While a kind xenaphobia does play into the rejection and abhorance of Sara Palin by liberals who were born into the parts of the country where pentacostals and hunters are rare, there is a simpler explaination as to why she’s hated by the left. Palin has made it very clear she doesn’t like them either. Palin has made it clear she hates the MSM and the media now hate her in return. (This is really the McCain campaign’s fault I think. She has done better since she’s been able to be herself, but the damage is done.)

The arguments you get from her supporters that liberals hate her for being a strong woman or believing in God are as shaky as the notion that all Obama opponents are racist. To be sure in some cases the accusation is true, but its overlooking the far easier explaination. People don’t like people who don’t like them.

http://religioperennis.org/documents/rcoomaraswy/Catho_perennial.pdf

Its not accurate that Barack Obama used Jeremiah Wright as a stepping stone, then cast him aside when he became inconvenient. Jeremiah Wright was made into a public issue by half-baked pundits looking for anything that might derail Obama. Sermons intended for members of a church were suddenly cast onto You-Tube and parsed for political implication. Obama declined the conventional political wisdom of cutting ties with a perceived liability. Instead, he gave a thoughtful presentation, written by the candidate himself, not by a speech writer, refusing to distance himself from Wright, and thoughtfully pointing out areas where they weren’t in complete agreement. That tempest in a teacup was dying down when WRIGHT, drawn to the limelight like a moth to flame, emerged in Washington to flaunt his most ludicrous lines, offering negative commentary on Obama’s candidacy in the same breath, at which point, Obama cut loose. My sense was, Wright felt his entire world-view would be threatened if a man of Obama’s color could actually be elected president, and he went haywire.

“Sarah Palin understands that sin is being out of alignment with God’s values.” Mmmm, OK, but Sarah Palin is out of alignment with what I believe God’s values to be. I don’t want political leadership that is too arrogant about thinking they personally have even close to a perfect understanding of what God’s values are. I want an Abraham Lincoln, who knows he should try to get himself (or herself when its a woman) in line with God’s values, but understanding “the Almighty has his own purposes” which may not be ours.

Most of your analysis of Palin is accurate, but Palin exemplifies the dark side of what passes for populism. As you said “Most average Americans have populist instincts and would do a better job of ruling than the class that largely occupies the seats of power. Unfortunately, the average American also has a short attention span, an aversion to facing unpleasant realities, and a tendency to be distracted by bread and circuses. He or she knows little about the political process and pays undue deference to authority figures.” Palin aspires to be the authority figure everyone defers to because she offers bread and circuses, praises ignorance with a mind as sharp as a steel trap, and counts on everyone’s short attention span.

It was not so with the original populists, who emerged from the Farmer’s Alliances and were in fact brought down by the bourbon conservatives’ mix of bread and circuses with outright fraud. There have been few times in American history when the common people showed more perceptive intelligence and sound judgement than the original Populist Party. There have been few times since when anyone posing as a populist displayed much of either. Bryan, intelligent though he was, marked the beginning of the downfall of populism, when his golden tongue seduced them from his party’s inability to deliver on credit, the real issue for both southern and western farmers.

“The lack of outrage at the existing power of big business over the individual consumer” is an excellent example of how phony Palin’s personal populism is.

The reason she was popular was because she handed out $800 Million dollars to Alaskan residents in the name of “energy rebates”! Every man, woman and child received $1,200.00 in free cash, thanks to Palin! We called it, “Sarah bucks for Sarah votes”! And I’m not talking about the Permanent Fund Dividend. This was a separate one time hand-out for $1,200.00… courtesy of Governor Sarah H. Palin! And you thought it was charisma. LOL

Another thing, you wrote that Palin was “…successful in enacting legislation that curbed the power and exploitative position of crony capitalism.” Is that what you call her windfall profit tax (ACES) on the oil industry in Alaska? Since when is a 400% tax increase on the industry that funds roughly 90% of our state’s government a good thing? Of course the Democrats helped her! Hell, Hollis French (D) probably wrote the legislation for her! See: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008103325_alaskatax07.html

Jeff, you need to get in touch with Lyda Green. She was a Republican Senator in Palin’s district and has known her since she was a kid.

If you only knew what a fraud Palin is. Sheesh. The fact that I’m reading “President” and “Palin” in the same sentence is scary. Seriously.

Superior Being help us all!

Carl Corrow, PhD from MIT, I agree that Steve Berg is insightful.

Dylan, Like you, my initial enthusiasm evaporated. Not because she wasn’t “smart” or “qualified,” not because she spoke with a Minnesota accent and folksy colloquialisms, but because she allowed the McCain campaign to immediately distance her from anything genuinely out of the decadent and wrongheaded GOP mainstream. Her willingness to deny and compromise did not bode well and it still doesn’t.

