Sarah Palin and Anti-Intellectualism in American Life
In his article on the Quitta from Wasilla, Todd Purdum asks, "What does it say about the nature of modern American politics that a public official who often seems proud of what she does not know is not only accepted but applauded?" Is the intrepid Vanity Fair reporter shocked, shocked, to find that book larnin' is an electoral liability in God's country? He must be familiar with Richard Hofstadter's Anti-Intellectualism in American Life, which was published in 1964, the year of Sarah Palin's birth. Hofstadter, an esteemed history professor at Columbia University, began work on this groundbreaking study after the defeat of Adlai Stevenson, the Democratic nominee whose willingness to speak in complex, allusive sentences made him a darling of academia and the literati. Stevenson's reluctance to dumb down was interpreted by many as evidence of a vacillating, elitist character. This was nothing new. Hofstadter shows the divide between intelligence and intellect that has existed on these shores since the time of the Puritans. Intelligence is deemed essential to practical problem-solving; it "seeks to grasp, manipulate, re-order, adjust...[it] will seize the immediate meaning in a situation and evaluate it." Whereas intellect "is the critical, creative, and contemplative side of mind...[it] evaluates evaluations, and looks for the meaning of situations as a whole."
Like George W. Bush, Sarah Palin fears self-evaluation and contemplation. They both prefer to be ruled by their gut instincts. Of course, they're too arrogant and insecure to acknowledge when these instincts lead them astray. Palin also shares a dangerous sense of unearned entitlement with the former president. She believes she's destined for greatness. So did every other White House aspirant last year. But as we saw yesterday, she won't crack the books and do her homework. Rather than tutor herself on foreign and domestic issues, she has decided to rely henceforward on personality and platitudes. If you haven't already, read her resignation statement, a jaw-dropping aria that should be entitled "Palin Agonistes" or "The Passion of Sarah." She must have composed it herself. (Ye shall know them by their poor writing skills!) Others have critiqued her rambling incoherency, grating informality, and overuse of capitals and exclamation marks. But what stood out for me was the seemingly boundless capacity for deception and delusion. She's not taking "a quitter's way out." Nah, she'll do more for her state by abandoning it in the middle of a recession to raise money in the lower 48 to pay off her legal bills. And who inspired such selflessness? Why, our troops -- or "Troops," as she puts it. "They're bold, they don't give up, they take a stand and know that LIFE is short so they choose NOT to waste time." Honey, if our "Troops" borrowed a page from you, they'd be going AWOL en masse. The low point, however, was the poll she took of her five kids. This is what she claims to have asked them: "Want me to make a positive difference and fight for ALL our children's future from OUTSIDE the Governor's office?" For the moment, let's accept the unlikelihood that she posed such a fatuous, egregiously slanted question to her brood. How did they answer? "It was four 'yes's' and one 'hell yeah!' The 'hell yeah' sealed it -- and someday I'll talk about the details of that." No, she won't. We'll never hear of it again. Because she's lying or twisting the truth. How could a 15-month-old Down's baby comprehend that question? And what about Piper? She's eight. What's she supposed to say? "I don't want you making a positive difference and fighting for kids?" Okay, boys and girls, repeat after me: Mommy is a passive-aggressive monster.
But what else should we expect? For the past year, Andrew Sullivan has kept a running tally of Palin's numerous prevarications. Clearly the woman has a problem. But a reader of Sullivan's blog suggested that many Christian fundamentalists are untroubled by her cognitive dissonance because they live in a state of constant denial themselves, about evolution, homosexuality, torture, etc. And as Purdum observed, Palin's lack of intellect wins her praise from right-wing Republicans, who listen daily to the wisdom and profundity of Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and Sean Hannity. In fact, all this talk by Limbaugh and Co. of principles is one reason why Palin may have a shot at the nomination in 2012. Anybody can espouse principles; policies require brains. So when you hear them go on ad nauseum (I mean you, Sean, you've really got to see somebody about that ideological Turette's) about principles, it's because they have no substantive ideas to propose. But liberals and independents must not let down their guard. Palin's resignation does not mean she's out of the picture. John McCain's unforgivably reckless act of choosing her for a running mate gave her one-hundred-percent name recognition, an invaluable commodity in politics. We must remind the public why that name should never be preceded by any title other than governor.
