I just read one of the most refreshing, clear-eyed appraisals of Sarah Palin—and, more importantly, a breeze-clearingly fresh analysis of just how depraved the GOP has become—over at HuffPo.
Jason Whitlock, a self-proclaimed apolitical sports writer, found himself bemused by the Palin Veep selection, so he gorged himself figuring out who she was. The more he found out, the more suspicious he was about her selection and subsequent success among “certain” segments. Then, as only a Negro with what we call ‘mother wit’ can, he nailed it: Heifer’s getting over on no-money-down easy credit, shored up by the same corrupt old insiders who gave us our current depression (tho some GOPers are taking up arms):
In order for McCain to compete, there had to be an appeal along racial lines for two reasons: 1. McCain has to offset the swelling number of black voters who will turn out to vote for Obama simply because he’s black; 2. Racial fears normally cause people to make irrational decisions such as a $40,000-a-year plumber getting upset about tax hikes on people making six times more money than him.
OK, so who would be foolish enough to be the front person for a line of attack that included telling America that the potential Jackie Robinson of presidential politics pals “around with terrorists” and sees America as imperfect and different from the pro-America part of America?
Who would be that thoughtless? Only someone running for the vice presidency on credit. Mitt Romney, Joe Lieberman, and Tom Ridge wouldn’t be that stupid.
Sarah Palin intends to acquire the skill, knowledge and savvy for high office later. In the meantime, she’s not going to question the marching orders given to her by the McCain strategists who overlooked her spotty credit application, and she’s going to duck calls from the creditors burning up her phone lines.
Who are her creditors? The investigators who wanted to talk with her about Troopergate, the mainstream “elite” media who wanted to ask her follow-up questions, the conservative pundits who wanted her to represent their side of the argument in a coherent, creditable fashion and anyone who watched her one debate with the hope of her answering a direct question.
And look what happened. With a credit score in the low 200s, Sarah Palin still had fraudulent lenders such as Sean Hannity ready to extend her more credit. With McCain sitting by her side to co-sign the loan, Hannity walked Palin through the process of pretending to be a qualified candidate for the vice presidency to the delight of Fox News viewers.
It was stunning. And it’s depressing that it’s actually working.
He’s funny, but he’s also dead right. Neither Colbert nor Stewart could have done much better.
Whatever else McCain-Palin have done, or God help us, will do, maybe they’ll scare more folks into paying attention like Whitlock. That’s what Ronald Reagan did for me back in the ’80s, and it looks like the fat cats are far from laying down their playbook. If you’re not scared—and offended—you’re not paying attention.
(FTR: Whitlock’s assertion that blacks will vote for Obama because he’s black doesn’t deal with the fact that most (being sane) would vote Democratic no matter what; they’ll just do so for Obama with greater gusto.)
