Posted on 09/13/2008 6:12:02 AM PDT by ceoinva
Sometimes politics has the uncanny effect of mirroring the national psyche even when nobody intended to do that. This is perfectly illustrated by the rousing effect that Gov. Sarah Palin had on the Republican convention in Minneapolis this week. On the surface, she outdoes former Vice President Dan Quayle as an unlikely choice, given her negligent parochial expertise in the complex affairs of governing. Her state of Alaska has less than 700,000 residents, which reduces the job of governor to the scale of running one-tenth of New York City. By comparison, Rudy Giuliani is a towering international figure. Palin’s pluck has been admired, and her forthrightness, but her real appeal goes deeper.
She is the reverse of Barack Obama, in essence his shadow, deriding his idealism and turning negativity into a cause for pride. In psychological terms the shadow is that part of the psyche that hides out of sight, countering our aspirations, virtue, and vision with qualities we are ashamed to face: anger, fear, revenge, violence, selfishness, and suspicion of “the other.” For millions of Americans, Obama triggers those feelings, but they don’t want to express them. He is calling for us to reach for our higher selves, and frankly, that stirs up hidden reactions of an unsavory kind. (Just to be perfectly clear, I am not making a verbal play out of the fact that Sen. Obama is black. The shadow is a metaphor widely in use before his arrival on the scene.) I recognize that psychological analysis of politics is usually not welcome by the public, but I believe such a perspective can be helpful here to understand Palin’s message. In her acceptance speech Gov. Palin sent a rousing call to those who want to celebrate their resistance to change and a higher vision
Look at what she stands for:
1. Small town values — a nostaligic return to simpler times disguises a denial of America’s global role, a return to petty, small-minded parochialism. 2. Ignorance of world affairs — a repudiation of the need to repair America’s image abroad. 3. Family values — a code for walling out anybody who makes a claim for social justice. Such strangers, being outside the family, don’t need to be needed. 4. Rigid stands on guns and abortion — a scornful repudiation that these issues can be negotiated with those who disagree. Patriotism — the usual fallback in a failed war. 5. ”Reform” — an italicized term, since in addition to cleaning out corruption and excessive spending, one also throws out anyone who doesn’t fit your ideology.
Palin reinforces the overall message of the reactionary right, which has been in play since 1980, that social justice is liberal-radical, that minorities and immigrants, being different from “us” pure American types, can be ignored, that progressivism takes too much effort and globalism is a foreign threat. The radical right marches under the banners of “I’m all right, Jack,” and “Why change? Everything’s OK as it is.” The irony, of course, is that Gov. Palin is a woman and a reactionary at the same time. She can add mom to apple pie on her resume, while blithely reversing forty years of feminist progress. The irony is superficial; there are millions of women who stand on the side of conservatism, however obviously they are voting against their own good. The Republicans have won multiple national elections by raising shadow issues based on fear, rejection, hostility to change, and narrow-mindedness
Obama’s call for higher ideals in politics can’t be seen in a vacuum. The shadow is real; it was bound to respond. Not just conservatives possess a shadow — we all do. So what comes next is a contest between the two forces of progress and inertia. Will the shadow win again, or has its furtive appeal become exhausted? No one can predict. The best thing about Gov. Palin is that she brought this conflict to light, which makes the upcoming debate honest. It would be a shame to elect another Reagan, whose smiling persona was a stalking horse for the reactionary forces that have brought us to the demoralized state we are in. We deserve to see what we are getting, without disguise.
>>Palin reinforces the overall message of the reactionary right, which has been in play since 1980, that social justice is liberal-radical, that minorities and immigrants, being different from “us” pure American types, can be ignored, that progressivism takes too much effort and globalism is a foreign threat<<
Wrong-o Deepak. Her husband is native American. Have you noticed?
What a self righteous self important pseudo intellectual ass.
Otherwise, this might look like an badly-written hitpiece by a snake oil salesman.
What a crock.
You forgot the “barf bag” warning....
No bias there....
This guy is a major-league charlatan and fraud.
Rave on.
He should stick to dispensing his quackery type of woo-woo “medical advice.”
Wow, Chopra is a nutty wind-bag.
It’s too bad for him and others, but I understand the difficulty of spirituality more than ever now.
You should have added the BARF ALERT warning. Dumbpak Chopra has the same argumentative skills as a DailyKos poster:
“1. Small town values — a nostaligic return to simpler times disguises a denial of America’s global role, a return to petty, small-minded parochialism. 2. Ignorance of world affairs — a repudiation of the need to repair America’s image abroad.”
Oh boy. I think he should stick to scamming people with his “enlightenment” routine.
Neoliberalism is truly a mental disorder.
And for 15G a weekend, Deepak will help you “get in touch with your higher self”.
My husband and I listened to him on PBS once. After about a 1/2 hour we both looked at each other and said,”What’s he saying?” Neither one of us could understand his point, so we turned it off. That’s all I know about Deepak Chopra.
LOL!
Most, though not all, pro-lifers want Roe repudiated so the abortion issue will be returned to the states and the political process.
IOW, pro-lifers want to negotiate and compromise the issue. It's the abortion fans who refuse to negotiate.
Anti-Chopra Sarcasm Torpedo ARMED. FIRE!
What's that you're saying, DEEPAK?
Afraid of your scam coming to an end?
You might have to go to this.
A Democrat said it so it must be TRUE!
Cheers!
Congressman Billybob
Tenth in the ten-part series, "The Owner's Manual (Part 10) -- The Remaining Amendments"
False prophet alert...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.