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Excellent article. Thank you.
There's a fine line between intellectualism and sheer arrogance. Those of the elite intellectual establishment would be wise not to underestimate the ability of someone to relate to the common people. These common people go to work every day, pay their taxes, raise families, are honest, and expect honesty from others. If they see Palin like themselves they will be more than happy to support her no matter what quirkiness she may have. Therein, whether intended or not, lies the power of Sarah Palin.
And new poll out says 70% of Repubs would vote for her. While that is not nearly enough to win, I find that truly amazing.
Which exactly explains the state of the Republican party right now. We did see this anti-intellectualism after Bush got elected. But to me Palin was the extreme purveyor of it. The truth is she almost has to portray herself this way, it describes her exactly. And the far right wing evangelistic Replubicans love it, she is exactly like them. I would think the more informed and inquisitive party members though would see through this. But they are more inclined to take power than see a fool for a fool. Besides, it would be like Bush and Cheney, if she wins we are in power and can manipulate her as we see fit, just what Cheney did to Bush. Cheney was not the idiot Bush appeared to be and manipulated him party using his intellect. But Cheney was far more despicable, cunning, and power mad then Bush. What scares me the most is that the people in this country actually can accept this from her believe that it would benefit the country. I don't dislike Palin herself, everyone has flaws, but she is so far out of her league if she thinks she is presidential caliber it is frightening.
I hope that most people can see through her "I'm just doing what is best for Alaska!" speech and her professed victim-hood for having people come after her for silly little ethics violations. It's clear that, no matter what she actually said during her desperate farewell speech, what she was really saying was, "You know.. I don't want to play anymore. I'm going home."
Sarah Palin seems like the kind of person who would run for governor as a lark, because she thinks it would be super cool to be in charge. She has certainly been *acting* like she's in charge of everything--hence the multitudes of ethics violations. She has found out that she can't just do whatever she feels like doing, and it's not fun anymore.
My favorite part of her reasons for quitting is to avoid the 'lame duck' status--she's not going to seek re-election, so she's quitting because everyone knows that lame ducks just lie around on the tax-payer dime, taking vacations and soaking up a paycheck. Yeah, Sarah--or, instead of quitting, you could just WORK. If you're so easily led astray from doing a good job, it's probably best that you are no longer the governor.
greengeekgirl:
Thanks for your insightful comments on Gov. Palin's resignation. I keep reading that she is preparing to run for president in 2012. In fact some neo-cons, like Bill Krystal, see her resignation as a brilliant political move that will benefit her if she runs for president in 2012. My question to Gov. Palin, and her supporters, is: Supposing she is elected president of the U.S., how can we trust that she will not "up and quit" if the media in washington, as well as public interest groups, vigorously challenge her on her views, ethics, and policy goals. This is the question that must be asked of the Governor. It is also the question that must be asked of right wingers who are busy promoting her 2012 run for the presidency.
Oh SNAP, great article
Totally agree with this. Ignorance is a point of pride for too many now. But, um... "Wasilla" is spelled with one "s" and two "l"s.
Unfortunately, lots of people believe that ZERO experience in government is actually better than some or a lot of experience in government. That's why so many run as "outsiders", even if they're not. (Remember Bob Dole resigned after decades in the Senate a few months before he became the GOP nominee, not because he would be busy campaigning and didn't have time to be Senator, but because he could now claim to be an outsider.) That's why the GOP could invite Joe the Plumber to be their economic adviser (!) People who wouldn't hire a plumber who had never done a job before think that the best choice is a politician who's never been in politics. It's the Mr. Smith Goes to Washington myth accompanied by the myth that all problems have simple, easy solutions which those in power are intentionally avoiding because of corruption. So all a candidate needs are a few ideological principles to do a wonderful job. But reality is such a b*tch - as we saw with W, you need to know how to actually accomplish things, which requires experience (and a willingness to learn).
