If you're expecting to see the Vice Presidential debate moderated by Simon Cowell, you're not alone. While no one was looking, our system of choosing a President has morphed into a perversion of reality television.
The irony here is palatable. Millions more citizens voted for Clay Aiken and Reuben Stoddard then voted for Bush/Cheney so it's clear that selecting a pretty face is more interesting to Mr. & Mrs. Nebraska than choosing the leader of the free world. (Sadly, Misters Aiken and Stoddard have displayed more talent than Bush/Cheney ever have.) We have gone from electing the guy you want to have a beer with to mooning over Miss Congeniality. Considering that Middle America has responded to sizzle over steak, form over substance and flash over facts, we should hardly be surprised. The nomination of Sarah Palin is the quintessential case of misdirection. We are through the looking glass. Knowledge clearly doesn't matter. How straight your teeth are is clearly of more consequence than if you've ever read a paper or watched a news program. Charlie Gibson may as well have asked Ms. Palin to comment on whether Jennifer Aniston will ever find true love.
I really don't get it. We are prepared to allow a dim bulb like Sarah Palin say absolutely anything for no other reason than her proclivity for breeding. After six years and six months of needless war, how does any politician have the gall to trot out the tired and discredited lie that we are "fighting the people that attacked us"? Even the lame-brain in the White House (124 days and counting) has stopped trying to sell that bit of tripe to the American people. Is it possible that we let Sarah Palin get away with spouting ancient untruths simple because she doesn't know any better? The country likes her and is empathetic because most of them are as clueless as she is. You wonder if perhaps much of the America believes that Saddam Hussein really did engineer 9/11 and the New York Times is just inventing contrary stories to discredit George Bush. Sarah knows the truth. After all, she can see Russia from her bedroom window.
The impression you get is that, because Barak Obama is short on executive experience, it became OK to nominate someone that is all ideology and no smarts. It is difficult to believe that John McCain would be so reckless as to risk the country he professes to love by entrusting it to a person that suggested attacking Russia as a foreign policy option. Even Ronald Reagan knew better than that. A Presidency of McCain-Palin may actually cause the world's leaders to look back longingly to the tranquil days of Bush-Cheney.
McCain doesn't get a pass for this. This isn't just politics as usual. It stands as the most startling example of what this old fogey is prepared to do to get elected. Someone needs to ask Grandpa McCain if he wants to live in a country run by Sarah Palin. He could always ask the Vietnamese if his old accommodations at the HH are still available.
Anyway, the next time we see Sarah it will be in an interview conducted by Sean Hannity. Perfect! Why not just let Karl Rove conduct it? True, Obama was on with Keith Olberman but he also appeared with Bill O'Reilly.
Let's see what sort of tough questions the folks at Fox News have written. "Governor Palin. With all the laundry you do with five kids and a working husband, which detergent works best?" "What brand of ammunition is best for dropping a moose?" How about, "Governor, it's reported that there are more crystal meth labs in Wasilla than televisions. Care to comment?" "Well, Sean, when I became mayor of Wasilla the science department in the local high school was just dreadful. Under my direction, each student now has a thorough grounding in chemistry. Those labs are just an unfortunate byproduct. I should point out that those little lab rats handle the chemicals with extreme care. We teach safety first".
This interview has the potential to be among the most bias, pandering, ass-kissing bits of journalism ever witnessed. Fox makes not the slightest pretext of being impartial. They will give Sarah every opportunity to recant, undo and explain all the gaffs from the Charlie Gibson mess of last week. Not for anything but, if you're not qualified to sit through an interview by a reasonably affable newsman, how are you qualified to be Vice President of the VFW let alone the Vice President of the United States? Even the contestants on American Idol have some talent...and they don't get a free pass from Simon either.
No comments:
Post a Comment