If she is so unimportant, why obsess over her? Sarah Palin’s personality and the delusions, lunacy and verbal jujitsu of the self-important pundits.

Posted by: sharmajee on: March 17, 2011

• In: Governor Sarah Palin | Sarah Palin 2012
• Comment!

It is obvious where the celebrity experts such as Chris Matthews and Maureen Dowd stand. The former got a thrill up the leg when candidate Obama spoke, the latter felt nauseous at the thought of an attractive woman politician hunting and claiming to be a feminist at the same time. Neither could delve deep into the (lack of) substance on the former nor perceive the latent depths of the character of the latter (candidates). Where the experts started off from, they stayed pat, with no inclination to grow, explore or understand. They exist to self-serving propaganda and self-aggrandizement.

It is obvious where upwardly mobile (but failing to reach) experts such as Kathleen Parker and your typical AP reporter stand. They reach like flies for spilled honey, and swarm all over current public mood and go with it. They lace the broad image with embellishments of manufactured nuance, and fill in the gaps for the daily breakfast of media consumers.

Turn the TV or news off for a month except for the headlines. Just know what happened in the world over a three week period and then go back to see what the junior experts said happened. You will be shocked to see in retrospect how much garbage comes out of a typical talk show expert or wire service reporter. Like a traffic officer trying to meet quota while writing tickets, what little factual veracity exists, it’s vastly exceeded by the contextual absurdity and irrelevancy. There is no illumination, or solution. Only drivel, self-serving drivel.

Several recent articles show the media’s continuing obsession over Sarah Palin.

Focusing on one tiny item of a speech, namely an albeit self-conscious acerbic comment by Sarah Palin on the price of mild and breast-feeding, WaPo writer Jena McGregor crafts a clever title, a pedantic analysis, and a Socratic solipsism about what leadership speeches should be or should not be about.

Leaders are judged as much on what they do take the time to weigh in on as on what they don’t say at all. Jumping into the debate about Michelle Obama’s campaign to fight childhood obesity, and make breastfeeding easier for those women who choose to do it, may have been like throwing candy to certain elements of her base. But if she wants to sound presidential, then sticking to what really matters (as Palin puts it) without throwing in little cracks about a universally agreed-upon problem would be a lot less, in a word, distracting. (Emphasis added)

It’s hard to see at first blush, but that entire article is just a sour crack about Sarah Palin, even though the writer tries to couch it as helpful analysis. That a little aside gets the top billing in an otherwise rich, issue-laden speech is a sad commentary on the journalist. Incidentally that same journalist waxes eloquent and adoring about Chris Christie in this article. The contrast between the tenor and intent of the two posts is quite telling, of the obsession.

For a reason known only to him, Chris Cillizza decided to compare in unfavorable terms the former speaker Nancy Pelosi and Sarah Palin. At the same time he buried in the detail the fact that massive spending on negative ads could achieve the same effect. Does it mean that Sarah Palin’s sole problem is that she doesn’t spend enough money trumpeting her own worthiness? Cillizza doesn’t say. It seems though, that all Palin needs is a major charm offensive. Indeed! On the other hand, perhaps it is implied that the media people are just snakes waiting to be played some snake charming music?

But on cue comes another article, also featured on Yahoo! front page, by a former aide to Giuliani that purports to offer a narrative of her diminishing popularity. The article is so carefully crafted as to be self-indulgent. The crux of his argument is packed with typical media self-importance, their need to offer approbation and bestow grades.

Beneath the enabled self-promotion was a startling lack of preparation for a serious presidential campaign. Quitting her job as the governor of Alaska after 32-months, certainly gave Palin the opportunity to cash in on her notoriety but it also gave her the opportunity to begin studying for the presidency. But she has so far declined to build the defined outlines of a campaign apparatus or participate in the usual conservative cattle calls like CPAC. One year’s absence could be seen as strategic, three years starts to look like a snub. (Emphasis added)

It is good that Palin snubs the media, for they are no friend of hers. Nor does she need to ‘study’ for anything, but media handling, and ego bashing. In 2008 she was as qualified to be president as Obama was, not that anybody noticed or cared. America was wallowing in self-pity, guilt and misogyny. But, things will change. Or, so I do (dare I use the word) hope.

As for kissing up to the media, Sarah Palin must be doing the right thing, for it’s driving them crazy. Stick to the game plan governor, the pundits deserve nothing less. It’s a brave new world of communications out there, there is time yet to spill the honey and catch the flies.

Go off now, to India. A billion intelligent and enterprising, democratic, freedom-loving, realistic-minded souls waiting to be captivated. And then, on to other lands and projects – a lot of work remains to be done between now and November 2012.

Sarah Speaks to India

Tags: Lamestream Media, Media Craves Palin Fix, Media's Palin Obsession, Sarah Palin smears