Sarah Palin October 13, 2008 Newsweek cover upsets some Republicans
That darn liberal media is at it again! FOX sets 'em straight. For GOD SAKES, you can't burst the myth of Sarah! How embarrassing!
John C. Dvorak has the video of the indignant FOXies posted at his excellent blog.
The Newsweek story on Palin itself is pretty interesting.
The Palin Problem
Yes, she won the debate by not imploding. But governing requires knowledge, and mindless populism is just that?mindless.
A key argument for Palin, in essence, is this: Washington and Wall Street are serving their own interests rather than those of the broad whole of the country, and the moment requires a vice president who will, Cincinnatus-like, help a new president come to the rescue. The problem with the argument is that Cincinnatus knew things. Palin sometimes seems an odd combination of Chauncey Gardiner from "Being There" and Marge from "Fargo."This does summarize something that really hits a nerve for me: I despise know-nothingism. It's not anti-elitist country sensibility--or even a love of guns and hunting--that bothers me. For heaven sake, I've spent enough years living in rural areas and I certainly support the legal right to hunt responsibly for game animals.
Is this an elitist point of view? Perhaps, though it seems only reasonable and patriotic to hold candidates for high office to high standards. Elitism in this sense is not about educational or class credentials, not about where you went to school or whether you use "summer" as a verb. It is, rather, about the pursuit of excellence no matter where you started out in life. Jackson, Lincoln, Truman, Eisenhower, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan and Clinton were born to ordinary families, but they spent their lives doing extraordinary things, demonstrating an interest in, and a curiosity about, the world around them. This is much less evident in Palin's case.
But ignoring all reality and buying the disingenuous myths of Palinism is not a true part of that sensibility.
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