Sarah Louise Heath Palin in 1984I promise. This will be my last post about Sarah Palin. Ordinarily, I don't get involved in this stuff but also recognize that US politics do have an impact on the rest of the world. In that respect, I reserve the right to make comments. :)
This post actually began as a comment on someone else's site and I decided to follow it up here.
Last night, I listened to her speech and was taken back by several things.
One of the things I realized while listening to her is that she is completely out of touch with anything outside her small sphere. The real struggles of real people in real cities and real homes across the country are so vague to her that it would be like trying to explain physics to a water buffalo. She simply doesn't get it. Not once did she mention homeless people, the mortgage crisis, poverty (and yes, Jon-Jon, it even exists in Alaska!), or any other social issue that the rest of us deal with on a daily basis. Not once did she mention anything she has done for other people that didn't ultimately serve herself.
She was snotty, competitive, snide and snarky. Her speech had a constant undertone of sarcasm. It didn't make her look clever or smart. It just made her look mean. She didn't come across as anyone I would like to meet, even for a short period. Something tells me that no one with similar ambitions would dare to cross her. Her nickname "Sarahcuda" or "Sarah the Barracuda" is probably not far from the mark.
She reminds me of a "type" - and we all knew those types in high school. The hard-driven, ambitious types who would eat their young to get what they want. They stepped over their "collateral losses" and never looked back. They always got their way - if not by persuasion, by bullying.
I bring this up, not because I want to be snarky about Sarah Palin. I bring it up for a larger reason.
These types of people tend to influence popular culture. Certain types of behavior become acceptable in a culture, cued by its leaders. In the same way Ronald Reagan made lack of compassion and prejudice acceptable, Sarah Palin will make sarcasm, raw ambition and lack of compassion acceptable. Anyone who is not like her ~ with similar values and aspirations in the world ~ will be ignored - or even worse, "Othered". Anyone who doesn't fit into her very narrow view of the outside world will be bullied or silenced.
She's Dick Cheney with a vagina.
She is not a good role model for young women.
My opinion. Nothing more. Nothing less.
~*
28 comments:
Isn't that funny. As I read through your offering, which I fully agree with, I was going to write: "she's Dick Cheney with boobs." Then you went a little lower in the anatomy, and it works even better. Hear-hear.
Dick Cheney with a vagina- that is so well put.
It may be your last post - you know I support that, but for all you said, especially that line, I am so grateful that you wrote this.
Thanks for your assessment, Chani. It helps to see my own opinion coming back at me in print, an affirmation of my own first impressions. And like you, I'm not going to belabor this at all. Rather, I will focus on what I want to do next.
I don't do well against the prevailing culture, if/when it turns negative. But they will not silence me. You can count on that.
You describe the type perfectly and you're absolutely right. The last thing we need in this country is more anti-intellectualism and blind allegiance to the cool kids.
Well done.
(Fran sent me the link to your post.)
"Dick Cheney with a vagina" may be the best thing I've read all day. And her gun is loaded with Bibleshot.
Thank you from me as well.
She frightens me. Anyone who can proclaim (in a speech in June) that the Iraq war is God's task for America and the a natural gas pipeline in Alaska is God's will should not be in the White House.
Girl, I am with you!
Chanda and I sat horrified last night, as we listened to the sewage spewing from Palin's lips. Oh. My. God. She had nothing to say about any kind of platform, unless that platform was Obama bashing, and her speech writer (because, damn! I could practically see the puppet strings)consistently used pieces of Barack Obama's speech in a twisted and convoluted manner that indicates to me that the Republicans have no other plan than spewing their usual vitriol and lies.
Give me the dignity and vision of Barack Obama any day!
And now I'm going to have to turn off the TV before my head explodes, when John McCain totters his ass out there tonight and rehashes the same old tired garbage.
I completely agree. I wrote a post about her too, after reading yours.
Good one!
Good piece, Chani. I like the Dick Cheney comparison. Maybe your formula works the other way, too? Cheney as Palin with a dick? I think many of us have been writing about her today, and rightly so. Voices other than those of the enraptured conservative "base" MUST be heard! Thanks for yours...
It was a pretty safe speech for her to make. She basically stood in front of a partisan crowd and told them what they wanted to hear. It's the easiest ovation she'll ever get.
I don't think she'll do so well when she steps out of the convention center and into the real world.
Well, you read what I thought of her speech.
Well, you read what I thought of her speech.
