I want to be angry but instead I’m sad. I start out furious but end up feeling remorse. I believe a golden opportunity slipped through America’s hands last night. Today I could be talking about how a highly competent but “ordinary” (I mean that in the best sense possible) woman exploded onto the political scene and seems poised to bring common sense and community values to Washington. From what I have seen of Sarah Palin so far I believe she has that in her. Instead, I am dismayed at how someone with her fresh voice and an eager audience chose to use sarcasm and lies to tear a good man down, repeat a major distortion of her own record and offer nothing specific in return other than more oil drilling.
Sarah has a compelling personal and professional story and she did a good job talking about that at the beginning of her speech. I think at that point she was leaning heavily into the desires of all of us who have ever said “I wish someone from my town would have some input in Washington.” The Harry Truman reference was right in line with that too. Then Sarah jumped headlong into the mud pit and never looked back.
You have to hear the audio to get the true feel for the disdain dripping from her voice as she belittles Barack’s community organizer experience. If she has any compassion for people at all, then Sarah cannot possibly know what Barack did as a community organizer. So at that point in her speech, I am already faced with a decision of: 1) she believes spending 3 years giving your life in direct assistance with every aspect of life with low-income Americans is worthy of scorn, or 2) she didn’t bother to find out what it was he did. Neither option is a good one.
Sarah follows that with a mild distortion of Barack’s discussion of why he thinks Midwestern white voters are “bitter.” Lucky for Sarah, very few will actually look up what Barack said because they might say, “hey, wait a second, he might be right!” Her discussion of her own Alaskan record is fine, with one glaring exception discussed below. The whole thing is a tad misleading because most people aren’t up on the unique features of the Alaskan budget. If we dove into it, I actually think Alaska is a good argument for state control of the oil and gas in this country, but that’s another issue.
The big distortion that really irks me, I might even call it an outright lie, is this whole “bridge to nowhere” thing. It’s a fact that Sarah Palin was for the bridge and was “upset” that a community in her state was being called “nowhere.” Even more importantly, it is a fact that Alaska took AND SPENT every cent originally marked for that bridge. So what is the reform in that? What is the truth in “I told them thanks but no thanks”?
From there on to more attacks on Barack. If you were hoping for substance in them, I have bad news, more sarcasm: “What does he actually seek to accomplish after he's done turning back the waters and healing the planet?” Followed by more lies: “America needs more energy; our opponent is against producing it.” (against producing more energy? Are we even supposed to take this statement seriously?) “Victory in Iraq is finally in sight, and he wants to forfeit.” (is she aware that the Iraqi government agreed with Barack’s plan for troop withdrawals and now the Bush administration is agreeing too?).
I wish I had more time to pour some passion through my pen, but in the interest of getting this out there so I can hear your feedback, that’s all I can say at this point. (what about that line of hers deriding Barack's concern for the human rights of prisoners?!Agggggghhhhhh!)
Okay, one other thing, I heard from commentators after the speech that the crowd was chanting “Drill, baby, drill!” and this was apparently a refrain for the evening. A reasoned debate of the pros and cons of starting to drill in places that are not currently being drilled - that we can have! And I suspect at the end of that we'd end with a small increase as a stop-gap measure and for future use in case the mid-east shuts off our supply.
But wildly stomping and cheering "drill baby drill" is short-sighted and devoid of reason, and when you add in that many of these same people also cheer wildly that oil companies are evil, it makes them look stupid.
Look at me, I’m right in there calling people sheep. That’s why I end up feeling remorse over this. Barack is calling us to hope and a better tone in politics, imperfectly of course, slipping sometimes himself of course, but calling us all nonetheless. But the politics that divide us is an easier path to take…
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4 comments:
I must admit that I didn't watch her speech. I have only watched and read the analysis. Threfore, my comments are more directed to what I have read than her actual speech. If the statements you reference are true, as well as her tone of voice and delivery, it sounds like once she gets out on the campaign trail she may have an uphill battle. Sarcasm is great when talking to a raucous convention crowd that would cheer anything you said (ie GOPers cheering for Clintonian economies), but when the campaign trail comes calling and you have to answer questions from the media without a teleprompter or notes, sarcasm can make you look like a fool.
My complaint with her speech from what I've read is that she decried Obama's lack of specifics on his plans for the country. The problem with that stance is that it is not true. He was as specific as he could be, and as specific as McCain will be. No one wants to listen to a candidate go on and on about the intricacies of a tax plan. Hell I like tax issues and I don't want to hear that. I would much rather read and listen to a tax expert (economic or law professor) discuss tax issues than a candidate.
