Quote of the day
posted at 10:35 pm on February 4, 2009 by Allahpundit
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“This is why Palin was seen as anti-intellectual when, properly speaking, she was simply non-intellectual. What she lacked was not intelligence—she is, clearly, highly intelligent—but rather the particular set of assumptions, references, and attitudes inculcated by America’s top twenty universities and transmitted by the nation’s elite cultural organs.
Many of those (including especially those on the Right) who reacted badly to Palin on intellectual grounds understand themselves to be advancing the interests of lower-middle-class families similar to Palin’s own family and to many of those in attendance at her rallies who greeted her arrival on the scene as a kind of deliverance. But it is hard to escape the conclusion that while these members of the intellectual elite want the government to serve the interests of such people first and foremost, they do not want those people to hold the levers of power. They see lower-middle-class populists like Palin and their supporters as profoundly ill-suited for governance, because they lack the accoutrements required for its employment—especially in foreign policy, which, even more than domestic affairs, is thought to be an intellectual exercise. It is for this reason that Barack Obama, who actually has far less experience in executive governance than Palin, was not dismissed as unprepared for the presidency. Palin may have been elected governor of Alaska, but his peers in Cambridge had elected Obama editor of the Harvard Law Review. He is thoroughly fluent in the parlance of the college town, and in the eyes of the new American elite, Washington is the ultimate college town.”
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And Bill Clinton? The boy came from Arkansas, perhaps the most intellectually maligned state in the union. He might as well have been from the Congo. How was it he wasn’t seen as a yokel? Yeah, yeah, Oxford and all that. But his Rhodes Scholar bona fides wouldn’t have been worth a shovel full of cow manure to the “elites” had he not espoused the proper ideology.
I guess since Washington is a college town, Bill was the ultimate drunken frat boy.
mugged on February 5, 2009 at 7:00 AM
I love this summary/response! May I quote you to all my liberal relatives (in-laws) in Long Island, NY.
Gotcha on February 5, 2009 at 7:14 AM
He is exactly 7 states above his pay grade.
hawkdriver on February 5, 2009 at 7:27 AM
Well played, sir. Well played.
BacaDog on February 5, 2009 at 7:29 AM
What did she say? I can’t find the exact quote.
stenwin77 on February 5, 2009 at 7:32 AM
Or, I guess my question should be, who exactly is this person that wrote the article? Obviously, not related to MARK Levin.
stenwin77 on February 5, 2009 at 7:34 AM
So, this is the real class warfare the libs talk about.
bloggless on February 5, 2009 at 8:06 AM
Alright if you are so smart….you go out and find some
honest.. lawabiding.. taxpaying liberals to fill these posts
in the Obama government…There are not many to choose from
The man is doing the best he can with what he has to work with
norryrr on February 5, 2009 at 8:09 AM
The posted quotations seems entirely accurate to me.
JiangxiDad on February 5, 2009 at 8:11 AM
The difference between the Palin-haters and the-Palin lovers…
Palin-haters put a higher priority on elitism over conservatism.
Palin-lovers put a higher priority on conservatism over elitism.
dominigan on February 5, 2009 at 8:16 AM
Who the hell uses a word like accoutrements?
I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer but please use MAXIMUM 2 syllable words so the idiots who voted for the ultimate IDIOT can follow along.
IMPEACH OBAMA NOW!
MICHAEL SAVAGE
Mercy4Me on February 5, 2009 at 8:18 AM
Apparently , they don’t talk about the real class warfare.
the_nile on February 5, 2009 at 8:18 AM
AMEN AND AMEN!
