Sarah Palin, with whom I have a myriad of differences, was caught recently using her hand during a speech to the wacko Tea Party convention. As she was ridiculing President Obama for using a teleprompter during his speeches, Palin herself kept looking down at her left hand, the palm thereof in particular. When cameras zoomed in on what she was looking at, they revealed notes on what to say during the speech. And then the comedy shows had a field day, with Jay Leno, Stephen Colbert, and Jon Stewart headlining the star-studded list of Palin mockers. Even Obama's press secretary Robert Gibbs brought out his own left hand in a press meeting to reveal what he thought were humorous (but by then extremely stale) messages on it.
I had my own laugh at ol' Sarah, who is actually relatively young from my viewpoint but whose public "stage" act grew old and withered long, long ago. But now it's time to defend the quitter ex-governor and political opportunist (gosh, this is going to be harder than I thought).
First, I wish Sarah Palin success within the Republican Party, especially regarding her all-too-inevitable campaign for the 2012 nomination. For a Palin nomination would pretty much ensure Obama's reelection (assuming our current president doesn't just say "to hell with this [expletive] job" by then). As for her "hand", I scribble stuff on mine from time to time as well to remind me of things. But I don't then get up on stage somewhere and deride another for more opaquely using speech "aids". Still, Palin has this comedic, naïve, and almost endearing aspect to her personality that I can relate to. It reminds me of Jackie Gleason's Sheriff Buford T. Justice character in the movie Smokey and the Bandit when he confidently struts out of a restroom...trailing a roll of toilet paper behind him.
I know how Sarah Palin can improve her image although I wonder whether she is capable of grasping it. And it's simple: when criticizing someone like Obama, stop casting aspersions on everything he does or says, instead sprinkling as many sincere-sounding compliments as you can in with your focused criticisms. Tempered criticism can cut like a knife if done correctly, although I have witnessed few who are really adept at it. But if ex-governor Palin would just pause a little and observe the current president instead of only deriding him, she just might find someone with this skill to emulate (with a conservative face, of course). A skill which, in my opinion, Barack Obama rode all the way into the White House. Hint, hint, Sarah.
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I guess Palin does not understand satire and she complains about telaprompters, but does this hand jive, what a hypocrite. I have not seen this since junior high. She is so perfect for “Fake News”, so much for being a private citizen. I guess Palin failed to watch President Obama answer questions at the GOP retreat in Baltimore, no Teleprompters or crib notes on the hand. But I guess those facts would only blow her poor little Beauty Queen from smallville mind, who could not finish her highest office that she ever held, quit making excuses for her! WOW and some call her a leader…….please.
ReplyDeleteI remember in 2008 when McCain selected Palin for his running mate and he abruptly overtook Obama in the opinion polls. Some say that the tanking economy is what did in McCain in that election. That may be ultimately true, but the momentum began to shift back to Obama earlier, at the moment when Sarah Palin first opened her mouth to speak as the GOP VP candidate.
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