Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Crazier than we ever thought

Todd Purdum's Vanity Fair profile on Sarah "Whackjob" Palin is definitely worth a read. Yes, this woman was nominated by our only opposition party to be a heart beat of 72 year old cancer survivor away from the Presidency.
What does it say about the nature of modern American politics that a public official who often seems proud of what she does not know is not only accepted but applauded? What does her prominence say about the importance of having (or lacking) a record of achievement in public life? Why did so many skilled veterans of the Republican Party—long regarded as the more adroit team in presidential politics—keep loyally working for her election even after they privately realized she was casual about the truth and totally unfit for the vice-presidency? Perhaps most painful, how could John McCain, one of the cagiest survivors in contemporary politics—with a fine appreciation of life’s injustices and absurdities, a love for the sweep of history, and an overdeveloped sense of his own integrity and honor—ever have picked a person whose utter shortage of qualification for her proposed job all but disqualified him for his?

19 comments:

Joseph Sucher, MD FACS said...

Maybe because McCain wanted to lose?.... maybe. Who the heck knows.

Joe

Anonymous said...

Perhaps because he was/is big on snap decisons, doggedley adhered to and not subject to re-consideration regardless of later developed facts. Does anyone wonder what he would have done during the Cuban missle crisis?

Felix Kasza said...

Am I the only one who is noticing the irony here? The current President never ran a small grocery store, much less a state. Mrs. Palin is far better qualified than Mr. Obama.

But then, what may one expect from _Vanity Fair_?

Jeffrey Parks MD FACS said...

Felix-
If by irony you mean that most of America would feel more comfortable having the night manager from their local Wallmart(let alone a senator from Illinois) rather than the governor of Alaska as President, then yeah, I guess you have a point.....

Anonymous said...

1:How does she "Seems proud of what she does not know"? 1 example will suffice.
2: Totally unfit for the Vice Presidency, I present to you Albert Gore and Joe Biden, somewhere there'e 2 Villages missing their idiots...
3: McCains not all that smart.

Anonymous said...

After that 2007 statement about how he was able to walk freely in Baghdad... I knew he was not the man I had thought he was. I am of no political party, but I was stunned and saddened at this lie specifically. The wheels probably fell off long ago.
-SCNS

Anonymous said...

I don't know ole frankie boy. Mac lived 5.5 years in Hanoi. What have you done that is comparable? Too bad he picked a ditz to be his VP.

Liz said...

I agree that Sarah Palin may be somewhat green when it comes to what passes for politics these days.

I have consistently found her to be uncomplicated and capable.

Maybe what we don't need is just another slick talker.

I have yet to hear one thing about her that would prove her to be as heinous as the Left would have us believe.

Travis said...

It's a pretty good article, but there was very little that was new about Palin in it. She's a nasty piece of work. Probably the most interesting thing about it is that, even now, people on the national stage aren't willing to go against her publicly. Only the Alaska pols let their names be used.

The key thing about her being picked is how reckless the choice was for McCain. He barely knew her, but with his first choice, Lieberman, ruled out, he wanted to make a game-changing move. I am sympathetic to underdogs like McCain in 2008, but you know, I actually have to live in this country. My mind reels at what a President Palin would be capable of.

Anonymous said...

Buckeye, might wanta ask your Gas Passers to check their Scavenging systems...sounds like you've been getting a little Nitrous on the side...
You know who REALLY IS a 48 yo Smoker's Heartbeat away from the Presidency??? "Smokin" Joe Biden!!!, you know, the guy who was impressed cause Barak showers and doesn't have a Jerri Kurl like all those other Colored Politicians...
Joe Biden, Joe Biden, Joe Biden... Obama's best Life Insurance Policy... the Smartest Vice President in history, and if you don't believe it just ask him...

OK I admit, Barak was pretty smart pickin this idiot...its like how average lookin chicks always have really ugly friends....

Frank

Anonymous said...

Travis, I completely agree.

My added personal view is that she is one of those people who has miraculously stumbled through life talking out of her ass. She insults everyone by not taking the time to educate herself or care to be prepared for anything she does. I have absolutely no respect for her in any role of responsibility. However she would be great on HSN :0)
-SCNS

Jeffrey Parks MD FACS said...

Frank-
Sarah Palin notoriously refused the coaching/teaching offered by the McCain campaign people. She ostensibly "prepped" for that Katie Couric interview for a week. That went well, eh? To her, knowledge mattered less than perception. She was the outsider, the Maverickess and that ought to have been good enough daggumit!

So yeah, she was proud of her ignorance, even flaunted it without any trace of shame. The fact that nearly a half of this country has bought into such drivel scares the beejesus out of me.

Good points Travis. Someday read David F Wallace's piece "Up Simba" about the 2000 McCain campaign. The change that occured in McCain's outlook over the next 8 years is just tragic. He succumbed to cynicism and his own ambition. It's sad....

