Quote from article on Newsreal Blog- Of course, as has been obvious for 2 years, the GOP has no respect for Palin. It even borders on hate or disdain. They disdain her because they believe she won a lotto ticket when McCain put her in the spotlight, (which she did). They hate her because she is popular and uncontrollable, also true. They disdain her because they believe she is vain and self absorbed —I disagree—but certainly no more so than other candidates. They hate her because they think she is stupid. This implies those who say so are smart. To quote Steely Dan from “Reelin’ in the Years”—“you’ve been telling me you were a genius since you were seventeen, and all this time I’ve known you, I still don’t know what you mean”. This obsession with “smart” and politics is the ultimate misunderstood red herring.
Of course. One of the left and the soft right’s prime strategies against Sarah Palin has been to label her as stupid. Like everything these two groups come out with its a lie. And as the writer says above- Who the hell are they to be calling anyone stoopid???
Sarah Palin has moved from being an Alaskan hockey mum to Mayor of Wasilla to Governor of Alaska (beating the GOP) to Vice Presidential Candidate and now looks like she has a good shot at making POTUS. And still the left continue with the propaganda that she is dumb. The prime requisite for achieving all of this is stupidity??? Yeah right.
And she is called this by mincing little fags in newspaper offices who have never achieved SFA in their lives. She called this by ranting idiot commenters on Kiwiblog who think Greg Palast is God’s gift to journalism. She is called this by dopey auto-cue readers who would dry up in a millisecond if the screen stopped rolling. (no, not Obama, TV commentators)
Y’know one thing about Palin made an impression on me recently. These comments on her father from an an article on Big Hollywood
Sarah’s father, Chuck Heath, is [..] is a retired science teacher and his house is like a nature museum — full of fun and interesting things for kids to look at and touch like beaver skulls and porcupine quills and stuffed animals (of the taxidermy, not teddy bear, variety). Kate’s kids appear fascinated by the things he shows and teaches them over the course of their visit. Give this man his own show. I could listen to him talk about wildlife for hours. He is a great teacher and is obviously passionate about the world around him.
It struck me because it indicates just what kind of an upbringing Sarah might have had, and what part her parents played in making the girl what she is today. Leaving smart aside for a moment, if upbringing was any indication of a person’s ability to do the job of President, then I’d say Sarah is light years ahead of the incumbent.
Update- Pascal Fervor has an excellent article up on this very issue- Sarah Palin Orwellian Target
TrueblueNZ 
20 responses to “Steely Dan and Sarah Palin”
Sarah Palin has an ability to whip the pinkos into a lather not seen since the days of Thatcher, who, BTW was derided as being a mere grocer’s daughter. . . (oh how the left care so much about humble artisans and merchants)
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RB said…
They hate her because they think she is stupid. This implies those who say so are smart.
That’s exactly is the heart of the argument. Just look at so called rightwing commentators @ Kiwiblog who think that Palin is stupid. I’ve even challenged them to give a short list of why they think she is stupid, but they usually evade. The reason is, they’re the stupid ones.
The sad thing is, the left thrives is because, the right supports the left.
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This is one smart lady, not stupid like the political cowards who sense her superiority over theirs are. No wonder the progressives are bringing out all they can to discredit this very astute Christian woman, why they even attack her immediate family and where once families were left out of the mud slinging, that kind of thinking and gentlemanly behaviour is now so passe. It’s anything goes and everything does!
Palin is a direct threat to the comfortable elites who have made it their lifes mission to feed at the public trough while pretending to care for the underdog. I can’t wait to see Palin run for the presidency and I believe she has a better than good chance of obtaining her goal.
Good post Red!
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”—“you’ve been telling me you were a genius since you were seventeen, and all this time I’ve known you, I still don’t know what you mean”.
Awesum choice of lyrics Red. Nail on head and profound.
I just love it when someone uses the exact word for the moment. They stand out a mile.
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Personally, apart from being morally superior ,which is a plus in the US, I don’t understand Palin or her message. She sells herself absolutely brilliantly, but what does she stand for??
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“but what does she stand for??”
Lower taxes.
smaller government.
constitutional fidelity.
liberty.
There, that wasn’t so hard, was it?
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That’ll be why the neo cons hate her.
But they’ll make her a puppet and turn her into Obama 2 who is Bush 3.
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I doubt that.
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I’m a small government liberal but the little of seen of her has usually been some gaffe, i.e. not being able to name another supreme court decision apart from Roe vs Wade, a newspaper or magazine she regularly read, that she is qualified for foreign diplomacy because Alaska is close to Russia, our (the US) North Korean allies, etc…
That said she did okay in the Vice-Presidential debate (she was against Biden though)… Kind of like how with W. you only heard about his hilarious gaffes, so that when you saw extended coverage of him you expected him to be a slobbering, illiterate, shaven chimp but he wasn’t…
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Exactly. If the media gave the same coverage to the Magic Kenyan, speaking without his teleprompter, he wouldn’t come across as anything more than the little Chicago socialist he really is. What we see with him is a carefully manufactured media product.
