Dick Cavett on Pailn
Is it terribly unkind to say that I'm glad Dick Cavett isn't dead? I kind of thought he'd gone to his reward because I haven't seen or read him in a long time. Maybe I'm the one who's dead, because Dick has a fine bit in the New York Times today.
Cavett puts the stake in the vampire heart of the Sarah Palin nonsense. Why oh why are we still hearing from and about this person? We all escaped the fate of electing her as Vice President of a country she sees as having citizens who are for and against the country itself. And given McCain's age and health, we escaped her presidency. We crossed the busy street at rush hour against the traffic light and lived. Isn't that enough?
Apparently not.
Cavett:
Could the willingness to crown one who seems to have no first language have anything to do with the oft-lamented fact that we seem to be alone among nations in having made the word "intellectual" an insult? (And yet…and yet…we did elect Obama. Surely not despite his brains.)
...I do not wish her ill. But I also don’t wish us ill. I hope she continues to find happiness in Alaska.
I would add to Cavett's insight the fact that I find her fun to listen to. She is so poorly spoken and has so much trouble collecting and offering a single coherent thought that she hold a certain fascination for me. That's probably why she continues to have a voice (and picture) in American culture. I've watched her Couric interview several times on YouTube - it's riveting. The meandering thoughtless words collected from half-remembered talking points - it's breathtaking.
I also thought it was brilliant that she was already embroiled in a major abuse-of-power scandal ("Troopergate") before she was even "tapped" as Veep. What a gift to Obama! And her bona fides as a "Maverick" were openly fraudulent. Her big line: "I said thanks but no thanks to that Bridge to Nowhere" was a complete lie.
And her foreign policy chops had been formed on her porch, where one presumes that she watch old Vlad Putin "risin' up" over the horizon. Or something.
In a reality-based world, she's as serious a candidate as Bugs Bunny. In the Rovian up-is-down universe we've existed in where the establishment lives in its own enclosed universe, she fits in as the sort of Jessica Rabbit of their world. But reality has caught up to the Bush Bubble. The alternate universe that we were forced to live in has gone away. By making real life decisions based on a cartoon understanding of the universe, the Bush people have nearly destroyed us.
Sarah Palin is the latest symbol of the cartoon-ocracy. Seen from reality, she's a funny cartoon.
The trouble is, her handlers meant us to take her seriously. That tells you all you need to know about them.
They're the people who tried to dismantle Social Security by lying about its solvency. They created their cartoon of a mustachioed villain tying women to train tracks and used it to sell us an unjust war against Saddam. They created 'voter fraud' and used it to suppress minority (Democratic leaning) votes. In their cartoon, the environment doesn't matter, it's just a painted background. So they signed the papers to dig it up and burn it, de-listing endangered species along the way.
Thank goodness the cartoon is over and the Feature can begin.
Cavett puts the stake in the vampire heart of the Sarah Palin nonsense. Why oh why are we still hearing from and about this person? We all escaped the fate of electing her as Vice President of a country she sees as having citizens who are for and against the country itself. And given McCain's age and health, we escaped her presidency. We crossed the busy street at rush hour against the traffic light and lived. Isn't that enough?
Apparently not.
Cavett:
Could the willingness to crown one who seems to have no first language have anything to do with the oft-lamented fact that we seem to be alone among nations in having made the word "intellectual" an insult? (And yet…and yet…we did elect Obama. Surely not despite his brains.)
...I do not wish her ill. But I also don’t wish us ill. I hope she continues to find happiness in Alaska.
I would add to Cavett's insight the fact that I find her fun to listen to. She is so poorly spoken and has so much trouble collecting and offering a single coherent thought that she hold a certain fascination for me. That's probably why she continues to have a voice (and picture) in American culture. I've watched her Couric interview several times on YouTube - it's riveting. The meandering thoughtless words collected from half-remembered talking points - it's breathtaking.
I also thought it was brilliant that she was already embroiled in a major abuse-of-power scandal ("Troopergate") before she was even "tapped" as Veep. What a gift to Obama! And her bona fides as a "Maverick" were openly fraudulent. Her big line: "I said thanks but no thanks to that Bridge to Nowhere" was a complete lie.
And her foreign policy chops had been formed on her porch, where one presumes that she watch old Vlad Putin "risin' up" over the horizon. Or something.
In a reality-based world, she's as serious a candidate as Bugs Bunny. In the Rovian up-is-down universe we've existed in where the establishment lives in its own enclosed universe, she fits in as the sort of Jessica Rabbit of their world. But reality has caught up to the Bush Bubble. The alternate universe that we were forced to live in has gone away. By making real life decisions based on a cartoon understanding of the universe, the Bush people have nearly destroyed us.
Sarah Palin is the latest symbol of the cartoon-ocracy. Seen from reality, she's a funny cartoon.
The trouble is, her handlers meant us to take her seriously. That tells you all you need to know about them.
They're the people who tried to dismantle Social Security by lying about its solvency. They created their cartoon of a mustachioed villain tying women to train tracks and used it to sell us an unjust war against Saddam. They created 'voter fraud' and used it to suppress minority (Democratic leaning) votes. In their cartoon, the environment doesn't matter, it's just a painted background. So they signed the papers to dig it up and burn it, de-listing endangered species along the way.
Thank goodness the cartoon is over and the Feature can begin.
posted by fiduciary at 11:55 AM
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