(or: Wearing that Big Red and White Target on Her Forehead as a Source of National Pride.)
The Summer of 2000 saw the ascendancy of a new kind of Presidential hopeful. George Bush the younger, son of George Bush the elder, found himself and his folksy, pseudo-small town jawing, the nominee for the Republican ticket. His vocabularistic malfunctionisms were ripe fruit for easy picking by the Saturday Night Live crew. He remains a slow moving target.
Watching the VP debate last week I could not help but marvel that Sarah Palin is cut from the same swatch of dumbed-down wild west hubris. Equally pannable, equally sloth-like in her inability to dodge the sartorial bullett.
Indeed, they seem to be at exactly the same intellectual level. Palin seems even a touch quicker than Dubbya did his first go round. If the higher ups can sink their needles into her over the next four years, pumping her full of soundbytes, repeatably shallow historical understanding and a healthy dose of unqualified obedience, we may see her running for president sometime soon.
The Widge sent me this perceptive essay not too long ago. It is worth the read.
4 comments:
nothing is more indicative of the culture war than a huge population of people genuinely complaining that these presidential figures are undereducated. It seems to me wildly wrong that a president should lack vernacular finess and anything less than extraordinary intelligence.
It is truly baffling. The linked psychological study does much to simplify the terms, but is also highlights the ridiculous cultural gap.
I'm glad you liked that essay. It made me feel slightly less befuddled about this whole thing.
Palin makes Bush look qualified. Bush has an OK resume. At least he went to excellent schools and wandered the white house during his dad's administration. Some of that you might hope rubbed off on him. Where to begin with Palin's resume. It's an absolute joke.
It's amazing the campaigning continues, when you consider their resumes. Two attorney's, one of which is highly overachieving, versus a six year six no name school journalism degree and someone bordering on navy school dropout. On paper, this thing makes absolutely no sense at all.
Sincerely,
The Santa Cruz Bureau
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