Syndicated conservative columnist Kathleen Parker, of whom I have sometimes been a fan, made waves in the 2008 election with her vigorous distaste for Sarah Palin. She went so far as to call on her to drop off the ticket because she was supposedly so ill-qualified.
She's milked the controversy and negative responses that she's gotten for several columns, including a new one just today. When writing a response, it got long enough that I figured to just make it an open public letter:
Miss Kathleen, I don't want you to be able to easily dismiss my criticism, so I'll try to be nice. I'm not angry anyway, but I have to admit to being a bit contemptuous of some of the Beltway-type anti-Palin Republicans. Leaving you specifically out of it, Peggy Noonan and even the usually totally righteous George Will lost some points with me over Palin.
You all gave in to some really petty idea of elitism here. Now, I'm all in favor of an aristocracy of merit, a kind of elitism, but that's not where Palin fell short.
She's perfectly intelligent and obviously highly competent in her work. She's run things, and Lord knows that she's a multitasker. She knows a lot about a lot of things. Ask her about energy policy or wildlife management issues or child rearing or commercial fishing. Plus, she has a temperament that translates to actually getting stuff done and the character to take on bad actors even in her own party.
She's quite legitimately elite in her knowledge, experience and character. That's how a schoolteacher's kid from the boondocks got where she is. But she got bitten by "conservative" so-called elites largely over stupid prejudice. She didn't go to Harvard. She's got that Marge Gunderson accent. Heck, she even really actually believes in Jesus as opposed to making a mere sophisticated elitist nod to our founders' Christian traditions.
She probably doesn't know much about French symbolist poets or whatever crapola like that we use as an arbitrary standard of intelligence and sophistication but would probably have squat to do with running the country or anything else useful or meaningful. Christopher Buckley just couldn't imagine such a barbarian as a guest at one of Dad's famous dinner parties. This reasoning does not represent truly an elite judgment, but a petty and low-level childish emotionalism based on superficiality.
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Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Lee Richards
She'll never be president;not that many people can or will work with her narcissistic personality.
2 - Baronius
Al, I like Palin, but I could never understand the notion that she was qualified for the presidency. People talk about Palin for 2012, but 2016 seems almost too soon. Let her prove herself as a governor for two terms before she starts touring the country campaigning. Or, there's talk that she'll move to the Senate, in which case she should put in at least a full term.
I know that some people will say to strike while the iron is hot. It worked for Obama. But it's never worked for anyone else. Republicans particularly give their nomination to the candidate with the most seniority.
3 - Al Barger
Brother Richards, I could imagine a number of possible points of why one might not dig on Sarah Palin, but narcissistic seems like a perfectly arbitrary accusation plucked out of the air. Anybody running for president has to have some ego to even think they could do the job.
Now, Obama is WAY the most narcissisitc character of the current crop. He wrote basically two autobiographys - without ever having actually done anything. That One is the one with the messianic delusions that his own pure awesome wonderfulness will heal the planet and dissuade terrorists. The Wal-Mart mom here seems about as far from self-absorbed as anybody could be and actually run for office.
Brother Baronius, I don't understand why anyone would think that Sister Sarah is NOT perfectly well qualified for the job. Right now, she's FAR more qualified based on experience and resume than President-elect Obama.
Likely scenario is that she runs for re-election as governor. She'll be a two term governor, and just as qualified or moreso than Bill Clinton or W. Now, she hasn't had 100 years of residence in the senate like Biden, but she arguably has accomplished more to show herself capable of running things than Biden or Obama, or candidates W or Clinton.
4 - Baronius
Al, I voted against Bush in the 2000 primary because I thought he didn't have enough experience. I want someone to have experience at the grown-up table: Senate, House, Cabinet, Supreme Court, governor's mansion, or military command. Palin has 2 years, Obama 4, Bush 6. I want to see more than 8 and less than Biden.
Both parties have done a lousy job of building their starting lineups over the last 16 years. Cabinet jobs have gone to specialists and old-timers. House and Senate leadership has been, um, I can't think of a polite word for it. If Obama's smart, he'll be grooming a new generation of party leadership. Republicans have got to support guys like Palin, Jindal, and Pence, and get people like Allen and Bolten into the think tanks and lecture circuits.
