color. He was loud, but in a good way—not arrogant-bratty-white-boy loud.

A few commenters have wondered in the past few weeks why there's been such a paltry amount of coverage of the primaries and their attendent issues on this site. I can't speak for my colleagues — as we always write, in tiny print, in the magazine's masthead, we have varying opinions and no monolithic position on most of the issues we cover — but I've become, as I'm sure many of you have, really exhuasted by the circularity of so much of the dialogue surrounding the question of who deserves the nomination more, Hillary or Barack.

Yeah. What she says. (H/t to the lovely and talented Deanna Zandt for alerting me to this post.)

The best take I've seen on the feminist infighting on whom to support in the primaries (via Feministe, whose Jill also has some great stuff to say). (And cheers to Alternet for for inaugurating a Reproductive Justice and Gender section, but shouldn't there be something else for feminist coverage? 'Cause, y'know, the last time I checked, gender issues encompassed a whole lot more than baby-makin' parts.)

Apparently, this primary election is all about race and gender.

Feminists are still reeling from the frankly insane press release issued last week by Marcia Pappas, president of the New York chapter of NOW.

—I think.

No, I'm sure.

I came to this decision the night before last, after watching Obama's South Carolina victory speech on YouTube. (Thankfully it was before I read anything about Edwards dropping out—psychologically, I'm glad I made a choice among three and not between two, even though in practical terms the distinction is meaningless.)

...and I still haven't made up my mind. The other day I was reduced to telling someone that I had thought about voting for Edwards, but now I was leaning toward Obama. Or Clinton. Or Obama. Or Clinton. Or maybe Edwards.

I've never been undecided this close to election day before.

Then again, I've never been making a choice that felt this important before, either—nor, with the exception of my very first presidential election, in 1992 (before the Bill Clinton of the campaign became the Bill Clinton of "don't ask, don't tell" and "end[ing] welfare as we know it"), have I cast a vote without a) a sigh of resignation that I'd picked the lesser of the evils or b) a sigh of resignation that I was doomed to a protest vote yet again. (And since Kucinich just dropped out, I don't even have the protest vote option this time around.)

No, this time I've got to make an actual difficult and potentially meaningful decision. And each candidate actually has something really exciting to recommend hir: fiery populist rhetoric; seriously inspiring charisma; a raft of plans for healthcare, the environment, the war; or some combination of the above. I'm going to be (dare I say it) pretty happy to vote for whichever one ends up in the general election (though maybe that's just my seven-years-of-Bush hangover talking).

And yet, each one also disappoints in some pretty serious ways.