What is so unnerving about the candidacy of Sarah Palin is the degree to which she represents—and her supporters celebrate—the joyful marriage of confidence and ignorance. Watching her deny to Gibson that she had ever harbored the slightest doubt about her readiness to take command of the world’s only superpower, one got the feeling that Palin would gladly assume any responsibility on earth:
“Governor Palin, are you ready at this moment to perform surgery on this child’s brain?”
“Of course, Charlie. I have several boys of my own, and I’m an avid hunter.”
“But governor, this is neurosurgery, and you have no training as a surgeon of any kind.”
“That’s just the point, Charlie. The American people want change in how we make medical decisions in this country. And when faced with a challenge, you cannot blink.”
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And that’s what I need to just learn to just accept. If you want to bait me, do it with exactly that.
I once went on a date with a woman who didn’t blink. It was creepy.
I will second mb’s sentiment. If I could stop paying attention, then all this wouldn’t matter as much, or maybe not at all.
Then I would be reduced to assuming the wrong things while making the wrong decisions every day for the rest of my life. My confidence in my (unknown to me) shitty information and equally shitty decisions would only serve to turn me into one of the zombies.
It’s bad enough already on the whole zombie thing, I don’t need any encouragement.
BRaaaaains.
She’s no Barack Obama thats for sure
Fascinating, Waldo. And Barry Obama’s qualifications? Play this game if you want to, but Palin has one thing Obama lacks: executive experience.
James Young,
The fact of the matter is that Republican partisans like you are going to find whatever thing your candidate has but his opponent lacks, and you’re going to claim it’s the most important thing in the world.
And Obama has something Sara Palin lacks: an actual understanding of constitutional law. After this last disaster of a president, that’s something I actually value incredibly highly. Palin, on the other hand, started looking into banning books and firing people for personal grudges when she got into office.
For further discussion of this idiotic talking point of yours: http://waldo.jaquith.org/blog/2008/09/palin-foreign-policy/#comment-20884
Oh, and Lincoln, JFK, and Eisenhower, among others, all had no previous executive experience. It’s obviously not a deal-breaker.
If she had expressed ANY hestitation, idiots like you would be all over her for that, too. Admit it, you are looking to nitpick.
As persuasive as the act of insulting me is, I must still disagree. The crux of Sarah Palin’s problem—the point of this blog entry—is that she’s both totally ignorant and utterly unwilling to let that stand in her way. Much as I’d want somebody to pause and consider whether they should perform surgery on my brain, I would also hope that anybody being asked to run for any office would hesitate for more than a fraction of a second before agreeing, with a proportional relationship between the height of the office and the length of said hesitation.
Palin’s speeches, her three appearances before the media, and her decision to run all exist aat the overlap between impulsive and ignorant that often lead to those famous last words of “Hey, guys—watch this!”