Although Minnesotans did emigrate to the Matanuska Valley of Alaska in 1935, the origin and authenticity of Sarah Palin’s accent remain in doubt. Some people who claim personal acquaintance with Palin say that she has not always spoken with such an accent, and that others who grew up in the Valley do not possess the same accent. (http://millelacscountytimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1338&Itemid=1 ) So is it real or phony? Or perhaps something acquired unconsciously over time? Was she a fan of the film Fargo? Did she identify with Marge Gunderson? If so, she could do worse when it comes to a role model. I’ve watched some of her 2006 gubernatorial debates. She had the same accent, although it was less pronounced. She wasn’t droppin’ her g’s as much, though. So who knows. Another part of the Palin enigma.

BTW, she comes off well in the debates
( http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2831629878468947508&ei=25BSS-7qI6eWqwKYndToBA&# ). Confident and knowledgeable. She wasn’t inarticulate or fumbling.

I thought this was an excellent read and it closely parallels some of my initial thoughts on Palin. For example I remember horrifying many of my leftists friends by announcing that Todd’s AIP involvement was the only truly radical quality one could find in any of the major candidates or their spouses. To them of course I was engaging in absurdity by even pointing out such a thing – expanding on that point by illustrating that Mrs. Palin shouldn’t have been allowed to be a VP candidate because American imperialism should have never swallowed Northwestern Canada alive was an even more unwelcome commentary as you may imagine.

Having said that I think the long view of Mrs. Palin is much less appealing than the short view. Within a week of her announced candidacy I was already wondering who her actual constituency was and questioning (in lengthy blog postings of questionable quality) what it was that so many stalwart movement conservatives found appealing in her that didn’t also exist in one of their more popular targets during the primary season Mike Huckabee.

The truth is that Palin is as vapid as the media portrayals but that’s not the worst of it. The worst of it is that she exemplifies the lazy retreat from critical thinking that has marched through our institutions for the last fifty plus years. Mrs. Palin is capable of serious thoughts – she just refuses to have them. Narrow thinking is a badge of honor among the Hannityites and there is little evidence that she does not fit comfortably into that camp.

There is nothing wrong with simple people or simple living. And in fact Mrs. Palin may have been a good Governor for Alaska – a piece of land that ought to be it’s own nation (or two, or three, or four, or..). But as a candidate to rule the Empire or dismantle it she was and is sorely lacking.

Steve Berg captured much more understanding of Governor Palin in three paragraphs than you did in 6000 words. Best comment I have ever seen on the internet Steve.

Carl Corrow, PhD from MIT

One night, during a John Randolph Club meeting, I was staggering down Bourbon Street, with Thomas Fleming and some other Club members. Fleming sagely stated, that it is every Iowa farm boy’s dream to be staggering down Bourbon street, highly intoxicated, and clutching a partially consumed plastic cup of beer. When Sarah Palin was nominated for Vice President, I realized that Tom was only half right. That same Iowa farm boy’s dream also included having his other arm around Sarah Palin, who was also clutching a plastic cup of beer, on their way back to their motel room. My intuition is powerfully supported here by the posts of Mr. Cheeks.

Indeed, I suspect that if the Republicans had really wanted to win the 2008 election, they would have reversed the order of the ticket. There is a very good reason why the Liberal Establishment in both parties is scared to death of her. She has the sort of inherent appeal that other contenders lack. The qualities of lack of articulate speech, and ignorance of intricate policy details, are also present in most of the electorate, and they will not see them as faults. I expect that she will do well at Faux News, and will go on to be the Republican presidential candidate in 2012. If she runs, she will likely win. Fulfilling the terms of the presidential oath does not require speaking ability, nor masterful policy wonkery. Instead, it requires that the laws be faithfully executed, and that has not been done in my lifetime by a president. I do not know if I will vote for her, but she has a chance to be a decent president, given the opportunity.

In a hundred yard dash to the Statutory 50′ setback to the voting booth, Sarah Palin would be winking at the finish line and flashing leg before Jesse Jackson laid down his 5th footfall. Jesse is too distracted by his rhyming compulsion to stack up in a race with the Alaskan seductress. He couldn’t even have done it when still relevant. She’s like a Jack Russell Terrier without the benefit of being a dog. Quitting the Governor’s office half-way through your term to join Fox News is not ambulance chasing? I must agree that she is nowhere near as malevolent as Mao…he makes even Stalin and Hitler look like under-achievers. It is the cult of personality I refer to here, not capacity for murderous evil. Splitting hairs between Clinton’s narcissism and Palins is like trying to determine which will get you drunker, Scotch or Rye. Partisans drink deeply of both and arrive equally drunk at the appointed time.

