A funny thing happened this weekend. I was watching the madness that was the Tea Party Convention, a far-right circus act that concluded Saturday evening, with Alaska's very own Sarah Palin. For over an hour Ms. Palin rambled about the failures of the Obama administration, lambasted large government, high taxes and a defecit problem with no end in sight, and promised a return to "common sense" small government and low taxes should she find herself leader of the free world.
Sunday morning I tried to gather what I could from the media as to the general reaction of the convention, and Palin's speech. Meet the Press had Dee Dee Myers, former press secretary to Bill Clinton, commenting on the Tea Party agenda in general. Opposite her was a Republican "talking-head" commenting on how Palin has really shown herself to be quite a contender (though specifically for what I do not know). Other than this, the media was fairly silent on the matter as it was, after all, Sunday.
I was left, therefore, on my own to figure out how I felt about her speech and the Tea party movement in general. This was fine by me. This is how it should be, after all.
First off, I don't believe that Sarah Palin will run in 2012. If she does, I don't think the RNC will allow her the nomination as she is too much of a liability. The alternative, running as a third party candidate, will guarantee a (possibly historical) landslide victory for Obama. If she runs, she is going to have to explain why she resigned. Thus far, we have no other reason to go off of other than she just didn't like the job. It was too hard. People were mean to her. Whatever.
She would never be able to debate Obama. Ever. She is simply not well-informed enough so as to ever be properly briefed and prepared to discuss the specifics of actual issues in depth. I believe that if you want to debate real issues and express discontent with policies you do not agree with, you have to show up ready to talk about those issues in depth. It is okay to fundamentally disagree with Obama's principles. Millions upon millions do. However, if you choose to stand on your soapbox and proclaim revolution, you had better take the next step: educating yourself on everything about the presidency and the decisions made within so you can discuss them at length.
This is the problem with the media. They have oversimplified issues and seemingly de-mystified public office, giving American's the false impression that anyone can do it. It takes a great mind to lead a country. It takes a great mind to lead a congressional district, a school district, or a girl scout troop. Empathy, self-control, morale, and brains. Calling for common sense in government is one thing, but believing that politicians who have done little more than give 10-word sound bites as to why something is or isn't working is irresponsible.
What I did learn from my Sunday of Political Contemplation is that Sarah Palin, in my opinion, is a walking, talking microcosm of a general attitude in this country. The first is a legitimate fear, frustration, and intolerance with the size of government. Another is a fatigue with the constant blaming of the world's problems on President Bush (who, I might add, oversaw the largest expansion of government since LBJ). Finally, a competitive nature that has reached the point where issues are irrelevant, and instead, politicans alone lead the cause. This is evident by both the right's blind refusal to cooperate with Obama in any way (even if it were on an issue they would favor under Bush), by the Tea Party's assigning of an already infamous figurehead to what was supposed to be a grassroots movement, and even some niavete on the part Democrats for thinking Obama was without political flaws. Politics has reached a point where one side of the aisle wants the other to fail. Political discussion, in short, bears little resemblance to the actual issues at hand.
Monday morning I woke up to find MSNBC, CNN, NBC, and ABC talking not about the contents of Palin's speech, or how the convention represented a growing attitude that should not be dismissed (but rather investigated at length). Oh no. Instead, they focused on Palin's criticism of Obama using a teleprompter (as have the presidents before him) while she had a few notes on her hand. Was this fair? Was she a hypocrite? Or, were these just little cliff notes to remind her of her talking points.
...and the wonder why the intellect has been replaced with mindless sport.
Well put, all the way through. Thank goodness for intelligent folk
ReplyDeleteMy only disagreement - Palin will run. She may only go through the first few primaries before dropping out, but she'll run. I think she believes in her own myth. And if nothing else her financial masters will push her to run because she'll shove the entire nomination field far right, so that whomever does win will be amenable to their interests.