I thought I would dissect it. It's what apparently what passes as commentary these
days. What else do expect from the Huffington Post? I will go portion by portion dicing
this piece. First portion:
Every parent has done it. "Watch this! She high-fives!" The parent
giggles proudly, "She's a genius!" Well, I hate to burst your bubble,
but they all high-five. Even my dog has learned to high-five. Which
leads me to the obvious....a pit bull can learn to high five.
All we need to know from the first line is that he's comparing Palin to a dog.
She's dumb and can learn anything. Just take note of it for now, it will come
in use later. Ok, next paragraph.
One conservative journalist said that Palin didn't learn the easy way by
going to Harvard, she learned the hard way, on the streets. I guess
if I ever need open-heart surgery I won't go to one of those doctors
who learned the easy way in medical school.
Ok, nothing really objectionable here. He's saying leave some work to the professionals,
which is perfectly fine. Although, politics is nothing like open-heart surgery. I mean
come on Al Franken is running for the U.S. Senate. We have comedians turned serious
"political commentators" like Dennis Miller. It's become more theater than substance.
Let's move on to the next sentence:
I want someone who learned surgical technique on the streets of Wasilla. Conservatives have long sent their sons and daughters to our greatest
universities, but now they've decided to surrender those admirable values
in exchange for pandering to the people they endeavor to inspire.
Really, only Republicans pander? Am I the only has one that notices that Democrats
like Hillary Clinton change their voices when they are in the South? But I digress,
let's continue:
The Republican party's contrived contempt and manufactured mistrust of
intellect is not only counter to what they've always believed, but is terribly
dangerous to the country they claim to put first.
Republicans don't mistrust of "intellect." I want my public servants to have
intellect. However, you shouldn't vote on how much more intellectually superior
one candidate is compared to the other candidate. What is the use of all the intellect
in the world when you agonize and parse every important decision? There are plenty
of geniuses out there, that doesn't mean I want them as my Commander in Chief.
You have to analyze one decision making capabilities. Next sentence:
To indoctrinate a nation to renounce education and intellect is to
shamefully discourage and suppress the very thing that America
has not only historically exalted but needs so desperately right now.
This is just a bold face lie. No one is trying to indoctrinate a nation to renounce
education. In fact conservatives want parents to have more choices (i.e. vouchers)
so they send their children to best available schools. Next sentence:
They talk of competing in the worlds of science and medicine, technology
and economics and yet present us with a presidential candidate who has
repeatedly shown and even admitted that he knows very little about such
things, has repeatedly voted against funding for education, but will repeat
at every opportunity that he is an expert at winning wars, though he's
never actually won one.
Notice he never provides a link to such claims like voting against funding of education.
I've never heard John McCain say he's an expert at winning wars. I've heard him
say he can win the war in Iraq and Afghanistan but that's not the same thing. Again,
it be nice if Mr. Seitzman backed up his statements. Alright, we will move right along
now:
They talk about teaching our children to compete in the global economy
and international relations and yet they present us with a vice presidential
candidate who has to memorize talking points and cynically condescend
to us with winks and "doggonits" in order to conceal her astounding and
terrifying lack of genuine knowledge.
So simply talking in her folksy Alaskan manner is condescending. I would think if
she had an accent and then tried to conceal with years of voice coaches teaching
her out to get rid of it like they do in Hollywood would be condescending, I guess
that's just me.
Is Sarah Palin really the best and the brightest? Shouldn't a leader inspireSure, Mr. Seitzman. However, you are the one that set up the false dichotomies.
us by example, be curious as well as ambitious, humble as well as formidable,
gracious as well as robust, and learned as well as knowable?
Again, that's fine but you need to examine who is setting up this false dichotomy. Let
Folksy does not have to mean ignorant, regular does not have to mean
ordinary, and earnest does not have to mean frivolous.
me refresh your memory with the absolute first response from the Obama team to the
pick of Gov. Palin, "Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with
zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency." Mr. Seitzman if
you need help translating this from political speak into regular folk speak, here's the
translation:
John McCain picked some small town mayor know nothing as his
Vice-President.
This was way before she even slipped up. Team Obama's very response to Gov. Palin
was she's small town potatoes, therefore, she's not qualified. So tell me again who
set up this folksy= ignorant and regular formula. From the looks of it, it wasn't the
presidential campaign that chose to embrace her. Next point:
For an example of this, look at one Joe Biden. To call him a "Washington elitist"
or a typical "east coast politician" is to shamelessly insult the type of American
we like to claim as unique and special to our nation. Ironically, Joe Biden is the
very type of person Sarah Palin aspires to be, a "real American" who tirelessly
works for his country, never forgets where he's from, and constantly looks
forward to where we should be going.
Ok, I'm not going to argue that Biden has't work "tirelessly" for his country. I think
he's a nice and decent man. I do find it ironic that part of the appeal of Barack Obama
in the beginning was that he was new to Washington and not part of the establishment.
Gov. Palin is also new to the national scene and certainly not part of the establishment
but it seems to be negative thing for her but not Obama. Let's progress further into
the article:
Sarah Palin and those like her do not aspire to transcend anything more than
lowered expectations.
Mr. Seitzman, did you read the first line of your article? You compared her to a child and
a dog. Tell me who is setting the "lowered expectations." Is her fault that people like you
set up such vicious memes about Gov. Palin and she goes on national television and
absolutely destroys them? Just a thought. Next two sentences of the article:
Her foresight and ambition only reach as high as she tells you to look. The
terms "Joe Six Pack" and "Hockey Moms of America" are code for the
type of person she assumes won't aspire to anything more than mediocrity.
No, I believe her message is that regular people like hockey moms can aspire to
reach even high levels of our goverment, not mediocrity. Is there a problem with that?
Isn't that what Hollywood liberals been telling us since childhood: Reach for the stars!
Hey, what happened to the "hope" portion of this year's election theme. Next
paragraph:
Last night's debate was a David and Goliath match-up. Not because Joe Biden
is a towering and formidable foe to a less-prepared civilian. Look again and
tell me if you can tell the hero from the monster. Need some help? Goliath is
the one who is condescending, arrogant, sarcastic, combative, insulting,
childish, patronizing, untruthful and divisive. The monster doesn't lead, it
misleads. It doesn't inspire, it frightens. It doesn't protect, it provokes. The
monster is what has dominated us for eight long years. Sarah Palin is just the
brand new model.
So someone who you think is dumb and vacuous is also Goliath. You liberals can
never make your minds! President Bush is dumb but also an evil genius. Geez, pick
one.
So there you go. Instead, of getting angry at such a hateful article, I tried to dissemble
it.