Mercy4Me on February 5, 2009 at 8:19 AM
The Liberal Party (with Obama at the helm) has selected thugs and criminals to run the American government; put speaker Pelosi in front of the country to announce the news that 500 million jobs are being lost each month; shoving a pig-pork infested bill through Congress before it could be vetted…
Yes, this month has been a highly intellectual month for American politicians. Obama is a rookie Senator from Illinois, with no national experience of any kind; his arrogance & lack of any prior experience showed it’s ugly face on day one in the WH. The efforts of Pelosi & Reid to shove this pork infested bill through Congress by way of using “fear” tactics, is a dynamic that Americans have seen as a disgusting thirst for ultimate power over the people. The national approval rating for this sham of a scam is now down to 37%, and dropping by the hour as more and more Americans become aware of the lack of “stimulus” and more aware of the billions of “pork” that infests this bill.
What we are witnessing here folks, is a power move towards Socialism by a bunch of Socialists. Hopefully, Shipley and the rest of the trolls that frequent these waters, will join us as we fight back against these threats to our Democracy. I wonder if the military will step in and arrest these people for acts against the people. I have never seen anything like this in my lifetime. Obama and his “hopey-changey” act looks like the huge scam it is more and more with each passing day. This man is nothing other than a well spoken rookie radical leftist senator from Illinois. Pelosi and Reid are old veteran radical thugs and criminals. The American people are not as stupid as these thugs had predicted. The icing is off the cake already, and the cake itself is badly decayed with mold and poison.
The most ethical administration eva! These people should be arrested and locked-up for the scam they are trying to force through Congress; a scam that will hurt Americans for generations to come.
Keemo on February 5, 2009 at 8:21 AM
I urge others to print out the piece and read it.
Still, Allah stopped one paragraph short because I found that the very next paragraph hits the nail on the head of those POS in DC who think only they have answers:
I say a big “amen” to that.
BuckeyeSam on February 5, 2009 at 8:22 AM
I do. That’s what I call the thingamajigs that go with the vacuum. Where are the vacuum accoutrements!
Blake on February 5, 2009 at 8:26 AM
Buckeye, thanks for this:
That quote articulates my view; if we wanted to be ruled by aloof elitists we could have stayed with His Majesty King George’s crew in 1776. The intent of the Constitution was for citizen legislators to visit DC to govern as little as was needed, then return to their real lives.
Red State State of Mind on February 5, 2009 at 8:34 AM
Yes, the failed community organizer is quite the genius.
Besides the Putin’s,Ahmadinejad’s,Kim Jong’s,and about every jihadis laughing at our Paparazzi President,He can’t even find a handful of democrats that aren’t corrupt,lying,tax cheating crooks to fill out his cabinet.
Behold the liberal Messiah,uh..uhh…duh…uh…well….uhh…uh…I made a mistake.
Watching liberals twist themselves into a pretzel explaining how Obama’s many mistakes in his first two weeks
somehow shows character and “he’s trying to hard”,compared to when Bush even mis-pronounced a word it was proof he was an idiot shows just how pathetic liberals have become in their hypocrisy and hero worship related to Obama.
This clown is the one who still will not admit he was wrong about opposing the surge and is on record that knowing then what he knows now about the incredible success of the surge,he would still have voted against.
This may pass for intelligence in a classroom or on MSNBC but people in touch with reality choose to call it what it is: STUCK ON STUPID.
Baxter Greene on February 5, 2009 at 8:38 AM
“It is not Palin’s fault that McCain was incapable of harnessing the phenomenal response to his running mate to his own advantage.”
the_nile on February 5, 2009 at 8:39 AM
The GOP elites know that if “leadership can emerge from utterly unexpected places” they have to DESTROY that potential leader (Palin) to hang on to their own power. Watched it happen before my very eyes this past election and realized just how condescending and hypocritical the elites in both parties are. Now this talk of “Should the GOP go upscale or downscale?” reinforces my belief that the elite in the GOP party despise many of their own members. Michael Steele better make it clear that the GOP welcomes the wise with the educated and the common with the privileged, or I will remain the ex-Repub independent that I have become.
DrStock on February 5, 2009 at 8:47 AM
great article read the whole thing!
unseen on February 5, 2009 at 8:48 AM
What makes this even worse is that this is not just partisan sniping and one side jumping on another sides mistakes.
