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The Perils of 'Populist Chic' [A Liberal Bemoans Us Dumb Conservatives]
The Wall Street Journal (Weekend Edition) ^ | 8 November 2008 | Mark Lilla

Posted on 11/09/2008 4:32:30 AM PST by COBOL2Java

Finita la commedia. Many things ended on Tuesday evening when Barack Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States, and depending on how you voted you are either celebrating or mourning this weekend. But no matter what our political affiliations, we should all -- Republicans and Democrats alike -- be toasting the return of Governor Sarah Palin to Juneau, Alaska.

The Palin farce is already the stuff of legend. For a generation at least it is sure to keep presidential historians and late-night comedians in gainful employment, which is no small thing. But it would be a pity if laughter drowned out serious reflection about this bizarre episode. As Jane Mayer reported recently in the New Yorker ("The Insiders," Oct. 27, 2008), John McCain's choice was not a fluke, or a senior moment, or an act of desperation. It was the result of a long campaign by influential conservative intellectuals to find a young, populist leader to whom they might hitch their wagons in the future.

And not just any intellectuals. It was the editors of National Review and the Weekly Standard, magazines that present themselves as heirs to the sophisticated conservatism of William F. Buckley and the bookish seriousness of the New York neoconservatives. After the campaign for Sarah Palin, those intellectual traditions may now be pronounced officially dead.

(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: palinbashing; pds
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1 posted on 11/09/2008 4:32:30 AM PST by COBOL2Java
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To: COBOL2Java
And we're celebrating the election of a candidate who has to rely on a teleprompter?!

We'll see how this pans over the long haul. Good grief!

2 posted on 11/09/2008 4:35:45 AM PST by Northern Yankee (Freedom Needs A Soldier)
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To: COBOL2Java

Has anyone else noticed the decline of the WSJ? It seems to be losing it’s seriousness. I’m finding it it more difficult to take it seriously these days. But perhaps that’s just an accurate reflection of our increasingly adolescent society.


3 posted on 11/09/2008 4:37:35 AM PST by AIM-54
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To: COBOL2Java
Liberals--Looking for Hate in All the Wrong Places
4 posted on 11/09/2008 4:38:59 AM PST by rvoitier
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To: AIM-54

I had hoped Murdoch would improve things at the WSJ. Not much evidence so far.


5 posted on 11/09/2008 4:40:07 AM PST by COBOL2Java (Obama: Satan's Counterfeit Christ)
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To: AIM-54

Yes, I stopped reading their editorials shortly after Rupert Murdock bought it. I read the IBD Editorial page daily now.

This article is drivel.


6 posted on 11/09/2008 4:40:41 AM PST by maica (Barack Obama is a Weathermen Project.)
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To: rvoitier
Liberals--Looking for Hate in All the Wrong Places.

Liberals--Looking for Hate in ALL PLACES!

7 posted on 11/09/2008 4:41:14 AM PST by dirtbiker ("Ignorance" is curable. "Stupid" is terminal.)
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To: COBOL2Java

And, so, the 2012 campaign kicks off in earnest ....


8 posted on 11/09/2008 4:42:20 AM PST by Tucson (I'd prefer you just say thank you; or pick up a piece and walk a post)
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To: COBOL2Java
Yet that “Palin farce” for VP was/is eminently more qualified to be President than Obama. The man who has no record of accomplishing anything. Yet that fact is lost on these “intellectuals”... That is, intellectuals with little intellect...
9 posted on 11/09/2008 4:43:14 AM PST by DB
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To: AIM-54
Has anyone else noticed the decline of the WSJ?

I have- it used to have good, somewhat quixotic and iconoclastic editorials, now, it's pap.

Investor's Business Daily has taken up the slack.

10 posted on 11/09/2008 4:48:17 AM PST by backhoe (Just an old Keyboard Cowboy, Ridin' the Trakball into the Sunset of America...)
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To: COBOL2Java

Gov. Palin is the stuff of legend, all right, but not of farce. Liberals fear her because they know a tsunami when they see one. She’ll be back, and they’ll be gone.


11 posted on 11/09/2008 4:49:19 AM PST by hershey
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To: backhoe

especially nooooonan


12 posted on 11/09/2008 4:51:53 AM PST by ari-freedom (So this is how Liberty dies... with thunderous applause)
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To: hershey

They don’t like Palin because she doesn’t know a lot about what they know a lot about. Therefore they think she is ignorant.

What Palin does know a lot about is not of interest to them. Therefore they think she is ignorant.

They are wrong on both counts.


13 posted on 11/09/2008 4:53:22 AM PST by generally (Don't be stupid. We have politicians for that.)
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To: COBOL2Java
As Jane Mayer reported(1) recently in the New Yorker ("The Insiders," Oct. 27, 2008), John McCain's choice was not a fluke, or a senior moment, or an act of desperation. It was the result of a long campaign by influential conservative intellectuals(2) to find a young, populist leader to whom they might hitch their wagons in the future.

(1)--Reports contain facts, not biased opinions

(2)--conservative? intellectual? John McCain? That's all you need to know that this guy's view of the world is distorted. And given a platform to disseminate--dangerous.

John McCain's campaign was the political version of, The Producers.

14 posted on 11/09/2008 4:56:04 AM PST by rvoitier
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To: rvoitier

And for the wrong reason


15 posted on 11/09/2008 4:57:07 AM PST by Vaduz (and just think how clean the cities would become again.)
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To: COBOL2Java
The author...


16 posted on 11/09/2008 4:59:59 AM PST by raybbr (You think it's bad now - wait till the anchor babies start to vote!)
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To: Vaduz
the last two days the anointed one has insulted Nancy Reagan and got the Polish Prime Minster in a twit. Obama’s record of accomplishment grows!!
17 posted on 11/09/2008 5:00:24 AM PST by carcraft (The Obamalator, sold on TV, very expensive,doesn't work , is a cheap copy of the original Caterlator)
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To: COBOL2Java

These stories about Palin are getting so ridiculous; they are funny.


18 posted on 11/09/2008 5:02:29 AM PST by freekitty (Give me back my conservative vote.)
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To: COBOL2Java

It’s interesting that when mentioning influential conservative thinkers from the 1970’s-1980’s, he “accidentally” forgets to include Ronald Reagan. Remember, the inteligensia
still thinks that Reagan was a rube, despite copious evidence to the contrary. I wonder if this well-polished turd(Professor of Journalism at Columbia, doncha know)has ever read, “Reagan:In His Own Words.”
His contention that the republican “elites” pushed for Palin is laughable.
Palin is the only thing that made this race as close as it was. The elites on both sides of the aisle are doing everything they can to destroy this woman.


19 posted on 11/09/2008 5:02:31 AM PST by macrahanish #1
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To: COBOL2Java

Read the comments. Most are a pretty good refutation of this pusillanimous, pedantic wanna-be pundit.


20 posted on 11/09/2008 5:05:38 AM PST by raybbr (You think it's bad now - wait till the anchor babies start to vote!)
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