Actually, at this time, in this flummoxed country, she is likely meant to be President…a kind of cosmic predestination where if a people are intent upon cross-breeding the ridiculous with the petulant, she can be that cheerful result…smiling away like a bobble headed Howdy Doody while providing able cover for those many hands clogging the till in the seat of our Imperial Bunko. She can preside over the last Show Trials before the curtain drops because the termites have enjoyed the rod.

Rome survived Octavian, the least we can do is survive the rank amateurs we produce with a reliability that would be comic if we did not seem to possess a relentless capacity to wreak disaster with the blithe indifference of a child pulling legs off a grasshopper because he can.

By all means, I really can’t wait for a Palin Presidency. Then we can finally put to bed any lingering notion that there is anything serious or sober about politics of any stripe in our little Potemkin Chop Shop on the Potomac. We might just as well dispense with the formalities and simply start sending money to a drop box on K Street where it can be routed to the proper parasite.

As to liberals and the hate mechanism. The liberal spends an enormous amount of time attempting to remain big about everything….to be “open minded” and non-judgmental and “inclusive” and , au courant and above all “progressive”. They have arrived at that precarious point in any democratic republic where the individual urge is sublimated to an idea that government is a living and breathing thing, capable of doing what is just and really needed to help save us from ourselves. This requires much forbearance upon the average human , a species naturally skeptical, intrinsically independent but spiritually tribal, historically territorial and above all, resolutely churlish. Therefor, when some rather meaningless but picturesque idol is hoisted up the malign flagpole of heresy against the Ever-Sainted Government, Protector of Humanity Against Itself, Font of Best Intentions Cancelled Out by Operating Costs….the pent up furies are released and righteous indignation flows like a flood on the Mississippi. Roger Ailes , knows this and is mining it well. The nation has bred a bumper crop of sentimental liberals or perpetually affronted conservatives awash in a popular fiction of liberality and all like to dwell in happy thoughts and be “Open Minded” and so Roger is blowing a righteous hurricane of fatuity into the open mind and out of this vortex, streams big money. He is running up against the Magnate’s Limo liberal youngsters though and so now, we will likely see Rupert procure Conan for the kids to distract them until such time as they come to their senses and realize the vast money-making opportunities of maintaining the fires of a pseudo conservative angst within an era of amateur liberality.

VMG, Accusations are not necessarily true, even when they sound plausible. For example, I don’t believe for a minute that Palin had no idea who her son would be fighting in Iraq. There are plenty of people who hold her basic positions who also have more knowledge and are more articulate. Unfortunately, none of them have much national popularity.

Keep in mind that my book review and its leftovers are not an endorsement of Palin. I don’t say “Vote for Palin for president” and then set forth a detailed case for why she’s the best candidate. I’m simply assessing Palin from my perspective–what I see as the good and bad. I don’t even know if I’m right half the time so it’s written in tentative language. I posted it here to spark discussion, not to stake out a dogmatic position. There are lots of people who would make far better presidents, starting with Ron Paul, but Palin is a pop and pol phenomenon so I take the time to think it through. I’m not really asking people to agree.

D.W., I like your imagery of a ditzy Mao, but I don’t think she’s that malevolent. I also don’t think she’s more egocentric or self-aggrandizing than any other major politician (it’s their stock in trade, as you note), or that she’s taken these traits to “a new level.” She’s doesn’t even approach the level of Jesse Jackson, ambulance chaser par excellance, for instance. I also don’t see her behavior rivalling the self-absorption of Bill Clinton or the cockiness of GWB. I guess I don’t see how she’s burning with such ambition that she’s willing to do anything, no matter how debased. I agree with your points that she’s a lightweight in many ways, and that irritating liberals does not mean she deserves our support. It does make me wonder, though, why they hate her so much.

Bob, Thank you for the positive comments. I suspected they’d be sparse! You seem attracted by Palin on a physical level–although maybe some of what you write is tongue in cheek(s)–while my sympathy comes more on the spiritual and emotional levels. Either way, I admit it’s mostly irrational. But is life nothing more than reason? As important as it is. I do wonder what role gender plays in critiques of Palin. Not in the sense that anyone should play the gender card in silencing criticism of her, but I do think there is a predominately masculine way of seeing the world, and interacting with it, that discounts intuition and is dismissive toward anything that does not fit into its logical, linear framework of rationality. It’s an unnecessary limitation and probably one reason God created male and female.

Andy, You were forewarned.