As snake 307 did such a great job of pointing up before,Obama’s lack of experience and being devoid of any leadership qualities what-so-ever is sending a message of weakness and incompetence across seas.
Obama’s more concerned with looking good and staying up in the polls than he is with achieving actual results.
Scraping the policies that have brought tremendous success
in the war on terror to appease his left wing base is idiotic in it’s own right.
His mistakes are not going to cause somebody to get a bad grade in the classroom or condemnation at the coffee shop,it is going to get a lot of people killed.
Baxter Greene on February 5, 2009 at 8:54 AM
Somebody’s touchy! Okay, okay, I’m sorry I made fun of Biden.
Jim Treacher on February 5, 2009 at 8:55 AM
AP: Thanks for better photo. Also I read in one of those side bar ads that Obama has an IQ of 128. I’ll bet Sarah’s is higher and she could have aced it in any of the Ivy League colleges, IF she wanted to waste her time and talents on that exercise in cloning.
jeanie on February 5, 2009 at 8:56 AM
Best article ever about the use of our nuclear weapons by Frank J at IMAO http://www.imao.us/docs/NukeTheMoon.htm
sabbott on February 5, 2009 at 8:59 AM
Who the hell uses a word like accoutrements?
Mercy4Me on February 5, 2009 at 8:18 AM
I do, all the time.
I would like the pancake slam with bacon and all the accoutrements, please.
Impresses the hell out of the waitresses.
Bishop on February 5, 2009 at 8:59 AM
++
the_nile on February 5, 2009 at 9:04 AM
Late to the thread….
My first reaction upon clicking the link was, “Hey, how about a content warning? I don’t want to give traffic to Commentary!”
Then I read it. Wow. As the British would say, “Spot on.”
Well done, Commentary. I guess even a blind Commie pig can find a truffle every now and then.
Anton on February 5, 2009 at 9:08 AM
I got the feeling that he used the word, intentionally, to mock the elitist mindset. At least that’s how I took it.
progressoverpeace on February 5, 2009 at 9:08 AM
BuckeyeSam on February 5, 2009 at 8:22 AM
Well done BuckeyeSam!!!
Keemo on February 5, 2009 at 9:08 AM
witness the pot calling the kettle black. They really have to create such straw horses to demean Palin. Their desperation and irrational hatred does nothing but make her more intriguing to me. I’m not sure if she’s the right person for 2012 but there are a lot of things I like about her.
Ampersand on February 5, 2009 at 9:15 AM
Well, now we know what Benny does for a living:
Better luck next time, Benny!
Jim Treacher on February 5, 2009 at 9:17 AM
Why it’s the same sort of switched on hep cat who’s into arrugla. It’s an elite thing, you wouldn’t understand.
mugged on February 5, 2009 at 9:17 AM
Are you making a joke or what?
Commentary is a fine, erudite Conservative magazine (and one to which I proudly subscribe).
Jenfidel on February 5, 2009 at 9:19 AM
Is she can succeed at the highest levels, those degrees and diplomas that they cherish(and that someone else paid dearly for) lose their value. She is a threat, while Sheik Obomber is, for them, a confirmation.
james23 on February 5, 2009 at 9:24 AM
In other words, you need tobe a snob with a pedigree to be able to lead this country? Hmmmm, I suppose being nurtured in Chicago politics is somewhat like going to prep school.
In a pigs eye!!!! More like reform school. Geez, our prez has been reformed, hey, nothing to worry about now *sigh*
clinker46 on February 5, 2009 at 9:34 AM
upscale= elitist
When Steele mentioned in his acceptance speech that if you don’t get out of the way we are going to run over you I really believe he was referring to Republican elitists and RINO’s rather than the Left whose opposition to conservatism is a static given.
By the way Steele will be hosting the Bill Bennett program at 6 AM EST tomorrow.
