RANGER AGAINST WAR: She's Like Me! <

Sunday, September 14, 2008

She's Like Me!


Americans want someone who is like me, or worse

--Rob Riggle, explaining the Sarah Palin phenomenon

on 9/11 Jon Stewart show


I can rub & scrub this old house
'til it's shinin like a dime

Feed the baby, grease the car,
and powder my face at the same time

--I'm A Woman
, Peggy Lee

So-uh, are you experienced?

Have you ever been experienced?

--Are you experienced?, Jimi Hendrix
______________

Ranger Observation:
Every time Palin and McCain are photographed together,
body language suggest Palin is the alpha
______________

Sarah Palin is everywhere. She was in Barney's Cafe in Mt. Airy, N.C.; she was in New York, Vermont and Maine, too. She is all over the Deep South.

All of these everyday women look so very much like her, and drive the same SUV's I imagine Ms. Palin to drive. Their prime concern is their backyard, and they don't know too much about the news cycle. They don't need to.


With Sarah Palin's VP nomination, we see the great leveling impulse in America reaching for the highest office of the land. Sarah Palin is us, or at least, a large portion of us. She is the Obama antivenin.

Why? Because he is too slick, too cool, too modern. We are not there yet, aside from some privileged East and West Coasters. We are potato and corn eaters, and when we vacation, a hunting trip and a little venison might be a big treat.


JFK spoke in his 1961 inaugural speech of a "new generation of Americans—born in this century, tempered by war. . . proud of our ancient heritage—and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this Nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world."


Today's generations do not know their history, and they stand mute witness to the slow undoing of their own civil rights, and the violation of others human rights around the world. They are prey to the dictates of the media. They imagine they are free, because they do not know from absolute servitude.


Talk about your Equal Rights: Sarah Palin, can shoot, field dress AND cook the moose. She is both 1808 and 2008 for much of America. Forget the bits about rolling back reproductive rights and all the rest. Palin is a palliative, a sop to Americans for whom America is moving too fast.

She is not slick with that Midwestern nasal accent, but she is a bulldog. We have never had a Winston Churchill, but she will suffice. Basketball player/beauty queen contestant, every schoolboy's high school dream. And life gets so complicated after high school, so Palin is a happy throwback. She is the John Mellencamp nee Cougar of the political scene. She is "Jack and Diane," and sometimes girls get knocked up when they dribble off their Bobbie Brooks without using a prophylactic.

But the "sin" is turned into God's will, transmuted into a miracle which thereby obliterates the stain. When you give humans dominion over the earth, dismiss evolution and subjugate the reality of the biological imperative to procreate in everything from amoebas to yaks, it is easy to do.

What if Trig, Palin's Down Syndrome baby of questionable parentage, were not seen as a gift from God, but rather a curse? It has been speculated that Trig is actually Palin's daughter's illegitimate child. In any event, Trig, and every other difficult offspring of such unions may just be God's punishment to the offenders of his law. Just a thought.

And what if Trig were not born into the family of the lady governor. What if he were the spawn of a crack whore, a child that ends up in the state orphanage system. Is he still a "gift"? If so, who is gifted? Trig works well as a prop to buoy up the rhetoric of the "beliefs" of a conservative fundamentalist politician. But all is perspective.

Palin is the champion of every woman who conceives out of wedlock, especially those hypocrites who claim to be religious adherents, condemning fornication.
She symbolizes shotgun weddings, both hers and her daughter's.
Obama declaims that the press mayn't probe into Ms. Palin's family secrets, much as he told the press his own family was off limits. But Obama's perorations are off-base.

Candidate Obama was supposed to bridge the gap, bringing black and white worlds together, co-opting the ministerial oratory of Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Rev. Martin Luther King. Raise us up to another level. The problem is, most Americans like who they are, just like most people in general. They resent uppity Michelle Obama telling them her husband will take them to a new place, from which they will never be able to go back. We are Green Mountain Boys, not Red Octobrists.

Outdoing Obama on the in-the-hood street cred comes white bread Ms. Palin, daughter preggers at sixteen or seventeen by another high schooler.
Palin thrives precisely because she is lacking. Her rhetoric and stated ideals are not consistent with the messy realities of her and her family member's lives. With every new revelation, every attempt to skewer, comes a greater sympathy, because "She is like me."

For many black Americans, the Huxtables of the Cosby show are not their reality.
It takes a village because there is a daddy dearth. Obama and family present a tidy image, but the dream is not the reality.

The dream of Camelot may have flown in JFK's day, and Jacqueline Kennedy was an image of refinement to which many aspired, but today, we have the apotheosis of "Lost" team members and reality shows whose members are admired for their thick carapaces and willingness to eat grasshoppers.


