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Bob Franken

Bob Franken

Posted: February 12, 2010 09:57 AM

Sarah Palin's Unqualified Support

What's Your Reaction:

There are at least three reasons the polls show the number of those who consider Sarah Palin unqualified for high office keeps growing.

  • She's an acquired taste that hasn't been acquired yet
  • She gets a relentless raw deal from the commie-pinko media
  • She's unqualified


Whichever, Sarah Palin is one of those public personalities who makes everyone's blood boil. In disgust or adoration.

Without a doubt she has become the queen of the mainstream fringe, in fact she's become perhaps the leading symbol. Her cutie pie cattiness has overwhelmed Glenn Beck's irrational rants.

And before we dismiss Palin and her devout followers as some sort of splinter group, let's not for get that by comparison, her opponents are loosely packed sawdust...flying around every which way. Liberals and the others she scornfully calls "elitists" are anything but elite when it comes to getting their acts together.

Sarah Palin's message that those in power now have messed things up royally resonates and not just with true believers. Nearly everyone is downright scared about the future and is disgusted with the feeling we've all been had by those in power.

As disorganized as the Tea Party crazies are they are united in their hatreds, a natural audience for the Palin Perky Politics of Resentment. When despised commentators make fun of her for writing reminders on her hand, a lot of them say "Hey, I do that."

They are a force. For proof look at the TV ratings. Fox News has been able to exploit the right wing outrage and obliterate the other cable networks. Similarly, Rush Limbaugh and his clone voices of intolerance continue to dominate the airways, like no one else. Meanwhile, the main outlet on the left, Air America, just folded.

Those of us who criticize Palin make her more of a force. We raise her volume and play right into her handwritten hands.

That is not to say we should stop. Those of us who are appalled by the same kind of transparently programmed superficiality that works so well with so many anchor men and women need to point out how she employs these tricks of the trade. Then we can let the chips fall where they may.

Even with all our criticism, important to remember that these polls show that 30 percent do not consider Sarah Palin unqualified. History shows any number of nations where leaders have been elected with true support smaller than that. They have snuck up on those embedded in a calcified system. At least Palin isn't sneaking up.

 

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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
I am an American
05:10 PM on 02/20/2010
You can just go one believing that she's in it for the money, people are enthralled by because she's "fascinating like a car wreck", or that her following is as uneducated as her, or she has created a celebrity like Paris Hilton.

While these might be a small reason why she is popular it is by no means the real reason, for if they were then serious news organizations and political professionals would not be paying attention to her.

Whether you want to be honewst with yourself or not she is very qualified. She has been a city councilwoman, a city manager, a mayor, the chaiman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Commission ( the largest such energy commission on the country, the Governor of Alaska and the Vice Presidential nominee. Not to shabby of a resume.

More than just entertainment news pays her attention everybody hangs on her every word and action. That is power, that is popularity and that is influence.

She is very serious in her pursuit for political power and she will continue to grow in that regard.
Millions who believe in her platform of smaller government, fiscal responsibility and a strong defense and I'm proud to say that as an inelligent well educated American I support her and those ideals.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Hammerofthor
11:20 AM on 02/12/2010
If Gov. Palin is so "unqualified", why do adoring crowds turn out to see her, why is she a best-selling author, and why do media on all sides of the political spectrum breathlessly report on her every word, gesture, article of clothing, or piece of costume jewelry?
11:40 AM on 02/12/2010
The same reason the media follows Paris Hilton around and breathless reports on the latest rumors of a Brangelina split?
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
tm68
02:16 PM on 02/13/2010
Because she is a sociopath that preys on the vapidity of American society. She's attractive,and sexual and in American, sex sells. Men love her for that reason. The few women that love her, love her because they wish, deep down, they could BE her. It's as superficial as that. She has no substance. People fell for the packaging. And she's using that to her full advantage. She's raking in millions and she couldn't do that as a sitting gov. So she quit.
11:03 AM on 02/12/2010
I've been dismayed at how much press this awful woman commands, but it's proving to be a good thing: the more she reveals herself, (incessantly), the less credibility she has. if she got anywhere near the GOP (or a TeaParty) nomination she'd have to compete with other GOPers, and the minute she's unscripted she's lost. Her verifiable lies would be enough for others to bury her with, and they'll do in in a New York minute.

Celebrity alone if fleeting. (When's the last time we heard of Paris Hilton?) Her "fan club" isn't enough to swing an election. What's left to do it simply watch the drama fizzle. And immense relief.
10:39 AM on 02/12/2010
Confusion and inconsistency actually work in Palin’s favor. The blowback against “elites†is a perfect example. That appellation was at one time applied to wealthy Republicans who attended Ivy-league universities, but now it is thrown at anyone left of center and anyone who actually reads, thinks and does not regurgitate stale FOX talking points. Thus, her being appallingly unqualified for ANY political office actually MAKES her qualified in the eyes of her followers since she constantly portrays herself as being an outsider who is just looking out for the interests of the average American.

She channels anger, fear and hate as good as any demagogue in history. Ultimately, those ARE her qualifications since she is adept at stroking these emotions without once coming up with any concrete ideas or solutions and viciously lies about and attacks anyone who won’t kiss her sorry a**!
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10:36 AM on 02/12/2010
I've been reading the Alaskan blogs and comments. As proven by the recent release of about 3,000 of her emails, it seems that Todd and not Sarah was in charge of the government while she carried the title of Governor. He carried a gov't funded blackberry (supposedly to make sure Sarah reads her emails) and had fundraisers in the governors' mansion, sat in on important decision making meetings with his own desk in the governor's office, and had his own group of gov't employees keeping him advised of what is going on and asking him for his opinion on important decisions. She was criticized for bring her new born baby to the office everyday and refused to take the paid for 6 week maternity leave. All of this and so much more will hit the MSM if she runs for a national political office.
11:04 AM on 02/12/2010
Yes. What's surprising is that with so much to hide she keeps looking for the spotlight.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
wallyone
10:25 AM on 02/12/2010
Somebody should say to her re the Iraq war and financial deregulation, "How's that workin' out for ya?"
10:20 AM on 02/12/2010
Sarah Palin does not exist in a vacuum; she is the latest signal from the christian conservatives that they have the power to completely destroy secular democracy in America especially now when the republican party has adopted wholesale the southern prescription for solving the nations problems. Perpetual war, unregulated commerce, a weak federal government, an abundance of cheap labor and a christian government. This is in fact the republican program for America and Palin has taken up the torch but many millions of true believers working night and day over many years have paved the way for a star like her to be born.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
MatthewHubbard
blogger, just not for HuffPo
10:10 AM on 02/12/2010
She's in it for the money. Acquiring power is hard work and she's not suited to it.