Unworthy of a Response
'Criticism has its place, of course. And yet, on Palin I've come to favor a different approach—one that refuses to collude with the media-driven farce. To respond to an opponent, even harshly, even rudely, is to accord her a certain respect—to treat her as worthy of a response. But Palin is worthy of no such thing. She stands for nothing beyond her own self-promotion. She craves attention, and negative attention is a form of attention. Even ridicule can be a form of flattery. Better to bow out, to decline the provocation, since responding to her perpetuates and legitimates the illusion that she’s a serious player in our nation’s politics. I, for one, refuse to play that silly little game. And I wish more of her critics felt the same way. Instead of wasting their analytical and polemical talents on the topic, they could work to change the subject to something more substantive and deny Palin what she most greedily craves: the spotlight.'
--Damon Linker, in a recent article in The New Republic. You can review earlier mentions of the hollow Palin phenomenon here. Elsewhere on the lunatic right wing, former Nixon speechwriter Pat Buchanan has officially jumped the shark, arguing--or perhaps I shoud say "arguing"--that by deciding to try a terrorist in court, Obama is betting his presidency. Time for your meds, Pat.
17 Comments:
I guess there are a lot of Palin haters out there. I don't think she is qualified to be President, but has more qualifications than our current President (as we have now discovered). Maybe she is too honest and open for modern day America. How dare her keep that baby, and talk values!
Kip Marlow
Right Wing Radical
Oh, please - the right wing is fracturing their own party with hysterical nonsense. They aren't the only ones who are angry:
http://bit.ly/5K4TIZ
Good to see your name here, Kip. Okay, at least we agree that she's not qualified to be president. That's a start. While I'm no big fan of Obama, I'd have to say he's at least got a serious grasp on the issues one needs for the job, unlike either Sarah or his predecessor, whose serial messes he's now charged with cleaning up.
When real life comes to so closely resemble a Franz Kafka movie, I find that laughter is the best response.
But indifference also works. Especially in this case.
Sarah Jane as a presidential contender is indeed a bit Kafkaesque.
I, for one am glad Sarah came on the scene just to be mocked by Tina Fey. Funny stuff!
Harking as far back as Nixon, I've come to see that the "if we don't look it'll go away" attitude doesn't work with American Presidents or wannabes either. Beneath comment? If we don't comment someone else will.
Now that you mention it, you're absolutely right about that, June. Good point. And the Tina Fey impersonation of Palin makes me laugh just to think about it. She was brilliant, and also did a service to the country to help show how crazy it all was.
June, that's the stance of the prophet speaking out against social injustice and wrong. I agree with it completely.
But here's the thing: Palin is an airhead. She'd vapid. She's been promoted by the right wing in part because she's the new Monica Lewinsky; they want to use her to being down another Democratic President. It's bread and circuses while Rome burns. Tina Fey's mockery is a very appropriate response.
It's not that this is beneath comment. It's that the media circus around it is hugely overblown and is itself beneath contempt. Giving this much ink to a non-story is exactly how the media was duped, and used, around Clinton, etc. Am I the only one who see this pattern repeating itself?
I agree with June & Art. The scarey thing about Palin is just how far she has come and will go, driven by a narcissistic personality disorder rarely seen in a woman. You have to wonder where she gets the balls to counter all the cruel backlash, but it's part of the disorder. One can argue that the modern world was, in large part, created by driven, narcissistic people, but the lack of content in Palin is what makes it frightening.
When she was first nominated, I thought she must have been an underground operative for the Democrats. I didn't think any Republican in their right mind would take her remotely seriously.
I am shocked her 15 minutes of fame aren't over yet, but under the category of saying something "nice", I would say she truly seems to believe everything she says, so at least we know where she stands. It makes it much easier to cast a ballot against her.
Today's NYTimes magazine has an interesting take on why so many women have such a strong aversion to her:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/magazine/29FOB-wwln-t.html?_r=1&ref=magazine
Kim, you said exactly how I feel and think about the whole thing, too. I find it simply unbelievable that *anyone* could have ever taken her seriously.
I know a tiny little bit about Alaskan politics, through a friend, and I can pass on that she was pretty much universally laughed at by folks even before she was Governor. Alaskan politics can be weird, though, as things the bush and the cities often have very different views on life.
John, I read the NYTimes magazine article. Yeah, it resonates with me. Loathe as I am to admit it, to succumb to the "you're just jealous" stereotype, I confess, it bothers me deeply that a woman whose seemingly only redeeming quality is being hot could actually be considered presidential.
It gets to me in a personal place.
If it's any consolation, Kim, she's only considered presidential by unserious people. And I think I can almost guarantee that that will never constitute a majority of voting Americans.
Hey dude,,,you are the same blogger that said Obama would never get elected. Don't count out Palin just becasue you fringe Eastside Coventry types don;t like her. Plus, name me some left wing women who are hot like her??
mfh
Marcy Kaptur has more smarts and substance in her little finger than Palin has in her entire body. Not sure hots means anything at all in a president. Do you?
And it doesn't have much to do with not liking her. She's simply utterly unqualified to even be considered for president, much less to serve. It would make George W.'s presidency seem substantial by comparison.
Post a Comment
<< Home