Showing posts with label Sarah Palin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sarah Palin. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

3/19/12 - Young Voters, Political Blogging, ASAP, and the War on Women

HUffpost: Mitt Romney Doesn't See How Young Voters 'Could Vote For A Democrat'

So, Mitt can't even begin to conceive how a young person in this day and age could consider voting for a Democratic Candidate. And you know what? I have to agree with him. Let's face it, the Democrats are completely out of touch with America's modern youth to such an extent that it is practically inconceivable that a young adult of voting age would somehow feel that the Democrats have their best interests in mind. That is, of course, unless that young person can't afford health care because of skyrocketing insurance premiums, can't afford to go to college due to skyrocketing tuition costs, has recently been called a slut an a whore by a GOP mouthpiece for using birth control, wants to retain their reproductive rights, is gay or has a friend or parent who is gay, masturbates to pornography, are non-Christian or Muslim, believes in Evolution, knows somebody who is unemployed, are still living with their parents, or has a family member or friend who is currently dependent on one of the many social programs that Republicans keep trying to abolish. But really, what are the odds of that?

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In the past, I've done my best not too spend too much time on only politics. This is partly because this is not a political blog, and partly because I have so many interests other than politics. However, it is getting harder and harder to focus on anything else these days. Not only are we in a very politically volatile moment in our country's history (due in no small part to the biggest recession since the Great Depression while orchestrating wars in multiple countries with no clear strategy to speak of), but we are also in a weird era in which politics is rapidly becoming a parody itself. Honestly, how can an rational human being watch such jaw-dropping theatrics and not pause to remark on them? The Republican Party has decided to double down on its efforts to take back the White House by adopting political platforms that sound like Archie Bunker Soliloquies, while the Democratic White House spends most of its time doing its best to not look too liberal, which is no small feat in of itself.

Seriously, how am I expected not to comment on this stuff?

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And now, a few words from Lee Camp.


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If you use the term ASAP, be it in an email or on a post-it note, no matter what the circumstances, you are a complete and utter douche. Stop it.

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The GOP has become an exercise in how not to carry on a logical debate. Take what many people are starting to frame as the Republican War on Women. Republican lawmakers have been stirring up their minority base of angry white men this election cycle (and attempting to distract from the slowly losing economic arguments against Obama) by focusing on anti-women legislation that feels like a retread of everything we've already gone through during the first half of the twentieth century. If they aren't demanding that women receive medically unnecessary ultrasounds before being allowed to have legally protected abortions in order to show them the error of their ways, they're fighting for the right of their employers to decide whether or not their medical insurance should include birth control coverage, and telling them to keep their legs closed if they don't like it.

Then, a law student who was blocked from testifying at a Republican-run Dog & Pony Show that birth control coverage is necessary by sharing a personal anecdote in which a fellow student died from her inability to afford prescription birth control medicines was called a slutty little whore who should film her sexual escapades for men to leer at if she expects them to pay for her sex pills by Republican mouth piece Rush Limbaugh. Needless to say, this (and the refusal of any Republican candidates or politicians to openly repudiate Rush's comments) proved to be the final straw for a lot of people who hadn't yet been drawn into the argument.

Naturally, the resulting claims that the GOP is waging a "War on Women" began to irritate the Right, and so they responded to the justified and wholly demonstrable label the same way that they always do: single out a Democrat who has done something vaguely similar and cry "But they did it, too!" Of course, it's kind of hard to find a Democratic politician who acts like a stereotypical misogynist from the 1940's, so the closest they could come was to complain that controversial political comedian Bill Maher, who recently donated one million dollars to the Democratic Campaign, called Sarah Palin naughty words not once, but twice!

Ignoring the fact that Maher's name-calling and Limbaugh's slander are incomparable (mainly because explaining the logic of this to Limbaugh Ditto-heads and Right Wing Loyalists is both exhausting and pointless), it's also plain to see that hanging their defense of a systematic attack on Women's Rights that have already been fought for and won in the past century on one comedian's foul mouth is a rather flimsy defense. So, what does the GOP do? They double-down on it in hopes of winning back female voters.


