Sarah Palin is like... everyone I know in North Dakota. I don't like her because I don't like her personality or her ideas. It has nothing to do with her being an "outsider", and honestly, I find it distasteful to try to play it that way. You are not unique, Sarah Palin, you are one of many. You just got the most airtime. #sarahpalin
so the right sees Palin as an "outsider" (which supposedly we liberals hate) yet she is also "one of them", them being (according to themselves) the majority of americans. which, um, means she isn't an "outsider" at all. so which is it? #sarahpalin
Siegel's assertion that it is liberals who fear outsiders is laughable, considering how many rightwing nutjobs are still screaming about Obama not being "one of us" and insisting he doesn't have a US birth certificate. Dumbass, we liberals elected the most outside guy you could find! Half-black, half-white, single mother, father from Kenya, with a Muslim name...how much more outside can you get?
Siegel's theory stinks. Liberals are upset about Palin's POLICIES, not her gender. Just like we get upset about Obama's POLICIES, not his race. We leave the race fear to the conservatives. They are clearly so much better at it. #sarahpalin
Lee Siegel is that guy you meet at a party, wearing an "Owl City" t-shirt and drinking and old-fashioned while posing against a potted plant.
You say, "Ben Gibbard called - he wants his shirt back". He says, "I really like Owl City". You say, "Are you being ironic?". He replies, "No. I'm post-irony."
He says, "What do you do?" You reply, "I'm an accountant". He says, "My mom was an full-time accountant and a full-time mom. She really couldn't have it all. Makes you think, doesn't it?"
Later, you find out he told your friends that you seemed wounded in some way, and used anger as a defense mechanism. "She seems like the kind of liberal who really hates Sarah Palin", he mused. #sarahpalin
I will never understand why being an "outsider" is considered a good thing in politics. Now, I'm in favor of term limits as much as the next guy, but I don't want to put morons and wholly unqualified people running our government.
Federal Politics: Some experience required. #sarahpalin
@AndPreciousLittleofThat: but also? if an "outsider" like a legal aid lawyer or a doctor or a community organizer or whatever decided to run for office, you would not find liberals even mildly disturbed by that person's outsider status. Um, Al Franken anyone? The animosity against Sarah Palin has zero to do with her "outsider" status. That is a fantasy of Sarah's own making. #sarahpalin
@AndPreciousLittleofThat: I like your point. I really wouldn't want an "outsider" mechanic to fix my car. I consider the laws of the land to be some factor more important to me than my fucking car. #sarahpalin
@AndPreciousLittleofThat: Totally agree. Not to mention, if you're elected governor, you're FAR FROM AN OUTSIDER. It is a small and select group that reaches that level of elected office and her claim to outsiderness seems to be solely based on the fact that she 1) lives/governed geographically far from Washington DC and 2) does all sorts of outdoorsy stuff.
The true outsiders are the people at the grassroots (on both sides) who are working passionately for their issues, but have none of the access to power that political figures do. Or, even better, those who are working to achieve new and exciting outcomes outside of the traditional power structures. Yes, she was a surprise choice for VP. Yes, she's irritatingly quirky. But she's not truly an outsider--she's playing the game as much as the rest of them. #sarahpalin
@AndPreciousLittleofThat: Term limits don't do quite what people think they do. Many state legislators have a third of the legislator new each term from term limits alone. This means many people coming in who know nothing about the budget process. A lot more power actually ends up in the hands of the "special interest groups" because they provide "education" for legislators which is basically just teaching them their agenda and handing them pre-written legislation. Including right wing groups like the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) that has over 2,000 legislative members and writes some of the worst legislation that becomes state law. #sarahpalin
THIS IS NOT RACISM, no matter what Madison Avenue, Hollywood, Washington, years of history, people in every city and every state in this country, common decency and morality, or the dictionary tells us! Fixed it for ya there, Lynn Vincent!
Honestly though, this xkcd cartoon? This is how I feel about Sarah Palin. I know it's fruitless to fight it, but all the lying and leaps in logic just drive me CRAZY. #sarahpalin
@Dodgergirl: Except it's so much worse, because she's not just wrong on the Internet, she's wrong in national politics that affect how we and the generations that come after us will live. #sarahpalin
As far as the deep-seated psychological reasons, people used to try to say the same thing about why liberals hated Bush. No, it couldn't be because there is a good argument to be made that he was shredding the constitution, running wars to help line the pockets of some friends, making the world more unsafe, etc -- no, it had to be because of something else.
Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar and that's what we've got with Palin (and Bush). As Anna writes, there are very good, fundamental, concrete reasons for progressives to dislike Palin. #sarahpalin
I haz a confused. How can she embody an American story and be an outsider? And what is with his hatred for dachshunds? It is because they are German? Why dogs? Why not donkeys, since they are the democratic symbol? Is that too gross? Aren't there plenty of instances with women and donkeys? Wouldn't that make Palin more raw and uncontrolled? So many questions. #sarahpalin
Hmph. I'm experiencing a few perfectly natural revulsions of my own.
