Sarah Palin -- A Demagogue in a Skirt

Webster's Dictionary defines a demagogue as "a leader who obtains power by means of impassioned appeals to the emotions and prejudices of the populace." Governor Palin, in her stump speeches this week, fits this dictionary definition. Palin falsely and despicably portrays Senator Obama as a terrorist sympathizer or perhaps even a terrorist himself because he served on the board of a Chicago educational reform organization with Bill Ayers. Palin does not tell her crowds that Senator Obama was a child when Ayers was involved in anti-Vietnam war bombings and that Senator Obama has condemned such activities. This "guilt by association" smear is designed to appeal to the emotions of Americans who are fearful of more terrorist attacks from Middle Eastern terrorists, hence her rallies also emphasize Senator Obama's middle name.

Palin is appealing to long standing nativist prejudices -- the fear of the stranger in our midst. Obama is not like "us" according to McCain-Palin and "us" is a code word for the "white" descendants of European immigrants. In their worldview, Obama is not like "us" because he is of mixed racial heritage and as a young boy; he lived in a predominantly Muslim country. His schooling in Indonesia has been falsely described as a madrassa and many e-mail chain letters have warned people that Obama is a secret Muslim. Of course, this makes him even more suspect because many Americans foolishly believe that all Muslims are terrorists.

Palin claims that Obama is un-American because he does not see the country as she and her followers do. But according to news reports, Governor Palin and her husband have held recent memberships in the Alaskan Independence Party, a group working for the secession of Alaska from America. Could not such a recent association be fairly deemed to be un-American?
Palin is a demagogue because she is stirring up emotional fears, hatred, and prejudice in the electorate solely for her own political gain. All Americans of good conscience need to speak out against what she is doing, most importantly Senator McCain. We have seen vicious demagogues in our country in the past, but they wore pants and their power was limited because they were governors of a few southern states and a senator from the Upper Midwest. The only candidate for the second highest national office we have seen before that was even close to Sarah Palin was Spiro Agnew. But his rhetoric against the "nattering nabobs of negativism" was not really dangerous unlike the hateful personal attacks on Senator Obama by the skirt wearing Palin.

Comments

[center right]

Obama quotes from a speech Sept. 19th. in Echo Nevada "GET IN THEIR FACE".

"I need you to go out and talk to your friends and talk to your neighbors. I want you to talk to them whether they are independent or whether they are Republican. I want you to argue with them and get in their face," he said.

"And if they tell you that, 'Well, we're not sure where he stands on guns.' I want you to say, 'He believes in the Second Amendment.' If they tell you, 'Well, he's going to raise your taxes,' you say, 'No, he's not, he's going lower them.' You are my ambassadors. You guys are the ones who can make the case."

I do not believe he really wants to protect common citizens rights to bear arms. - Hitler and Stalin did not want common "folks" owning recreational guns. Making guns illegal does not save lives - it reduces freedom.

Obama will raise taxes period across the board. I do not believe him. Taxing folks much richer and more powerful than me will make life worse for me. The rich and powerful push their pain downward.

Obama did have a deep relationship with Ayers and most likely followed a political game plan from Ayers to gain power.

ACORN is more corrupt than any Republican corruption - Obama and ACORN are glued at the hip behind our backs. IMHO Obama is the greater evil.

[Lozange]

That title is a perfect description. She is a populist of the worst common denominator kind that appeals to some people's basic intellectual laziness and processed thinking. Sadly, there are legions out there. Were she not mildly attractive, she'd been dismissed but in that Darwinist tinged mindset, she portrays cosmetic superiority much like the stars people look up to without fully understanding why. Madeleine Albright, though a capable woman of a different stratosphere than Palin, would never get the same adulation. Palin is the Republicans's embodiment of virtue. Sadly.

[BossBabe]

"A lot of people are apathetic about campaigns because you see a lot of the garbage that goes on in campaigns and the personal attacks and the character assassinations that are so unnecessary," she said. "They"re useless; they detract from the issues." Sarah Palin, Fairbanks Daily News Miner Editorial Board Interview, 2006

andrewhalcro.com

[SusieHoeller]

How soon Gov. Palin walked away from her earlier statements and this shows a lack of integrity. It is one thing for people to change their mind about policy issues over time - that shows intellectual curiosity and flexibility if it is based on true reflection as opposed to mere political advantage. But a person of integrity would not make incendiary false claims against another opponent.

[desertbloom]

This is the essence of Karl Rovian politics, the manipulation of our base instincts and deepest fears.

In contrast, Obama appeals to the best in us, anchoring our aspirations to vision, hope, and action, with emphasis on personal responsibility and community relationships.

The Obama approach is resonating across party lines. We are weary of the divisiveness, lies, and fear-based manipulation of the past eight years. Obama and Biden clearly are the change we need.

[SusieHoeller]

Agreed! Especially his message is resonating with young people and the young at heart!

[center right]

"defines a demagogue as "a leader who obtains power by means of impassioned appeals to the emotions and prejudices of the populace." "

Sounds like a fitting description for "Barack/Barry Hussein Obama" he knows how to get "folks" riled up real good.

High taxes to promote socialism is not good for America. Barack Hussein Obama is the wrong choice.

Morals, traditional values, perspective, character -- McCain/Palin are much better choices than "those two".(Obama/Biden).