I have made this point elsewhere but let me repeat-I firmly believe conservatives and the GOP have to totally embrace the triumvirate of Rush Limbaugh, Michael Steele and Sarah Palin in their efforts to resurrect the GOP in the near future and in the 2010 and 2012 election cycles. I would be willing to put these three up against The Messiah and his hordes and pundits any day of the week and I further would be willing to stake the future of America on these three being successful in their endeavors to reclaim the America of our forefathers for future generations to live free, enjoy and prosper.
technopeasant on February 5, 2009 at 9:35 AM
I love it when elites try to explain things, especially when they have an Eastern highfalootn’ educshun. It makes no difference where you went to college. Paying big bucks makes you no smarter than when you came in. You just have “connections” when you get out. It’s just like incest when you think you have an education when you get out of any of those institutions.
Palin had a variety of educational experiences, just like the O-man. He thinks he is elite, she knows how the world works. Amen.
BetseyRoss on February 5, 2009 at 9:46 AM
So does Ahmadinejad’s efforts to become the 12th Imam and blow the rest of the world back to the 7th Century using nuclear weapons qualify as an intellectual exercise? Is Hugo Chavez’ takeover of Venezuelan oil and suppression of free speech an intellectual exercise? Is Kim Jong-Il’s development of nuclear weapons on the backs of his impoverished people an intellectual exercise? Any hockey mom can figure it out–these people don’t care about fluency in parlance, they need a body check.
In which Obama never wrote a single article. They’ve got plenty of fluency in the parlance of doublespeak, but one course nobody ever bothers to teach at Hahvid, but they teach at Wasilla High: Common Sense 101.
A populist, by definition, is someone who does what the people want. Isn’t that the role of “governance”, in Abraham Lincoln’s words, “by the people and for the people”?
Why can’t Hahvid and Georgetown “intellectuals” figure that out? Answer two paragraphs up!
Steve Z on February 5, 2009 at 9:48 AM
There are a lot of dumb rich kids and smart poor people out there. I feel ridiculous even having to deconstruct this Straussian nonsense, because I know they hate actually discussing the issues, manipulation of anti intellectuals by “clever” intellectuals has been around since the beginning of time. Play Machiavelli’s fool, act like a plane speaking idiot, and then blame the quote “intellectuals” (people who just want to know where you stand on an issue) as elitists. Its the same childish jocks vs nerds paradigm, the same anti learning environment that is cultivated in our public educational institutions, don’t stick your neck out or you are obviously being a peacock.
When “conservatives” supported this stuff with the plain speaking Bush it got us large Democratic majorities and destroyed the 94 revolution which was largely issue based. I forsee the same Democratic majorities if we continue down this path. Yes Straussian Neocons are nothing but “Liberals mugged by [political] reality”, especially with their use of class warfare and all.
LevStrauss on February 5, 2009 at 9:54 AM
Good article. And, AP, I think this paragraph sums up what I see as one difference between Huckabee and Palin, at least IMO.
cs89 on February 5, 2009 at 10:01 AM
You take that back..
if there is anyone more worthy to goof on in this administration, it’s Biden.
Right after Obama, of course.
DaveC on February 5, 2009 at 10:06 AM
Umm, Bill Clinton was a Rhodes Scholar. Sarah Palin went to 5 colleges in 6 years and doesn’t read newspapers or even know what the vice president does. But enjoy your little theory.
Vernon Hardapple on February 5, 2009 at 10:06 AM
You are conveniently forgetting that the GOP kept their majority in the House from 1994-2006 and in the case of President Bush, we kept control of the House in the 2002 Congressional Election, which was almost unheard of in American political history for the President’s party.
Frankly, I loathe Levy-Strauss and I have no idea what “Straussian Neocons” are.
I tried to deconstruct your first paragraph, but frankly, it was too obtuse even for a mind-bending anti-intellectual intellectual like myself.
