Sarah Palin Doesn't Know What It's OK NOT to Know
One last story on the Palin interview before I return to bashing John McCain for being a dishonorable liar.
Reading Ross Douthat this morning, young-ish conservative author of "Grand New Party", I was struck by the unflattering comparisons of Sarah Palin to Dubya. In fact, the title of the blog article is "Palin Channels Dubya".
On the blog "The Next Right", Kristen Soltis writes, in reference to Sarah Palin regurgitation of talking points:
Ignorance of key issues + a lack of intellectual curiosity + a desire to seem decisive and tough = a terrifying redo of George W. Bush.
If McCain wins, there is a 1 in 3 chance that we will have a President Palin. For anyone that has lived through the Bush Presidency, that should be a terrifying thought.
Conservative David Frum summed it up best yesterday on the National Review Online, comparing Palin to Dubya:
Reading Ross Douthat this morning, young-ish conservative author of "Grand New Party", I was struck by the unflattering comparisons of Sarah Palin to Dubya. In fact, the title of the blog article is "Palin Channels Dubya".
On the blog "The Next Right", Kristen Soltis writes, in reference to Sarah Palin regurgitation of talking points:
There were oh so many times when I could practically envision the talking points. "We shouldn't second guess Israel. No matter what, they are our ally. We don't second guess Israel." And so it went. "We can't second guess Israel, Charlie."And it's not just the regurgitation of tough sounding talking points and the use of forceful language to answer questions that called for nuance, it's the almost complete and utter lack of intellectual curiosity about events that occur outside her little provincial fiefdom.
Whether that's the correct policy or not what I'm debating. What matters is that it didn't seem like it was really her opinion. I can't see inside the mind of Sarah Palin, so I have no place saying if it is ACTUALLY her opinion or not. But the feel of it? It didn't feel genuine. It felt like a repeated talking point. It felt "done". And if you're going to try not to sound political, of all the things you can't afford to do, it's sound like Bush. Remember - he was the candidate of cowboy authenticity, shoot-em-straightness, of "lets do this thing, lets get them terrorists". No doubt Palin has been prepped by Steve Schmidt (Rove's protege), Nicolle Wallace (former Bush staffer). So maybe that's why I'm so sensitive to Bush-sounding language.
Ignorance of key issues + a lack of intellectual curiosity + a desire to seem decisive and tough = a terrifying redo of George W. Bush.
If McCain wins, there is a 1 in 3 chance that we will have a President Palin. For anyone that has lived through the Bush Presidency, that should be a terrifying thought.
Conservative David Frum summed it up best yesterday on the National Review Online, comparing Palin to Dubya:
A president does not need to know everything. In fact, it's certainly impossible for him (or her) to know everything that he might possibly need to know. That's what the White House staff - and beyond them the whole vast apparatus of the US government - is for. Collectively, the US government knows a lot. And all of that knowledge is at the service and disposal of the president. All the president has to do is - is ask.
But that's not as easy as it sounds.
Somebody who knew President Bush well once remarked to me. "You'll notice he never asks questions."
"Why not?" I said.
"Because he doesn't know what it's okay for him not to know."
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It's good to see that even republicans are now admitting that Lady mcReady-Not is so prepped with talking points that she sounds like a parrot. And that certainly is not the "outsider" they've portrayed her as.
They have created a monster in agreeing to have this woman as a candidate - and now are busy trying to retrofit every aspect of her. It's not gonna work! After they do all the retrofitting, she'll only look more like a monster!
September 13, 2008 12:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
This reminded me of one of the saddest moments of my life. Years ago my daughter dated a boy from a very dysfunctional household. He was literally on his on, going without food sometimes, water and electricity turned off for lack of payment, mom missing, dad unknown. For the time period that he was in and out of my house I did what I could to help him. One day he came in the door after making a really poor decision (I think it was about car insurance, but it's been too long to remember). As we talked, I said, "Oh, honey, why didn't you come ask me before you did that." He looked at me so sad and said, "You don't understand. What am I supposed to do, come to you and ask you to tell me everything you know? I don't even know what questiosn to ask you." I've never forgotten that moment. At least that young man was humble enough to admit that his knowledge was lacking. It's truly terrifying to see so-called world leaders so clueless that they never question for a moment their personal fund of wisdom and readiness to lead.
September 13, 2008 12:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Ignorance of key issues + a lack of intellectual curiosity + a desire to seem decisive and tough = a terrifying redo of George W. Bush."
Great post! I love that equation... Well said.
September 13, 2008 10:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
> a terrifying redo of George W. Bush.
McCain-Palin vs. Bush-Cheney? Well, they share many of the same shortcomings:
- no inclination to restore sanity to US foreign policy: check.
- no knowledge of, or interest in, how to fix the economy: check.
- misuse of executive authority to reward loyalty and punish professionalism: check.
- impulsive decisionmaking, straight from the gut: check.
- bullheaded refusal to revise mistaken decisions in light of the facts: check.
- gleefully lying to cover up mistakes: check.
There's one difference that makes me think McCain-Palin would be significantly worse than Bush-Cheney, though: Bush's many policy failings don't seem to stem from an anger-management problem. Also, Cheney, being a knowledgeable (albeit evil) grownup, is unlikely to be foolish enough to threaten war with Russia at Georgia's urging. If McCain and Palin were elected, who'd be minding the store? We might live to miss Dick Cheney. Imagine ...
September 13, 2008 11:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think it would be much worse - think about it. McLame has no ideology of his own, unlike Bush, who actually does - it's basically Norquist's ideology, but Bush sees it as "Poor people are lazy."
John McLame is so confused he doesn't know what he thinks or what he stands for. But she does - and if she ever took over - o my fucking god!
I'm encouraged to think there might be some serious conservatives out there - not just raving lunatics who think Bush is an unrecognized genius. We need a real opposition party to keep us honest because that's the best way to do that. Right now the Repugs are a bunch of clowns in chaos.
I'd love to see some honest, serious conservatives emerge - I'll take any number of Eisenhower Republicans. I've learned to love Ike in the last 8 years.
September 14, 2008 12:19 AM | Reply | Permalink
I've always loved Ike, but then he is the first president I remember. I remember how safe he made us feel, something no president since has managed to do. And it's not just that it was a simpler time, as many suggest, it's because Ike knew the horrors of war and worked hard to preserve the peace.
September 14, 2008 9:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
When have you ever heard politicians give anything but carefully rehearsed answers? Palin's answer is no different than you hear from most Congress members and knee-jerk support for Israel without question.
September 14, 2008 11:00 AM | Reply | Permalink
Well, as long as those politicians are lying with every breath they take then there is no difference.
But there's a huge difference between those carefully rehearsed lies and rehearsed answers that are true.
You need to take some lessons in what is true and what that means.
September 14, 2008 11:26 AM | Reply | Permalink
no, i don't need lessons in truth -- i simply filter every word out of a politicians mouth with a jaundiced eye -- i've heard it all before. Oh, this time -- this guy is the real deal -- he's different. Yawn! Right. Obama has made too many promises and he's going to pay for it if he occupies the oval office. Congress is in control of domestic policy, and every President discovers this the hard way -- which is why you always see them shift to foreign policy in their later administrations. They are only one powerful domestic player among many, and unfortunately most of our powerful domestic players now are not even elected.
September 14, 2008 12:56 PM | Reply | Permalink