Madison Avenue has known this little secret for ages. The women in your household ads must not be too glamorous, for the consumer must relate to your product, and even feel a little better than the actor, if possible. All of this is written in full understanding that politics should concern itself with matters of state, but in full sorrowful realization that it is in fact a beauty contest.


Ergo, Sarah Palin, American candidate extraordinaire. Karl Rove would be proud.

Labels: , , ,

37 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I wouldn't doubt that Rove was behind the whole thing.

Monday, September 15, 2008 at 12:46:00 AM GMT-5  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I don't.

Monday, September 15, 2008 at 5:29:00 AM GMT-5  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Matter of fact, I think it may be Rove and Cheney. Sad case is, most red-staters would vote for Hitler if he waved Old Glory.

Monday, September 15, 2008 at 5:31:00 AM GMT-5  
Blogger Lisa said...

Anon,

When you say, "I don't," do you mean you do not think Palin is "like you"?
If so, I am with you.

However, she is like "them", i.e., those who would vote for a gerbil if he be properly swathed in the flag.

Monday, September 15, 2008 at 6:59:00 AM GMT-5  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I don't even think she is "like them"...but that is what they are surely meant to think. What she is ...well, she is a social climbing, boot-print leaving, hypocritical, manipulative creature with no concern for anyone she has already climbed OVER. And she certainly doesn't give a damn about her "fellow" women---making rape victims pay for the investigative kits to prove they were violated.

Monday, September 15, 2008 at 10:27:00 AM GMT-5  
Blogger FDChief said...

Lisa: Wow.

Just...wow. I'm not sure if I've ever doubted your ability to knock out a piece of bloggage of positively Gilliardesque proportions, but if I did I'm well answered. This is just brilliant.

You've managed to pull together everything I think and feel as I watch this train wreck of an election occur in slow motion. And Palin does, as you point out, stand in the center of this clusterfuck, the Woman Who Knew Too Little, the perfect metaphor AND the perfect avatar for the Rest of Us, aggressive but clueless, willing to substitute motion for direction, sure of her goal even as she has no clue of her route, not a pitbull but rather the Fool from the tarot deck with lipstick, dancing along the edge of the abyss blindfolded - in her case by religious infatuation and political simplicity - as the wildcat of external events and domestic dysfunction tears at her clothes.

And Obama, the Magician, trying to use his craft and sleight-of-hand to distract the watchers from the ugly physical truths the Fool is just dancing over, promising "change" but never specifying what that change might mean...

But regardless of the political discussion that was your frame, in the finished edifice I am humbled in the presence of true blogwriting. Ave, magistra!!

Monday, September 15, 2008 at 11:49:00 AM GMT-5  
Blogger The Minstrel Boy said...

what chief said.

Monday, September 15, 2008 at 11:50:00 AM GMT-5  
Blogger Lisa said...

labrys,

I do agree; she's no champion of women's rights, that point is for certain.

Monday, September 15, 2008 at 2:01:00 PM GMT-5  
Blogger Lisa said...

Chief,

I am humbled by your compliment, especially coming as it does from you. Thanks.

You have perfectly illustrated my conception of the situation with your danse folie between the Magician and the Fool of the Tarot deck. It is a bunraku play, and we are not in on the intentions behind the masks.

It is also pure postmodernism, ala 1985: The world is as you construct it. Truth is a slippery thing.

MB, thank you, too.

Monday, September 15, 2008 at 2:23:00 PM GMT-5  
Blogger FDChief said...

Gay panic: You silly twink, you, I told you: no more beatings until you bring enough for the WHOLE cellblock.

Not sure what you're trying to do here except make yourself look dumb. Got a point? Make it, you know, like you have a couple of brain cells? Otherwise STFU and just accept the fact that when we have a party around here YOU'RE going to be the "party favor", sweet cheeks.

See how easy it is to make funny homo jokes? Even you...ummm, OK, no, you CAN'T. Sorry, my bad.

Monday, September 15, 2008 at 2:58:00 PM GMT-5  
Blogger The Mad Dog said...

Our Lady Liberty...she is perishing fast.

Ozymandias
"I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert ... Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away."

(Percy Bysshe Shelley)

Monday, September 15, 2008 at 5:38:00 PM GMT-5  
Blogger The Mad Dog said...

McCain, Obama, Gerbil...hmmm, I must give it some thought, Lisa. What do you think the gerbil's thoughts on environmental solvency are?

Monday, September 15, 2008 at 5:40:00 PM GMT-5  
Blogger Lisa said...

Hi M.C.,

As Shelley says, this, too, shall pass. Vanity, all is vanity.