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I couldn’t take her nomination seriously…at first. But America has been through trauma. The Repubs will definitely win the next election. Could Palin really get the backlash vote to propel her all the way. I doubt it but she is a contender. Her candicacy will definitely be respected by her GOP competitors. She will be the only female. She will also fill the void Hillary leaves. If Ron Paul fails to front up to base that will give her more leverage. Americans have proven they can be swayed by the cult of personality. A factor that gave Kennedy the edge over Nixon. GOP candidates usually have no charisma. Palin has it. What she doesn’t convey is common sense. That virtue is really what made Hilary give Obama a run for his money. Years of experience. Hillary has mana. Palin doesn’t. You can put Hillary next to a man and everyone sees an equal. Not so Palin. So she is fighting an uphill battle. But the times aren’t changing. They have changed. Palin will win a lot of votes. Substantially so. She will be the utter reflection of the common Americans turmoil. If she’s strong enough and if she uses a certain word that hits a chord, she will totally terrify the GOP hierarchy.
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“Americans have proven they can be swayed by the cult of personality.”
Americans and voters in every other country on earth.
“What she doesn’t convey is common sense.”
She’s the bearer of the commonsense message:
Lower taxes.
smaller government.
constitutional fidelity.
liberty.
And that should be enough. The cult of personality is what gave America Obambi. Now perhaps the Tea Partiers and middle-class, taxpaying Americans can give America a President who believes in American exceptionalism.
It’s about time. And that seems to be the general feeling among Republican and independent voters.
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You got to remember, she sullied her reputation with her attempts at humour. Old hands never use humour unless in one on one situations. She tried to find a place in the public consciousness with intimate anecdotes. But all lessons learnt along the way. I just hope she doesn’t take PR lessons. The public has tasted her now. It’s crucial she remains herself with a touch of maturity in her presentation. Now absolutely everyone will be waiting for her first gaffe. The media and talk shows will be merciless. Ron Paul of course has the techique nailed. Don’t ever stray. Polite opening with a smile. Repeat the facts so they sink in. And remember, in all his years of public speaking and interviews, he’s never been contradicted. Reporters never have to challenge his claims and he’s a media favourite. They just keep coming back to him. His time has come. But as previously stated, I believe he’s setting up Rand. I don’t believe Rand will announce his candicacy this time round.
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I’d settle for any of the following as the next President:
Ron Paul
Marco Rubio
Allen West
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Allen West would be my pick, Jeremy. A totally impressive man.
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Mike Pence is OK too. He’s also got good poll numbers.
http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/usnews/politics/4648-who-is-mike-pence
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Hmmm, I don’t mind candidates having a religious bent but I do mind when they don’t observe the seperation of church and state…
To me freedom of religion is freedom from religion and just as important as freedom of speech…
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“Hmmm, I don’t mind candidates having a religious bent but I do mind when they don’t observe the seperation of church and state…”
Fair enough. Do you think that secular humanism and environmentalism would qualify as religions if you judged them only on the fervour of those who embrace them?
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Jeremy,
Sadly, “freedom from religion” usually results in an overarching Communist state; where the head of that state demands God-like reverence. Or where we are absorbed by a more agressive religion (yes, Islam).
Of course, not all religions are equal – and the West trying to divorce itself from its Judeo-Christian foundation is beyond ludicrous. It is this drive to remove biblical precepts from our society that is largely why we are in the mess we are, IMHO.
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@Baiter, absolutely… Many of those who have lost that old time religion have simply replaced God with socialist government and Mother Gaia…
Given that Islam has as fundamental tenets the principles of merging religion, state and expansion – through force if necessary, I don’t see how “true believers” can ever co-exist peacefully with free societies and Islam doesn’t fit within my definition of religion, namely the peaceful worship of a Deity and the peaceable conversion of others to similar worship… It has always been inevitable that the US Constitution and Islam would meet head on, the quest for Dar-al-Islam doesn’t end…
In America the founding fathers realised that if people were to be truly free, they must have freedom to practice whatever religion they chose and to do so the official state religion must be no religion at all, it was and is a bold experiment and it isn’t designed to make people comfortable but free… As we know the cost of freedom is tolerating people’s annoying or offensive behaviours understanding that this is preferable to having the government messily and expensively interfering…
I think the removal of individual and property rights drives our current malaise… But of course I could be wrong, I am after all an Agnostic not an Atheist (and not the type of Helen Clark pretend Agnostic either)…
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