Posted on 11/07/2009 7:35:33 AM PST by DB9
"Or worse: When Sarah Palin's memoir, "Going Rogue," hits bookstores later this month, will the ideologically impure be required to read -- and commit to memory -- every golden word? Her publisher might consider culling the highlights into a pocket edition. That way, any Republican caught without a copy of "Quotations From Chairman Sarah" could be summarily expelled from the party."
As a fan of The Boxcar Children series, let’s dub this one The Case of the Pol Pot Calling the Kettle a Communist.
Let the record show that Eugene Robinson has a way with words, although what way that is I have no idea. It was Mark Twain who said of the prose of James Fenimore Cooper that, upon putting it down, you couldn’t pick it back up. Happily, Robinson’s not that kind of writer – so strange are his references I wouldn’t think of putting it down.
Now, allow me to put it down.
There are various sins – commission, omission et al, but then there are the kinds of sins that are so strange that common decorum insists only rhetorical pistol-whippings will suffice. Before getting to Robinson’s larger beef – Gov. Palin becoming the latest Conservative to storm the best-seller list with a book that people will actually bother to read – consider that last statement: “…any Republican caught without a copy of ‘Quotations From Chairman Sarah [sic]’…”
Robinson’s is an apt reference, yes: timely, salient, and, well, odd.
In a phrase turned, Robinson is – correct me if I’m wrong – implying that Sarah Palin is a Communist, or Communist wannabe (according to official Palin spokesman Tina Fey, she can see Russia from her house), or that those of us who support her aspire to Communist-status. By my powers of rushing to judgment and making wild claims, that sort of makes Eugene Robinson the Joe McCarthy of this story, and if nothing else I learned from The Washington Post was right, it’s that Joe McCarthy was wrong. Call me crazy, but I think Robinson’s attempting an end-run around Godwin’s Law.
Follow along with me, as you too can imagine the verbal gymnastics in Robinson’s head:
“I can’t compare her to Hitler, no, no, not yet. In time, Gene-ius, in time … That’s wrong. But wait – Stalin, no, we like him. How about Pol Pot? No, too … ethnic. Wait, I got it – Mao. Everyone who reads The Post loves Mao. Those neo-hippies seem to be wearing his shirts … I gotta fevah, and the only prescription is more Mao-bell!”
Meanwhile, back on Planet Earth…
The Good Mr. Robinson was quite clever, yes, in his reference to ‘Quotations From Chariman Sarah [sic],’ because it was a reference to Mao Zedong [I repeat: Liberals love Mao], the Chinese “political philosopher” who Anita Dunn is such an admirer of. You remember her, right, she of the ‘Mao and Mother-T are my homies’ fame? Mao, who was responsible for what, an eight-figure death toll while overseeing what we in Flyover Country call the Democrat Utopia 1.0?
So, for those of you keeping score: Anita Dunn, Obama White House Communications Director, absent irony, stated that her two favorite “political philosophers” were Mao Zedong and Mother Teresa, and then emphasized the charms of Mao. When called out on this recently, she justified such a statement by noting that a prominent Reagan-era Republican had mentioned something similar. Oh, and she said that it was meant as irony, ironically proving that Liberals still don’t understand what the word “irony” means (hint: if you actually believe it, it’s not irony).
That Republican, by the way, was the 21st-century headline-grabber Lee Atwater. Mr. Atwater was unavailable for comment as he’s been dead for 18 years, making Dunn the First Modern Democrat to mine the quotations of a Republican relevant two decades prior while developing a speech for high school students. I guess she thought meta-references to Hubert Humphrey wouldn’t resonate with 21st-Century youth.
Digging deeper, though, at C4P we must take seriously Mr. Robinson’s larger claim: that Sarah Palin, written off as politically dead on Independence Day, is now not only the leader of the Republican Party, she also – gasp! – holds a cult-like sway of right-minded Americans. At the same time, though, Robinson is reminding us how irrelevant and meaningless she is. I guess he didn’t get the memo from NY-23 that – once again – Gov. Palin is political poison, or so he and other Beltway VIPs keep telling us.
To sum up Robinson’s idea(s): Sarah Palin is Kaiser Soze with a dash of Dan Quayle, a hint of Machiavelli, a tbsp of Chairman Mao, and, wait for it, The Devil Herself [see what I did there, un-sic?]: in short, a tall order, happily anticipated by those who expected Barack the Great and wound up with Barry the Meek.
The larger point to understand here is that by virtue of its popularity, Going Rogue will force Robinson to actually read the book, something Liberals usually hate having to do. By projection – a Liberal specialty – he wants the pocket version so he doesn’t have to actually read The Whole Thing. Book-reading takes time that could better be spent speculating about those crazy tea-baggers on MSNBC.
In time, Gene, in time.
As of November 2008, Godwin's Law was repealed.
Who the heck is Eugene Robinson and why should I care what he thinks?
For now we can read, write, listen to or watch whatever we want...that is, until this government takes away those rights. As long as we have them, however, I plan to take full advantage of them and so should everyone else.
The “H” with Eugene Robinson.
Leftist projection. Accusing Conservatives of being like Stalin and Mao? LOL! Look at Obamao and Nazi Pelosi.
I understand what he says, and I don’t particularly disagree with it, but this is just not good writing...speaking just for myself, reading Kurtz, hurts...
Its kinda funny how the left has turned to calling us communists or marxists. On the other hand fascists did the same in 1030s europe.
Who is Eugene Robinson and why should I care what he thinks?
Mr Robinson needs some perspective, something that he did not get in his prior education. He should read “The Black Book of Communism” it will provide Mr. Robinson with the true legacy of Communism, somewhere in the area of 85-100 million killed. Sara Palin’s policies are 180 out from this. I find it amazing that Mr. Robinson gets paid for generating this stuff.
Stupid is, as stupid does. These people can’t be that dumb.They are the embodiment of Communism.The only good Red, is a dead Red.
Who?
True that Palin’s policies are 180 from anything communist.. however, what I see, that I actually like, is that HE IS DEMONIZING COMMUNISM to his libtard readers.
ANY time that communism can be painted in a negative light to those who *don’t know any better*, it might actually activate a liberal brain cell or two along the way. I mean, it’s only libs who would read this tripe anyway, right?
Robinson’s got genuine Marxists in his own beloved Democratic Party. Wonder how he misses them?
Other than that, his statements are laughable.
Eugene Robinson has a way with words the way Ted Bundy had a way with women.
The mentally ill gays and gay agenda pushers are scared to death about Sarah.
If a bash Sarah oped appears, more than likely some mentally ill gay pseudo opeder wrote the oped. Usually those opeds are filled with lies, spins and their wet dreams posing as news.
This clown actually won a Pulitzer. Tells you how much that’s worth.
This guy Robinson is a D/F (you know which word I’m referring to). Commies want to take freedom from you that is pretty much his D/F President.
Sorry Eugene, but it’s your brother man in the WH who installed commie czars - not Sarah Palin. She’s a true blue American patriot. your prez is a marxist.
Since junior high school, I’ve always admired Mark Twain’s take on Cooper, such as this beginning on page 139:
If you care to read this, you’ll need to scroll up for the beginning. I found it with a Google search and the link takes you to a later page.
Robinson would be totally happy with Sarah Palin as a communist.
I'll be ignoring both Robinson and Kurtz.
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