We were at the Veterans Administration yesterday. Just a couple of tests of which we were not particularly concerned, and this post is not about that. But I do wish to say, we were immediately assaulted by the gigantic photograph of George W. Bush on entry. His picture, along with the current secretary of the VA are at each and every entrance to the hospital. I shuddered as I walked by and recalled that in less than 60 days that piece of trash will be removed and replaced by a photograph of Barack Obama.
Later, while I was knitting away in the waiting room, I heard a voice near by. It was an older woman urging her husband to move with her to a seat closer to the TV. Barack Obama is coming on to speak she said. I smiled softly to myself. Yes, the times they are a changin’. As I looked up from time to time as he introduced his new economics team, I saw that most eyes were trained on him, listening intently. We have learned over time, to block out the voice of Dubya, unless we are looking for a laugh or two. The times, they are a changin’.
Sarah Palin is a shadow across the land, slowly retreating to the icy darkness of Alaska. Oh she pops up now and again, giving an interview in full view of the turkey killing going on behind her. Apparently she not only can’t see such things, she cannot hear them either. She must be encased in some cone of pure insular vacuum.
I began to think about our girl Sarah. There was a mighty flood of information about the diva mere moments after her defeat. More than we wanted to know, enough to make us very sure we don’t want to see her in office here in the lower 48 at least. At least most of us don’t. Yet, there is a clanging minority that continue to sing her praises. I thought about that, and what it means. Can that many people with straight face enunciate the big lie? Or is it possible that that many people can genuinely be so brain dead?
While we smile and think about a new way of doing business in Washington, and are anxious to offer ourselves to the sacrifices we know deep in our heart will be required to “get back on track,” plenty of normal appearing people are sadly moaning and going around in sackcloth and ashes, tolling the bell of Armageddon now that “That ONE” is at the helm. And Sarah figures quite prominently in their plans.
I wonder if Sarah knows the truth. That is a question that one could discuss for hours and never really reach a conclusion. After all, we have seen plenty of seemingly adequate human beings act everything but normal in their support of her. Again, one cannot know if they are seriously deluded or lying through their agenda soaked teeth. And so, it’s rather impossible to discern whether our Sarah knows the truth of her meteoric rise and the support she has among a segment of the American folk.
We don’t in truth know where the controllers of John McCain first came up with the notion that Sarah was just the “ticket” to send them to Washington and eternal fame. But we do know that the likes of Bill Kristol and Fred Barnes, those neo-con leaders of the Weekly Standard, first met her on a cruise up Alaska way. They were mighty impressed they claim. What they were impressed about is not quite clear.
We have learned that neo-cons, not being a normal subset of the American political scene (there being no obvious constituency), look for a host that they can use to do their bidding. George Bush, as we know, was their choice, the know-nothing, pretty much flop of a businessman turned Governor of Texas. (See daddy, I am somebody!) They were pretty darn correct that they could control his presidency, infiltrate his cabinet, and run the show as they chose. That is was a colossal flop, they conveniently ignore.
Sarah appears to be just the sort that would tickle their fancy. Bright, but not interested generally in politics, she was easy to butter up and make theirs. Apparently they convinced the brainless campaign leaders of John McCain, and, as they say, game on!
Billy K and his ilk of course are not the least excited about Sarah’s neo-con credentials. She has none, nor, likely could she even define a neo-con if asked. It is not her expertise that delights them, to the contrary it is her very lack of same that makes then squirm in orgasmic delight. She is controllable, easy to seduce, indoctrinate, and lead around by the nose. She will be ever so grateful, just as George Boy was. She will do their bidding, filling her cabinet with nice little fellow travelers as directed by her wise mentors.
Now the other group that delights in our Sarah is the right wing religious nuttery group. They have gained power through convincing the trailer/Nascar/redneck/uneducated that the there is only one issue before the world. The state of the world is a mess because we aren’t a fully operating Christian Nation. We are too secular, we are evil, abortion wracked, homo loving, adulterous, socialist, anti-God, atheists who are taking the world down the crapper fast.
Now whether any of these boobs actually believe any of this is a good question in and of itself, and one we are not addressing today. Given that we all too often find these religious leaders caught in compromising “sinful” acts, one might conclude that it is mostly a shtick that pays the bills. No doubt some are thoroughly convinced that God wrought 9/11, Katrina, and yes Obama himself, as punishment for his evil children. Only when we institute a theocracy and live according to their interpretation of the bible will all be well.
