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Location: The Land Mass Between NOLA and Mobile, AL
1,796 posts, read 1,662,111 times
Reputation: 1411
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Old Gringo
I'll be glad to explain it to you.
Beck: Uses half truths, fabrications, and outright lies in a conscious effort to stir up controversy, knowing it will increase his ratings among a certain target demographic. And it works.
Palin: Tries to sound like a competent administrator/leader by using simplistic sound bites and talking points that will appeal to a certain target demographic. And it works.
Those within the target demographic seem to hold the opinion that Beck is a fount of information and Palin is a plausible presidential contender.
Those outside the target demographic see them as clowns. Entertaining but in no way significant other than as a barometer of the radical right's anger and irrationality.
The result is that they both keep millions entertained. Some get angry and energized. Others laugh.
I don't think either of these people are serious people, though I do think they take themselves very seriously. They are self-important people who have figured out a way to win a species of popularity contest. They have profited in many ways from doing so.
I don't know Beck's back story--but it is probably very similar to Palin's. Since I do know Palin's and her back story and her current story, I'll talk about hers. These stories, in my eyes, go something like this. Small town girl who has always wanted more becomes mayor of a small town and then governor of immense but sparsely populated state. Said governor gets noticed by McCain's people, who ask her if she would seriously consider the veep nomination. She blithely accepts. McCain's people think they have solved several problems. Reporters start looking into small town girl's background. Interesting facts emerge, and questions are asked.
Palin starts seeing parts of the U.S. she has never really seen before, and she is impressed. Perhaps there was a Nordstrom in Anchorage, but in NY and LA, there are Bergdorf Goodmans, Neiman Marcus, Saks, and all kinds of stores with amazingly beautiful things to wear. One can buy Manolo Blahniks and Jimmy Choos. These things entice her. They entice me too--I understand this part of this person.
But then, there is the Couric interview. Then there are Palin rallies, at which some people say things that many people find ugly. Not her fans--her fans are eating it up.
But eventually, the campaign ends, and so does the spotlight. She goes back to Alaska. Having shopped and dined in NY, Palin is no longer satisfied with life in Alaska. So she decides to write a book and so hires a ghost writer. Conversations between these two commence, and drafts are produced.
While this is happening, Palin quits her job. This causes a media stir, as does the soon to be released book. Once the book comes out, Palin once again has a stage--a place to be a star. These are her book signings, and her fans are there to give her all the love and attention she apparently needs.
What this looks like to me is the rise of a celebrity. Is she serious as a celebrity? I don't know--only time will tell. What I do know is that she is very good at upping a particular kind of ante by sheer force of personality alone. What will happen when that bet is called will be interesting. Her ambition is apparently limitless. I am not sure when her internal limits will crash her ambition's party. But as a card playing woman myself, I am pretty sure that that crash will come.
While this is happening, Palin quits her job. This causes a media stir, as does the soon to be released book. Once the book comes out, Palin once again has a stage--a place to be a star. These are her book signings, and her fans are there to give her all the love and attention she apparently needs.
What this looks like to me is the rise of a celebrity. Is she serious as a celebrity? I don't know--only time will tell. What I do know is that she is very good at upping a particular kind of ante by sheer force of personality alone. What will happen when that bet is called will be interesting. Her ambition is apparently limitless. I am not sure when her internal limits will crash her ambition's party. But as a card playing woman myself, I am pretty sure that that crash will come.
Clearly you're not a fan. I just finished her book because I genuinely wanted to see what all the fuss was about. She didn't "quit her job." The entire last chapters of her book were devoted to her explaining that her governor's office was absolutely bombarded with FOIA requests filed for free (by people who don't even live in Alaska) but costing her office thousands of dollars while overwhelming her staff and causing nothing but paperwork headaches, to the detriment of her office. She explains it very well and very convincingly and I didn't start out as a fan of hers, so I wasn't reading it with any particular agenda.
You may not like that and the media may not like it, but millions of people are paying for her book and will vote with their feet. I'm not sure after completing her book that she wants to run for office again. IMHO, she seemed way more passionate about working to get the natural resources in Alaska going.
And I do believe her when she said the McCain staff had the wardrobes chosen for her family. Why wouldn't they? His staff are professional political hacks and would never send her out to do a speech in a outfit that didn't cost more than most of us make in a month. God forbid she look like a normal person. I closed her book fully irritated with McCain's staff and their attempt to get her to shut up and be a good girl.
I think she is overwhelmed by "celebrity" and seems like she is looking for something to do...not a reality show or one of the pathetic attempts for 15 minutes of fame. Maybe she actually CARES about her community and her state and doesn't plan on leaving it to live in DC and totally alienate herself from it. You are too cynical. Perhaps I'm naive, but I liked her more than I did after I read her book. Her detractors should be worried as I'm sure not the only one who will feel that way and her book continues to top the best seller's list.
