Slouching towards Gomorrah or bouncing, perkily towards Armageddon?
I know Republicans around the country are breathing a collective sigh of relief that Palin’s head didn’t explode last night but to say that she has passed the test and is now ready for the highest office (as David Brooks asserts this morning in the NYT) is patently ridiculous.
What we saw last night was candidate Bush 2000 in drag…..a plain speaking, naïve, folksy, rube who would probably be great to go to a ballgame or share a beer with, but completely unfit to represent the United States on the world stage.
If last nights debate was for electing the mayor of a second tier American city, like say Cleveland or for electing an Alderman for a south side of Chicago ward then I would think she passed the test but nothing above that.
The water carriers of the GOP in the MSM and on FOX are already touting her "great", "feisty" performance and this spin will shape public opinion in the next few days.
My favorite part of the debate was Palin’s attempt to absolve Bush of all sins by saying it was the past and that if Obama believed in change he shouldn’t be looking backwards…..(Of course if you are a Democratic President and you are involved in a murky land deal from 10 years before you enter the WH, that nets you a paltry $100K profit then its ok to get a special prosecutor and spend 4 years and $100Mn of taxpayers money investigating it but if you are a Republican President and you recklessly take the nation into a $1 trillion dollar war of choice and then screw it up beyond all belief then it’s a mistake that requires one to forgive, forget and move on?)
I guess personal responsibility is a value that only Democrats have to adhere to in national politics.
I will never understand the anti-intellectual streak that seems to run deep in the American body politic. I will never get the "aw shucks populism" that now seems to be a necessary criteria for someone to run successfully for President. (Reagan may have been a populist but he was also an intellectual by todays standards). I guess its become necessary that we want our President to look and act and talk like the schlepps that we are.
It is now more likely that we will NOT end up slouching towards Gomorrah as Robert Bork predicted but rather bounce, perkily all the way into Armageddon with Tina Fey carrying the flag….….or is it wearing the lapel pin of the flag on her common sense every day business suit.
We will find out soon enough!
What we saw last night was candidate Bush 2000 in drag…..a plain speaking, naïve, folksy, rube who would probably be great to go to a ballgame or share a beer with, but completely unfit to represent the United States on the world stage.
If last nights debate was for electing the mayor of a second tier American city, like say Cleveland or for electing an Alderman for a south side of Chicago ward then I would think she passed the test but nothing above that.
The water carriers of the GOP in the MSM and on FOX are already touting her "great", "feisty" performance and this spin will shape public opinion in the next few days.
My favorite part of the debate was Palin’s attempt to absolve Bush of all sins by saying it was the past and that if Obama believed in change he shouldn’t be looking backwards…..(Of course if you are a Democratic President and you are involved in a murky land deal from 10 years before you enter the WH, that nets you a paltry $100K profit then its ok to get a special prosecutor and spend 4 years and $100Mn of taxpayers money investigating it but if you are a Republican President and you recklessly take the nation into a $1 trillion dollar war of choice and then screw it up beyond all belief then it’s a mistake that requires one to forgive, forget and move on?)
I guess personal responsibility is a value that only Democrats have to adhere to in national politics.
I will never understand the anti-intellectual streak that seems to run deep in the American body politic. I will never get the "aw shucks populism" that now seems to be a necessary criteria for someone to run successfully for President. (Reagan may have been a populist but he was also an intellectual by todays standards). I guess its become necessary that we want our President to look and act and talk like the schlepps that we are.
It is now more likely that we will NOT end up slouching towards Gomorrah as Robert Bork predicted but rather bounce, perkily all the way into Armageddon with Tina Fey carrying the flag….….or is it wearing the lapel pin of the flag on her common sense every day business suit.
We will find out soon enough!
posted by Sanjay @ 8:32 AM
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