Jenfidel on February 5, 2009 at 10:12 AM
Hey vernon.. what planet did you drop in from??? Liberalnutcasia???
So, Bill Clinton was a rhodes scholar.. So what??? What did obama accomplish during his school years?? Don’t know do we, those records are sealed.
I’ve taught in higher ed for over 20 years now. It is extremely over-rated. Again, who cares how many colleges she attended…
The newspapers thing is BS and you should know that. Besides. The media is so skewed it isn’t funny. I wonder why they are all going out of business. Wonder if there is a reason for that…
As far as the VP thing.. Guess what.. Joe “Gird your lions” biden was the one who screwed that answer up in the depate.. In his answer he got the operative clause of the constitution as to the VP roles wrong….
bullseye on February 5, 2009 at 10:15 AM
Vernon Crapapple weighs in…
I’ll put Sarah’s record as Governor up against Slick Willy’s any day!
Bill Clinton still doesn’t know what the President does and has never been able to produce conclusive proof that he got a degree from Oxford and his record at Yale Law is about as sketchy as NObama’s at Harvard.
‘Nuff said.
And you’re a complete tool of the idiot Left MSM if you really believe that Sarah Palin doesn’t read newspapers or know what the VP does.
BTW, does Joe Biden know what the VP does even at this late date?
Jenfidel on February 5, 2009 at 10:16 AM
Abe Lincoln went to 0 colleges in 56 years.
Jim Treacher on February 5, 2009 at 10:17 AM
Many years ago, there was arguably a real correlation between learning and schooling. But with the invention of the moveable-type printing press, institutes of “higher learning” became nothing but good-old-boy’s clubs.
Assuming you don’t completely flunk out of school (as the liberal’s “Second-Smartest Man In The History Of The World” Al Gore did so competently) the oxymoron of academic performance is pretty much irrelevant to real-world performance.
The only thing more pathetic than a full-grown man bragging about his grades is anyone bragging about what school he happened to attend: “I’m better than you because I had really SMART people reading to me!”
logis on February 5, 2009 at 10:21 AM
OMG, she went to a bunch of schools and won’t tell Katie that she reads Good Housekeeping Magazine! Worse than that, she tries to speak to children about complex topics!! OMG, OMG — how can she dare run for VP — OMG! I need a latte, pronto!!!
littleguy on February 5, 2009 at 10:24 AM
It is not “anti-intellectual”, but rather “anti-bigotry” to oppose the notion that one must attend an ivy-league school to be intelligent. Lincoln managed to become quite intelligent and articulate without the benefit of an ivy-league sheepskin. So did Reagan. Or Truman.
The ability to lead, and a vision of WHERE to lead, are not qualities that are bestowed by Harvard or Yale. To the extent that those institutions still demand academic excellence, they might be advantageous; but judging by my experience with a few latter-day Harvard and Yale men, they aren’t what they used to be. Moreover, if a person past the age of 40 holds up his collegiate record as evidence of his intellectual attainment, I’d be gravely concerned. I have a degree in computer science from The University of Texas, a pretty well-respected state university; but my formal education represents only a minuscule fraction of my total learning.
Give me Ronald Reagan over John Kerry any day of the week. Is that populism? I really could not possibly care less.
RegularJoe on February 5, 2009 at 10:26 AM
I knew they were something you ate! In fact, I got a box of Accoutramints for Christmas! I wouldn’t have eaten them (at least not all of them in one setting like I did) if I knew that the Obama favored them. Kinda makes me feel a little bit “queasy” right now. (For us uneducated,”queasy” means you’re gonna puke. I looked it up. It’s not, like I thought it was, that thing you clean the windshield on your pickup with.)
Oh, almost forgot. Wanted to ask “Eh” something. You got me scratching my ol’ head here. You seem to be a reasonably smart fellow seeing how you can string a few words together and all.
