Sarah Palin Dissed John and Sam Adams, Ben Franklin, the Original George W. and the Rest of the Founding Fathers!

Has anyone just stopped for a second to reflect on the fact that Sarah didn't just diss Barack Obama, Rosa Parks and the thousands of other community organizers when she derided the Democratic presidential nominee's experience?

Hello! How about the founding fathers. I watched those guys portrayed in the recent and excellent HBO series, John Adams. It sure looked to me like the American Revolution began with a whole lot of grassroots community organizing done by dedicated private individuals focused on trying to build a better political system to benefit their fellow members of the Thirteen Colonies.

It's amazing what a group of highly motivated community organizers did over 230 years ago. So what's so bad about a presidential nominee today starting his activist career this way? And hey Sarah, isn't the PTA one of the most effective community organizations in the country? Isn't that where you got your start?

And now to touch on a theme that has been a biggie in this election — it certainly appears that the Founding Fathers didn't have a whole lot of "experience" in running a country before they took on the task of launching and then governing the newly-born America. This should give comfort to both Governor Palin and Senator Obama, each of whom has come under some pretty heavy fire for their lack of longterm "executive" experience.

Then there's the battle over which candidate is more "typical" or "relatable." Sarah Palin wants us electorate to feel chummy with her because she's a small-town hockey mom. She mentioned the term "small town" four times in her vice-presidential acceptance speech the other night.The only problem is that she doesn't seemed to notice but most Americans today do not live in small towns anymore. We live in cities, there are no corn fields in our back yards and that trend shows no signs of reversing.

The McPalins: illustration by Bodo

Republican operatives have made much of the fact that Barack Obama is supposedly an "elitist" and hence not "typical" because he graduated from Harvard Law School. What they forget to point out is that John McCain attended an exclusive private all-boys boarding school in Alexandria, Virginia called Episcopal High School and then was accepted into the U.S. Naval Academy, virtually every bit as hard to get into as Harvard Law. And you know what, good for John. Good for Obama too. A lot of people in this country want their children to be lucky enough to attend the very best schools and to get the best possible education. They want their kids to be smart and to make contributions to the worlds of business, medicine, science and technology. If their children aren't typical but instead innovate they might get rich and as well make life better and healthier for others.

Oh and speaking of science Sarah and John , apparently Sarah's a creationist, but how's that going to help America's ability to compete globally in the fields of science and technology if America's students aren't taught about evolution. Isn't evolution a backbone of biology?

Now getting back to the Founding Fathers — they weren't exactly a typical bunch for their time either. Most early American colonists were rural farmers who would have been considered low wage earners and were lucky if they could read and write. The Declaration of Independence crowd, on the other hand, were affluent, mostly cosmopolitan since they lived in Boston, Philadelphia and New York, and they were highly educated.

John Adams went to Harvard. Thomas Jefferson to the College of William and Mary, John Hancock was a Harvard man and even Edward Rutledge attended Oxford. Now, I grant you that probably none of them ate arugula but the fact that they may have eaten more exotically that the average farmer didn't get in the way of them envisioning and fighting for a better life than their fellow Americans. And Sarah, I bet that most American have never eaten a caribou-burger, let alone hunted for one, but we won't hold that against you.

Here's my point, the people who have moved Americans into better lives have come from diverse and sometimes elite backgrounds and have also had diverse "issues." Sarah Palin's got a pregnant 17 year-old daughter, well Franklin D Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy had multiple mistresses. Bill Clinton never knew his dad. LBJ was apparently also a favorite of the "ladies" and then we won't even go into Thomas Jefferson's complicated love life and second "secret" family. Abe Lincoln grew up dirt poor, the Roosevelts were rich. Relatability has sometimes helped make a president great, and sometimes not. A lot of people still think George W. Bush is relatable.

So Sarah and John — can we call you the McPalins? — before you diss the Founding Fathers some more, why don't you focus your considerable talents and energies on the specifics , not generalities, of what you two are going to do to make the lives of today's Americans better and more full of opportunity, just like those original community organizers did.

Comments

[papapj]

Hon. Rev. Dr.Martin Luther King Jr. was a 'community organizer'..and he sure changed our nation for the better..hmmmm?

[2bad]

Bonnie, your point is well taken but you forget the key element, remember to whom she spoke! Those people aren't interested in history or facts. These are the same people that believe those same "Founding Fathers" wanted a christian nation!

[PATina]

Very good article and perception !!!!

[3fingerbrown]

Here's an excellent supplement to Ms. Fuller's post. It contains a great line: "Jesus was a community organizer, and Pontius Pilate was a governor."

http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/columnists/louis/index.html

[sammy50]

Her speech did all that?

