Ringing Those Bells

[oselle]

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:

"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.

Comments

[mangokulfi.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the problem with all of this is that the media, even the mainstream for the the most part, tends to cover all this crap straight rather than calling it for the BS that it is and so it just reinforces the opinions of those who already think along these lines.

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.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

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.

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.

[mangokulfi.livejournal.com]

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.

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.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

Everyone thinks this tour is a "mavericky" way to announce her presidential bid. The election is more than a year away...can I tolerate 17 more months of this craziness?

[mangokulfi.livejournal.com]

I feel for you dude. The thing is, her dumbness isn't even entertaining like George W.'s was. And I personally find her grating and completely uncharismatic so yeah, that's gonna be a lot of fun.