Lastly, and somewhat unrelated to the speech but related to the divisiveness issue, I read about an off-air exchange from Peggy Noonan and some other commentators that is making its rounds on the internet. In it she is thought to be heard as saying McCain has no chance and that his campaign is over. She explained today in the WSJ (I believe) the context of her statements. Her handling of the situation is deft, as would be expected, and she doesn't back up from her statement as much as you might expect. She states that she was not referring specifically to McCain's campaign, but rather to the fact that the political elite running the GOP have failed to realize that their base is no longer the majority in America. Thus, their message to the base is divisive with the vast majority of America. She makes the point that it isn't 1988 or 1994 anymore. No more "Contract with America" and the like. Thus, the GOP ends up sounding like a divider not a uniter. Apparently, being a uniter like Obama means you have a God-complex or are the anti-christ. However, when President Bush wanted to be a uniter, he was simply being compassionate. I think I've had enough "compassion".
I didn’t know what to expect when I sat down to watch Rudy and Palin’s speeches last night. What I got was the shocking realization that I have nothing in common w/ either one of them. The way they mocked “community organizers” absolutely infuriated me. I couldn’t believe that they were putting the racist, greedy, imperialistic party on display in all of it’s grotesque beauty. We saw them chant “Drill, baby, drill.”, laugh at people who dedicate their lives to helping those less fortunate then themselves, spit upon the notion that prisoners have rights depending on where they were apprehended, and most importantly (to me) reiterate that great american feeling, “if you haven’t killed someone, you ain’t shit.”
We are fascinated w/ war and violence in this country. We are willing to accept someone saying that just because someone “served his country in combat” he is more worthy of being a citizen or his opinion carries more weight than mine. It is important to remember that while they spewed their pro-war venom, outside were people who had given as much or more than anyone in that room, being beaten by police for protesting the war. Does their voice not matter?
What about the notion that someone should have their rights read to them? Are we to now assume that the gop no longer feels that detainees no longer have rights? They can send them where they want, when they want, and do what they want to them? How do you feel about that John McCain? Were you treated according to the Geneva Conventions? Fill us in, please. They are creating the demand for the anarchist black cross organization (look it up).
I noted earlier in the week to my wife at the scorn they seem to have for “community organizers.” Why do repubs fear them? Because a motivated, knowledgeable public is less likely to be lied to, cheated, and die for the rich to line their pockets.
Are we to believe that all those people in the stands holding signs that read “Drill now!” believe that by putting a rig or 2 in ANWR is going to do anything for them? Is drilling in the coastal regions an option? Which is better opening a rig and employing 20 people sending the lionshare of profit to the multinational corp that owns the rig, or dumping large amounts of money into incubator programs to jumpstart our own search for alternatives. These alternatives, if started on our shores, will generated untold jobs and security by reducing our “addiction to oil” (GW’s words not mine).
All of that being said, I am most disgusted with the actions of federal, state and local officials outside in the streets. If you don’t know what I am talking about google indymedia. Don’t be spoon fed, go out and find something out for yourself.
If Sarah Palin will enter into your vote at all, then I recommend watching or listening to the speech.
I alluded to the war issue yesterday that Boots brings up clearly today. It's a good point. Is a young John McCain's ability to withstand a beating "greater" than community service? The inability to respect both men and their choices displays a meanness of spirit that I don't appreciate.
Rush Limbaugh claimed today on the radio that "thanks to Sarah Palin, 'community organizer' is now a national joke." If that's true, Sarah should step down. That's an absolute disgrace to make a "national joke" out of people who decide to SERVE low-income Americans. I don't give a goddamn if you disagree with the politics of the "organizer" but you sure as hell have no right to demean their service. Guess I'm back to angry, but I'll simmer down to sad soon enough.
Interesting thought: what if you replaced "community organizer" with "veteran" and made the same comments? or "public school teacher" or "public defender" or and the list goes on. There would be a national outcry for the person who made such outlandish statements to step down. Luckily for Palin and the GOP, no body will dare make that point because then they will be decried as either a sexist or "drive-by media" and the truth of the statement will get lost in the shuffle.
The rationale for my vote continues its evolution and is now shifting away from voting for Obama to voting against the GOP and all the shenanigans in which they engage.
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