I sort of famously looked down on Sarah Palin during the election. My opinion of her has not changed since (if anything, it's gone lower), but it does seem interesting to me that so many people who once championed her are now brushing her name aside as thought she wasn't at one point within votes of being the vice-president of the United States. For a woman to accomplish this (and I know she wasn't the first, but it's still noteworthy, scary as that is in this day and age)is a remarkable thing, and I have to give Palin props for that.
If you found Sarah Palin distasteful, please explain why. If you were a supporter, please explain why. Also, if you were at one time a supporter of Palin, please explain why or why not this may have changed (with you or with people that you know).
I'm extremely curious to see where this one ends up ... me and my random curiosity : )
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As someone from the South, I've seen over and over again people who are proud of their ignorance. People with an education are "uppity" and anyone who strives to live beyond the small town is crazy. I group Sarah Palin in that class of people who value ignorance, who thinks stupid and vapid is cute, and who relied on similar people for her vote.
ReplyDeleteOn the same hand, I think she's very intelligent to have used this strategy. I don't for a minute think that SHE'S stupid--just that she used that appearance to her advantage.
I have no idea. She seemed like a decent person, so far as politicians go. She's like anybody else, I guess: imperfect. :D
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness. I was incredibly involved during the election season (went out and volunteered for Obama and everything). The morning they announced Sarah Palin as the VP for the GOP, I sort of gagged and laughed it off. Until she started gaining momentum.
ReplyDeleteI don't get it. I really don't. She looks down on cosmopolitan America as non-American. Am I not a "real American" because I live in a city? Because I don't vote GOP? Because I want more gun control and I don't hunt? What is this shenanigans? And why is it fooling so many people? You don't put people on a continuum of Americanness. We're diverse. That's what America is, and if you're running for veep of the US, you better learn what your country is all about.
Secondly, I really, really did not appreciate the terrorist accusations she made. I hate fear-mongering in politics as a general rule. Am I a terrorist because Bill Ayers used to teach at my university? Because I would like to listen to what he has to say?
To me, she represents anti-intellectualism. She looks down on higher learning. She sneers at elitists. Well, sorry, but I'd way rather go to college and be an elitist so I might make something out of my life.
Of course, don't get me wrong. I had a lot of Palin supporting high school friends (ha, they couldn't vote). We generally did not make politics a topic of discourse if we didn't want to strangle each other.
Sorry. I just wrote a novel under your blog. Politics is thoroughly unhealthy for me.
I loathe everything that woman represents. First, SHE achieved nothing. She was a Hail Mary pass, chosen by McCain not for her achievements but because of the "outsider" perception, because she is attractive, and because she was female. That itself was a sad comment about McCain not getting things. "Clinton's supporters wanted a woman, so my choosing one will buy their loyalty as women are all the same."
ReplyDeleteI agree wholeheartedly with the notion of her being meant to represent and stoke anti-intellectualism. She mocked and sneered at the educated. She was meant to attract votes by allowing people to see themselves in the candidate...you know what? I would like to feel that the leaders of the free world are smarter and more educated than myself. I would like those same people to be able to use tools that are somewhat more sophisticated than those used in middle school cafeterias. Let's laugh at the nerds...seriously?
I'd say that she was playing dumb (or I guess I should say ignorant) intentionally, but I sadly don't think that's true. She clearly didn't know so much about basic civics-it was scary (for perspective, I still go back and forth on whether George Bush was laughably stupid or incredibly savvy. Sarah Palin did not hit me as savvy at all-just).
I'm probably the only one here (or the only one brave enough) to come out in support of Sarah Palin. Being an educated woman myself, I did have an issue with the way she looked down on educated people, but she was so right on so many other issues for me, that it made little difference. That was her schtick; I get it.
ReplyDeleteShe has run her state with the kind of efficiency that we in California can only dream about. Their budget is in the black. She is a small business advocate, instead of the current trend (at least in CA) of taxing the small businessman/woman out of business or out of state. She is a 2nd amendment supporter. I don't hunt, but I do own several firearms and think it is my Constitutional right. The Supreme Court of our country agrees with us. Her belief was that people had enough common sense to make their own decisions and take care of their own; they didn't need a huge nanny state government to make their decisions for them. In a state that almost outlawed mylar balloons (for God's sake), I couldn't agree more. I could go on about other issues, but I'm sure you get the point.
