Sarah Six-Pack is getting a bit stale

[Bryn]

By Leonard Pitts <------my favorite columist

http://www.miamiherald.com/living/columnists/leonard-pitts/story/721465.html

<snip>

In that sense, Sarah Six-Pack is nothing new. The ''g'' droppin', moose shootin', eye-winkin' hockey mom has plenty of antecedents. But there's a difference. Those antecedents were smart, wonkish people pretending to be one of us. Sarah Palin is one of us.

And by ''us,'' I don't mean you, necessarily, or me. I mean the lowest common denominator us, the us of myth and narrative, the us of simple mind, the reactionary, ill-informed, impatient with complexity, utterly shallow us.

You think that's mean? Go back and look at the Katie Couric interviews again. Or the Charlie Gibson interview. I don't know about you, but I want a vice president who can identify Supreme Court rulings she disagrees with. Or define the Bush Doctrine. Or name a newspaper. Or -- heck, I'm not picky -- construct an intelligible English language sentence.

Even many of her most ardent admirers no longer dispute that Sarah Six-Pack is, shall we say, incurious. What's striking is how little that seems to matter. A McCain spokeswoman suggested before the vice presidential debate that it would be unfair to question Palin, a woman who could be president, too closely on foreign policy. And when thinking conservatives (remember when the adjective was not necessary?) like Kathleen Parker and David Brooks declared Palin unfit for office, they were shouted down by their ideological brethren. Parker got e-mail she called ''vicious and threatening.'' Brooks was dismissed by another pundit as a ``conservative intellectual.''

You're left to wonder when intellectuals -- thinking people, for goodness sake! -- became the enemy. Are we to regard unthinking conservatives (will that adjective soon be superfluous?) as the only true conservatives? Indeed, the only true Americans?

One gets that sense from Palin's recent campaign appearances. Her attacks have grown increasingly strident and divorced from reality as John McCain's poll numbers have gone south.

She blames Katie Couric, and not herself, for her inability to answer fair questions. She frames Obama as some exotic unknown with terrorist associations.

And the rabble duly rouses. They boo Couric, which is not unlike booing Mickey Mouse. They scream death threats. Someone addresses an African-American sound man for one of the networks with a racial epithet and screams, ``Sit down, boy!''

There is an ugliness here. It is disguised as decency, disguised as politics, but it is only ugliness, mean and raw and given license by the desperation of a man who used to be honorable and a woman who said she was just like us.

<snip>

[Democrats_win]

1. A six-pack of Zima!

If you watch Letterman, you know Zima is crap. I think it's made by coors.

[Myrina]

2. So ask the GOP if they would have wanted (Brother) Billy Carter as VP ...

... Palin is about his equivalent, qualification and sophistication-wise ... :shrug:

[Tangerine LaBamba]

3. This is the result of

the dumbing down of America. With the ascension of Fuckface into the Oval Office, and his obvious ignorance and incompetence, it became acceptable to be stupid and ill-informed. In fact, given the numbers of people who turn out to cheer on this mindless twit Palin, it has become something to celebrate.

Well, yeah. It's easy to be stupid and ill-informed. If you're lazy, in all ways, it's a good strategy.

Except look where it's led us.

Now, we need the smartest guys in the room. We need the women who have proven themselves adept not just at sloganeering and kissing Party ass, but who have made it legitimately in corporate, education, political circles.

We need people who understand that it's sexy to be smart, and it's unbelievably cool to be smart AND competent.

You know who I'm talking about. You're smart........................

[Cheap_Trick]

4. Sarah six-pack gives me bitter beer face

[sui generis]

5. hey! republicans aren't the only joe six-pack

Apparently she forgot about the blue states where it is legal for men to drink beer.

Everything about this wench is disgusting. Small town values? Have we heard a lot about that lately? Could go either way doncha know.

Small towns take care of each other, value privacy (beyond gossip), honor their families, and can as easily be "blue" as "red".

Now the small town values that the republicans are talking about tend to be, gay hating, lynch-bating, small minded mychurchisbetterthanyours going bigots. RED small town mentality.

We need to stop letting them own any phrase. They're not grown up enough to know what the fuck they're talking about.

[Mist]

6. Hmm, so the "elite, intellectual" conservatives are finding out what it's like to

be excoriated for having brains, and using them? Imagine that--when they're the ones that for so long have
been touting the "elitist" meme when it comes to having more than 2 brain cells, when discussing "intellectual" liberals and progressives. How's that crow tasting?

[sui generis]

8. yeah, that elitist thing is poorly understood

You can go two ways with social leadership. Make being different illegal and unwanted and appeal to the lowest common denominator, glued together with xenophobia, OR

you can honor our differences, our uniquenesses. Socially speaking an elitist is exactly the opposite of an anti-cultural communist. Without the personal pursuit of "something better", we would not have diversity, and we would not have any culture or an ethos to talk about. The end state of acquiring something others are less likely to have is that you're branded an elitist. I think we need to honor our inner elitists, it's what makes us American.

Bible study three days a week when you're not in church, does not count as culture, but oddly someone who thinks that's rare and different and desirable and superior is also therefore an elitist.

In the final analysis, it's a meaningless term.

[lisa58]

7. There is an ugliness here. It is disguised as decency, disguised as politics...

...but it is only ugliness, mean and raw and given license by the desperation of a man who used to be honorable and a woman who said she was just like us.

This says it all

[Raschel]

9. A little bit of Palin goes a long way. She's reached the oversaturation point. n/t

[sui generis]

10. a little dumb'll do ya, doncha know!