Re. the gerbil, well, I have all manner of unfit thoughts on the matter, and the little rodent probably came to mind as I was discussing Republicans.

Per your query: his little gerbil mind only sees as far as getting his little gerbil feet on the spinning wheel, or running through the tubes of his Habitrail.

That does constitute the life of many of our fellows, yes?

Monday, September 15, 2008 at 6:08:00 PM GMT-5  
Blogger The Mad Dog said...

I'm thinking a Mad Celt/Gerbil write-in on the Pestilential, er Presidential ticket...can I count on your vote?

Monday, September 15, 2008 at 6:45:00 PM GMT-5  
Blogger Lisa said...

It's a winner, but you must promise to wear a kilt. We're going for a mulit-culti, trans-species ticket. And I have to vet your clan tartan.

D'ya have bagpipes, by any chance?

Monday, September 15, 2008 at 6:53:00 PM GMT-5  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"However, she is like "them", i.e., those who would vote for a gerbil if he be properly swathed in the flag."

Lisa, Ya left out the most important part... "...and carrying the cross!" ;-)

Monday, September 15, 2008 at 7:38:00 PM GMT-5  
Blogger The Mad Dog said...

I'll air out the kilt...I had to hock the pipes to pay for the new Gerbil Motel, unfortunately. Perhaps I can locate some wee pipes and a wee kilt for Gerbil.

Monday, September 15, 2008 at 7:45:00 PM GMT-5  
Blogger Lisa said...

Alright then--some wee pipes and kiltie for the bairn gerbil.

It will give us the musician/varmint loving demographic of relocated Cape Breton residents ;)

Monday, September 15, 2008 at 8:31:00 PM GMT-5  
Blogger Lisa said...

right-o, CT. We could strap one to his little paw, maybe with a fake peg sticking out, suggesting a rodent stigmata.

Monday, September 15, 2008 at 8:33:00 PM GMT-5  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Lisa, you wouldn't be dissing those cajuns now?

Btw, Cape Breton is nice, but, Pugwash is the home of the International Gathering of the Clans... My family was one of the first to settle in the Valley of the Remsheg and we've got our own tartan colors...!

Monday, September 15, 2008 at 8:43:00 PM GMT-5  
Blogger Lisa said...

Very neat, CT! I would never dis the Acadians. Never. Pugwash is news to me; fascinating. I love tartans -- what are your colors?

Monday, September 15, 2008 at 9:06:00 PM GMT-5  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Google Pugwash, and the Gathering is featured prominently... A royal blue, with a greenish-blue interwoven with the black striping to make the plaid...! I had a kilt and tam when I was a wee lad! I had to wear it for my Grandparents' (now deceased) 60th wedding anniversary...

Monday, September 15, 2008 at 10:04:00 PM GMT-5  
Blogger Lisa said...

CT,

Thank you. Those colors sound smashing. I'm sure you were smart looking wee one in your tam and kilt!
You have a proud heritage. (My maternal grandfather on her mum's side was from Scotland--Dundee area. Bagpipes always bring a tear to my eye.)

Tuesday, September 16, 2008 at 6:00:00 AM GMT-5  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Gerbils running through a habitrail are one of the darn cutest things there is.... that and Gay Panic is probably ra-ra in a new guise.

Heard McCain's "economic advisor" on NPR this morning. Quite astonished, and a little comforted that he actually did blame the Bush administration for the mess on Wall Street.

ALas, there is still Palin a step away from the button. A person could really ensure a 2nd Coming style Armageddon with all those nukes. If McCain wins we need to put the crash cart in the oval office and have the code team on 24/7 alert.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008 at 8:30:00 AM GMT-5  
Blogger Lisa said...

rick98c,

Gerbils on their runs are cute (and "gay panic" and anything crude or homophobic that appears on site is indeed RARAW in one or another of his incarnations. Not exactly a wit, so we'll just ignore or delete, 'til his storehouse of profundities plays out. Though I do enjoy Chief's savaging of him, it is like hunting over a baited field.)

The admission of McCain's economic adviser is stunning, but I guess everyone who's mobile is debarking the Bush train wreck.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008 at 8:52:00 AM GMT-5  
Blogger Unknown said...

If Trig is Palin's baby, are there any photos of her pregnant in the governer's office? Wouldn't she have had to be pregnant last year? There may be such photos. I just haven't seen them. When was the 'trip to Iraq'? She did not look pregnant then.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008 at 3:40:00 PM GMT-5  
Blogger BadTux said...

Ah yes, Palin. You mention the "great leveling impulse". H.L. Mencken noted that way back in 1920, when he commented on the Presidency, "As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron."

