Is Sarah the Last Culture Warrior? (campaign, impeachment, Republican, represent)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Although Sarah Palin says she would be a fresh face in Washington, she really represents the end of a long line of Republican culture warriors, writes Peter Beinart in the Washington Post. "She's depicting the campaign as a struggle between the culturally familiar and the culturally threatening, the culturally traditional and the culturally exotic," but her argument falls flat, and history can explain why.
That is an especially great article. Some things that really appeal to me are these excerpts:
- younger evangelicals are broadening their agendas beyond abortion, stem cells, school prayer and gay marriage.
- Palin's brand is culture war, and in America today culture war no longer sells. The struggle that began in the 1960s ... may be ending. Palin is the end of the line.
- This won't be the first time a culture war has come to a close. In the 1920s, battles over evolution, immigration, prohibition and the resurgent Ku Klux Klan dominated election after election. (Anyone see the parallels to today?)
- In 2000, in the wake of an economic boom and a sex scandal that led to a president's impeachment, 22 percent of Americans told exit pollsters that "moral values" were their biggest concern, compared with only 19 percent who cited the economy. Today ... the economy is up to 44 percent and "abortion, guns and same-sex marriage" 6 percent. ... Palin's popularity has plummeted as the financial crisis has taken center stage.
I've said on the board, months ago, that we've been through these societal wars before. The WaPo article mentions the 1920's as a key era for these sorts of things. I read extensively about this in Marion E. Rodger's great book "Mencken" about the life of the extraordinary newspaperman from Baltimore named H.L.Mencken who called it right on all those issues during that era. Closest thing we have to Mencken is Keith Olberman, who shows real promise.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