There! The Democrat Party is the true enemy of the lady folk! Bill Maher called Sarah Palin names and then donated money them, and somebody called Obama's White House a Boy's Club! That's far worse then our attempts to systematically erode a women's right to make decisions regarding her body without the government or her employer giving her permission to do so! Honest!

This is the kind of defense that only makes sense to you if you are desperate to find validation for your indefensible views.
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Friday, February 3, 2012

Intellectual Elitism, or Just Plain Smarter Than You?

Cover of "Smart People"
Cover of Smart People
This country took a strange path over the past couple of decades, a road leading towards an inherent distrust in what many like to refer to as "Intellectual Elitism." Slowly, gradually, an ever-increasing number of Americans have become more and more wary of those who claim advance knowledge in specific fields of study. In short, more and more people are afraid of smart people.

Why could this possibly be? We could blame the politicians who sell this fear, or the news media that helps support it, or even the entertainment industry for turning ignorance into a noble character trait. But what it really comes down to is that many Americans fear smart people simply because they are, themselves, rather stupid.

Of course, this isn't the kind of thing you're supposed to say. It upsets people because they instantly assume that you are referring to them specifically, and lends support to the claims of Intellectual Elitism by the arrogant and snobbish nature of the statement. "You can't really mean that, can you? I guess you think you're smarter than most people." Actually, I do. Considering that the Average IQ of the American citizen rests between 90 and 100 (depending on who you ask), I feel very comfortable with the assumption that I am smarter than most of the people I come in contact with on a daily basis. It isn't smug elitism, just simple math. As a wise man once suggested, if you imagine how stupid the average person is, then realize that statistically half of the population is even dumber than that, you can get a real sense of how smart the majority truly is.

Does this mean I think I'm better than most people? Of course not. That's the same arrogance that allows some people to estimate their worth as an individual based on how much money they earn, or how big their house is, or how strong they are. At 6'4" I am also taller than most people, but that statement doesn't enrage people as much. Except really short people, of course.

The problem with this anti-intellectual attitude is that it has slowly made its way into the public discourse, and has taken over topics that in the past have been reserved for more intelligent consideration. With the growing amount of available media streaming into our eyes and ears, debates and discussions on serious issues of grave importance are being pondered and discussed by people with no real credentials. Some of the biggest names in talk radio, for example, spend hours discussing advanced political, economic and legal issues while having never obtained a college degree of any kind. Now, does not having a college degree make someone stupid? No, people are more than capable than obtaining knowledge on their own. However, most people prefer to get medical advice from a certified doctor with framed degrees on the wall, and not just a nice guy with a well-worn library card.

This acceptance of the untrained and unqualified as experts worth listening to has had a negative effect on the way matters of importance are considered. Take, for example, the state of political discourse in America today. Spend enough time reading the posts and messages of your average politically active individual (or, God forbid, get stuck in a conversation with one), and you will be utterly amazed at how ridiculous the most outspoken of them sound. if this is truly a nation of intelligent people, then why do most people with anything even remotely resembling a political agenda seem unable to engage in a cogent and logical argument? Follow any news site message board, and you'll be convinced that you are eavesdropping on schoolyard during recess. People spend more time defending individuals and organizations than they do ideas or philosophies, and most of the debate degenerates into labeling and name-calling.

Actually, the real reason I'm dragging politics into this is that this year's Republican Primaries stand as a perfect example of this strange reluctance to accept wisdom from the wise. The Republican Party has spent the last decade or two espousing financial success as the indicator of personal greatness, while simultaneously discrediting intelligent people scientists and college professors (who also just happen to regularly speak out against Republican policies) as "out of touch" and "too smart for their own good." The end result turns out to be a Presidential Primary composed entirely of extremely rich candidates who appear to be collectively dumber than a box of hammers.

