That Look On Her Face

So, I watched pieces of the Palin interviews with Katie Couric and Charles Gibson. I turned off the sound just so that I could read her facial expressions. I recommend it. Her facial expressions and her hand gestures are quite interesting because they are those of someone who knows she is bullshitting and is trying to put it over by being extra emphatic. She is full of resentment and entirely exasperated that she is not being accepted in the way she thinks of herself. Don't you know Alaska is right next to Russia? Don't you know only a small strip of ocean separates the two? Putin might raise his head! (except that Moscow is 6000 miles from Alaska). Her every expression says, "How dumb are you, that you don't know what I know." She is so ignorant that she doesn't even know that others know things that she doesn't know. She is confident in her belief that Henry Kissinger, of all people, is naive. Many in the liberal blogosphere are beginning to feel sorry for Sarah Palin, but I don't think we should go there, even for a moment. Every report out of Alaska indicates that she is ruthless above all, that she uses and exploits others for her own purposes, then betrays them when they are no longer useful. When I see her talking, I can see that -- her face shows impatience with the process -- why bother, she is saying, let me just have what I want.

Let's talk about blinking. Lots of us who jumped on Palin's case when she first got tapped as VP candidate were taken to task for not giving her a chance. Aside from the fact that it's all important when dealing with Republicans to jump right on them and start the fight on your own terms, we also had an intuition, a la Malcolm Gladwell's Blink, that she just wasn't right -- that her manner and her life choices didn't add up to a full deck, and, speaking for lots of women, that the white Right men had gone for the pin up girl without asking her to pass the exam. Le voila, as they say in France. No amount of cramming has prepared her to pass the exam, and the way she thinks gets more and more edgy, disorganized, mixed up, and aggressive.

So. It's working. As I said last week, attack attack, attack, expose expose expose. Only two things are possible if McCain wins--Americans will knowingly go for the two least defensible candidates in living memory, or we will have those candidates thrust upon us by fraud. I hope it goes to Obama. But we have nothing to lose from taking the fight to them. Kathleen Parker over at the National Review Online says that Palin should drop out. I say keep her. Sarah Palin IS the evidence that John McCain doesn't know what he's doing, and that the Republican party is a bankrupt, empty, greedy, power-mad cabal. I want that on display.

Comments

[Wilburrr]

"she uses and exploits others for her own purposes, then betrays them when they are no longer useful." ..... also a great description of John McCain.

[nutty4tahoe]

Here comes McCain/Palin's next big diversion. A London newspaper is reporting this morning that the McCain camp is working to try to get Bristol Palin, Wasilla the Hun's pregnant daughter, married to her 18 year old boyfriend before the election. They want this to occur on TV in an effort to divert voters' attention to the wedding instead of the issues. This newspaper reports that the McCain campaign is praying for this to happen. What a pathetic abuse of two 17 and 18 year old kids. First they announce Bristol's pregnancy on national TV. Now this. How can any mother put her political ambitions ahead of her relationship with her daughter? If my mother had done something like this to me, I'd never speak to her again. People talk about how Sarah Palin can do both, be a mother and be a candidate. Maybe so, but can she be a GOOD mother? Or he she a mother-zilla?

[jmundstuk]

She should drop out, Jane. Suppose McCain wins? Even tho it's better for Obama, she should drop out.

[demright]

here is a good one from truth out by Army Brigadier General Janis http://www.truthout.org/article/palin-can-launch-us-back-timeback-time

[clevelandchick]

Blinking is a sign of lying or in the case of Sarah, a sign of not knowing what she's talking about. In poker it's called a 'tell' that's why poker players have taken to wearing sunglasses.

For example, at the bail out hearings on C-Span when Paulson was trying to explain to Chuck Shumer why he needed the whole 700 billion at once instead of it being released in portions..­..that man was blinking his ass off.

If Palin bowed out and he picked up another VP candidate, that would be an even bigger scandal. It would be oncrete evidence that McCain's judgement is erratic and irrational. The media would have a field day with it, the evangelicals would be beside themselves with anger. McCain painted himself into a corner with Palin and he's probably stuck with her.

This should be an interesting week, I'm still not sure she'll show up.

[concerendone]

I'm guessing she'll get the flu about Wednesday.

[TAC]

Laryngitis maybe...

[zanzig]

What has been the response of the PUMA crazies, who were so keen on voting for McCain? Are they enjoying this exposure of their VP choice?

[jollyelle]

Blank Slate
Running Mate

Don't take this choice for granted, she was hand picked for a reason
She is Big Brother's new puppet,
But Jane's right, it's fun to watch as it plays out,
---it is difficult to be a student in the school of life when you don't believe you have anything to learn. A little bit of "Schadenfreude" for us!!