5 - Dr Dreadful
I'll not be displeased if the GOP nominates Bobby Jindal in '12. While I disagree with him strenuously on most social issues, there's no doubt that he's proving himself to be a very capable governor.
6 - Al Barger
Jindal is definitely likely competition. How's about a Palin/Jindal ticket - or vice versa.
7 - miriam
Al: Very, very good article. You want somebody who went to Harvard? How about Jamie Gorelick? She's got enough Harvard polish to f*** up anything.
8 - Ruvy
Brother Al,
I'd leave Sister Sarah to deal with the caribou up in the Freezer State, for the time being. I have the nasty feeling that you'll need more of a saint than a Wal-mart mom to put your country back together in 2012. Maybe by then, Mrs. Palin (someone needs to remind you that she is a married woman) will have morphed into one.
I tend to agree with you that she is more qualified than Mr. Obama to run the country, even though Obama has a better intellect and has seen a lot more of the world. He is, as you observe, a narcissist, writing his memoirs while still a youth. He is probably a gifted writer. Like Seinfeld, he wrote about nothing - and got people to buy it. Mrs. Palin, rushing to take advantage of the RNC chit to buy clothes while she had the opportunity, is far more like I would imagine most American women to be.
But my real question is: since you wrote this as an open letter to Kathleen Parker, did you at least make sure she received it? Just curious....
9 - tobyt
Al, I am reading your post just as I am digesting the turnout analyses for the '08 election. My sentiments exactly. Turns out, the most sophisticated disaggregations to date are showing that while the Dems turned out in dramatic fashion, the GOP'ers either (1) sat on their hands and/or (2) left the CEO-of-the-country part of the ballot
frankly blank. Why don't we admit what my lovely wife has been telling me for some time,
"What in the world was our party thinking, leaving candidates like Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee in the dust?" JMc was not the best candidate for '08; arguably, he was the worst. His best decision, which was, in fact, a hail mary for his campaign, and it almost worked, was his judicious embrace of Gov. Sarah Palin. Gov. Palin saved the GOP ticket from a historically embarrassing rout. Sans Palin, it was over at the GOP convention.
I have been an avid reader of the conservative intelligentsia such as George Will, Peggy Noonan,
the Buckleys, for decades, but I am with you on their elitism. Enough of the criticism of Obama being an elitist. It appears their affinity for elitism trumped their putative conservatism. In doing so they contributed mightily to the evisceration of the Republican party in 08.
Still, with all this, my question is, was the majority sentiment anti-Palin or pro-Obama?
My sneaking suspicion is that their disgust for
W, and in many ways, rightfully so, for his faux-conservatism, led them, in their heart of hearts,
to Obamaland. But, I reserve my greater disgust, or perhaps disappointment, for Charlie Crist, Florida GOP governor, who jumped ship and endorsed John McCain at the last minute, tipping, in my opinion, the eventual nomination to the least attractive, and in many ways, the least conservative of the GOP candidates. The political postmortems, their journalistic mercantilism notwithstanding, of the Palintologists is a bit premature.
10 - Glenn Contrarian
Good ol' Sarah -
Who didn't know Africa was a continent, and not a country.
Who didn't know the job description of a Vice President - even after being asked a fourth time in three months.
Who thinks her foreign policy experience is sufficient because (1) there's a small Alaskan island where one can see Russia, (2) the Russian president's plane flies over Alaska on its way to D.C., and (3) she got her first passport last year.
Whose husband belonged for five years to a party that advocates secession of Alaska from America, whose founder cursed America and the American flag (never mind that as governor, she gave a taped welcome speech to the party's convention earlier THIS year).
Whose attacks on Barack Obama's patriotism provoked a spike in death threats against the future president, Secret Service agents revealed during the final weeks of the campaign.
And what's really sad is that I'm going to get flamed for posting all this about Ms. Palin - and if any Democratic candidate had been guilty of any of the above, the Republican party would have raised hell nationwide. But since she's a Republican, that's all okay.
(And one can only imagine what the Republicans would have said if Obama had a teenage daughter pregnant out of wedlock, whose boyfriend just dropped out of high school!)
