Governor Palin is a singular political phenomenon. Beloved by the right, practically revered as a pillar of the party and a pristine representative of all that is conservative and good. I've always considered the Palinmania overdone and as much a function of the fact that she's attractive as it is her political skills. Its not lost on me that her most vociferous defenders on the right are the guys. Guys like Sarah Palin the same way they like women in movies who shoot people, blow stuff up and know kung fu. Notwithstanding her position as a governor, I've yet to be convinced that she has the raw leadership capability to lead this nation as President. During the campaign, my fellow brethren to the right were fond of pointing out that Palin has equal if not more experience in public office, and indeed qualitatively superior experience as an executive, in contrast to Obama. In a year, probably less, that argument will be obliterated. Palin is undeniably a rock star of the right and is always prominently mentioned around the conservative web as a contender for 2012. While I don't subscribe to the Palin hype, she is an intriguing figure and I'm interested in watching how she crafts a potential run for the White House.
So its disappointing when she fails to meet my expectations for some reason, as she did with these remarks delivered last Friday to the Anchorage Lincoln Day Dinner, a state GOP event :
"Some in the media actually participated in not so much the 'who-what-where-when-why' objective reporting on candidates and positions, those five W's that I learned when I had a journalism degree so many years ago in college, when the world of journalism was quite different than it is today," she said.
"No, things have changed," she continued. "But complaining? Or whining? Absolutely not. But I am going to call it like I see it. It doesn't do any good to whine about any of this. But I can call it like I see it. Sometimes it gets me in a lot of trouble when I speak candidly, and I speak from the heart and I do such a thing. But I am going to."
"And there was that media slant this go round," she said. "And unless things change, the GOP had really better can stand together, 'cause we got that on the battlefield also. I call it like I see it and like I lived it on the campaign trail. Not complaining, but dealing with reality."
"Those are the cards that are dealt us," she said, "and we had better learn to play that hand and do things right and do things better."
"No, things have changed," she continued. "But complaining? Or whining? Absolutely not. But I am going to call it like I see it. It doesn't do any good to whine about any of this. But I can call it like I see it. Sometimes it gets me in a lot of trouble when I speak candidly, and I speak from the heart and I do such a thing. But I am going to."
"And there was that media slant this go round," she said. "And unless things change, the GOP had really better can stand together, 'cause we got that on the battlefield also. I call it like I see it and like I lived it on the campaign trail. Not complaining, but dealing with reality."
"Those are the cards that are dealt us," she said, "and we had better learn to play that hand and do things right and do things better."
It is whining. Palin got a raw deal from the media and she was the subject of a lot of unfair, criticism and some downright nasty attacks, but last time I checked, thats the business of politics. It ain't beanbag and after a campaign that ground on for over 2 years and was bitterly contested with few holds barred and where Palin certainly took the opportunity to land some hard shots of her own, I'm just not very sympathetic to this complaint. If she were a man, would those of us to the right spend so much breath to loudly agree with her that she was treated badly? Or would we simply accept that it comes with the territory and move on?
John Zeigler at Big Hollywood advances the notion that Palin was naive and understandably so:
Are you kidding me? Thats a defense? She was naive? Thats the argument you want to make on her behalf? That argument is the height of congnitive dissonance for a political rock star nicknamed the "Barracuda" that the men of the right like because she's game for airborne wolf hunting.
How many times does Palin plan to revisit the subject of how the media was unfair to her? How about she take some responsibility too? The political mannerisms and feminine winks that people seemed to find so cute for example, that provided ample ammunition to Tina Fey. The determined avoidance of simple questions like "what do you read?" Were she a man, there would be none of this breathless rushing to her defense. This is the same species of mistake that was made on the campaign trail when the McCain team worked so hard to shelter her from media questioning, ostensibly to "protect" her, which only got them derided as simply trying to hide her flaws from the public. The result? Those flaws, real and imagined, were simply magnified in the mind of the electorate. These comments from her don't help her a whole lot, nor the misguided coddling of Palin from the right.
John Zeigler at Big Hollywood advances the notion that Palin was naive and understandably so:
She declared, “Some in the media actually participated in not so much the ‘who-what-where-when-why’ objective reporting on candidates and positions, those five W’s that I learned when I had a journalism degree so many years ago in college, when the world of journalism was quite different than it is today.”
Who could blame someone who graduated in the 80’s during a year in journalism when there was at least some self restraint on the inherent liberal agenda for being more than a bit shocked that the rules had been completely changed without anyone officially doing so.Are you kidding me? Thats a defense? She was naive? Thats the argument you want to make on her behalf? That argument is the height of congnitive dissonance for a political rock star nicknamed the "Barracuda" that the men of the right like because she's game for airborne wolf hunting.
How many times does Palin plan to revisit the subject of how the media was unfair to her? How about she take some responsibility too? The political mannerisms and feminine winks that people seemed to find so cute for example, that provided ample ammunition to Tina Fey. The determined avoidance of simple questions like "what do you read?" Were she a man, there would be none of this breathless rushing to her defense. This is the same species of mistake that was made on the campaign trail when the McCain team worked so hard to shelter her from media questioning, ostensibly to "protect" her, which only got them derided as simply trying to hide her flaws from the public. The result? Those flaws, real and imagined, were simply magnified in the mind of the electorate. These comments from her don't help her a whole lot, nor the misguided coddling of Palin from the right.
