Those who follow Sarah Palin are sowing the seeds of their own destruction

[CHIMO]

In the film, The American President, the president's speechwriter Lewis Rothschild (played by Michael J Fox) appeals to the commander-in-chief to take a firm, clear stand against the Right. "People want leadership, Mr President, and in the absence of genuine leadership, they'll listen to anyone who steps up to the microphone." he says. "They want leadership. They're so thirsty for it they'll crawl through the desert toward a mirage, and when they discover there's no water, they'll drink the sand."

The president (played by Michael Douglas) retorts that the American electorate's problem is not a lack of leadership but an undiscerning palate.

"We've had presidents who were beloved, who couldn't find a coherent sentence with two hands and a flashlight," he says. "People don't drink the sand because they're thirsty. They drink the sand because they don't know the difference."

As the faithful wait in line in small towns across the country (some for more than a day) to see Sarah Palin on her book tour, the question of whether the US is deprived of a competent political class or gets the leadership it both deserves and truly desires seems as pertinent as ever.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/nov/23/palin-sowing-seeds-destruction-america

[FLyellowdog]

1. AMEN! nt

[snagglepuss]

2. "....They drink the sand because they don't know the difference."

"People don't drink the sand because they're thirsty. They drink the sand because they don't know the difference."

BINGO

[snagglepuss]

3. "Palin is the antithesis of an aspirational figure. Her supporters love her not

because they want to be like her, but because they already are like her."

snip

Bush was Palin-lite.



This is a really insightful article. Again thanks for posting.

[Puzzler]

4. Reading some of the comments on the Guardian article ...

... I'm always stunned by the shear number of RW nutjobs that seem to come out of the woodwork within a few hours of a Guardian article's publication. Seriously, do a lot of wingnuts actually read the online Guardian that often and that closely? I doubt it. My guess is that maybe one (or two) wingnuts spot a new Guardian article, and then alert other like-minded morons through their own web-forums to bombard these Guardian comment sections with RW crap. They do a good job of creating the illusion (to the casual reader) that support for Palin (and other RW policies/beliefs) is actually mainstream in the USA.