But boy, howdy – - the dumb-as-a-stump words you write! You’re like an ol’ mule with blinders plodding along in a dumbocrat circus parade. You go only where you’re told to go, see only what your supposed to see, and completely miss the fact that the fellow cracking the whip over your witless, pointy ears, is the circus clown leading you along with a whole heard of mindless jackass directly to the glue factory.
Anyway, what I wanted to ask you – when you got smarts, how’d you get to be so stupid? Did you go get “educated”?
Rod on February 5, 2009 at 10:40 AM
Just in case nobody posted this above:
Barry Soetoro was affirmative-actioned into Law Editor.
A complete nonentity in the position.
ex-Democrat on February 5, 2009 at 10:41 AM
Intellectuals are people who want to know about where a candidate stands?
littleguy on February 5, 2009 at 10:43 AM
Clinton was a smart guy who knew early on he wanted to be President, so he worked hard to get all of the right stuff on his resume (I don’t consider that a negative; to know what you want and to work hard for it are fine things).
By contrast, Palin wasn’t thinking of being President, or Governor, or secretary of the PTA for that matter. She was trying to get a college diploma, a stepping stone that people need to get a good job. She did whatever she could to come up with scholarship money, and put herself through. If that took 5 schools or 50, I couldn’t care less. Like Clinton, she knew what SHE wanted, and worked hard to get it. We can debate whether the best President is the one who grows up wanting to be President; I don’t really see that it is a particularly good thing.
The “doesn’t read newspapers” thing is just so stupid, and has been so thoroughly debunked I’m not going to even address it other than to point out that she frequently wrote letters to the editors or many different newspapers regarding stories therein, predating her political career. People who don’t read newspapers seldom do that sort of thing.
The claim that she “doesn’t know what the vice president does” is perhaps the lamest accusation of all time! When speaking to children, instead of saying the VP “presides over” the Senate, she said the VP “runs” the Senate. Now, I know liberals aren’t fond of children, except in the abstract, when they’re trying to outdo one another at doling out tax money, so let me explain something about children: their vocabularies are not always fully developed. Many young children actually don’t know what “preside over” means. Knowing a thing or two about children, Gov. Palin knew that. Her choice of the word “runs” seems like a pretty decent synonym.
That said, I’m going to have to see some real growth in foreign policy and economic understanding before I can support her for President. I may yet not be able to do so. But it won’t be because she’s an idiot who doesn’t read. The natural tools are all there, and I suspect she’ll do what she did to get through college: whatever it takes.
RegularJoe on February 5, 2009 at 10:51 AM
No joke intended. The few times I’ve read Commentary (mostly Podhoretz articles) the tone seemed Northeast liberal. If I’ve mis-characterized or misunderstood the editorial tone of the magazine, then I stand corrected.
Anton on February 5, 2009 at 11:02 AM
We have gotten so much in the habit of idolizing people in the public eye, whether they be politicians,movie stars, sports figures, or rock stars, or whatever, we loose site of the fact there are real people in this great country that actually speak for the sheeps that idolize those mentioned above. Sarah Palin is the real thing. That is why so many people, even some in her own party, try to diminish her cred ability. Guess what… most Americans like what they see in Sarah, and in fact can’t wait to get more of it.
supergeezer on February 5, 2009 at 11:03 AM
Wingnut Benny Shakar: Obama’s first month in office has been a success!
Obambi(after 2 weeks in office): I SCREWED up!
I know Bunnyshake is dumb, but I didn’t know he was dumb enough to : 1. Not be able to count time passed 2. Directly contradict his own “Great Leader” – All in one sentence!
Norwegian on February 5, 2009 at 11:06 AM
Give it another chance, please.
John Podhoretz has his flaws, but his father Norman is the real deal.
Jenfidel on February 5, 2009 at 11:25 AM
What a worthless article full of subjective assumptions which I can easily counter with far superior subjective assumptions.