This article by Naomi Wolf needs to be circulated until Nov. 4th.......­..check it out:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/naomi-wolf/the-battle-plan-ii-sarah_b_128393.html

[neem]

Palin's only job is to keep the Hillary die-hards at home November 4. McCain's base will stand in line to vote for Palin.
The problem is, Palin is so unknown, and so unqualified, that even "extreme conservatives" may be quite astonished to find out who she really is, as President.
McCain is taking a daring gamble on the psychology of certain Clinton supporters.

[EmmaTraynor]

Would you whiners please get over Hillary and her supporters, the vast majority of whom are supporting Obama now. Far more of them supporting Obama than there would have been of YOU supporting Hillary were the situations reversed. As an Edwards supporters, who voted for neither of these centrists, I can tell you, you sound like a two year old. Shut up.

[wendynyc]

You can tell a lot about a country by how they treat hteir animals - Sarah Palin is a scary lady!

[TroubledTexan]

Miss Smiley,

Here is your statement that caught my eye in your article.

'As I said last week, attack attack, attack, expose expose expose."

As you know a a good offense is a great defence.

Do you have military ties?

I've worked in the Military Industrial Complex for 20 years now.

The good offense? Attack, Attack, Attack!

As for Sarah Palin? Send her back to America's outpost.

Maybe she can work some of her right wing magic there.

Troubled

.

[wanked]

Her 15 minutes are just about up.....

[priorato]

McCain DID NOT PICK PALIN!!! She was deliberately chosen by the far-right wingers, neocons, and shadow forces that have hijacked the Republican Party. Their current muse, Geo Bush is in the White House. He is but a puppet for those Dark Forces behind him... and I don't claim to know who they are, but I think we can all see their strategy these past 8 years: enrich the elite, keep us at war, award no-bid contracts, expand military spending exponentially with little auditing, spy on U.S. citizens without a warrant, torture & abuse detainees, de-regulate so fatcats can reap the rewards, appoint cronies to postions of power, remove safeguards for workers/endangered species/food supply/product safety, etc.

So you see, the question we should all be asking is: why her in particular? "They" don't do anything without a self-serving motive, so why did they pick her? AND -- why did McCain relent and abandon Kay Bailey Hutchison, Libby Dole or Lieberman?

[teddyquin]

I am an Obama Supporter--I am truely saddened for this woman and the embarrassment that she is bringing on to herself. She needs to give it up, before she looses whatever political career that she has carved out for herself--period. She has enjoyed more than her 15 minutes of FAME--many times---this time and many times before-- with beauty pagents,, being on real TV as a Sportcaster and then talk about being an achiever!! She made mayor of Wasilla and still made another 15 minutes of Fame co- sharing the Govenership with her husband. I can see that she has tried hard and achieved a lot, and beauty seems forgiving in many scenarios---this election is too important to be forgiving---we need more than Palin is offering or is capable of. We have a right to a VP that can take over if need be--- we need a VP that we not only pay for to represent us--but one that we have the confidence in to run this country as Commander In chief and that takes more than 15 minutes of Fame and Beauty.

[ESerafina42]

Don't feel sorry for her - not only is she ruthless, as Ms. Smiley says - she is also VINDICTIVE, and incredibly, smugly certain of her own virtue and rightness. Hmmmmmm - now who does that remind us of?

[Marcus-UK]

Jane is so right...do­n't start to feel sorry for Palin. Why? then imagine this.

In the forthcoming debate with Biden we are ALL expecting her to fail miserably.­..but what if she doesn't fail miserably (I know I know very unlikely) what if she just about does it?

The GOP will class it as a HUGE victory, and she will NEVER drop out. And she then has a 50/50 chance of being the next VP.

So when you feel that moment of pity remember her words:

"Before I became governor of the great state of Alaska, I was mayor of my hometown.

And since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves. I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a "community organizer," except that you have actual responsibilities. I might add that in small towns, we don't quite know what to make of a candidate who lavishes praise on working people when they are listening, and then talks about how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns when those people aren't listening.

Sarah Palin does not deserve ANY AMOUNT OF PITY

[castlerider]

Of course McCain doesn't know what he's doing, or give a d*mn about it.

Seeing that he has all those houses all over the country, can't anyone surmise that what he really wants is the ultimate house for he and Cindy to live in?

[martinchill]

i wonder how long it will be before she can no longer keep her mouth shut.

she has to be struggling mightily with being controlled ALL the time.

[martinchill]

"She is so ignorant that she doesn't even know that others know things that she doesn't know."

and i refer our dear readers to the post of palin in the pageant swimsuit competition. comments there say that her being a beauty pageant contestant is not relevant to politics - but i do not agree.

rock on, jane smiley.