Those Who Follow Sarah Palin are Sowing the Seeds of Their Own Destruction
Gandalf Grey
Published on Monday, November 23, 2009 by The Guardian/UK
Those Who Follow Sarah Palin are Sowing the Seeds of Their Own Destruction
The former Alaska governor represents thwarted aspirations and brooding
resentment. But she backs policies which would increase them
by Gary Younge
In the film, The American President, the president's speechwriter Lewis
Rothschild (played by Michael J Fox) appeals to the commander-in-chief to
take a firm, clear stand against the Right. "People want leadership, Mr
President, and in the absence of genuine leadership, they'll listen to
anyone who steps up to the microphone." he says. "They want leadership.
They're so thirsty for it they'll crawl through the desert toward a mirage,
and when they discover there's no water, they'll drink the sand."
The president (played by Michael Douglas) retorts that the American
electorate's problem is not a lack of leadership but an undiscerning palate.
"We've had presidents who were beloved, who couldn't find a coherent
sentence with two hands and a flashlight," he says. "People don't drink the
sand because they're thirsty. They drink the sand because they don't know
the difference."
As the faithful wait in line in small towns across the country (some for
more than a day) to see Sarah Palin on her book tour, the question of
whether the US is deprived of a competent political class or gets the
leadership it both deserves and truly desires seems as pertinent as ever.
On the one hand there is roughly between a quarter and a third of America
that will clearly believe anything. That is the figure that strongly
approved of George Bush's handling of the economy last year after the
collapse of Lehman Brothers and the bailout. That same figure, in the
immediate aftermath of hurricane Katrina, believed that Bush's response to
the disaster was "about right", and still supports the war in Iraq.
That also happens to be approximately the same proportion of Americans who
back Palin for president. Most data suggest the overlap is considerable.
Palin's rise to prominence, from little-known governor to one of the most
popular and arguably most charismatic Republicans in the country in just a
year, has been startling. She had a thin record when she was picked to run
as vice-president. Today, having quit the Alaska governorship mid-term and
published a bestseller, only her wallet is thicker.
Her resignation speech was so rambling that you would have struggled to find
a coherent sentence with an industrial-strength searchlight. "Let me go back
to a comfortable analogy for me - sports," she announced. "I use it because
you're naive if you don't see the national full-court press picking away
right now: A good point guard drives through a full court press, protecting
the ball, keeping her eye on the basket ... and she knows exactly when to
pass the ball so that the team can win." This was not the answer to a
hostile interview from the "liberal media elite" but a prepared speech of
her own making.
It would be easy to discount her as just a media phenomenon who would go
away if we stopped talking about her. That would be a mistake. It would be
even easier to poke fun at her as just a small town hick who has blundered
into the limelight with a nod, wink and a "you betcha". That too would be a
mistake.
For the very things that liberal commentators ridicule her for - being
inarticulate, unworldly, simplistic and hokey - are the very things that
make her attractive to her base. Indeed, every time she is taunted she
becomes more popular because it reaffirms the (not entirely mistaken) view
that the deeply held values of a sizable section of the population are being
disparaged.
The same dynamic was true for George Bush, but with one crucial exception.
Bush is the scion of a wealthy family who turned his back on the cultural
trappings of his class while embracing the social confidence and political
and financial entitlement that came with it. Palin had none of those
advantages: she grew up far from power and privilege in every sense.
The difference in their comfort levels when put on the spot with simple
questions was evident when each was asked about their newspaper reading
habits. Bush was cocky: "The best way to get the news is from objective
sources. And the most objective sources I have are people on my staff who
tell me what's happening in the world." Palin froze: "I've read most of them
... all of them, any of them that have been in front of me over all these
years."
In her world, Ivy League is a slur; cities are not the "real America"; and
those who know the price of arugula but cannot handle a rifle are not to be
trusted. Palin is the antithesis of an aspirational figure. Her supporters
love her not because they want to be like her, but because they already are
like her. So for better and for worse, Palin is an entirely self-made - and,
if her book is anything to go by, self-invented - personification of the
kind of political animal Bush sought to both emulate and nurture. Bush was
Palin-lite.
To that extent her performance over the past year has been more tragic than
comic. Palin represents the thwarted aspirations and brooding resentment of
a large section of white working class Americans. That is not to suggest
that her supporters are necessarily racist, but polls show her support is
racially exclusive.
Her base has plenty to be resentful about. Their wages are stagnant, their
economic security has eroded, and their prospects for social and economic
advancement have stalled. In 2004, white Americans were the only racial
group for whom the poverty rate actually rose. The fact that it was lower
than every other group is of little comfort. Demographically, they are set
to become a minority by 2042. Geopolitically, the country for which they
display so much patriotic fervour has lost one war, is losing another, and
is regularly lectured by others about the urgency of putting its fiscal
house in order. America is not what it used to be. The country they keep
saying they want to "take back" no longer exists and is not returning.
