Oy
Yesterday I was involved in an exchange with the Anchoress about Sarah Palin's "readiness" for holding national office. I was appalled to realize that even someone as hard-hitting as Anchoress believes that for Palin to be "ready" for office, Palin must first master the unctuous, non-responsive interview style that serves so well for firebrand conservatives like ... um ... oh, wait, I can't think of anyone. Then I was told that Liz Cheney would be a better option than Palin. I love how conservative bloggers who fret about the incompetence and unfairness of the Washington establishment turn around and say they prefer establishment candidates to outsiders from Alaska. It's not enough to have a Bush dynasty, now we have to have a Cheney one.
Even though I was a teenager in the 1980's I distinctly remember the media establishment discussing ad nauseam how "stupid" Reagan was. I can't help but wonder whether Anchoress would chime in in agreement, were Reagan new on the scene today. Unlike Liz Cheney, Reagan's daddy was never VP, and let's just say you could *definitely* tell. The man starred in a movie with a chimp! Yuck!
Interestingly, when I defended the notion that a conservative can succeed politically without kissing up to the press, especially if said candidate has the strong support of fellow conservatives, I was told that I'm "unquestioningly passionate" about Sarah Palin. Wow! That sounds extreme! I better shut up about the fact I think Palin is competent, or else I'm going to be called essentially an extremist. (Where have I heard that before ...?)
I don't disagree with everything Anchoress wrote in that post, nor Paglia's remarks, nor Jonah's "open letter" a while back. But I do detect a sort of urgency to punt on first down where Sarah Palin is concerned which I don't detect with other conserative leaders who all have weaknesses and blind spots. I mean, want to talk above LOVE, listen to Hugh Hewitt go on about Romney a few years back.
ReplyDeleteMy copy of her book should be here tomorrow.
aha, so you preordered Palin's book! you must be another one of those "unquestioningly passionate" types
ReplyDeleteThis just in via Jonathan. Shooting blanks? Good gosh... I'm short on time; please, somebody else deal with it.
ReplyDeleteI heard the end of Rod's piece driving home yesterday. Even before I found out who was talking, when the NPR host recapped it at the end, I was wondering about his use of the old "I started out a big fan" wheeze.
ReplyDeleteThe old "I started out a big fan" wheeze is usually the backswing to a sharp chop to the neck, when the speaker wants the unstated conclusion to be, "So my attack now is particularly credible and convincing."
Sometimes, though, it comes off more as, "So now I'm overcompensating in the other direction."
In any case, the most interesting thing I heard was the NPR host pronounce his last name more or less like "drear." I've always thought of it (not sure I've ever had cause to say it out loud) as "drair." The NPR way seems more fitting.
perhaps we can establish a new adjective, "drehery".
ReplyDeletei can't take dreary at all seriously anymore, but let's pretend he's actually conservative for the sake of argument. why do these conservatives so feel the need to pile on? I'm mystified by this. There's something to be said for presenting a united front when faced with an enemy so dangerous, so ruthless, and so stupid as the totalitarian left. While they literally bankrupt our country, conservative types are content sit in their stuffy little rooms and agitate their worry beads over the fact that Palin gets annoyed with Katie Couric and Oprah. CONTEXT, ANYONE?!
ReplyDeleteKathleen, "Context, anyone?" totally sums it up for me. How constructive is it to complain about how Palin isn't constructive enough? How substantive is it to whine that Palin isn't substantive enough?
ReplyDeletePalin is something very old and very new in our politics. Unlike most politicians in the upper rungs of our politics today she is not a lawyer, backed by a local political machine, from an influential family, or rich (Well, before her book deal). She is a throwback to the American tradition that anyone could get started in local politics and then proceed up the political ladder through sheer grit and determination.
ReplyDeleteShe is something new in that the celebrity that surrounds her is without parallel in American politics. She has become a cultural icon, hence the extreme love and hatred for her from both sides of the culture war camps.
All of this obscures the fact that she is the best natural politician since Reagan. She has decided that the old political rules will not get her to the White House and she is blazing a new path. She is simply not a conventional politician, something she understands and something her legion of critics, I trust, will continue to fail to comprehend.
I don't listen to NPR. I heard that listening to it can cause sterility and shrinking of the testicles.
ReplyDeleteOnly if you're in proximity to the studio Pauli...which is why I moved out of DC. I can't afford to lose any more testosterone than I have already.
ReplyDeleteI don't listen to NPR.
ReplyDeleteIt's no fun listening to DC sports talk radio the week after a Redskins' win.
Well Tom, that's not something you have to do very often.
ReplyDeleteIt would be nice if the Browns won a wee bit more so Clevelanders would be a little more bearable after a victory. When is Haley's Comet coming back?
ReplyDeleteI like Palin. I think I agree with her on more things than any other well-known politician except maybe Fred, who doesn't have the endurance to run anyway. If any other Republican candidate gains steam, they will face the same barrage of negative reporting that Palin gets now.
ReplyDeleteIt's no fun listening to DC sports talk radio the week after a Redskins' win.
ReplyDeleteHa! So I'm not the only one who listens to DC sports talk for the sheer joy of listening to everyone lament their fallen franchise.
As for the topic at hand, Anchoress et all are obviously right. Clearly what we need is an electable candidate that independents and moderate Dems can respect. Someone who has a distinguished career and a clear grasp of the issues. Someone like John McCain is the sure-fire choice for the GOP. After all, what can possibly go wrong with choosing our candidate based in part on what the MSM says about them.
Anchoress posts today that the media are out to get Palin. How's that for some hard hitting news?
ReplyDelete