[Gidster]

Center-right, I think you got your posts mixed up.

Please reference any speech where Obama stirred up prejudice. High taxes on the few Americans that received the most from this country can afford higher taxes.

NYT reports James Simons, a hedge fund manager, earned $1.7 billion last year while the average compensation of the top 25 managers was $570 million combined, according to Institutional Investor"s Alpha magazine. Yet they pay 15% tax while their secretaries pay 28%.

[SusieHoeller]

Thanks Gidster for your stats.

[SusieHoeller]

Fair minded people can respectfully disagree about policy. No one likes to pay high taxes but the tax rates proposed by Senator Obama are not even close to the rates of the 1960s and 1970s. As far as socialism goes, we now have socialized banking and financial institutions resulting from private sector greed. Unregulated, unethical capitalism has proven to be very bad for the average American. I think the best system is a fairly regulated capitalism with a strong corporate social responsibility ethic. We don't have this right now but I think with Senator Obama, we will get closer to it. I don't see where Sen. Obama has made any comments that have incited hatred towards an individual, unlike Gov. Palin. I also don't see that McCain's divorce shows higher morals and traditional values than Sen. Obama 's successful marriage. I don't see any evidence of a bad character by Sen. Obama. Sen. McCain has been an American hero with his courageous military service. This is why I am surprised he would sink to such a low level of campaiging - no matter what happens - it tarnishes his reputation. As for Sen. Obama's middle name - tieing him to Saddam Hussein or a middle eastern terrorist because of his middle name is like saying that anyone with the last name also borne by a famous American criminial would be linked to the criminial. I appreciate your taking the time to comment even though we do not see the candidates

[AndrewInToronto]

A good piece, Ms, Hoeller, which was a pleasure to read.

I share your concern about appeals to base emotions such as fear and hatred to 'circle the wagons' of supporters while offering a scape-goat during times of economic crisis and uncertainty to others. We have seen very clearly where this road leads once such minded people assume the reigns of power and while believing that Sen. McCain should be shown respect which is his due, so too can we be genuinely concerned about a person with a demonstrable disdain for those who differ from him to the point of physical violence. Finally, I find it sobering to juxtapose Gov. Palin's seeming inability to speak on complex topics of economics, foreign policy, history and even distasteful geopolitics with the ease with which fear- and hate-mongering flow from her tongue.

At the risk of being repetitive: "The mouth is the quill of the heart." (Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan)

[SusieHoeller]

Dear AndrewInToronto,

Thanks for your kind words about my blog and thanks for the quote from the Rabbi - very insightful and true. Besides agreeing about the disturbing rhetoric of Sarah Palin, we have something else in common - Canada. I grew up in Montreal during the wonderful years of Expo 67 and the 76 Olympics.

[AndrewInToronto]

You're welcome and, cool, Susie about growing up in Montreal during those times. I remember going to Expo 67 when I was five years old and loving the Soviet exhibit; getting my little Mountie hat with the whistle and deciding to direct human traffic.

I was wondering if you write for other blogs or have one of your own elsewhere.

[fran-pan]

Would you buy a used car from this woman? almost every word she speaks is a lie.. it seems that mccain is hiding behind the women's ( both ms palin's and his wife) skirts.. he couldn't say the lie to obama's face.

[Gidster]

Anyone running against her in 2012 has a ready campaign slogan: She lied with a smile and a wink!

[SusieHoeller]

No, I would not buy a used car from her and I think your comment about Sen. McCain hiding behind both skirts is very effective.

[metalpipe]

My concern is, what happens when it becomes inevitable that Obama has it locked, and Bush tries to postpone the election with some ploy?

[SusieHoeller]

It is not impossible to imagine as we can remember when Guiliani tried to stay on after 9/11.

[kavan]

She and McCain are damaging the country with this crap. It is highly offensive.

[USA1776]

On November 5, she will be political road kill.

[mishi]

That's an insult to roadkill, which usually doesn't stink until AFTER it's dead..

[SusieHoeller]

On Nov 5th, it will be nice to see Gov. Palin back in Alaska although I feel sorry for the wildlife she has no regard for.

[SusieHoeller]

Hopefully, we will see her off the national stage, never to return to the lower 48.

[SusieHoeller]

Thanks for your comment. I am hopeful that Obama/Biden will win and the negative and outrageous personal attacks that Palin has made against Obama will backfire with the voters.

[radiclib]

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Good piece. Except that Agnew criticized more amorphous enemies, like ``radiclibs'' and ``the media.'' Palin's hate speech directly targets one man who is protected by the Secret Service. That makes her more dangerous than Agnew and George Wallace combined. Like George W. Bush, she is a combination of mean and stupid and that can have lethal consequences. Do we really want a person like this one heartbeat away from nuclear weapons?
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[SusieHoeller]

Thank you. I agree with you that we do not want Palin one heartbeat away from nuclear weapons. It is very scary to contemplate and I am hopeful that the American public will be wise enough to vote for the Obama/Biden ticket.

[plebeianswillrevolt]

It is fascinating and interesting to sit back and actually imagine how America would be with Sarah Palin as President.... but then again not really. How much less of a demagogue did George Bush torun out to be. True, he wasnot as overt about is as Palin has been, but actions are what cound. Thanks GOD Obama is running away with the election and carrying the houses of congress with him.