I don't understand, honestly, anyone's contention that she's some kind of maverick. She's anything but. She and her husband are middle-class strivers, maximizing their assets for status gain, while acquiring none of the education or introspection or engagement with culture that would lend dignity to their modes of thought or action. They've tricked themselves into believing that because they've achieved a semblance of superficial importance in a very small society, they are in fact important. And all across the country, people just like them are seeing themselves in that family and making proclamations that their limited perspective and prospects can't possibly back up. This is why rational, thoughtful people don't want to hear from her. She's done nothing whatsoever to deserve a platform, and she's disproportionately appealing to narcissists of average and sub-average intelligence. #sarahpalin
Lee Siegel tries to say that Sarah Palin is being dehumanized and "turned into an object" by liberal criticism of her. I don't understand this argument at all. How is criticism objectification? #sarahpalin
@J.D.Regent: Liberals can't fucking catch a break, even when we're allegedly in charge of things. I don't understand it either, but it's like trying to put out an irrational fire with rational water. #sarahpalin
@J.D.Regent: well I was a bit offended, as a woman, by some of the more extreme stuff that was being written (usually by men) and floating around the blogosphere during the campaign. I have nothing but disgust for the woman but I don't think anyone should be called a "hate fuck" or similar.
eta: of course the majority of the criticism was completely on point
11/16/09
11/16/09
11/16/09
Siegel's theory stinks. Liberals are upset about Palin's POLICIES, not her gender. Just like we get upset about Obama's POLICIES, not his race. We leave the race fear to the conservatives. They are clearly so much better at it. #sarahpalin
11/16/09
All of this is being submitted to STFU, Conservatives toute suite. #sarahpalin
11/16/09
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11/16/09
Although I will say I have a visceral reaction to that t-shirt. #sarahpalin
11/16/09
When is "Maverick" going to pick back up to being every third word people say about her? #sarahpalin
11/16/09
11/16/09
11/16/09
You say, "Ben Gibbard called - he wants his shirt back". He says, "I really like Owl City". You say, "Are you being ironic?". He replies, "No. I'm post-irony."
He says, "What do you do?" You reply, "I'm an accountant". He says, "My mom was an full-time accountant and a full-time mom. She really couldn't have it all. Makes you think, doesn't it?"
Later, you find out he told your friends that you seemed wounded in some way, and used anger as a defense mechanism. "She seems like the kind of liberal who really hates Sarah Palin", he mused. #sarahpalin
11/16/09
Federal Politics: Some experience required. #sarahpalin
11/16/09
11/16/09
11/16/09
The true outsiders are the people at the grassroots (on both sides) who are working passionately for their issues, but have none of the access to power that political figures do. Or, even better, those who are working to achieve new and exciting outcomes outside of the traditional power structures. Yes, she was a surprise choice for VP. Yes, she's irritatingly quirky. But she's not truly an outsider--she's playing the game as much as the rest of them. #sarahpalin
11/16/09
11/16/09
THIS IS NOT RACISM, no matter what Madison Avenue, Hollywood, Washington, years of history, people in every city and every state in this country, common decency and morality, or the dictionary tells us! Fixed it for ya there, Lynn Vincent!
Honestly though, this xkcd cartoon? This is how I feel about Sarah Palin. I know it's fruitless to fight it, but all the lying and leaps in logic just drive me CRAZY. #sarahpalin
11/16/09
11/16/09
11/16/09
Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar and that's what we've got with Palin (and Bush). As Anna writes, there are very good, fundamental, concrete reasons for progressives to dislike Palin. #sarahpalin
11/16/09
11/16/09
I don't understand, honestly, anyone's contention that she's some kind of maverick. She's anything but. She and her husband are middle-class strivers, maximizing their assets for status gain, while acquiring none of the education or introspection or engagement with culture that would lend dignity to their modes of thought or action. They've tricked themselves into believing that because they've achieved a semblance of superficial importance in a very small society, they are in fact important. And all across the country, people just like them are seeing themselves in that family and making proclamations that their limited perspective and prospects can't possibly back up. This is why rational, thoughtful people don't want to hear from her. She's done nothing whatsoever to deserve a platform, and she's disproportionately appealing to narcissists of average and sub-average intelligence. #sarahpalin
11/16/09
11/16/09
A more compelling argument than Siegel's is that, now that Palin no longer holds public office, liberals should simply ignore her.
Yes, ignore her, until Spencer leaves Heidi to try to move in and become First Dude. #sarahpalin
11/16/09
11/16/09
11/16/09
eta: of course the majority of the criticism was completely on point
11/16/09