The self-serving comparisons can end now

Fans of Gov. Palin's like to liken her to Sec. of State Hillary Clinton, eager to seduce Clinton loyalists to the right with the assumption, I guess, that any woman running for office is the same as any other.

Forget how different their points of view are on everything from a woman's right to choose to the role of government and the value of diplomacy. Ignore the differences in their educations and resumes. Just concentrate on how they handle controversy.

Hillary Clinton doesn't complain about Amy Poehler's impersonation of her on SNL.

As First Lady of Arkansas, First Lady of the United States, Senator from New York, and candidate for President of the United States herself, rumors have dogged her. For example:

• She's a lesbian

• Her marriage is a sham (either because she's a lesbian or because she's frigid)

• Her marriage is physically abusive -- either because she frequently hits her philandering husband or her husband punishes his "uppity" wife by raping her

• Her husband's beloved mother thought she was ugly and couldn't believe Bill "settled" for her

• She is paranoid and keeps an "enemies list," a la Richard Nixon's

• Hillary Clinton had an ongoing affair with White House Counsel Vince Foster, and his inability to protect the then-First Lady from legal problems drove him to suicide

• Hillary Clinton had a brief affair with Vince Foster years earlier, when they were both partners at the Rose Law Firm, and she had him murdered to keep him silent

• She encouraged her brothers to "sell" pardons as her husband was leaving office

I'm tired. I realize I have only scratched the surface,
but this is so tawdry I can't go on.

Yet somehow, Hillary Rodham Clinton has managed to survive the "superficial, wasteful political bloodsport" Governor Palin is now fleeing.

I didn't support Hillary Clinton in the primaries but admire the way she has conducted herself since Denver last year.

I find little about Governor Sarah Palin to admire. (OK, I think it's great the way Palin insists on keeping her glasses and not opting for contacts or Lasik.)