That was the election that brought Warren G. Harding to the Presidency, and Calvin Coolidge to the Vice Presidency. Calvin Coolidge in particular was profoundly mediocre and the general public embraced him with all the avidity that they have embraced Palin.

I no longer know who will win the election in November. That is sad to say, given the fact that a continuation of the disaster that is the Bush economic policies are likely to result in national bankruptcy, but... as Mencken pointed out, the whole point of democracy is that the common people know what they want and get what they want, good and hard. When you have politicians whose notion of government service is what a stallion does to a mare, good and hard gets a new meaning...

- Badtux the Cynical Penguin

Tuesday, September 16, 2008 at 5:19:00 PM GMT-5  
Blogger rangeragainstwar said...

7th Sister,

I have asked the same thing, and also not seen any preggers photos. Also, where is the birth certificate? If it were phonied, that should be a felony. In all fairness, I'd also like to see a copy of Obama's b.c.

This is your homework assignment: find the photos. I will attempt the same. Something about hiding one's pregnancy until the 7th month, esp. if you are a happily married Christian, is more than a little strange. I do not buy the rhetoric that she is simply "an independent woman."

I didn't know the Iraq trip coincided with the erstwhile pregnancy. It seems unwise to get all those vaccinations if pregnant, esp. the FDA unapproved ones, like Anthrax. Would any pregnant woman take that unnecessary risk?

Tuesday, September 16, 2008 at 7:42:00 PM GMT-5  
Blogger rangeragainstwar said...

Badtux,

Democracy should not be about everyone getting what they want, but rather society getting getting what it needs to continue as a functioning nation.

That wonderful cynic Mencken had his finger on the pulse of the people. Same as it ever was.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008 at 7:53:00 PM GMT-5  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

According to http://mudflats.wordpress.com/ in Alaska, a pro Palin rally brought out about 500 people while an Alaskan Women Reject Palin rally brought out between 1400- 1500 rally goers in Anchorage.

I think we're not getting the full story once again from our MSM.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008 at 10:37:00 PM GMT-5  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Lisa, just to briefly add my plaudits to what's arguably your best yet. Nothing to add......

Except this. Today, after a round of golf, whilst several of us were unwinding over a cold brew, the liberal retired school teacher from California, noted, "You know, I've been supporting womens' rights for more than 30 years. Now, when I hear all of these women gushing over this Palin person, I'm starting to tell them that they clearly were never serious about their rights, so why should I continue to support them?"

I intend to relate this little vignette to every woman I know and to every woman I encounter between now and November. IMO, and WRT to far too many women, we are witnessing the same phenomenon in Palin that we've seen for years in elections in big cities where "minorities" are actually majorities. And we know how well that's turned out.

Couple the fact that millions of women seem unable to see beyond gender identification together with the racism we know lurks in the hearts of millions, and I think McCain now has a better than even chance to win.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008 at 12:09:00 AM GMT-5  
Blogger Lisa said...

Thank you, Publius. And thanks for the story of your fellow putter.

I do agree about the blindness of affiliation. on that matter, I have thoughts on why Obama was selected, related to Detroit's shamed mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and the infamous Marion Barry.

In that line of thinking, Palin is a winner for McCain, even though she's a loser for all of us.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008 at 9:49:00 AM GMT-5  
Blogger rangeragainstwar said...

Publius,

What do you mean when you say, "unwind after a round of golf"?

Are you dodging insurgents on your golf course? Are they the new obstacle du jour, put there in place of windmills and such?

It's a rough life out there.

jim

Wednesday, September 17, 2008 at 9:53:00 AM GMT-5  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

NOW (the National Organization for Women) today endorsed the Obama/Bidden ticket. Now has not endorsed a Presidential candidate since Mondale/ Ferraro in 1984.

I guess women are starting to realize what a McCain/Palin presidency would mean for women.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008 at 9:06:00 PM GMT-5  
Blogger Lisa said...

Yes, tw--one would have to be a horse with double blinders on and head deep in the feed bucket to miss the threat to women's rights with that ticket.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008 at 9:28:00 PM GMT-5  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Lisa, when I said "I don't", I meant "I don't doubt that Rove is behind the Palin choice".

Thursday, September 18, 2008 at 6:55:00 AM GMT-5  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Its a classic Rove strategy: Attack where they are strongest, confuse them and run a holistic alternative that speaks to the archetypes they trust. Combine this with a "obama is really a muslim" scare, and youll get all the folks really worried and voting for what they trust. And do not, under any circumsances, talk about politics in anything more than vague terms.

Still, I have some hope for the coming election. Its a shame he will propably be shot stone cold dead by the mafya within 6 months of office.

Friday, September 19, 2008 at 2:51:00 PM GMT-5  

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