I keep warning liberal friends to take Sarah Palin seriously, and Frank Rich’s NYT editorial today strengthens my resolve. Perhaps everybody knows this already, but unless the Left remains super-vigilant, I fear a shocking right-wing reaction against the Obama government that will crush all the good will he has inspired at home and abroad. It’s good to see the NYT jumping on board, but from what I can tell from talking to friends, liberals aren’t that worried about Palin yet. They think she’s a joke. To me, her continued media presence is a reminder that politics don’t end on election day. Where is the anti-fascist energy that got Obama elected? Where are the political volunteers out on the streets educating their parents and grandparents about what a disaster Palin is? Frightfully, I think that articles like this one actually fuel Palin’s fire. Any evidence of Palin’s incompetence is taken as a vicious attack, which creates a vicious circle of resentment and reaction. The only way to stem this tide is to focus on the good things happening in this country, if they ever start happening.
July 14, 2009 at 7:12 pm |
I agree. Another reason we shouldn’t treat her as a joke (besides the fact that this isn’t a joke) is that the more she is dismissed as incompetent the easier it is for her co-opt populist rhetoric. And as we know, her whole political identity thrives on her regular-gal-ness. So in a way I actually thought that the stories about her ill-begotten million dollar waredrobe were nice because they did just a little bit more to remind people that Palin is about making the rich get richer and nothing else (except maybe making racism more media friendly). But it would be even better if we just recognized that fact directly.
and by the way, Goldman Sachs is reporting “blowout profits” today.
July 14, 2009 at 7:34 pm |
Yeah, there was something about the Goldman Sachs thing in the paper yesterday. Now the government’s going to act like, “Oh, we didn’t know that using taxpayer money to benefit finance capital would make the rich richer. It’s cool, though, right? At least someone’s eating.” I can only hope it raises good populist dander by reminding people or perhaps indicating to them that TARP=unconscionable social disinvestment. 40 years ago we put a man on the moon.