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Ringing Those Bells
Sarah Palin is hardly worth talking about, but these soundbites from her current cross-country tour of great American landmarks are too good to pass up:
In Boston, reflecting upon Paul Revere:
Palin's just a few years older than I am, so I know if they were teaching Paul Revere's Ride during my gradeschool days, they were sure as hell teaching it during hers. Frankly, Paul Revere's Ride is one of the few tidbits of American Revolution history that is remotely captivating to a grade-schooler. I remember the story and I'm an America-hating liberal. I wonder why a great patriot like Palin doesn't seem to know anything about it.
In New York, at the Statue of Liberty:
This is getting like that TV show, Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? Regarding Sarah Palin, I think the answer is a resounding "no."
Palin is obviously ignorant of even the simplest tourist-trap factoids about American history, so she makes up her own. Not surprisingly, she fabricates versions that support her extreme conservative beliefs. So the Statue of Liberty becomes some kind of coded warning from France not to turn into...France (France is just one of the countries that American conservatives consider part of the great Axis of Godless Socialism). Paul Revere's Ride morphs into a stirring tale of gun rights (which is especially hilarious considering that Al-Quaeda released a video yesterday instructing would-be terrorists on how easy it is to buy guns in the U.S., literally saying, "So what are you waiting for!?")
It doesn't even matter that she's being widely mocked for stuff like this. First of all, it plays into her never-ending claim that the "lamestream media" is out to get her, and her followers eat that up. Second, she doesn't give a shit about real American history, she only cares about the extreme-right conservatism that she thinks is the real story of America. Her followers eat that up too, and an awful lot of them think she'd make a great president.
In Boston, reflecting upon Paul Revere:
"He who warned, uh, the British that they weren't going to be taking away our arms uh by ringing those bells and making sure as he's riding his horse through town to send those warning shots and bells that we were going to be secure and we were going to be free and we were going to be armed."
Palin's just a few years older than I am, so I know if they were teaching Paul Revere's Ride during my gradeschool days, they were sure as hell teaching it during hers. Frankly, Paul Revere's Ride is one of the few tidbits of American Revolution history that is remotely captivating to a grade-schooler. I remember the story and I'm an America-hating liberal. I wonder why a great patriot like Palin doesn't seem to know anything about it.
In New York, at the Statue of Liberty:
"This Statue of Liberty was gifted to us by foreign leaders, really as a warning to us, it was a warning to us to stay unique and to stay exceptional from other countries. Certainly not to go down the path of other countries that adopted socialist policies."
This is getting like that TV show, Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? Regarding Sarah Palin, I think the answer is a resounding "no."
Palin is obviously ignorant of even the simplest tourist-trap factoids about American history, so she makes up her own. Not surprisingly, she fabricates versions that support her extreme conservative beliefs. So the Statue of Liberty becomes some kind of coded warning from France not to turn into...France (France is just one of the countries that American conservatives consider part of the great Axis of Godless Socialism). Paul Revere's Ride morphs into a stirring tale of gun rights (which is especially hilarious considering that Al-Quaeda released a video yesterday instructing would-be terrorists on how easy it is to buy guns in the U.S., literally saying, "So what are you waiting for!?")
It doesn't even matter that she's being widely mocked for stuff like this. First of all, it plays into her never-ending claim that the "lamestream media" is out to get her, and her followers eat that up. Second, she doesn't give a shit about real American history, she only cares about the extreme-right conservatism that she thinks is the real story of America. Her followers eat that up too, and an awful lot of them think she'd make a great president.
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I'm actually much more interested in how she gets her hair to stay in that loose almost bouffant. Is it all hairspray? I doesn't look all shellacked.
You know, I read this really interesting article yesterday about the connections between the Emmanuels, Rahm and Ari and Donald Trump.(Ari is his agent. He's poured tons of money in Rahm's Mayoral campaign).
The article doesn't come right out and say it, but it implies that Trump is playing the buffoon to keep the attention away from other Republicans and that everytime he takes a shot at Obama, he makes Obama look, well, sane and the obvious Presidential choice by comparison.
I wonder if Palin serves a similar purpose for the other Republicans? She's so ridiculous that others just appear more substantial as a result so that's why the party keeps her around?
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She's so ridiculous that others just appear more substantial as a result so that's why the party keeps her around?
I believe there's something to this -- more "serious" candidates like Newt Gingrich are already starting to roll their eyes over her. But she's also a wonderfully useful idiot, whipping up the conservative base into a frenzy. The entire summer of 2009 turned into an endless fugue state about health care reform with more than a little help from Palin and her "death panel" bullshit. Regardless of what role she will ultimately play in American politics, she has already done a vast amount of damage to the country, and she's had a lot of help from both mainstream Republicans and of course, the conservative media, without which she would have totally disappeared after the 2008 election.
Is it all hairspray?
She might have something under there. It is a little too high to be all natural.
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Actually, it all kinda reminds me of fandom. People see what hey want to see and any kind of objective truth or right or wrong seems to go out the window. It's all very post-modernist which is fine when you're talking about pretty boys and their angels but it gets kinda scary when the same mind set is applied to real people with a heck of a lot of power.
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I see many parallels between the behavior in fandom and in American politics...which is inexpressibly terrifying. When assholes act up in fandom, it can be amusing or annoying, depending on which side you're on and how seriously you take it all. When they act up on the national level, there are very serious consequences that could affect the country and the whole world for generations to come.
Right now, Palin is an out-of-control conservative BNF with hordes of her own fanboys and fangirls. Only these fen aren't splooging on LJ, they're doing it on 24-hour cable news and in the pages of The Washington Post, and everyone's just playing along because they don't want to be left out of the club. We are so screwed.
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Very true. I guess she's on this little tour to whip up the TP dudes again in the wake of the Bin Laden assassination and leading up to the Primaries. Is it working? I was under the impression that the T-Party types were a little under the radar lately but maybe its because I don't watch a lot of American media these days and especially not Fox.
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If she weren't so dangerous, this could be a really fun game -- match the landmark to a cherished bit of conservative ideology! Anyone can play! The Grand Canyon would be a great place to link the wonders of creation to the idea that America's founding fathers wouldn't agree with teaching evolution (bonus points if you can take a slam at the government-funded public school system). The St. Louis Arch is a symbol of manifest destiny so that clearly translates into drill baby, drill. Anything to do with the Civil War could easily support an abortion ban now that they're trying to equate abortion with slavery. See how easy it is! I just made those three up right now, putting no more effort into it than I'm sure Ms. Palin does.
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Who wrote that SPN episode 'The End,' with the not so subtle joke that Palin as president would be a sign of the Apocalypse?
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