So when Palin rails against Washington DC, bank bailouts and elitist media
she catches their ear. The longer unemployment keeps rising, house prices
keep falling and universal healthcare continues to be elusive, the more ears
there will be. Motivated, organised and angry, Palin's wing of the
Republican party does not have the numbers to make bad things happen; but,
as it showed over the summer during the healthcare town hall meetings, its
determination to derail good things should not be underestimated.
The trouble is that while many of their grievances are well founded, their
affection is certainly misplaced. None of their problems can be remedied by
the politics championed by Palin. Indeed, the greater the traction her
politics gets, the worse things will be for her base. The America whose
passing they mourn was lost precisely because of the freemarket, low-tax,
warmongering agenda she advocates.
To crawl through the desert in search of water only to find sand is
disappointing; to not know the difference between water and sand is
delusional; but to go looking for sand in the belief that it will truly
quench your thirst, not once but twice, well that is truly depressing.
� 2009 Guardian News and Media Limited
Gary Younge is a Guardian columnist and feature writer based in the US
--
NOTICE: This post contains copyrighted material the use of which has not
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believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright
Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107
"Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike,
that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans--born in
this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud
of our ancient heritage--and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing
of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to
which we are committed today at home and around the world.
"
-John F. Kennedy, 1961
Dave Heil
> http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/11/23-2
>
>
> Published on Monday, November 23, 2009 by The Guardian/UK
>
> Those Who Follow Sarah Palin are Sowing the Seeds of Their Own Destruction
>
> The former Alaska governor represents thwarted aspirations and brooding
> resentment. But she backs policies which would increase them
>
> by Gary Younge
>
> In the film, The American President, the president's speechwriter Lewis
> Rothschild (played by Michael J Fox) appeals to the commander-in-chief to
> take a firm, clear stand against the Right. "People want leadership, Mr
> President, and in the absence of genuine leadership, they'll listen to
> anyone who steps up to the microphone." he says. "They want leadership.
> They're so thirsty for it they'll crawl through the desert toward a mirage,
> and when they discover there's no water, they'll drink the sand."
It's a *movie*. For God's sake, Goofdorf, can't you steal any better
articles?
Dänk 1010011010
> http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/11/23-2
>
> Published on Monday, November 23, 2009 by The Guardian/UK
>
> Those Who Follow Sarah Palin are Sowing the Seeds of Their Own Destruction
But what was strange was that although Sarah Palin was hated and
despised by everybody, although every day and a thousand times a day,
on the Internet, on the telescreen, in newspapers, in books, her
theories were refuted, smashed, ridiculed, held up to the general gaze
for the pitiful rubbish that they were in spite of all this, her
influence never seemed to grow less. Always there were fresh dupes
waiting to be seduced by her. A day never passed when spies and
saboteurs acting under her directions were not unmasked by the Thought
Police.
She was the commander of a vast shadowy army, an underground network
of conspirators dedicated to the overthrow of the State. The Tea
Party, its name was supposed to be. There were also whispered stories
of a terrible book, a compendium of all the heresies, of which Sarah
Palin was the author and which circulated clandestinely here and
there. It was a book with a title. People referred to it, if at all,
simply as "Going Rogue." But one knew of such things only from
Palin's recent appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show. Neither the Tea
Party nor the book was a subject that any ordinary Democrat would
mention if there was a way of avoiding it.
-- 1984
brushoff
Only the 25% retartos like her book.
Gandalf Grey
"D�nk 1010011010" <dan...@rocketmail.com> wrote in message
news:e8f6c8ea-b7ab-4c34...@b25g2000prb.googlegroups.com...
On Nov 23, 12:51 pm, "Gandalf Grey" <valino...@gmail.com> wrote:
> http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/11/23-2
>
> Published on Monday, November 23, 2009 by The Guardian/UK
>
> Those Who Follow Sarah Palin are Sowing the Seeds of Their Own Destruction
But what was strange was that although Sarah Palin was hated and
despised by everybody, although every day and a thousand times a day,
on the Internet, on the telescreen, in newspapers, in books, her
theories were refuted, smashed, ridiculed, held up to the general gaze
for the pitiful rubbish that they were in spite of all this, her
influence never seemed to grow less. Always there were fresh dupes
waiting to be seduced by her. A day never passed when spies and
saboteurs acting under her directions were not unmasked by the Thought
Police.
She was the commander of a vast shadowy army, an underground network
of conspirators dedicated to the overthrow of the State. The Tea
Party, its name was supposed to be. There were also whispered stories
of a terrible book,
Not terrible. Just badly written.