You don't have to like her...you don't seem inclined to, but I wouldn't try and belittle her by thinking that once the small town girl goes to the big city, she never goes back. I lived in NYC for a year and while I enjoyed myself, I wouldn't live there again. I'm a well-educated woman who didn't exactly grow up on the farm and for me, there's no place like out West. She seems to agree. Alaska is way too harsh for me to ever consider living there, but I hate the concrete jungle too. And life does not revolve around Bergdorfs. Have you been paying attention to the economy?
Clearly you're not a fan. I just finished her book because I genuinely wanted to see what all the fuss was about. She didn't "quit her job." The entire last chapters of her book were devoted to her explaining that her governor's office was absolutely bombarded with FOIA requests filed for free (by people who don't even live in Alaska) but costing her office thousands of dollars while overwhelming her staff and causing nothing but paperwork headaches, to the detriment of her office. She explains it very well and very convincingly and I didn't start out as a fan of hers, so I wasn't reading it with any particular agenda.
You may not like that and the media may not like it, but millions of people are paying for her book and will vote with their feet. I'm not sure after completing her book that she wants to run for office again. IMHO, she seemed way more passionate about working to get the natural resources in Alaska going.
And I do believe her when she said the McCain staff had the wardrobes chosen for her family. Why wouldn't they? His staff are professional political hacks and would never send her out to do a speech in a outfit that didn't cost more than most of us make in a month. God forbid she look like a normal person. I closed her book fully irritated with McCain's staff and their attempt to get her to shut up and be a good girl.
I think she is overwhelmed by "celebrity" and seems like she is looking for something to do...not a reality show or one of the pathetic attempts for 15 minutes of fame. Maybe she actually CARES about her community and her state and doesn't plan on leaving it to live in DC and totally alienate herself from it. You are too cynical. Perhaps I'm naive, but I liked her more than I did after I read her book. Her detractors should be worried as I'm sure not the only one who will feel that way and her book continues to top the best seller's list.
You don't have to like her...you don't seem inclined to, but I wouldn't try and belittle her by thinking that once the small town girl goes to the big city, she never goes back. I lived in NYC for a year and while I enjoyed myself, I wouldn't live there again. I'm a well-educated woman who didn't exactly grow up on the farm and for me, there's no place like out West. She seems to agree. Alaska is way too harsh for me to ever consider living there, but I hate the concrete jungle too. And life does not revolve around Bergdorfs. Have you been paying attention to the economy?
Clearly you're not a fan. I just finished her book because I genuinely wanted to see what all the fuss was about. She didn't "quit her job." The entire last chapters of her book were devoted to her explaining that her governor's office was absolutely bombarded with FOIA requests filed for free (by people who don't even live in Alaska) but costing her office thousands of dollars while overwhelming her staff and causing nothing but paperwork headaches, to the detriment of her office. She explains it very well and very convincingly and I didn't start out as a fan of hers, so I wasn't reading it with any particular agenda.
You may not like that and the media may not like it, but millions of people are paying for her book and will vote with their feet. I'm not sure after completing her book that she wants to run for office again. IMHO, she seemed way more passionate about working to get the natural resources in Alaska going.
And I do believe her when she said the McCain staff had the wardrobes chosen for her family. Why wouldn't they? His staff are professional political hacks and would never send her out to do a speech in a outfit that didn't cost more than most of us make in a month. God forbid she look like a normal person. I closed her book fully irritated with McCain's staff and their attempt to get her to shut up and be a good girl.
I think she is overwhelmed by "celebrity" and seems like she is looking for something to do...not a reality show or one of the pathetic attempts for 15 minutes of fame. Maybe she actually CARES about her community and her state and doesn't plan on leaving it to live in DC and totally alienate herself from it. You are too cynical. Perhaps I'm naive, but I liked her more than I did after I read her book. Her detractors should be worried as I'm sure not the only one who will feel that way and her book continues to top the best seller's list.
You don't have to like her...you don't seem inclined to, but I wouldn't try and belittle her by thinking that once the small town girl goes to the big city, she never goes back. I lived in NYC for a year and while I enjoyed myself, I wouldn't live there again. I'm a well-educated woman who didn't exactly grow up on the farm and for me, there's no place like out West. She seems to agree. Alaska is way too harsh for me to ever consider living there, but I hate the concrete jungle too. And life does not revolve around Bergdorfs. Have you been paying attention to the economy?