Anonymous said...

Buckeye, I ask for examples and you give me cliche's.... here's some Bullets for ya...
Who was it that........??????

1: Talked about how FDR went on TV to reassure the nation after the Stock Market crashed in 1929??

2: Introduced his running mate as "BARACK AMERICA!!!!!"????

3: Exhorted a Quadraplegic to "STAND UP JOE!!!!" at a campaign rally... The other Joe was in a wheelchair.

4: Said of his Running Mate "He's the first mainstream African American who's bright, and clean, and articulate, I mean thats a Storybook, Man!!!!!...."???

5: Joked that you can't go into a Convenience Store in Delaware unless you have a "Slight Indian Accent"??? OK, he might have something with that last one...

THAT's the guy who's a Small Cell Carcinoma away from the Oval Office.... and Oh yeah, Sarah Palin has more executive experience than either one of em'

5 Bullets, and all you can give me is Katie Couric...does anyone still watch her???

Frank

Travis said...

Frank - Joe Biden has always been a noted buffoon, extremely prone to gaffs and public embarrassments. He is also extremely vain: he never had a chance at the presidency, but he has run several times. He likes to hear himself talk. In all these ways, he is quite similar to Sarah Palin.

However, the similarities end there. Biden is a noted foreign policy expert. He's crafted major pieces of legislation that are now law. He shaped the U.S. response to Bosnia. In all, he's played reasonably important roles in American politics since the 1970s. Not a star, just continuously present and capable.

The contrast between a man who can meet with hostile Soviet foreign ministers and a woman who could not answer spitball questions from Katie Couric could not be more apparent to a fair-minded observer.

But yes, as you note, he sometimes says stupid things in public. I don't know why you think that's important. But keep working on that gaffe list, it will get bigger.

Kellie said...

What do you think of Palin's resignation as governor of Alaska? Kind of like a quitter, eh? How would you like it if she was the "lame duck" president. Should she just quit with over a year left in her presidency because all that is just "politics as usual"?

But she can see Russia from her yard.

Felix Kasza said...

The amount of hate commingled with ignorance on the part of Palin's opponents is remarkable -- have you people no shame?

To the latest commenter, Kellie: If Palin holds office, your friends rant at her, telling her to go away (resign), and asking why she didn't abort her child. If Palin resigns, you people rant that she's a quitter. Is it possible that you are just envious of a woman who, from very modest beginnings, made her own way? A woman that is, judging from the frothing-at-the-mouth ravings here and elsewhere, smarter than her detractors by far?

Oh, and Palin never said that she could see Russia from her backyard. Just another one of those lies that the Left is so fond of. (The actual comment concerned the proximity of Russia and Alaska, and there are indeed two islands, including the one of which Palin spoke, from which you can see Russia.)

May I recommend a post from the Reclusive Leftist? http://www.reclusiveleftist.com/2009/07/04/feminists-and-the-mystery-of-sarah-palin/ A committed feminist and Leftist, the author takes her fellow travellers to the woodshed over the irrational hatred towards Palin. And you know what? You may not like what she shows you; you may find that you have lost some of your principles along the way. Time to go find your spines!

To repeat the URL:
http://www.reclusiveleftist.com/2009/07/04/feminists-and-the-mystery-of-sarah-palin/

Cheers,
Felix.

Jeffrey Parks MD FACS said...

Felix-
I have a great wensite for ya: Conservatives4Palin.com....You'll love it over there!

My feelings on her resignation: unsurprised given that the past 10 months of behavior have cofirmed she's a certified nutcase.

Felix Kasza said...

@Buckeye Surgeon: Actually, I doubt that I would feel at home at the website you pointed out. If I must accept a label, the best fit is "libertarian, moderated by a conscience". GOP politicians are just as corrupt as their Democrat counterparts.

No, I am just disgusted by the truly appalling ad hominem attacks against Palin; I have not seen the like as far as I can remember (I am 44). Must I really mention Andrew Sullivan, whose feverish imagination was and is unstoppable in the search for Trig Palin's real mother? (That would be Bristol Palin, according to Sullivan.)

Do I have to point out that Obama has no, zero, nada experience in any executive position; two scant years as a senator; and a string of complete failures as a community organiser? You can argue that Palin is inexperienced, and I am willing to listen -- that argument is debatable but eminently reasonable. But why do we not apply the same standards to Obama, who cannot even extemporise for two minutes without a teleprompter?

I figure the opposite numbers to the unreflected Palin-haters are the morons that are now called "nirthers" (after a LOLcat image which has a kitten saying about Obama's birth certificate: "nirth certifikit? I ates it" or some such thing). The nirthers are as unhinged as Sullivan and his gang. Of course, only Palin's home town was worth sending multiple journalistic SWAT teams ....

Cheers,
Felix.

Anonymous said...

The most highly revered Urban Dictionary has a new entry...

www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=pull+a+Palin

-SCNS