11 - Al Barger
Glenn, again so inflamed with hatred to not really know or care about facts or reality. You're happy to take any little snip of anonymous backstabbing as gospel, like the nonsense about not knowing Africa is a continent. That doesn't even pass the smell test. An average illiterate American high school student would know that much.
That role of the vice president thing is pretty bogus as well. The specific constitutional role is pretty simple, and she would know that. But what exactly does a vice president do all day besides waying for the big guy to die? That's something of an open question, with different answers in different modern administrations. One might legitimately have some questions about that.
Granted, she has very little foreign policy experience. That's definitely her weak suite, resume wise. But again, most presidents come in as governors with no foreign policy experience. Obama certainly doesn't have any bit more credentials in foreign policy than she does - and I'd trust her judgment a LOT more than his.
That she's a little bit friendly with the Alaskan Independence third party is definitely a plus for her. Todd was apparently never a member in fact, other than on a voter registration form.
The founder of this group many years ago talked a little radical, but unlike Obama's WU pals, was never involved in acts of terrorism or violence against the US. They're perhaps a bit on the radical side, but being friendly with them mostly would seem to mean being at least somewhat sensitive to states rights issues. That's good.
And BULLSHIT on the death threat thing. In fact, the McCain campaign's attacks on Obama were pretty tepid. What you're saying is that no one should criticize the guy. Just let him roll in to the office (which is pretty much what McCain did anyway) lest you be held responsible for whatever jerks want to at least run their mouth about shooting him.
The Obama press corps (NBC,etc) went on and on about one guy supposedly shouting kill him at a Palin rally - as if one random idiot would be a reflection on her, and despite the fact that it apparently never happened. Not even one idiot. Secret Service checked that out, and couldn't find a second person among thousands to second one idiot's malicious claim.
But you want to just insist on your little narrative that McCain-Palin were trying to get Obama whacked - again, despite the kid gloves treatment McCain insisted on giving him. Geez, he wouldn't even TOUCH Rev Wright.
Somehow I doubt you were on the barricades condemning leftwing foamers at the mouth for their Bush Derangement Syndrome. Don't you imagine that years of calling him BusHitler and a war criminal and other rabid, insane stuff resulted in more people wanting to whack W?
What would Republicans say if Obama's teenage daughter got pregnant? Not a goddam thing, or it would be to offer support. Which is MUCH better than the good compassionate tolerant left did for Bristol, isn't it?
Ruvy, a "saint" is exactly what we don't need. Some messianic visionary who will save the world and heal the planet is a likely disaster. I'm looking for someone with a more humble view of their and our place. Big moral vision will lead us into crap quicker than almost anything. A green eyeshades type of guy like Romney is more what is needed.
And enough with the dumb shit about the clothes. That's largely a sexist thing. It's not a significant point or a scandal that the RNC spent money to dress up the fam. Plus, it's pretty obvious by this point that Palin did not request any of these clothes, and has been at some pains to sort them all out and send them back to the RNC that bought them.
She's a working girl, and not a clothes horse. It would be against everything we know of her to think that she would be grasping after some fancy rags. She's never, ever been about any of that nonsense.
Also, Sister Sarah is a beautiful woman, but don't dismiss people's admiration for her as sexual. That's more cheap sexism. There's no Republican carrying on in a sexual way about her that would equal Chris Matthews' tingle. The Obama phenomenon has a far greater sexual component than Palin's.
As to me needing reminders, note that I'm addressing her as "sister" not "hottie." As cute as the idea strikes me, I am refraining from the GILF theme. There are lots of good looking women, and nice tits are not a point of qualification for POTUS, anymore than THIS is any reason to vote Obama.
12 - Christopher Rose
"Glenn, again so inflamed with hatred to not really know or care about facts or reality." Big pot, kettle, black. Hilarity ensues!
13 - Clavos
An average illiterate American high school student would know that much.
And the average American high school student (and graduate) IS illiterate, because they've attended American government schools.
14 - Dr Dreadful
So how come I attended a guvmint school and know all kinds of weird stuff?
I guess the British government knows how to edyumacate - or at least they did back in the fourth century BC when I was at school...
15 - Al Barger
Chris Rose- I do weary of your constant and baseless accusations that I am full of hate, particularly since you're supposed to be the editor monkey enforcing the "no personal attacks" business. Not agreeing with your pinko crap doesn't make me a hater. You simply proclaiming it over and over doesn't make it so.