Yeah, I know, it was hilarious when we got to poke fun at Sarah Palin for being stupid. But you could always blame her participation in the election process on John McCain's self-destructive flight of fancy, and at least she had enough common sense (barely, it seems) to drop out of public office altogether and rake in that sweet, sweet political pundit cash. But now there's nobody to blame. We're stuck with debate after debate featuring a stage full of disgustingly rich successful businessmen who repeatedly prove themselves to be less intellectually adept than a teenage Denny's waitress. The object of these debates has ceased to be deciding which candidate is best equipped to lead a nation, and is now nothing more than a sad game of seeing who can say the least amount of stupid shit in a specific time frame. What's even worse, the audiences keep upstaging the idiots in the spotlight by periodically applauding government-sanctioned murder, cheering the death of an uninsured man, booing an American soldier for

Maybe I'm being harsh, but I'm slowly resigning myself to living in a country in which a candidate for the role of Supreme Leader (more or less) declares a to have created a list of three important items that need to be addressed, fails to remember what the third item was, and doesn't immediately drop out of the race in shame. Rick Perry hasn't been the only one taking pride in ignorance, either. The historical mistakes, policy blunders and poorly phrased sentences exposing an increasing insular existence have been a daily occurrence, with each painful error brushed of or explained away by the candidates as the results of strenuous campaigning or "gotchya questions" served up by a hostile press. If these are the results of gotchya questions, the least the telejournalists could do is point and laugh when they finally trip somebody up with difficult brain teasers such as "What do you read?"

Where am I going with all of this? I'm not sure, really. If I had any kind of solution or overall explanation is to why Mike Judge's Idiocracy keeps looking more and more like a grim eventuality, this is where I'd lay it all out. I guess I don't have all of the answers after all. Hey, I said I was smart. I didn't say I was THAT smart.
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Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Why Aren't Republicans Funny?


Chistine O'Donnell's new "I'm not a witch" commercial is depressingly reminiscent of Sarah Palin running with the "Palm Notes" debacle, and underlines one of the major flaws of most republicans: they truly have no noticeable sense of humor. Palin and O'Donnell trying to act like they are good sports who are in on the joke, or firing back with staff-written jabs of their own, always fails with an audible thud. Why do most far Right Wingers have no comprehension of satire or parody, or even a basic understanding of the form and function of a joke?

2 9 10 Bearman Cartoon Sarah Palins HandImage by Bearman2007 via FlickrThis isn't an isolated incident, either. A recent poll showed that a large number of conservatives did not realize that the Colbert Report was satire; they thought he was actually championing conservative causes, albeit in a humurous way. They didn't get the joke. Could it be that buying into the Republican world view actually divorces you from reality and the human condition so much that you no longer understand what is humorous? It would explain why Dennis Miller stopped being funny once he gave up his impartial comedian status and became a dedicated toe-the-line conservative commentator.

Still don’t see the connection? Remember Fox News' short-lived attempt at a Daily Show-type comedy news series, the 1/2 Hour News Hour? Yeah, most people don’t. Yet another audible thud.
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Friday, June 12, 2009

One Bimbo Down, One to Go: From Prejean to Palin

Miss California has finally gotten the boot for not living up to her contractual obligations, and

Jon Stewart + Sarah Palin on TVImage by danagraves via Flickr

quite possibly for not being smart enough to know exactly how far you can push something until it blows up in your face. Granted, we definitely haven't sen the last of her. On top of whatever talk or game shows she exploits herself over the next year, you can be sure that the anti-gay marriage organizations will be holding her up as a martyr for the cause, claiming that she was fired because of her religious and moral beliefs, and not for being stupid.

That's one over-sensationalized airhead out of the way. But we still have another one taking up airtime, and I have a feeling that she won't be receiving a pink slip anytime soon.

There have been a lot of celebrity ego battles taking place in the past six months or so. Most of them have been political in nature, and all of them have been highly entertaining. Rush Limbaugh alone has supplied half of the ego conflicts, as he has forced one Republican politician after another to apologize for implying that he might be wrong or out of line. Then you have Jon Stewart, who has drawn heat from television news media personalities by criticizing their performances. The conflict there usually involves them bad mouthing Stewart on their shows, followed by Stewart promptly handing them their asses on his.

The latest one, of course, is the little brouhaha between David Letterman and Sarah Palin over some admittedly off-color jokes about her older daughter, Bristol.



You remember Bristol Palin, right? The one that managed to get knocked up in an Abstinence-Only household, outed by her own mother's campaign managers, then paraded around by Palin during the presidential primaries as some sort of testament to teenage morality because she didn't get an abortion? The one that appeared on the today show to preach abstinence with her newborn daughter in tow? Yeah, we all remember Bristol.

DAYTON, OHIO - AUGUST 29:  (FILE PHOTO) <span class=Bristo..." style="border: medium none ; display: block;" width="150" height="107">Image by Getty Images via Daylife



As we all know, the Palin's didn't take too kindly to the jokes, and released statements saying as much. But they also accused Letterman of making the jokes about their fourteen year-old daughter, and not Bristol.

Now, my immediate reaction is to claim that Palin knew very well that the jokes were about Bristol, and that she merely took advantage of Letterman's omission of her name in the jokes to make up this whole kiddie-rape-isn't-funny argument. Of course she knew the jokes were about Palin. Anyone with half a brain and a sense of humor knew he was talking about Bristol.

But then again, whether Palin has half a brain is debatable. Remember, this is the same woman who couldn't name one newspaper or magazine she reads when asked. The one who said she knows about foreign policy because she can see Russia from Alaska. The one who gave a TV interview about animal compassion while a turkey was killed right behind her. The one who didn't realize that saying she 'chose' not to have an abortion actually implied a belief in the pro-choice movement's arguments. The one who... I could go on, but you get the idea. Sarah Palin, for the most part, is about as smart as a box full of retarded mice. And that's giving her the benefit of the doubt.

With this in mind, we really can't assume that Palin was smart enough to realize that Letterman's jokes about her daughter getting knocked up were a reference to her older daughter, who was actually knocked up. There really isn't enough evidence to convince me that she isn't that dense. And I really doubt her snowmobiling hubby is the thinker in the family, so the idea of him explaining the joke to her is out of the equation.

So Letterman addresses the issue on his show. He admits that the jokes were in poor taste, but clearly explains for the dimmer viewers in his audience (like Palin) that the jokes were about Bristol, and that he would never make sex jokes about a fourteen-year-old girl. Granted, he read the jokes again, and refused to apologize for the 'Slutty Air Hostess' crack. But that's why Letterman is still around. He knows what to apologize for, and when not to back down.

With that taken care of, what are the odds that Palin is smart enough to take the apology and bow out while she is ahead?



Are you kidding me? The same Palin that reacted to the magazine debacle by blaming 'gotcha journalism', responded to the 'I can see Russia from my House' debacle by reiterating that it was true, that explained the Turkey fiasco by insisting that no one knew turkeys were being slaughtered behind her, and complained about media coverage of her knocked-up daughter while parading her around on the campaign tour?

So, instead of taking the smart way out, Palin and Todd (why the hell is Todd Palin giving out any kind of press releases? Who cares what this jackass thinks?) refuse Letterman's apology, turn down his invitation to come on his show, and then imply that he is a pedophile by stating that they don't want to let young Willow Palin near him.

Sarah <span class=Palin on Alaska HDTV" style="border: medium none ; display: block;" width="240" height="160">Image by AlaskaHDTV.com via Flickr


You think that was a stupid move?

This morning, Palin makes an appearance on the Today Show. In the same interview, she tells Matt Lauer that he is "extremely naive" if he accepted Letterman's explanation of the joke, then defends her statement about keeping Willow away from Letterman by saying "You can interpret that however you want to interpret it." Of course, because Lauer would have to be extremely naive to think that she was implying that Letterman was a baby-raper.

Its funny, but all of Prejean's senseless babbling over the past month still makes more sense than Palin's idiotic attempts at being clever and astute. She then put the cherry on top of the Moron Sundae by replying to Lauer's question about whether she is the future of the GOP with the convoluted phrase "Absolutely not necessarily." Then, after showing herself to be as vapid and mindless as Miss California, she goes on to say that she wants to "be able to help the cause" of the Republican Party.

Man, and I thought Michael Steele was stupid.
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