Sarah Palin and the mean wink (barf alert)

Seattle Times ^ | 10/11/2008 | Leonard Pitts Jr

[markomalley]

Even many of her most ardent admirers no longer dispute that Sarah Six Pack is, shall we say, incurious. What's striking is how little that seems to matter. A McCain spokeswoman suggested before the vice presidential debate that it would be unfair to question Palin, "a woman who could be president," too closely on foreign policy. And when thinking conservatives (remember when the adjective was not necessary?) like Kathleen Parker and David Brooks declared Palin unfit for office, they were shouted down by their ideological brethren. Parker got e-mail she called "vicious and threatening." Brooks was dismissed by another pundit as a "conservative intellectual."

You're left to wonder when intellectuals — thinking people, for goodness sake! — became the enemy. Are we to regard unthinking conservatives (will that adjective soon be superfluous?) as the only true conservatives? Indeed, the only true Americans?

One gets that sense from Palin's recent campaign appearances. Her attacks have grown increasingly strident and divorced from reality as John McCain's poll numbers have gone south. She blames Katie Couric, and not herself, for her inability to answer fair questions. She frames Obama as some exotic unknown with terrorist associations.

And the rabble duly rouses. They boo Couric, which is not unlike booing Mickey Mouse. They scream death threats. Someone addresses an African-American sound man for one of the networks with a racial epithet and screams, "Sit down, boy!"

There is an ugliness here. It is disguised as decency, disguised as politics, but it is only ugliness, mean and raw and given license by the desperation of a man who used to be honorable and a woman who said she was just like us. And for the record: It's not a movie.

I only wish it were.

[markomalley]

It is patently obvious that Sarah is highly effective...otherwise, the MSM would not attend to this at all.

Keep it up, Sarah (even if your running-mate doesn't have the stomach for it)

[television is just wrong]

I agree! Go SARAH!

[Darkwolf377]

And when thinking conservatives (remember when the adjective was not necessary?) like Kathleen Parker and David Brooks declared Palin unfit for office, they were shouted down by their ideological brethren.

How does one shout down someone whose words are on paper or online?

You "shout down" someone by shouting so loudly that no one can hear the other person's words.

I say this to inform the writer, who obviously needs to do some of that "thinking" stuff before getting carried away with the melodrama.

Parker (who I never knew before her column, and now she's the most famous "conservative" columnist around--how's that for being shouted down?) and Brooks got their say, on prominent platforms, and got a lot more mileage out of it than if they'd approved of Palin. So please, spare me the tears for these two poor victims of the mob shoutdown.

[dinoparty]

Pitts is ridiculous. He thinks that the kind of stupid, politically correct drivel that you find in his columns is a sign of intellectual curiousity? Funny.

I did, however, like the part about Couric being Mickey Mouse.

[raybbr]

"Leonard Pitts, Jr."

Is "mean wink" a code word for "honky racist"?

[Diogenesis]

"Stop telling the truth about the Messiah, Obama, or there will be race riots."

[albie]

“She frames Obama as some exotic unknown with terrorist associations”.

...actually Hussein IS a terrorist and is an exotic unknown.

[olezip]

And when thinking conservatives (remember when the adjective was not necessary?) like Kathleen Parker and David Brooks declared Palin unfit for office, they were shouted down by their ideological brethren. Parker got e-mail she called "vicious and threatening." Brooks was dismissed by another pundit as a "conservative intellectual."

Let us set the record straight! Kathleen and David made their observations before the Vice Presidential Debate. Kathleen and David, like many if not most people, were unable to see past the superficial comments and assessments being made about Sarah by the MSM. They were unable to see that Sarah Palin was being pressed by "gotcha!" questions by Katie Couric and others.

However, Kathleen and David, changed their minds when overwhelming positive information was brought to their attention during and after the VP Debate, that Sarah is better prepared to be President than Obama, and, of course, will serve as an outstanding Vice President.

This is in stark contrast to those who are filled with hate toward Sarah, no matter what. Maybe they are concerned that adult supervision is on the way!

[IbJensen]

Wink your way to the White House, Sarah. You’ll be president some day!!!!!

[RatsDawg]

“In that sense, Sarah Six Pack is nothing new. The “g” droppin’, moose shootin’, eye-winkin’ hockey mom has plenty of antecedents. But there’s a difference. Those antecedents were smart, wonkish people pretending to be one of us. Sarah Palin “is” one of us.

And by “us,” I don’t mean you, necessarily, or me. I mean the lowest common denominator us, the us of myth and narrative, the us of simple mind, the reactionary, ill-informed, impatient with complexity, utterly shallow us.”

“US” is codeword for cracker/honky white girl.

[Emperor Palpatine]

As any bomber pilot will tell you, you take the most flak when you’re over the target.

[dools007]

Parker had another anti-Palin op-ed in my local paper yesterday. This woman thinks she has been wronged or something. The intensity of her dislike for Palin is more like someone with a grudge. Something happened to her personally that is driving her angry words. Who knows, maybe she was denied an interview with the Governor. It is interesting that Parker, who apparently has never spoken with Palin, is able to be so precise about the candidate’s shortcomings. Of course, all his totally ignores the Governor’s 80% approval rating by Alaskans.

[Diogenesis]

It is continuous fratricide against the GOP by the
RINO RomneyBOTs for their myth Master.

[lentulusgracchus]

Leonard Pitts is a snarky black racist who hates conservatives with a smoking hatred, just lumping them all together as "them", "those people". He cannot be civil when talking about conservatives; I have never seen him do it, no matter how many times he writes about them.

You can do the blue-pencil exercise yourself, if you don't find it too tedious, and underline all the snarks and expressions of contempt, despite, and outright hatred in this column. But actually, he isn't worth reading. He's predictable, he's hateful, and he's vile.

Boring, mostly, once you get past the epithets and periphrases intended to serve as epithets -- "Sarah Six Pack is, shall we say, incurious", e.g. (emphasis added), as a euphemistic epithet for "stupid".

[popdonnelly]

These left-leaning airheads (see Pitts) are close-minded themselves. If they can swallow Obama, they can swallow anything.

[popdonnelly]

“She frames Obama as some exotic unknown with terrorist associations”.

What reality does Pitts live in? Next he will be telling us that his falsehoods are the truth. Is the ability to ignore facts if they don’t fit your script a prerequisite for journalism?

[popdonnelly]

Yeah, Leonard, a Senator who campaigns for a Marxist muslim in Kenya is fairly “exotic”.

[popdonnelly]

Pitts thinks Palin’s wink is “mean”? Who is this buttercup?

[Rappini]

Keep your Powder dry.

[autumnraine]

” McCain spokeswoman suggested before the vice presidential debate that it would be unfair to question Palin, “a woman who could be president,” too closely on foreign policy.”

What the..? I want to see the direct quote because somehow I think that this was misquoted or taken out of context.