Check out this adorable picture, published at Perfunction, depicting Sarah Palin’s unacceptable priorities, demonstrated on the tarmac in Alaska yesterday. And, for the record, that is the second pair of ruby-red shoes she has worn in the last two weeks. Looks like they got her to the Emerald city — and home again.

And while we are going with the Hollywood view of women in high heels, which Governor Palin seems to have no problem wearing for long, long days of campaigning — Ginger Rogers, fabulous dancer, excellent actress, staunch anti-communist and all around conservative– was the one who pointed out that, when it came to dancing (with Fred Astaire and others) “women had to do it backwards and in heels.” Time to take that old line back from Steinem and Co.

The view from Hollywood is different these days. Yesterday Matt Damon, who is a genuinely excellent actor, took off after the Palin nomination here. He described the story as, basically, a small town hockey mom being plucked from nowhere who — because he is certain McCain will expire in office — ends up running the country. He compared that narrative to “a really bad Disney movie.”

Well I have seen my fair share of bad recent Disney movies, including such masterpieces as “Barbie as Rapunzel.” Even a non-feminist mother might object to the deluge of princess imagery hurled at little girls. But — here is the thing: In most of the modern Disney fairy tale movies the princess/heroine character, who is nobody’s fool, rises to meet difficult circumstances, and slays her own dragons. The “happy ever after” part allows for the possibility that the young heroine will become experienced, wise and a good leader. Maybe that is a more plausible version of things than the current Hollywood fantasy that a small cabal of evil people, with no regard for human rights, will abuse their power under the guise of fighting the war on terror. (Though I kind of liked the Bourne Ultimatum anyway.) Reality is more complicated than a Disney movie — or a Matt Damon movie.