McCain was not helpless. McCain made a point to fly the Palin flag and lead the Palin cheers at the rallies but he could not bring himself to build up Palin politics because in doing so he would have diminished his own style. Palin was strangely used as a rally-dog only, brought out to rev the crowds but kept off of the spontaneous press interactions at which she not only would have outshone McCain, but could not be edited,
McCain meeded Palin to be good but not too good and it was not because McCain was helpless that Palin was kept from defining her own image
Sizable blanks?
Compared to whom? McCain? Obama? Biden? (Noonan? Brooks? Wills? the RNC? The RNCC? Al Haig? who are they talking about?)
McCain and Biden are hardly brilliant internationalists, although they present themselves as such. Their references include sitting in DC or in political committees for decades sucking up self importance. what a joke.
Palin created her own vacuum?
Palin was kept from having her own press conferences or live interviews. She was staged at rallies, and given one pre taped, edited interview with the biggest political enemy McCain could find to introduce her to America. After the edited tape was shown, the McCain group kept her from doing any damage control, but played a cheap game of hiding her as if she was incapable of handling herself.
Palin’s image was shaped not by Palin but by the McCain group, the RINO right, and the happy to cooperate MSM.
The same staging was used against Ronald Reagan by the MSM, and the Rockefeller Republicans. The defference was Reagan saw no need to defer to anyone and he went directly to the public to win. The Rockies and the MSM to this day think Reagan was a simpleton because he promoted simple solutions.
entagor on February 5, 2009 at 11:52 AM
Exactly. The “vacuum” she “created” was apparently between the ears of the lefties and the self-appointed “elite” of the Republican party, who recognized immediately that this woman was not one of their own. Normally the powers that be presume they can make useful idiots of the lower castes who demonstrate native political talent, but not this time. To this very day, weeks after the election and the new President’s inauguration, they continue to be strange bedfellows united in their determination to stop Sarah Palin. Even if I knew nothing more about Palin, I would encourage her just to see these buzzards squirm.
littleguy on February 5, 2009 at 12:41 PM
accouterments It just means he knows how to accessorize. The liberals they really like to accessorize -look at Porkus Giganticus aka Stimulus Bill. They really dressed that hog up:)
Dr Evil on February 5, 2009 at 1:46 PM
The best, perhaps the only, argument that the likes of Brooks and Frum have regarding the supposed anti-intellectual “cancer” of Palinism is typified in the excessively and aggressively defensive reaction of some pro-Palin people to this article, which is thoughtful and largely sympathetic, but, because it employs a few multi-syllable words of obvious foreign derivation or tries to explain the mindset of Ivy Leaguers, is taken to be highfalutin and condescending. Talk about touchy! It’s as though some of you want to institute a new category for political correctness in which the term “lower middle class” needs to be stricken because it seems in some minds to imply moral judgment! Similarly, when Levin describes Palin as opening a space that she was unprepared or unable to fill, that almost goes without saying: She was still brushing the permafrost from her boots when asked to perform double back-flips live on Super-American Idol. That she executed several of them to perfection, and stumbled in other rounds, is to her credit, and Levin clearly recognizes it.
Troll and trollery notwithstanding, she’ll likely receive every chance, and certainly an extended second chance which will for all intents and purposes be her real first chance with the American electorate – if she wants it. This was just pre-season for her: You don’t win the Super Bowl in the pre-season. In the meantime, if she goes ahead with a book deal, she’d do well to spend some of her advance outfitting Yuval Levin or someone like him in a full line of Alaska-proof weather wear, and spending an hour with him every day.
CK MacLeod on February 5, 2009 at 1:47 PM
As Professor Hugo Farnsworth would say… “Whuuuh?”
Since when is the daughter of a teacher and wife of a business owner lower-middle-class? Are we talking about the Governor of Alaska or Joy Darville?
Y-not on February 5, 2009 at 3:05 PM
That was an excellent article. Quite well thought out.
TheUnrepentantGeek on February 5, 2009 at 5:52 PM
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