[BlackJAC]

Of course McPalin's going to denounce the Founding Fathers: they were a pack of liberal traitors who hailed primarily from Massachusetts and who wanted to make it legal to spout off hate speech, to tell soldiers to go sleep in the snow, and give criminals every possible chance to get away clean. Thomas Jefferson owned a Koran--'nuff said 'bout that.

[poster1122]

Here's the problem with Obama's community organizer experience. Can someone, anyone, tell me what he accomplished as a community organizer, or even what specific duties he had?

Seriously, if you read the various articles on this site, every community organizer is like Jesus or Mother Teresa, or the Founding Fathers. Doesn't that sound just a tad absurd to anyone else?

Certainly Mother Teresa organized communities, but so do Al Sharpton and Louis Farrakan. With a range that wide, how can anyone judge what kind of leadership or life skills he picked up during that period. Moreover, I have no idea how effective he was. The campaign keeps saying he was a community organizer, but they need to talk about what he *accomplished* as a community organizer. Otherwise, the question hangs in the air whether he was even effective or not. What are some tangible improvements that he made to the community?

Seriously, does anyone here know? I'm not trying to be disparaging. I think the fact that he did walk about from a very lucrative career to do this work speaks well of his character, but without details, that's all that it tells me.

[Treasonous1]

Actually you reaise some very good points, but the main point of this article is that the republicns didn't deride his specific acomlishments (or lack thereof) as a comunity organizer, but rather the concept of being one in the first place, while admitedly not even being usre what a comunity organizer is. And as is being pointed out, many of the greeates people in our society were involved in some sort of cumunity organizing, just so that the republicans at least have a sense of what it is all about before they start mocking it. As for Obama specifically, I belive he worked on fixing run down neighborhhods by trying to improve living conditions through better schools more jobs and security. How succesfull he was I cannot be sure though I suspect he felt he had not done enough because he actually left comunity organizing because he felt he was not doing enough to help enough people and needed to try a grander approach, which I suspect is why he got into politics. Now how you interpret that move I think is largely a factor of whether you support what he is trying to do or belive things are fine just the way they are.

[Clavis]

He helped laid-off steelworkers get job training so they could get back to work and support their families. There, I just explained it. Obama gave up the opportunity to make a lot more money so he could help people who needed help.

Sarah Palin, by comparison, was a beauty queen and wannabe sportscaster before the Republican party turned her into one of its Good Little Christian Soldiers.

[editpro14]

His effectiveness as a community organizer is not at issue. It was clear that when first Giuliani and then Palin brought up the experience and then disparaged it, the GOP spinners were laying the groundwork for trying to frame the CO concept in negative light. The right does do that, you know. But they got busted on this one as Obama and so many others refused to let it happen. Notice the candidates and their surrgoates haven't reaised the issue once since that night.

[joebiz]

Being a community organizer has it's pluses and it's a job that cannot be quantified in the usual terms: dollars, units, "results," direct cause and effects, and other rationalizations. Having worked for the YMCA, organizing youth to stay out gangs, drugs, and violence, my initial attitude was to bring MY change to the less fortunate because Ii was the freshly minted college grad. But, to my surprise, it was the other way around, they taught me about compassion, kindness, the dignitiy of the human spirit, etc.

Some of the most famous "community organizers" were men and women that did not seek direct and immediate results but lasting opposition to the less savory results of the status quo: homelessness, poverty, illiteracy, sufferage, Civil Rights, education, full employment. Some organizers included: MLK, Cesar Chavez, Malcolm X, Susan B. Anthony, Saul Alinsky, Thomas Paine, and on and on.

As for Obama, here's a link to community organizing:
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070416/moberg

[JKoos]

Sarah Palin makes a valid point. The community organizing that Barack did was just political hack work and not anywhere near what preceded Palin's run for governor. Barack has an empty resume and it is becoming evident to all.

[kathy001]

You need to do your homework before you open your mouth and prove to the world that you have no idea what you are talking about. Make whatever choice works for you but at least make an informed choice.

[Clavis]

First of all, it wasn't Sarah Palin's point: the speech was written by other people before Palin was even picked as VP. All she did was read a teleprompter.

Secondly, it's not a valid point. If Sarah Palin touts her experience as a mother of five kids and a hockey mom as showing her character and her ability to handle responsibilities, then surely a community organizer (who worked with a lot more than 5 people) also has character and responsibilities.

Your partisan mendacity is obvious to all. If you want to vote for someone whose crazy religious ideology will bring about WWIII, by all means, vote for Palin/McCain.

[trpatri]

"John McCain attended an exclusive private all-boys boarding school in Alexandria, Virginia called Episcopal High School and then was accepted into the U.S. Naval Academy"

As I understand it he didn't do very well at either school. He only made it into the Naval Academy because of his pedigree, not because he earned it. In doing so, I'm sure that he bumped a more deserving candidate from the slot he didn't earn.