Except when it comes to Barack Obama, whom the Republicans and wingnuts like Sarah Palin INSISTED had less experience than she did because he was merely a "community organizer" while she, SHE was Governor of a state, by gum!
And she'll STILL be saying that she has more experience than Obama does even after he's weathered 7 of the worst first months of any presidency ever without going completely white-haired, while she's aborted her first 4 years of gubernatorial service (with all those nice trips to Gov. conferences with such other luminaries as Mark Sanford, Rick Perry, etc.) at the 2-1/2 year mark.
The drooling idiots in the media will eat that claim up with the rest of Sarah Palin's word salad, without questioning her inanities. You know they will, just look at what they're doing yesterday and today!
They're interviewing Palin out on her husband's family fishing grounds, when she should be back in Juneau giving her Lt. Governor some pointers on taking over a state administration in the midst of a recession, with fishing and environmental and flood disasters to deal with.
Oh, yes.. he was a community organizer in a city that has about five times the population of the entire state of Alaska. This, of course, before he went on to--gasp--OTHER jobs, including United States Senator. Why, she did the WHOLE STATE budget all of once, maybe even TWICE, while they had a huge oil surplus! Astounding!
/end sarcasm ^_^
I've read a lot of comments on her speech, but this is the one that hit the nail on the head. It's the lying. And the hubris that if she says it, it will be accepted as true. It's awful close to, "When the President does it, it's not illegal."
I assume you mean that Palin's name should never be preceded by any title other than "FORMER governor".
I wish people could see right through her...everyone! even reps. Her attitude and views remind me of Stephen Colbert but unlike Colbert, she is not acting, she is for real.
Which got me thinking, I bet she watches the Colbert Report now and then, and profusely believes everything he says....even its all a joke.
Great post. You know, I really didn't think about the five kid poll until I read this. Did she really count the baby in? You betcha. The lady is deceitful and manipulative beyond belief. I just shake my head in utter disbelief at the thought of people who actually think she could lead this country. And then today, her interview in "fishing attire" just to remind us that she is indeed our "working-class hero." Did Andrea Mitchell really not see through that smoke and mirrors prop?
For me the problem is with the so called mainstream media for not critically questioning Gov. Sarah Palin. I was waiting to see if the so called reputable journalists, like Andrea Mitchell, would question Gov. Palin about the truthfulness of her kid's poll. Here are some questions they should have asked her: 1) "Gov. Palin do you really think that your under age kids ( and especially your one and half year son) understood the importance of the question you asked them for you to base your decision on their answers?" 2) "If four of your children had said no (and the fifth hell no!) to your question, would you have then decided to serve your full term as governor as the people of Alaska who voted for you expected to do?" 3) "Would you advise other Governors, or other politicians, faced with frivolous ethics challenges, and unfair media scrutiny to resign for the good of their states/constituencies?" And finally, "Why should people in Alaska ( and for that matter in the whole country) not view you as a quitter for resigning after 2/12 years as governor, without providing them with clear and compelling reasons, when your were elected to serve 4 years?"
yep, you summed it up nicely. thanks.
From here on out, the only title the will precede her name is "Former": former governor, former beauty queen, former media sensation, former political containder... the list is endless. Her 15 minutes are up. Incompentence always reveals itself.
Former Miss Alaska beauty queen runner-up. Unless you count her "Miss Wasilla" crown, which is like the city-wide spelling bee competition.
I cannot believe the number of people who still venerate S arah P alin after she roamed the country last fall, dividing "real Americans" from apparently "non-real Americans" and appealing to the worst instincts of her "fans." It's all right there on Youtube - just do a search for "P alin" and "rally" or "P alin" and "mob."
"Average" intelligence means there are some people way above average, and some people way below. And the lower the brainpower, the happier they are in a mob.
David Brooks at the NYT writes today on dignity in public figures, a nice companion piece to this article.
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