So when people started coming out and saying that she didn't have enough experience, I didn't really argue the point. You can argue it from both sides. But I supported her because she was right on the issues.
Let the debate continue...
Very briefly (because I'm not supposed to be blogging) I didn't support Sarah Palin because I felt she represented the dark side of power. In other words, power to Palin was about power over others and not about power over herself. It would be too easy for her to abuse her power. In addition she's a hypocrite and shoots endangered animals, which indicates a short-sighted world view that would have been disastrous for both the US and the world.
ReplyDeleteI don't vote (or care, really), but Palin seemed a bit on the dim side. But, I have less-than-genius friends, and it doesn't bother me. I'm not sure what I'm telling you. Oh well.
ReplyDeleteI think Nicole M said it much better than I could ever express myself about the matter.
ReplyDeleteI was impressed with McCain's choice for ten minutes, or until I heard her speak. I'm sure she's a nice person with very human problems, but potentially running the country? No.
ReplyDeleteShe should never point a scolding finger at anyone.
I absolutely detest this woman! The main reason? She appears to be an idiot. Maybe she isnt. But she sure as hell did a good job during the election. I had never even heard of her prior to her nomination. I happened to walk by the TV when she was speaking one day and did a double take because I seriously thought it was Tina Fey. And this is before all the Sat Night Live hooplah!
ReplyDeleteThe problem with assessing any politician is that you rarely get to meet the real person. It's distorted by the media and their own advisors.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, the interference may not be a bad idea in some cases.
I like what Nichole M and mmay said. I lean way closer to mmay but I live in California so I hear what Nichole is saying too.
ReplyDeleteBut just think for one second if Sarah Palin was an African-American woman. 5 kids and one them a pregnant teenager.......no way in Hell she would have been nominated for V.P.
Wow, good conversation here : ) Instead of responding to you all individually (as you all have excellent points, even those that I disagree with ... I can see where you're coming from), I'm going to weigh in a bit more specifically on my feelings for Sarah Palin.
ReplyDeleteFirst, I have no patience with or tolerance for ignorant people. Whether Palin is truly as ignorant as she comes across (unfortunate) or if it's all an act (unforgivable), it was incredibly hard for me to take her seriously.
Secondly, I strongly believe she sold her children out in lieu of a political career. I work a full-time job, but I would never take on a hyper-full-time job where I had to be available 100% of the time because it would sacrifice the time (and quality of time) that I have with my children. I realize her husband had more flexibility in terms of work, but ... well, it's on the record now that her daughter Bristol's boyfriend was "basically living" there. I don't know, me, I'd take that sort of thing as a sign that I needed to be more involved. And if being the governor of a state was stretching me too thin, I wouldn't even dream of what would happen where I to be V.P.
Thirdly, I strongly believe that Palin acted very irresponsibly during her pregnancy with her youngest son, Trig. Believe it or not, I actually respect Palin's choice to continue her pregnancy after learning that Trig had Down's Syndrome. However, flying literally across the country leaking amniotic fluid so that you can fulfill a public speaking engagement when you know darn well you have a high risk pregnancy ... You know, I just have a real problem with that.
Fourthly, I cannot stand hypocrites. She tried to sell herself to the American public as the average Joe, but that is far from an accurate portrayal (the hunting thing, for example--"I hunt, so I'm just like you"). She spent a small fortune on her own wardrobe and clothes for her family not from "Mom and Pop" stores (which would have been a legit claim to her attempted folksy image) but at Saks Fifth Avenue. Those clothes, by the way, were supposed to be returned, but a straight answer to that seems to be in media limbo. Speaking of her kids, she charged the state of Alaska a small fortune to allow her kids to travel with her, fudging the facts to make it appear that their appearances were necessary or even wanted. Disingenuous ... hypocritical ...
I guess that's enough (this is longer than my original post, I think :-)), and I didn't even get into my issues with her politics, but I think maybe that's what my point was ... that it was always about more than politics with Sarah Palin as far as the American people (and the media) were concerned.
HAHAHA, did anyone else notice the "Donate to Sarah" ad right below this? This world is unbefreakinglievable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDelete