Last night I reluctantly watched Sarah Palin “address” her followers at the Tea Party Convention in Nashville. I’ve had a hard time talking myself into sitting in front of my computer to write something mostly because I’ve written all this before. What can you say about Palin that hasn’t been said before?
Not much.
I have been amazed at the TV pundits who fall all over themselves every time Palin “rears her empty head and peers down upon those of us in the lower 48″ as she would describe it, or “graces us with her presence” in order to spew her angry thoughts at all who don’t agree with her. The pundits are always there drooling all over themselves (Pat Buchanan I’m talking to you) to “analyze” what’s in her head. I want to scream at the TV and say “Hey, there’s nothing new there, and no matter how many ways you spin her, she isn’t going to get any smarter.” She just isn’t. Some of them analyzed her after she and John McCain lost the election and said she would take her time before the next election cycle and learn foreign policy, etc. So here, to somewhat mimic Palin herself, I say to them “How’s all that “learnin’ workin’ out for ya’?” Apparently not so well. When you come to the end of a speech and have someone asking you pre-screened questions that you’ve no doubt had ample time to memorize in advance, and still you have to refer to the answers written in the palm of your hand I would venture to say that during the past year or so since the election, Sarah hasn’t been cracking the books so much. I mean, really, how dim must the bulb be? The crib notes which were clear to the naked eye from the podium, said “Energy” “Tax” and “Lift American Spirits.” (There was one other word there that was crossed out which I couldn’t make out clearly. Maybe it was the name “Biden,” left over from her debate last year. I’ve gotten Sharpie ink on my hands before and I know it’s a bear to get off!) I mean really, the words “Energy” and “Tax” are not tough ones especially when they were some of her standard key words from her failed campaign last year. I have to give her a little credit on the third one though, because when you make a living sashaying around the country spewing hate speech and nasty criticism every time you open your mouth, the words “Lift American Spirits” would probably be tough ones to grasp. So I’ll give her that one I suppose.
That being said, I think the palm reading was about the only new thing from her speech last night. We heard pretty much the same speech we’ve heard before with a few minor updates. Lots of hatred against Obama and Democrats, lots of criticism on things she knows little about. Talking points from a script written by someone else and read from notes at the podium. It was a speech very much like the ones we’ve been hearing from the GOP for years now. Lots of criticism of others, but no ideas of their own. It was just given by an empty head in a pretty shell. There’s. Nothing. There.
The only true thing she said all night was probably unintended. She admitted that the Republicans would love to absorb the Tea Party. This, I believe, is what it’s all about. The GOP, and Sarah herself, are always there ready, willing and able to swoop in and exploit people down on their luck for fun and profit, laughing themselves all the way to the bailed out banks they pretend to despise. (Bailouts that Palin and John McCain were happy about when they thought it looked as if they were saving the country last year.) The entire Tea Party movement is for profit, as was Sarah’s speaking fee, it’s rumored. She has vaguely claimed that her fee will go “back into the cause” without really identifying just what that cause is, but I think we ll know don’t we? It’s the only one she truly cares about: the cause of Sarah Palin.
For the rumored $100,000 speaking fee for a speech that lasted 41 minutes, that comes out to around $2,439 per minute. Wow, that’s quite a pricey little re-run isn’t it? For that amount they got 41 minutes of nothing but vintage Palin hypocrisy. I suppose that’s a small price for the GOP to pay when you think of all the angry voters who might have been independent otherwise had Sarah not swooped in to the rescue and feed them a bunch of BS they wanted to hear.
Of course, the cherry on top was the exploitation of one of her children, because no one exploits them better than she does. Mentioning her special needs son just on the heels of lashing out at Rahm Emanuel for using the word “retard” to describe some liberals he didn’t agree with fit in just perfectly for her. Never mind that Rush Limbaugh used the same word over and over again right afterwards. Today she makes the excuse that it was OK for him to say it, because it was a form of satire. I would guess that after hearing that excuse, some of her fans with special needs children of their own might have finally seen Sarah for what she is. A phony. How using that word in a form of “satire” makes it OK is just beyond my comprehension.
I suppose that there are people out there who will always follow Sarah around and hang onto her every word, but I think as time goes by even die hard fans will start to realize that there is absolutely nothing there. Hopefully not until after they have elected her to office. But I don’t think that will happen. I don’t think Sarah has any intention of running for President. She’s making too much money at what she’s doing now, and holding that office would be way too much stress and a pay cut to boot. She would much rather bask in her phony spotlight, speaking platitudes for big bucks and raking in more $$ as a member of the (her words) “lame stream media.” (Wonder how many of those tea baggers caught that little hypocritical sound byte?)
No, I really don’t think she has the guts or the desire to run. After all, when you’re getting paid $2,439 per minute for a speech, even while writing the key points on your palm for backup, who needs to work for a living? Plus, I think Palin once spun a talking point similar to this herself: If you can’t stand up to someone like Rush Limbaugh when he insults one of your own children, how can you stand up to our enemies? Call me an optimist, but I think that’s something most voters would have a hard time swallowing.
No, I think “using the word retard as a form of satire is OK” is one talking point that will stick.
