Say, did you know that Sarah Palin quoted an American facist writer named WESTBROOK PEGLER? There’s a Wikipedia link there, and here’s a few more links on the subject: BoingBoing, Constant Siege.
My own take: sure, the quote she chose was in fact, all about how good small-town life is: that “We grow good people in our small towns, with honesty and sincerity and dignity.” Except, that’s clearly not true. Small-towns have exactly the same ratio of assholes to good people as everywhere else, because you know what? People are people, and by and large, people suck. All this is a ploy to emphasize her down-hominess, which, while probably real, is being blatantly cultivated to make herself more appealing to the masses. Again, not that there’s anything wrong with that. It’s part of the political process. However, the major issues are the following:
1) Regarding the quote, one should ALWAYS get a sense of who you’re quoting before you choose that. I understand Palin didn’t write the speech herself. But what the hell kind of speech-writer decides that picking a line from a anti-Semitic, and a PRO BIGOTRY journalist, is a good idea? And who the hell lets them get away with that? This is an honest question: why would you do that? Is it a good enough quote to merit distinction from its author? I don’t think it is, so what do you accomplish by invoking Pegler’s legacy of hatred? It’s confusing. I suspect it was merely an oversight, but… it boggles the mind.
2) Sure, Palin’s down home-y. Sure, she’s Joe-Six-Pack’s friend (maybe). You might be able to relate to her personality. But personality is not what we’re electing. This ain’t American Idol, it’s a presidency. I ask you, why does America love Sarah Palin? Because she’s attractive, and relatable. I have yet to see her actually impress me with anything other than a sort of animal cunning, able to dodge questions and make it seem like she’s doing a good job as she does it. (I say this as a slightly biased source, but nonetheless, I mean this honestly.) Joe Biden, in the debate, was constantly naming names, providing evidence for his points– even if some of what he referenced was incorrect, the man was working from a fundamental base of accumulated knowledge. Sarah Palin works on your emotion and your desires. She is trying to manipulate you.
And furthermore, I just disagree with her politics, which is an entirely separate point. But that’s not a problem, that’s just the way opinions work. It’s that dishonest attempt to manipulate me that I resent so much, and that bothers me about her. I honestly wouldn’t mind the attempt to seem like she’s from America’s heartland (which, by the way, Alaska is obviously not) if it seemed like she was genuine, if I didn’t feel like there was a basic contempt for me in the way she looks down on both people who’re advocates of intellectual discourse, as well as her own constituency, thinking that she can represent them by merely adopting a guise of friendliness, and then do whatever she wants with the power, thereby fucking us all over.
That’s just this man’s take, though.
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