Thrilla From Wasilla

I was hoping I was through with Sarah Palin.  Really.  But with the publicity tour for  her book, Going Rogue, she’s everywhere…inhabiting the spaces I like to occupy, TV news shows and newspapers.  There’s no getting away from her. I don’t like the feeling she evokes in me; for some reason I don’t see her as benign or foolish and she brings out a mean-spiritedness in me that is usually confined to a  very few people.  For example, Dick Cheney is way up on that list. (Interesting resume-draft dodger/war mongerer).  A rising star and rapidly gaining is Judas Joe Lieberman.  And oy… that voice.  By the way, am I the only one who thinks he’s Howdy Doody all grown?

I’ve tried to figure out why Ms. Palin gets under my skin.   The most compelling reason I’ve been able to come up with is that it bothers me no end that there are so many people in the country held in thrall by a nincompoop.  And that scares the hell out of me.  That my so-called ‘countrymen’ could be swayed by someone so light is almost a mystery to me.  I heard a conservative commentator say the other day that part of her appeal is that she’s  ” easy on the eyes.”  Quaint expression.   Exactly the quality you’d want from someone holding the most powerful position in the world.  Who knows, maybe if she started to show some cleavage she might attract some Independents.

With this onslaught of “all Palin, all the time”, the networks are rolling out old clips of her from the 2008 campaign.  I particularly like the one where John McCain doesn’t know whether to shake her hand, peck her cheek or give her a full body hug.  He opts for some kind of bizarre amalgam and then, as an afterthought, shakes Todd Palin’s hand without looking at him….as if he were totally dispensable.  I know that Sarah has said that what has gotten her through the “hard times’, were God and Todd. (Convenient name…no?)  I can kind of understand the ‘God’ part, but jeez, how has Todd helped when he apparently can’t speak.  That’s the truth.  I (over)watched the campaign;  he was everywhere.  But I’ve  never heard him utter a word.  Never.  And no one I’ve  asked, has ever heard him speak.  Apparently, the (almost) “first dude” has not much to say.

This is good….writing this is helping me get over my Palin-angst.  Thank you.  One last thing… I thought a fun thing might be to invent a Palin-drome that somehow would become as famous as “Madam I’m Adam”.  I’ve fooled around with it a bit…it’s way too hard for me.  About the only thing I’ve come up with so far is, “Is Todd dotsi?”  Actually, I think he might be.