HAHAHAHA - love you Chani
Yeah. I thought she came off as just plain mean. It's weird because there was a tiny part of me that wanted to like her. But she had nothing endearing about her except her good looking family. I love the Dick Cheney comparison too. The adulation in the eyes of her audience made me a little sick. I actually saw a woman mouth to her neighbor I love her, I love her. Her attacks were so hateful, I seriously considered donating some money to the Obama campaign. And I've never donated money to any political party in my life.
I wasn't surprised at how the GOP was trying to appeal to "anger." I kept thinking, what the hell are you guys angry about, you've been in power for 8 damn years, shouldn't you guys be happy?
Well, Chani, what can I say? She DID wear what was known as a "bitchflip" in high school...what can one expect? I didn't watch her speech, already knew what it was going to be. You know what they say--a good offense is the best defense, and it's my understanding (from talking to a few folks at work about it today) that her "meanness" was about as offensive as it could get. One lady said if she'd been Elvis, she would have shot out the televison about halfway in.
At any rate, hey--they got "God" in the White House 8 years ago, no matter the cost; now they can get a woman in, too. Funny, and I was thinking of Dick Cheney on the way home...
:)
P.S. This is the kind of behaviour the "evangelical" right not only condones, but will further support by giving her and McSame their vote. And, ummm...what's so Christian about any of it? Oh yeah, nothing. But the wolves are wearing some mighty woolly clothing, and that's what counts most, right? As Dr. Evil would say...
Riiiiiigh-t.
It's amazing to me how two people who witness the same behavior can come away with totally different opinions of said behavior.
My parents are staunch republicans and have been as long as I can remember. As we talked this morning, as we do every morning, she was going on and on about how much she LOVED Sarah Palin and her speech and everything about her.
I sat there, trying to keep my mouth shut, shaking my head in disbelief. I had a totally different reaction to the speech last night... It was similar to yours and though I'd like to come up with a better word, the one that keeps ringing in my head is "mean". She was just mean!
And to make matters worse, the opposition, who is being attacked, are defending her in trying to take the high road!
I just can't believe we accept this in our society... and that anyone would vote for someone who is so obviously a good example of what we should all strive NOT to be.
(sorry for the novella ~ I Haven't stopped by for awhile so I had some catching up to do I s'pose) :)
I was struck by all of the highlights today. Every highlight I heard was a joke, a crude and demeaning joke. What the hell is the convention for? Is it a skit fest?
Also, this boggles my wee mind. She is being heralded as saving the convention with her speech. How many people think she actually wrote her own speech? Why is it that the populace puts so much emphasis on one speech.
That lady and her Cheney balls gives me chills.
i've been sort of out of this loop and preoccupied, but myh hubby watched the speech last night and said she was too smooth and likable, and that there are too many people out there who will be drawn in by her "personality" and not pay attentiont to her politics. He's scared.
And to think that I was scared of Hillary Clinton.
There are so many incredibly smart, talented and compassionate women in the world, you would think they could come up with better role models and especially, better political candidates than this.
From everything I have read, the prospect of her becoming President is utterly terrifying, and McCain's age is not in the least reassuring.
I like that you were able to hear what was not said in her speech. Excellent observations. I think the Mckain committed a an act of desperation by choosing her as a running mate. I believe he lost a lot of credibility by making this choice.
I could not agree more. I sat down to watch her with an open mind. I felt like she should get the benefit of the doubt, what with being raked over the coas by the press. I was sadly disappointed. The more I listened the more disgusted I got,particularly when she intimated that with the constant threat of another terrorist attack on the US, it was laughable that Obama was worried about whether we read our POW's rights to them. That to me shows a gross lack of understanding of what it means to be American. "Hey Sarah, it's called human rights. Just how low do you wish to sink?"
Couldn't agree more. She was nasty and sarcasm just dripped. This is what she was told to do, and the speech of course was written by a man. I guess she is so enamoured of the job that she will do as she is told. I'm learning that the campaign probably won't let her even speak to reporters at all now but will simply respond to legitimate questions with charges of "liberal media sexism." I have no idea how this is playing to the average person who gets all his news from the ads. Sigh i worry.
Somehow i suspect that this is NOT the last post you will write about her.
Best line i've heard all day "Dick Cheney with a vagina."
H ah aha ha ha!
You're funny when you're pissed.
GREAT post, Chani. You nailed the feeling I've had about her.
Those of us outside the US are watching all of this very carefully. Unfortunately (and sometimes fortunately) what you guys do or who you chose affects all the rest of is.
Although ironically, inspite of having female anatomy, she is virulently ant-women's rights.
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