Now they think Sarah is their girl because they think she is a kindred spirit. Is she? Who knows. She talks the talk. She has herself prayed over by witch-eradicating pastors, and mouths all the proper anti-abortion, anti-gay, rhetoric. She suitably checks out “how to get offensive books removed from libraries.” Does she believe it or merely use it as useful in her campaign to further her political aims? Again, I haven’t a clue.
But the point is, that the utra-right religious wingnuts think she is usable in their quest of theocratic rule. They personally don’t much give a tinkers damn what other policies she pursues as long as they are properly “Republican” in nature. “Damn the torpedoes, free market economy ahead.” Don’t give a penny to those lazy so and so’s who subsist on food stamps and public housing and the ER. They are just not like us, us being the hard working Americans who would dig ditches rather than receive assistance. Yeah sure, until you are there buddy, and get hungry. Then let’s talk about how proud you really are.
Again, does Sarah know the truth? What does she know and when did she learn it? I don’t know. I doubt anybody but Todd does. But I rather doubt she is totally oblivious to it all. I suspect she has an inkling. And you might say, well, phew…not to worry. Plenty of folks have used the users to their own devices, and once in power, turned the tables and run the show as they always meant to. Is that our Sarah?
Could be. But that doesn’t leave us any solace I’m afraid. Because lurking deep in the moose girl’s amphibian brain is an insidious truth that should strike fear in us all. Sarah dear reader, is about ambition. She has taken the art of lust for personal power, to an all time high in chutzpah. She has that naked ambition that is seldom seen at such a high level. And that has some consequences that should make us all shudder, and conversely make those who would use her, happy indeed.
Sarah, the girl, just like us, is not at all like us. She has a burning desire to have power, and her easy rise in Alaskan politics has but fueled that fire. She dreams of great things now, that have her ensconced in the White House someday. She is a believer that she can do this. No matter that her rise occurred in the strange world that is Alaska.
She ran in Alaska to secure her lust for greed. She ran to pull from the American oil cartel, more of the pie. She wanted to line her own pockets, and well, she did that by lining the pockets of the rest of Alaskans. Such a constituency does not exist across the board in the lower 48. She is the socialist here, not Barack. She paid lip service to regular politics, learned next to nothing and found that it didn’t matter as long as that check to each and every Alaskan grew bigger.
She is about as incurious about politics in general as one can be and still be a politician. She doesn’t care about the world, or the US in that sense. Economics and foreign policy are of no interest to her. Being powerful and the center of attention is. She upsets no apple carts of conventionality. She famously told her staff that she need not prepare for the Couric interview because no woman would give her a hard time. You know, the discussion on her becoming the next Vice President, would focus naturally on motherhood, juggling work and babies, being a woman candidate in a sea of men. Katie would never dream of asking her actual questions about policy!
She has not learned that lying has consequences yet. She lies with impunity, about herself and her accomplishments, about her opponents, and about her abilities. She lies with impunity to escape being discovered for being the lightweight she is. She is simply a liar. Perhaps one day, she may find that it costs you something to get caught. So far that hasn’t happened.
So, should our Sarah return to run for the Presidency, she will not be the least adverse to doing the will of her supporters. After all, that is the essence of a symbiotic relationship. Each side gains from the exchange. She gets her power and she can parade around being the first Madam President, and in return the Bill Kristols, Rush Limbaughs, and Pat Robinson’s get theirs. She will happily do their bidding, because in the end, these issues don’t mean a thing to her either way.
And we of course will get ours, up the arse as they say.
Still, I welcome Sarah’s return to the campaign trail. I still have faith, and I have even more faith that four years of sanity will convince even more people that Sarah’s lack of vision is not in their best interest. Of all the possibilities out there, she would be the gift that keeps on giving. And I can’t wait. The times, they are a changin’.
Like this:
Like Loading...
Our featured guest country today is Saint Lucia! One might automatically assume that this country might be in the Mediterranean given the name Lucia, but you would of course be wrong. It is located in the Caribbean. Specifically it is located between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, and north of Trinidad and Tobago.
Look to the far right, about 3/4 down the margin, next to last written country identifier.
The perfect island get away. There seems a lot to do, a lot to see, and the weather of course is fabulous.
Existential Ennui 