16 - Clavos
Doc,
Dead on. My criticism wasn't of gummint schools, but of Amurrican gummint schools.
It's not a coincidence that all American colleges and universities offer remedial reading and writing courses to incoming freshmen...
17 - Dr Dreadful
It's also no coincidence that many British universities make you turn in a college-standard paper as part of your application. You also have to attend an interview, just as you would if you were applying for a job.
If you can't do basic things like read, write, add up or wipe your own arse, you shouldn't even be considering college, IMHO.
18 - Dan(Miller)
Al, re comment #15,
I wouldn't worry about it too much. Keep in mind the old legal principle, if the law is on your side, pound on the law; if the facts are on your side, pound on the facts; if neither the law nor the facts are on your side, pound on the table.
Actually, I am reliably informed that 99.87% of the hate spewed during the recent campaign came from the dastardly Republicans and their minions, while only 0.13%* came from the enlightened Democrats and their loving compatriots, who hardly ever stooped to such things. I am confident that you already know this, but suggest that you keep it firmly in mind.
Dan(Miller)
*See, I can make up numbers pretty good. The first number may be too low, and the second too high, but it is not nice to offend anyone.
19 - Baronius
Dread, in America, everyone has a right to a college degree. Haven't you heard? We leave no child behind. We'll pay for your college, and we'll get you through to a diploma, no matter how far we have to lower standards. It doesn't matter that my dad graduated high school with more knowledge in more fields than you'd pick up on your way to a Master's degree.
Al, imagine if Palin hadn't spent the money to be well-dressed. Half the press would have mocked her lack of fashion sense; the other half would have accused her of playing hillbilly to pander to red state voters.
Tobyt, interesting comments. I suspect that Noonan isn't so much an elitist, as the kind of down-to-earth, intelligent woman who can't stand it when another down-to-earh, intelligent woman succeeds. I don't know about Kathleen Parker, but it was noticeable that Palin's two strongest critics on the right were females.
20 - Dr Dreadful
I agree that everyone has a right to strive for a college degree, Baronius. My father-in-law couldn't read or write at all until he was 12. He's now an anesthetist at UC Davis Medical Center pulling down almost 200 grand a year.
But colleges shouldn't be pandering to the illiterate: that's what remedial schools (and the military, which was my father-in-law's route) are for.
(I realize your tongue was in your cheek there: just wanted to make my position clear.)
21 - Dr Dreadful
And Baronius, I don't think it's so much that Noonan and Parker were jealous of Palin. It's that if McCain was going to pick a female running mate, there were literally dozens of more experienced and qualified Republican women he could have chosen.
22 - Baronius
Dread, we agree on comment #20. And I don't think that Noonan is jealous; I don't know quite what it is. There's an aphorism that the only thing more obvious than a man when he likes a woman is a woman when she doesn't like a woman.
23 - Christopher Rose
Chris RoseAl Barger - I do weary of your constant and baseless accusations that I am full of hate,particularly since you're supposed to be the editor monkey enforcing the "no personal attacks" business. Not agreeing with yourpinkoludicrous crap doesn't make me a hater. You simply proclaiming it over and over doesn't make it so.As Clavos would say, there you go Al, I fixed up your comment for ya!
24 - Dr Dreadful
Baronius, that's one of feminism's greatest laments. Men have exploited it for millennia!
25 - Lisa Solod Warren
Baronius
Don't go there. Palin is far inferior in every way--except in looks to some, I admit--to any woman I know personally....(and far inferior intellectually to both Parker and Noonan.)
It has nothing to do with jealousy. When men criticize other men, no one ever uses that word.
Lots of women like her because she's ordinary and they're ordinary; same reason they liked Bush. It's that simple. And no big mystery. Certainly doens't make her presideny-worthy. If the GOP wants to run her it's their call. But WHY she's worthy of discussing at this point is beyond me.
I think the Repubs need to work at 1) Finding a new message 2) Figuring out ways in which their many Governors can work on fixing problems in their many states 3) stop worrying about 2012 right now and get to work on helping to fix the country and be bi-partisan 4) stop thinking bout ME, ME ME ME and why they didn't win...
But, hey, that's just my opinion.