Image via Wikipedia Last night’s speech by Sarah Palin at the 2008 Republican National Convention was so unbearable as to be insulting to Pit Bulls, a dog, by the way, totally misunderstood in American culture. But that’s another story. The substitution of sarcasm for substance, sentimentality for leadership, and plain demagoguery for argument sucked every living bit of reality out of that hall. This election is not about being from a small town, having kids, supporting the military, or even being a reformer. It is about building trust and inclusiveness, and offering the kind of intelligent leadership one needs to govern this country. Palin brings none of that to the table. What’s more important to recognize, is that for Palin, enemies are everywhere. When you conceive of the world as a dog fight, no matter how you pretty it up, the future is both brutish and short.
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September 9, 2008 at 3:54 am
True enough, Fred, but – with apologies to Don LaFontaine – in a world where Fox can “cover” the conventions and use words like “bloviate” to describe the Democrat’s while their cross-town rivals at MSNBC yank Keith Oblermann from his anchor duties, do you really think we’re going to get anything but down-home, small-town values and lipstick-wearing canines for the next eight weeks when it comes to covering St. Sarah?
Honestly, this is a woman who calls herself a “pro-life feminist,” yet embraces a party platform that calls for allowing a woman to die on the operating table if her fetus can be saved.
This is a politician who lies about selling state property on eBay that in fact was sold to political supporters – at a loss no less! – during her introductory speech to the nation and the corporate media points-out the lie only long enough to gloss over it without so much as a demand she explain herself.
This is a “reformer” who lobbied for the Bridge to Nowhere only to have Congress take it away from her, who now campaigns on the lie that it was all her idea to begin with.
This is a “fiscal conservative” who left a town of 5,000 people $23M in the hole and, once again, the corporate media stands by mute as she and her running mate (who supports our $12B/month outsourced to KBR and Blackwater fiasco in Iraq but has voted against the last 12 pieces of legislation that would have bolstered Veteran’s benefits!) pimp the status quo like its a cure for the nation’s ills.
I’m not surprised at all; just disgusted that it’s come to this and that the electorate continues to accept it. There is simply no excuse for the American public to allow themselves to be lied to to the extent that they are today except, of course, that we’re more comfortable living with pretty lies than confronting the ugly truth.
Now there’s a soundbite that describes Sarah Palin to a “T,” don’t you think?
September 9, 2008 at 5:35 pm
[...] O’Connor writes in response to my rant on Palin: True enough, Fred, but – with apologies to Don LaFontaine – in a world where Fox can [...]
October 8, 2008 at 12:23 pm
Fred and Jeff,
I found your little gem of a discussion by Googling “palin, demagoguery” after feeling thoroughly disgusted with Gov. Palin’s recent actions.
Thank you for your clarity of thought, your eloquence and your humor. It was a pleasure reading both of your prescient comments, a month before Gov. Palin lower the bar further for American society and American culture.