John Q Public
Still scaring the pants off ya isn't she leftnuts, Sarah's approval
61%, BO's 48%
If she gets nomination and wins you all will kill yourselves for the
shamin you will
get.
Lets look at those book sale numbers tooooooooo
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Phlip
>> Not terrible. Just badly written.
>
> Still scaring the pants off ya isn't she leftnuts,
The hatred & ignorance she represents? yes. When Fascism came to America, it
came wrapped in the flag.
Her hopes for 2012? Bring her on; Obama will pulverize her.
> Sarah's approval 61%,
> BO's 48%
How's her approval rating among Alaskans, regarding her actual term? otherwise
you are comparing "I want to fuck her while she prattles about small time
country values" to "Not cleaning up after Bush fast enough"...
And if Obama refused to appear at press conferences with any microphones ... can
you imaging the screaming from your demagogues?
> Lets look at those book sale numbers tooooooooo
> HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
You mean the books that weren't bought up by far-right corporations to pump up
the numbers?
Gandalf Grey
"John Q Public" <my2c...@me.com> wrote in message
news:2009112513165975249-my2cents@mecom...
> On 2009-11-25 12:08:05 -0500, "Gandalf Grey" <vali...@gmail.com> said:
>
>>
>> "D�nk 1010011010" <dan...@rocketmail.com> wrote in message
>> news:e8f6c8ea-b7ab-4c34...@b25g2000prb.googlegroups.com...
>> On Nov 23, 12:51 pm, "Gandalf Grey" <valino...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/11/23-2
>>>
>>> Published on Monday, November 23, 2009 by The Guardian/UK
>>>
>>> Those Who Follow Sarah Palin are Sowing the Seeds of Their Own
>>> Destruction
>>
>> But what was strange was that although Sarah Palin was hated and
>> despised by everybody, although every day and a thousand times a day,
>> on the Internet, on the telescreen, in newspapers, in books, her
>> theories were refuted, smashed, ridiculed, held up to the general gaze
>> for the pitiful rubbish that they were in spite of all this, her
>> influence never seemed to grow less. Always there were fresh dupes
>> waiting to be seduced by her. A day never passed when spies and
>> saboteurs acting under her directions were not unmasked by the Thought
>> Police.
>>
>> She was the commander of a vast shadowy army, an underground network
>> of conspirators dedicated to the overthrow of the State. The Tea
>> Party, its name was supposed to be. There were also whispered stories
>> of a terrible book,
>>
>> Not terrible. Just badly written.
>
> Still scaring the pants off ya isn't she leftnuts,
It's always scary to face the reality of real American fascism and stupid
jingoism. She'll never be president, that's not what's scary. What's scary
is the extent to which morons like you actually hold a pathetic loser like
Sarah up as an example of excellence.
Lamont Cranston
Approval at what? Being a bimbo? ROTFL!
5279 Dead, 412 since 1/20/09
Maybe it's 61% among Republicans. The party's been pretty much taken
over by the nuts, you know.
Steve
...and Zepp fills his depends again.. Good lord, they must be XXXXXL
size depends to fit him...
Dänk 1010011010
> It's always scary to face the reality of real American fascism and stupid
> jingoism. She'll never be president, that's not what's scary. What's scary
> is the extent to which morons like you actually hold a pathetic loser like
> Sarah up as an example of excellence.
You miss the point of my rectified passage from George Orwell's
'1984.' In the novel, the enemy of Big Brother and the Party is
Emmanuel Goldstein, the ultimate heretic and subversive, yet he
doesn't really exist and is an imaginary creation of the Party which
it uses as bait to attract and identify thought criminals.
In other words, Sarah Palin's publicity and resulting popularity is
the work of the Democrat party. The goal is to neutralize what's left
of the Republican party, so its rightarded constituency must be
tricked into supporting the worst possible presidential candidate in
2012.
Rightards tend to be reactionary when it comes to socialism: anything
the Democrats support they oppose, and vice-versa.
Therefore, all the Democrats have to do is pretend to hate Sarah
Palin, and this makes the rightards love her.
The more Democrats treat Sarah Palin like the Antichrist, the more
rightarded followers she will attract. If Sarah Palin attracts enough
support to win the Republican nomination, then Obama will certainly
win. If Palin does not secure the Republican nomination, her
rightarded disciples will run her as an independent, thus splitting
the rightard vote and ensuring Obama will win.
The Republican party does not want Palin to run, she will be the final
nail in their coffin. All the hype surrounding Sarah Palin is brought
to you courtesy of the Democrat party's propaganda department. Like
Emmuanel Goldstein, Sarah Palin is nothing but an image created by the
Party, to provide an imaginary enemy for loyal Party members to hate,
and as bait to trap those who might pose a threat to the Party.