A little light relief from Slate:
Palin's Poetry
Recent works by the Republican vice presidential candidate.
It's been barely six weeks since the arctic-fresh voice of Alaskan poet Sarah Heath Palin burst upon the lower 48. In campaign interviews, the governor, mother, and maverick GOP vice presidential candidate has chosen to bypass the media filter and speak directly to fans through her intensely personal verses, spoken poems that drill into the vagaries of modern life as if they were oil deposits beneath a government-protected tundra.
"On Good and Evil"
It is obvious to me
Who the good guys are in this one
And who the bad guys are.
The bad guys are the ones
Who say Israel is a stinking corpse,
And should be wiped off
The face of the earth.
That's not a good guy.
(To K. Couric, CBS News, Sept. 25, 2008)
"You Can't Blink"
You can't blink.
You have to be wired
In a way of being
So committed to the mission,
The mission that we're on,
Reform of this country,
And victory in the war,
You can't blink.
So I didn't blink.
(To C. Gibson, ABC News, Sept. 11, 2008)
"Haiku"
These corporations.
Today it was AIG,
Important call, there.
(To S. Hannity, Fox News, Sept. 18, 2008)
Classic!
I also found a couple of great Palin-related blogs/blog posts today.
The first is a piece by Ta-Nehisi Coates in The Atlantic, entitled Sarah, we are not that different, you and I. It's a great piece of introspective, even somewhat sympathetic, writing on the position that Palin finds herself in:
The Palin pick was the most crassest, most bigoted decision that I've seen in national electoral politics, in my--admittedly short--lifetime. There can be no doubt that they picked Palin strictly as a stick to drum up the victimhood narrative--small town, hunters, big families and most importantly, women. Had Barack Obama picked Hillary Clinton, there simply is no way they would have picked Sarah Palin. To the McCain camp, Palin isn't important as a politician, or even as a person. Her moose-hunting, her sprawling fam, her hockey momdom, her impending grandmother status are a symbol of some vague, possibly endangered American thing, one last chance to yell from the rafters "We wuz robbed."
While Ta-Nehisi empathises with Palin, and even feels sorry for her to some degree, many of his readers do not share his feelings, and the blog post is followed by a fascinating collection of comments and responses. It's well worth reading every one. They are erudite, forthright, well-informed and passionate for the most part.
I have to confess though, this comment has to be among my favourites:
I have no pity for Sarah Palin or any other member of the Death And Torture For Jesus wing of the Republican Party - which these days seems to be about 80% of that party. Fuck them all and the Hummers they drove in on.
Rod Dreher and many other hardcore cons started talking about how they were "in love" with Palin the minute she was selected. There was something especially grotesque and fanboyish about that reaction. Now it turns out their pin-up girl is too stupid to fulfill their fantasies of a good screw followed by a discussion of the latest National Review. Boo fucking hoo.
And she is stupid. No doubt she's shrewd and ruthless and she's been using people like Kleenex on her rise to "the top," but her intellect is shabby and mean. Send her back home in disgrace.
Posted by MoeLarryAndJesus
Black Men for McCain is a blog I discovered today (it was linked from a comment on the Coates piece), and it's an absolutely fascinating read. The author, Wendell Jackson, began on August 12 with this:
Brothers, we are on the verge of a great American tragedy. Empty suit Barack Obama has brainwashed the good people of this country and MUST BE STOPPED! Over the past 8 years, Republicans have CUT TAXES, defended LIFE, kept MARRIAGE SACRED and fought for FREEDOM around the world. John McCain will continue to fight for our values. DON'T BE FOOLED by Obama's smooth talk! He will RAISE YOUR TAXES, allow GAYS to marry, TAKE YOUR GUNS AWAY and he won't SUPPORT OUR TROOPS! We cannot stand by as this TAX AND SPEND LIBERAL lays waste to America!
...and by September 27 was writing this:
Ladies, throw your hats in the air. She's done it. After only two interviews with actual reporters (Hannity doesn’t count) Sarah Palin managed to fill in every single one of those cracks and reinforce them with steel. Ain't nobody getting through that ceiling now.
In just twenty minutes of screen time, this woman managed to convince the majority of thinking people, Republicans included, that she should be sent packing immediately. It's farce. It's comedy. Her incoherent babbling has made it crystal clear why McCain tried to postpone the debates. The woman is a disaster of epic proportions.
Fellow Republicans, it's time to look in the mirror and ask ourselves the tough questions. Is a McCain/Palin White House good for our country? Is it patriotic? Is it even Christian? Anyone with an ounce of intellectual honesty knows these are fair questions.
My friends, it may be time to repent.
Wow! His journey is quite something. It'll be interesting to see where the road takes him...
Tags: Sarah Palin, Palin, poetry, Slate, Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Atlantic, Black Men for McCain, Wendell Jackson, disillusioned Republican, McCain, John McCain, election, US politics.
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