Incoherence is not Attractive
York masterfully sums up my problems with Sarah Palin. This speech is just the latest evidence of a train wreck which has been brewing up for years. I genuinely feel bad for her. Excerpt:
First, Palin embarked on an extended stream-of-consciousness complaint about media coverage of her decision to run in a half-marathon race in Storm Lake, Iowa in 2011. She then moved on to grumbling about coverage of a recent photo of her with a supporter who had made a sign saying "Fuc_ you Michael Moore" in reaction to the left-wing moviemaker's criticism of the film "American Sniper." Then it was on to Palin's objections about the social media ruckus over a picture of her six-year-old son Trig standing on the family's Labrador Retriever.
It was all quite petty, and yet the complaining took half of Palin's allotted time. She then proceeded to blow through her time limit with a free-association ramble on Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, the energy industry, her daughter Bristol, Margaret Thatcher, middle-class economics — "the man can only ride ya when your back is bent" — women in politics, and much more. It would be hard to say that Palin's 35-minute talk had a theme, but she did hint that she is interested in running, although there are no indications she has taken any actual steps in that direction.
There are so many people on the Republican side who simply will not vote for any ticket with her on it. This is a fact; talk to McCain campaign staffers. It is a damn shame; so much political wealth has been squandered in her downfall. Maybe if she had just had better advisers... I don't know.
One of the problems I've seen is that she has been unfairly trashed by the media so relentlessly that her hardcore supporters don't want to hear anything negative about her. Many people on our side are afraid to point out serious missteps she has made in her political career and deficiencies in her exercise of discretion when she speaks.
Palin needs to either get out of politics and writes books about media bias like Bernard Goldberg, or stay in the game and rise above the fray. Right now she looks like she's living up to the unfair caricatures. I just hope she doesn't take the Ron Paul kook road where the caricatures become the truth.
Unfortunately for Palin, she became famous without being tasked with much more than being famous. Plucked out of the blue by McCain and then abandoned, SNL icon, MILF, special needs mom, reality show star: so far coherence hasn't really been much of a prerequisite compared to being a "spunky babe".
ReplyDeleteOne could even draw a parallel between her and Hillary Clinton, whose greatest accomplishment so far has been losing a presidential nomination to someone even more indistinct than she; State was nothing more than a parking orbit where Obama could keep eyes on her, while she continues to raise enormous sums of money for being a non-(fill in the blank).
I think it's arguable that these sorts of things were far less likely to manifest themselves in days before politics became absorbed within a mass media complex like the internet and its conjoined cousins, where being "political-y", like Steven Colbert, can too often be all you need to be.
One could even draw a parallel between her and Hillary Clinton
ReplyDeleteYeah, maybe, but don't do this within earshot of a Palinista, tho'.
Possibly it's a good example of the difference the difference between the parties. Hilary is the person to beat in her party. Palin has a small core of followers in the GOP, but otherwise is greatly diminished as a contender.
I was posing it more as a person who has so far succeeded at being nothing more than being famous (Hillary) vs. someone who ultimately has not (Palin). Difficult to know how high in politics Palin would have ever risen without Alaska's prodigious state oil revenues. The lesson from both: don't mistake the fortunes of history for your own talent and accomplishments.
DeleteThere are so many people on the Republican side who simply will not vote for any ticket with her on it. This is a fact; talk to McCain campaign staffers.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'd say there are so many people on the Republican side who want John McCain to simply go away. I'm one of them -- the only reason I voted for McCain/Palin in 2008 is that Sarah Palin was on the ticket.
I think she's in the best role for her right now. She can lob some mortars in the right direction, generate enthusiasm, and otherwise use her positives (which are considerable) without the downside of her negatives (which are also considerable with many).
The parallel with Hillary is a a good one. The difference is that Hillary is the person to beat in her party primarily because of the lack of competition, while Palin is not mentioned at all because of the strong Republican field.
Here's a video on what Vietnam vets and POWs think about Mrs. Palin's 2008 running mate.
DeleteAnd a bit about our current Secretary of State, I might add.
It would have been nice if she had completed her term as Governor of Alaska or tried for some other office to gain more experience. The reality show stuff is silly!Jonathan Carpenter
ReplyDeleteIt would have been nice if she had completed her term as Governor of Alaska or tried for some other office to gain more experience.
DeleteYes, this is at the heart of my concerns. As an actually governing politician, Sarah Palin might have proved to be the next Margaret Thatcher or a complete dud, but we'll never really know now, because Cinderella was whisked away to the ball far too early and, at the time, ultimately for fairly cynical reasons: someone ordered up a "rogue babe" for the ticket. Now, like an aging child celebrity, she's got to figure out how to make the best of how she allowed history and circumstances to deal with her.
Yes, this is at the heart of my concerns.
DeleteYour concerns are stupid. She was whalloped with over $500,000 in legal bills because she was personally responsible for defending herself against a slew of frivolous nuisance suits. Efforts to set up a legal defense fund to assist her triggered another nuisance suit. All that was derived from an anomaly in the Alaska ethics law. She did not have much choice.
Art, I'm missing your cause and effect chain here, perhaps because beyond "Your concerns are stupid" I've no idea what you're talking about, or at least in terms of how it pertains to my comment.
DeleteThe closest I've come so far is that you're saying Palin ran away to join the McCain ticket (to raise money?) because she had $500,000 in legal bills to pay because of a tragic anomaly in the Alaska ethics law. That seems odd to me. But please clarify.
Of course if this factoid isn't related yo my comment, never mind.
There are so many people on the Republican side who simply will not vote for any ticket with her on it. This is a fact; talk to McCain campaign staffers.
ReplyDeleteYou're projecting, Pauli. And the McCain staffer who disliked her was Nicolle Wallace, a skeezy careerist pr hack who's out for herself and no one else. Read Robert Stacy McCain on the pair to which John McCain entrusted his campaign.
Uhhh.... I'm talking about low-level staffers. Volunteers; people walking around knocking on doors in Cleveland. Obviously the higher-ups liked her at the time or she wouldn't have gotten the gig.
DeleteI always *liked* Sarah Palin (see here and here), and I'm saddened by what has seemingly become of her.