Sarah Palin's America: She's no nature lover—she just plays one on TV

[marmar]

from The Nation:



Sarah Palin's America

Betsy Reed
November 15, 2010


If the first episode was any indication, Sarah Palin's Alaska will be as cloying as might be expected, with family conflict rendered in its most anodyne form, giving Palin ample opportunity to burnish her image as a tough but nurturing Mama Grizzly. Even less credible—and more insidious—than the G-rated family drama, though, is the way this "reality" show portrays its heroine's relationship to nature.

When we watch Palin scale a glacier, it's hard not to admire her fortitude (though I admit to having unkind thoughts as she struggled past those deep, dark crevasses). But as she styles herself a rugged outdoorswoman with a healthy (if clichéd) respect for Mother Nature, it's as if we are being asked to forget everything she has done to destroy the environment that serves as the stunning backdrop for her adventures.

This gambit is not new. Back in 2008, on the Republican Convention stage, it was her frontierswoman shtick that, perversely, allowed her to chant "Drill, baby, drill" as if it were really her land and she could tell you what it needed.

Now, though, as she rolls out the I-am-nature routine again—and in light of her role in cultivating the appalling crew of climate deniers in the incoming GOP Congress— it's worth a quick review of her environmental record as Alaska's governor:

•  Palin was an early and enthusiastic proponent of drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and essentially anywhere else the oil industry wanted to go; as Michael Klare wrote here in 2008, "Her only real nitty gritty legislative experience is in measures aimed at expanding oil and gas production, to the virtual exclusion of other factors, including the environment." ..............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.thenation.com/blog/156460/sarah-palins-america

[spanone]

1. she's a fraud through and through

[TreasonousBastard]

2. I tried to watch it, but only lasted for maybe 10 minutes...

I was curious if there could possibly be any "there" there with Palin, but there isn't.

Nothing. Nothing at all, and it was painful watching it.

It was as if staring into the abyss.

[KharmaTrain]

3. It'll Become Cult TV...

Every video editor out there will get a workout with all the comedy gold coming over the next few weeks. No matter how she tries, Mooselini has become a political cartoon character and impressions run deep. She'll only reinforce the negatives as much as any positives with this reality show. Watch the ratings on this show drop week after week as the gawkers move onto something else.

[marmar]

5. Yep. She attracted curiosity seekers the first week, like a car wreck does......

....... and they'll drop it quickly.

[UTUSN]

4. K&R #2 for best thread title n/t

[cilla4progress]

6. By the numbers

#1 Yes, she's a liar, fraud, grifter, bible-thumper, huckster, snake oil saleswoman
#2 She and her severely demented and intellectually bereft family are all over the front page everywhere: HuffPo - sometimes multiple times, USA Today, Politico, even the NY Times and I'm DAMN SICK OF IT!
#3 However, nothing this morning in the MSM about her little sick spawn and their homo-CIDAL posts on Facebook yesterday; disappointing
#4 and most starkly of all: she's seriously considered a potential candidate for US President....


I mean, c'mon - I just can't take this stuff seriously AT ALL anymore. America is a lame joke. I give up! Still figuring out how I can continue to live here, given this reality. I mean, really -- can we think of other countries who operate at the maturity level of a 13 year old? (Apologies to the 13 year olds out there...)

Tuning out, by and large. Not caring so much anymore. Just trying to take care of my little world -- and prepare for the worst