Sam Harris on Sarah Palin
Oh thank the gods…ironic, I know, in referring to Sam Harris:
As many people have noted, placing Palin on the ticket has made these final months of the already overlong 2008 campaign much more interesting. Is Palin remotely qualified to be president of the United States? No. But that’s precisely what is so interesting. McCain not only has thrown all sensible concerns about good governance aside merely to pander to a sliver of female and masses of conservative Christian voters, he has turned this period of American history into an episode of high-stakes reality television: Don’t look now, but our cousin Sarah just became leader of the free world! Tune in next week and watch her get sassy with Pakistan!
Make sure to read that last line out loud in your best Marge Gunderson voice. Then repeat it over and over again to any ridiculous friends and family members you might have who are unduly impressed with Sarah Palin. Continued:
Americans have an unhealthy desire to see average people promoted to positions of great authority. No one wants an average neurosurgeon or even an average carpenter, but when it comes time to vest a man or woman with more power and responsibility than any person has held in human history, Americans say they want a regular guy, someone just like themselves. President Bush kept his edge on the “Who would you like to have a beer with?” poll question in 2004, and won reelection.
This is one of the many points at which narcissism becomes indistinguishable from masochism. Let me put it plainly: If you want someone just like you to be president of the United States, or even vice president, you deserve whatever dysfunctional society you get. You deserve to be poor, to see the environment despoiled, to watch your children receive a fourth-rate education and to suffer as this country wages — and loses — both necessary and unnecessary wars.
McCain has so little respect for the presidency of the United States that he is willing to put the girl next door (soon, too, to be a grandma) into office beside him. He has so little respect for the average American voter that he thinks this reckless and cynical ploy will work.
Read it all.
September 7, 2008 at 12:16 pm
…and it won’t.
love sam harris.
i can haz no faith?
September 7, 2008 at 2:43 pm
funny post. I follow Palin a lot, here are some of my posts:
http://culturedecoded.wordpress.com/2008/09/05/observation-the-power-of-palin/
http://culturedecoded.wordpress.com/2008/09/01/is-obama-scared-of-sarah-palin/
http://culturedecoded.wordpress.com/2008/09/03/palins-speech-politics-not-as-usual/
pacer521
September 7, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Yeah, and good for the band Heart for having one and not letting the RNC use their jazz. They’ve got good hair on their shoulders. And a good head on their sleeves. As for Sarah…
September 7, 2008 at 4:46 pm
I could not agree with you more, and I do not understand the obsession with having a “president you can have a beer with”. Why not elect someone who is smart and NOT average? It pisses me off how people think sometimes. And the whole Sarah Palin thing? She’s so far right it’s not even funny. This lady wanted to ban books from a local library in Alaska, and she is anti-abortion, even in the event of rape or incest! Why is this lady in government again?
September 7, 2008 at 7:50 pm
Well, Starr, intellectual pursuit has become sort of frowned upon these days. We can thank the Republican party for that kind of branding, but with Republican politics, combined with the anti-intellectual so-called “culture war” waged by extreme right “Christians” against science, against reproductive freedom (counterproductive even to their OWN stated aims), and against gay people, they’ve created a world where it’s simply acceptable, even preferable, to be a fucking idiot.