Posted on 09/10/2008 8:55:55 PM PDT by xDGx
The American Idol candidate
September 10, 2008
By Roger Ebert
I think I might be able to explain some of Sara Palin's appeal. She's the "American Idol" candidate. Consider. What defines an "American Idol" finalist? They're good-looking, work well on television, have a sunny personality, are fierce competitors, and so talented, why, they're darned near the real thing. There's a reason "American Idol" gets such high ratings. People identify with the contestants. They think, Hey, that could almost be me up there on that show!
My feeling is, I don't want to be up there. I want a vice president who is better than me, wiser, well-traveled, has met world leaders, who three months ago had an opinion on Iraq. Someone who doesn't repeat bald-faced lies about earmarks and the Bridge to Nowhere. Someone who doesn't appoint Alaskan politicians to "study" global warming, because, hello! It has been studied. The returns are convincing enough that John McCain and Barack Obama are darned near in agreement.
I would also want someone who didn't make a teeny little sneer when referring to "people who go to the Ivy League." When I was a teen I dreamed of going to Harvard, but my dad, an electrician, told me, "Boy, we don't have the money. Thank your lucky stars you were born in Urbana and can go to the University of Illinois right here in town." So I did, very happily. Although Palin gets laughs when she mentions the "elite" Ivy League, she sure did attend the heck out of college. Five schools in six years. What was that about?
And how can you be her age and never have gone to Europe? My dad had died, my mom was working as a book-keeper and I had a job at the local newspaper when, at 19, I scraped together $240 for a charter flight to Europe. I had Arthur Frommer's $5 a Day under my arm, started in London, even rented a Vespa and drove in the traffic of Rome. A few years later, I was able to send my mom, along with the $15 a Day book.
You don't need to be a pointy-headed elitist to travel abroad. You need curiosity and a hunger to see the world. What kind of a person (who has the money) arrives at the age of 44 and has only been out of the country once, on an official tour to Iraq? Sarah Palin's travel record is that of a hopeless provincial.
But some people like that. She's never traveled to Europe, Asia, Africa, South America or Down Under? That makes her like them. She didn't go to Harvard? Good for her! There a lot of hockey moms who haven't seen London, but most of them would probably love to, if they had the dough. And they'd be proud if their kids won a scholarship to Harvard.
Palin is a shallow, chirpy person with those vaguely alarming eyeglasses. Now her fans all want a pair. Remember back when women wore glasses that departed their ears in plastic swoops and swirls? My theory is, anyone who wears glasses that look weird is telling me something I don't want to know.
I trust the American people will see through Palin's facade, and save the Republic in November. The most damning indictment against her is that she considered herself a good choice to be a heartbeat away. That shows bad judgment.
Years ago I learned the hard way that when a movie had “one thumb up” and it was from Roger, it was best to pass.
I don’t seem to agree with him on this either.
And Ed Wood at least had the decency to recognize that he’d never rise above dime store porn.
Okay, Ebert seems like a nice guy. I don’t want to pile on him just because he leans to the left, and doesn’t like Palin.
But going into the bit about her glasses is just STUPID.
And he calls HER shallow?
MORON!
Welcome to the Freep, Roger.
You know it’s passed the point when a nonentity such as Roger Ebert gets column space for his shallow uninformed political opinion on a woman who’s already more of a player than the Hollywood bimbos whose azzes he plants his fat lips on. Actually, it passed the point when the left made the Ebay parody auction of Governor Palin’s baby. But Roger Ebert??!!
Hey Roger, STFU!!
I am going easy on him.
I am well aware of his medical condition and have made no mention of it. It in no way excuses him from being called on the carpet for penning third-rate hit pieces. Anyone who has to stoop to picking on someone’s glasses as being somehow indicative of their sophistication, and thus suitability for office is, to put it politely, an asshat.
Welcome to FR, btw. ;)
I was turned off with Ebert 10 yrs ago. During a UVA film festival where he fielded questions from the audience
proclaimed european voters had far more sophistication
than the average American citizen.
I forgot the context of his topic but at that point it did’nt matter. My repect for Ebert vanished. Since I’ve listened to Michael Medved’s reviews and found them to be closer to my taste in film.
In other words, pretty much anybody.
I miss Gene Siskel.
I wouldn’t go that far, but he was a better judge of movies than Ebert. I always thought Ebert was the inspiration for “Comic Book Guy” on the Simpsons. The pompous nerd thing rings a bell.
Same kind of thing liberals said about Ronald Reagan.
When liberals begin to pour such unadulterated bias and/or hate against a conservative candidate, it is evidence that candidate is someone we should support.
Roger is such an idiot.
Uuum regional pride kicking in...Ebert is a lifelong Chicagoan and isn’t remotely Hollywood in his mindset.
Yeah, I am aware he is mired in that sort of thinking.
I still like him.
For me, he’s a reliable critic for non-political movies and is able to admit enjoying some movies just on their enjoyability as opposed to their actual quality. Speed 2 comes to mind. It’s pretty dumb but quite enjoyable and Ebert was the only one I saw in the world of critics who could enjoy a film like that unpretentiously.
Yes, Michael Medved is a great critic.
Great to be here BTW.
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