Location: The Land Mass Between NOLA and Mobile, AL
1,796 posts, read 1,662,111 times
Reputation: 1411
Quote:
Originally Posted by the3Ds
Clearly you're not a fan. I just finished her book because I genuinely wanted to see what all the fuss was about. She didn't "quit her job." The entire last chapters of her book were devoted to her explaining that her governor's office was absolutely bombarded with FOIA requests filed for free (by people who don't even live in Alaska) but costing her office thousands of dollars while overwhelming her staff and causing nothing but paperwork headaches, to the detriment of her office. She explains it very well and very convincingly and I didn't start out as a fan of hers, so I wasn't reading it with any particular agenda.
You may not like that and the media may not like it, but millions of people are paying for her book and will vote with their feet. I'm not sure after completing her book that she wants to run for office again. IMHO, she seemed way more passionate about working to get the natural resources in Alaska going.
And I do believe her when she said the McCain staff had the wardrobes chosen for her family. Why wouldn't they? His staff are professional political hacks and would never send her out to do a speech in a outfit that didn't cost more than most of us make in a month. God forbid she look like a normal person. I closed her book fully irritated with McCain's staff and their attempt to get her to shut up and be a good girl.
I think she is overwhelmed by "celebrity" and seems like she is looking for something to do...not a reality show or one of the pathetic attempts for 15 minutes of fame. Maybe she actually CARES about her community and her state and doesn't plan on leaving it to live in DC and totally alienate herself from it. You are too cynical. Perhaps I'm naive, but I liked her more than I did after I read her book. Her detractors should be worried as I'm sure not the only one who will feel that way and her book continues to top the best seller's list.
You don't have to like her...you don't seem inclined to, but I wouldn't try and belittle her by thinking that once the small town girl goes to the big city, she never goes back. I lived in NYC for a year and while I enjoyed myself, I wouldn't live there again. I'm a well-educated woman who didn't exactly grow up on the farm and for me, there's no place like out West. She seems to agree. Alaska is way too harsh for me to ever consider living there, but I hate the concrete jungle too. And life does not revolve around Bergdorfs. Have you been paying attention to the economy?
I don't particularly dislike Palin. I think she is silly. A lot of silly people have dominated the best seller list--that is nothing new. People have a seemingly bottomless appetite for silliness. I am not surprised that her office was bombarded with FOIA requests. There are a lot of silly people who oppose her.
I just think she is a hypocrite. She plays a character on TV. Her character is the "small town girl who has finally arrived and is now shocked, shocked to learn that serious people ask serious questions." I come from a similar place, and I am really not surprised about the surprise that she feigned about the astonishing level of her ignorance.
The fashion questions are superficial. They are merely a metaphor. I would never have agreed, in her position, to run for veep because I would have known I was vastly, hugely, under qualified. To say, with a straight face, that living close to Russia makes one qualified to comment on foreign affairs is the height of hypocrisy. I know full well that life doesn't revolve around Nordy's, but being able to shop there once in a while means life is sweet. And I'll challenge Sarah Palin to a fashion throw-down any day of the week. She is more than welcome to come into my closet, look at my shoes, and make any outfit she wants. We'll then have people compare, and see who wins.
She is playing a game of poker with very big stakes. She has been called, and has managed to save face on numerous occasions. I'm not sure how long the charade can last, but the whole slow dance is certainly interesting to watch. I, for one, would have a hard time going on a book tour, allegedly in a bus, while touting a book I hired a ghost writer to write. At some point, some smart-ass kid is going to say, "and the emperor has no clothes?"
They have been saying---"the emperor has no clothes" for quite awhile to Obama but he just keeps walking through the town naked as a jaybird and doesn't care.
Governments are instituted among men to secure rights and govern those who consent. Governments were not instituted to rob one group for the benefit of another. Compulsory labor for the benefit of another is what we once called slavery. Now, it's called socialism.
The next time a thieving Socialist bewails, "No one should [fill in the blank] because they don't have money...", you should preface it with "No one should be enslaved so that ...."
Slavery is never an acceptable solution to the ills of society.
Voluntary charity is a blessing.
Compulsory charity is a curse.
Location: The Land Mass Between NOLA and Mobile, AL
1,796 posts, read 1,662,111 times
Reputation: 1411
Quote:
Originally Posted by janelle144
They have been saying---"the emperor has no clothes" for quite awhile to Obama but he just keeps walking through the town naked as a jaybird and doesn't care.
It doesn't seem that way to me, as Obama has a lot of substantive things going for him, like his Columbia law degree, his knowledge about world and domestic issues, his fluency in both world and American history, and his ability to form not only coherent sentences, but also well-formed paragraphs. But, of course, some people's mileage varies. Everyone has different criteria that they use when they judge whether or not something is valuable. I think Obama is smart and important, while I think Palin is silly, and, ultimately, inconsequential. She's making a bunch of money, so good for her. But that's about it.
I don't particularly dislike Palin. I think she is silly. A lot of silly people have dominated the best seller list--that is nothing new. People have a seemingly bottomless appetite for silliness. I am not surprised that her office was bombarded with FOIA requests. There are a lot of silly people who oppose her.
