I’ve seen Sarah Palin compared by the blogerati to Dan Quayle, Tom Eagleton, Geraldine Ferraro. After listening to the beginning of her speech the other day, I think the most apt comparison is our current President, George Bush.
The CW is that as “just an average hockey mom,” people will be able to relate to her. People will like the idea that an average hockey mom could be the vice president.
That’s her primary qualification: that she’s average. She the perfect repository for the hopes of everyone in American with an inferiority complex. For those for whom the existence of someone accomplished is a threat, she reassures them that merit does not necessarily win the day.
Pathetic.
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3 comments:
One of the morning news shows today interviewed several mothers about whether the pregnancy of Palin's unmarried teenage daughter bears on whether Palin is qualified to be vice president.
Their answer? It makes her *more* qualified. Why? Because it shows that Palin is "one of them."
Eggad! This is not just the "virtue of the average" but the "virtue of the bottom-of-the-barrel."
The conversation brings to mind how evangelical Christians love to talk about their sordid pasts. They are proud that they were once drug addicts, promiscuous, criminals, etc.
They are proud of these sins because their religion ascribes moral virtue to suffering and forgiveness. Those who have no sins to atone for are morally neutral at best.
Certainly being an average hockey mom is no virtue when it comes to being president, nor is having a daughter who is unmarried and pregnant. These are non-essentials by a rational standard, but for altruistic lovers of the average and the depraved, these are highly relevant facts.
This is egalitarianism run amok. I think John Rawls would be proud. If you don't know what I mean, perhaps you will . . . perhaps this is something I'll turn into a proposal for TOS.
I know this post is a little older now but I think it's relevant. Microsoft is running a new ad campaign wholly based upon the idea of connecting with "average" people. Bill Gates has enlisted Jerry Seinfeld to use his neurotic humor to bring Gates down to earth. They go around doing totally "average" stuff; buying shoes at a crummy store, bickering semantics in a ping-pong match, filling a pool with a hose. The idea is "see Bill Gates isn't some billionaire business genius at all! He's just another guy like you!". Give me a break. Serenity now!
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