So yes. You can definitely count him in as one of the elitist in the crowd.

[Jingo]

Don't try to trap Sarah Palin with obscure trivia about the founding fathers. All she needs to know about the founding fathers is that they said the pledge of allegience WITH"under god" included. She proved this herself when she responded to a 2006 gubernatorial candidate questionaire which asked whether she was offended by the words "under god" being included. Patriotic Palin wrote: "Not on your life. If it was good enough for the founding fathers, its good enough for me and I"ll fight in defense of our Pledge of Allegiance."

Now to be fair, the founding fathers never said the pledge as it was not written until 1892 by a Baptist minister. BUT the point is they WOULD have said it if it was written earlier. As for the "under god" part? That wasn't added until 1954, but I'm sure a Baptist minister WOULD have included it in the original if he actually believed in God.

Now I think it's time for another update to reflect changes in modern culture. If the Republicans get a third consecutive term in office, they should take the opportunity to amend the ending to read, "...with liberty and tax cuts for all." After all, what is more important to the GOP, justice or some well earned tax relief?

[Stirner]

"Dissed"? You don't know what that means unless you happen to say that you think Ron Paul might be a better choice for the Republicans than bomber McCain. Well, I could never figure out why the Huffpost people didn't support Paul -- at least in the sure knowledge that his supporters would never vote for the neoconned Republicans. Well, folks, if McCain and his buddy Lieberman get into the White House don't blame the Paulites.

[Ganapati]

Mc Cain or Palin average? For Change?
It is amazing how easily people embrace these pantomimes, how gullible so many are. The veil of illusion is made out of reinforced steel...
I would like to find a history of how this came to be: Were Americans always so inclined to support idols in detriment of their own freedoms, rights, and living standards? I have never seen such a strange phenomenon, repeated so many times and with such conviction.
The country where I was born (eons ago) is a third world country with one of the largest rates of heartbreaking poverty and illiteracy in the world.
Election ballots show symbols for the parties and the candidates that are marked with an X by the voter. But people vote on what they are being offered (whether the candidates are truthful or not is another issue.) Skepticism about politicians is set in the popular conscience.
Words like "hero" are never used in this context, who would believe that coming from any candidate?
Politics are the most popular topic of discussion, because people know that their futures depend on it.
I don't understand our pervasive lack of interest. Even street protests are rare, fewer are large.
Another blogger said here that these elections will be a referendum on America's intelligence.
I'm not sure it will be about intelligence (I cannot accept that so many are stupid) but certainly about delusion, perhaps about deliberate misinformation, and most likely about ignorance, or disdain for reality.

[Juanon]

Bravo! Bravo! Bravo! You hit the nail on the head! The same nail and head that I have been thinking of since last night!

In fact, my plan for this evening was to try to struggle through making a YouTube video that reflects exactly this point about the founding fathers, as well as MLK, Susan B. Anthony, and early abolitionists.

I'm begging any of you with talents better than mine to take on that task! Just a series of still photos, working from more recent times back to the founding fathers, talking about how many great things have come about from the hard work of community organizers, including the USA itself.

Would make a great ad to be running right now.

[partyofone]

It is very troubling on either side of the political debate to see different standards applied in assessing the experience, strenghs and weakness of the candidates.

Liberals need to acknowledge that however troubling Palin's values and record may be, she has made a career on her own, not on the back of her husband.

[Buffkat00]

Are you saying that simply because she' s a woman and, *gasp*, she managed a career that we should vote for her? That's absurd. And while we're on the subject of her arriving "on the back of her husband" to whom are you referring? If you are indeed referring to Hillary, look at the Democrat ticket again, please, and tell me who's listed as VP? Thanks.

[SOFOROBAMA]

I think those of us who support Obama should be careful when we diss Sarah Palin. While she may not be an Ivy League graduate, she is a smart woman. She is aIso energizing the religious right so we can not under-estimate the impact she is having on this election. I believe that if the Republicans manage her well, she may prove to be a brilliant choice for McCain. I say that while believing that she is totally unqualified to be Vice President. That doesn't matter. Bush & Cheney were unqualified but here we are.

We must continue to vet her but we must also stop the personal attacks because it gets us nowhere and only serves to make us look bad and hateful. We know that much of the 'hateful' exchanges on blogs between "Obama" and "Clinton" supporters was generated by Republicans but it has bore fruit that continues today to galvanize some Clinton supporters who will vote anyone but Obama.

We need to follow Arianna's advice and stay focused on the issues. Otherwise WE will hand this election to McCain.