Well, I wouldn't call her silly. What I will concede is that she was vastly unprepared for the media when she was announced as McCain's running mate and the McCain camp did absolutely nothing to help her. After reading her book, I am 100% convinced that the McCain camp DID chose her for the sole purpose of her uterus in the hopes that she would attract the militant women vote (totally misunderstanding what issues they would vote for). What they didn't appreciate about her was that she was an "average American" and totally ignored the part of her personality that has drawn crowds and fans by the thousands.
She isn't a dumb woman...she clearly did her job as Mayor, on the energy commission in Alaska, and had enormous approval ratings as the Governor. Alaska isn't a homogenous state...I have family in Alaska and know that there are polarizing groups of people who live there...those who are serious environmentalists and those who make their living in the oil and energy market; those who want their nearest neighbors to be miles away and those who are happy in the master planned communities in Anchorage; those who hunt and those who are vegetarians. Before she was chosen as McCain's running mate, her approval ratings were 80%. That is serious.
While I understand her desire to make a change in our country, I closed her book wondering why in the world she would ever want to leave the state she so clearly loves, uproot her family and life and move to a horrible place like Washington DC where it seems that even those with the best intentions get railroaded. That's not the "mom" in me (because I hate it when people ask questions of her that they wouldn't ask of men in her situation), that is the person who loves this side of the country, enjoys the fresh air, hiking and camping, being able to drive for hours before coming to anything larger than a "town", etc. Washington DC is a great place to visit, but I wouldn't live there for anything.
Hopefully even as someone who isn't a fan of hers, you can be at least a little shocked at the viciousness aimed at her. Why can't people who voted for Obama just see her as someone who they didn't vote for? Are there people who are still as angry about others who ran for President but didn't win? As someone who enjoys politics but understands that there are plenty of good and bad people on both sides, I cannot understand the level at true hate that people have for her. McCain was on the ticket too and didn't get one iota of the garbage that was sent at her (and continues to be sent at her).
Location: The Land Mass Between NOLA and Mobile, AL
1,796 posts, read 1,662,111 times
Reputation: 1411
Quote:
Originally Posted by the3Ds
Well, I wouldn't call her silly. What I will concede is that she was vastly unprepared for the media when she was announced as McCain's running mate and the McCain camp did absolutely nothing to help her. After reading her book, I am 100% convinced that the McCain camp DID chose her for the sole purpose of her uterus in the hopes that she would attract the militant women vote (totally misunderstanding what issues they would vote for). What they didn't appreciate about her was that she was an "average American" and totally ignored the part of her personality that has drawn crowds and fans by the thousands.
She isn't a dumb woman...she clearly did her job as Mayor, on the energy commission in Alaska, and had enormous approval ratings as the Governor. Alaska isn't a homogenous state...I have family in Alaska and know that there are polarizing groups of people who live there...those who are serious environmentalists and those who make their living in the oil and energy market; those who want their nearest neighbors to be miles away and those who are happy in the master planned communities in Anchorage; those who hunt and those who are vegetarians. Before she was chosen as McCain's running mate, her approval ratings were 80%. That is serious.
While I understand her desire to make a change in our country, I closed her book wondering why in the world she would ever want to leave the state she so clearly loves, uproot her family and life and move to a horrible place like Washington DC where it seems that even those with the best intentions get railroaded. That's not the "mom" in me (because I hate it when people ask questions of her that they wouldn't ask of men in her situation), that is the person who loves this side of the country, enjoys the fresh air, hiking and camping, being able to drive for hours before coming to anything larger than a "town", etc. Washington DC is a great place to visit, but I wouldn't live there for anything.
Hopefully even as someone who isn't a fan of hers, you can be at least a little shocked at the viciousness aimed at her. Why can't people who voted for Obama just see her as someone who they didn't vote for? Are there people who are still as angry about others who ran for President but didn't win? As someone who enjoys politics but understands that there are plenty of good and bad people on both sides, I cannot understand the level at true hate that people have for her. McCain was on the ticket too and didn't get one iota of the garbage that was sent at her (and continues to be sent at her).
It could be partially misogyny. I also think the people who hate her hate what she represents, which in their minds is something like, maybe, willful ignorance. I don't hate her, I just don't think she is interesting. She reminds me of someone who is similar to the high school cheerleaders or whatever other character type I disliked in high school. I got over that, and that's why I don't hate her. I like living near a big city on the East Coast, and cities in general. Some people don't. It's a big country. The character traits I don't like in Palin are her divisive tactics. I think those are unnecessary and can be harmful. I don't like the way she panders to people who think that their vision of America is the only one. She will probably be popular for a while, and then people will move on to other things. That's kind of the nature of celebrity.
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