I saw, today, a bumper sticker that made me chuckle and wince at the same time. It said simply "Don't Blame Me...I Voted for McCain/Palin".
Now, it is, as I write this, June 23, 2009. Barak Obama has been in office, at this point, for just a tad over five months. What the hell we would blame on those who voted for him, I don't know. It is, of course, partisan bickering from a party/movement that is fast swirling down the socio-political toilet and headed toward the septic tank of misbegotten ideals and selfish, caustic immaturity masquerading as political philosophy. More laughable, as a sentiment, than anything. Nothing more than a feeble attempt to paint the current president with the stink of failure that George W. Bush seemed to don so effortlessly.
Also a page from the Democratic party's book of tricks, the "I told you so". The same thing was done to Nixon, as well as Bush 2.0. More than a few affixed stickers to their cars that said "Don't blame me, I voted for McGovern", or "Don't blame me, I voted for Gore". Not once, however, did I see a sticker reminding us they voted for the losing candidate AND their running mate. No "Don't blame me, I voted for Mcgovern/Shriver", or"...Gore/Lieberman". The willingness to do this with Sarah Palin speaks volumes of those who consider her to be a serious candidate and bulwark of all that is good and holy in our country.
Let's not mince words, here: Sarah Palin is a befuddled and hideous she-beast, an ignorant and intellectually lacking shrew of the highest magnitude, a cultural fascist, and a politician of such exploitative and greedy bent that she was willing to enlist her own daughter in willful deception; a pol of the Bush stripe, lacking in curiosity about the world, driven by misguided religious idealism, and offering nothing except a monumental case of opportunistic grab-assity. And some fools (really, there is no other word for them) want her to be the face of their movement.
More power to them, I say. As a long-time Democrat, and proud of it, I am baffled by my own party's incompetence in the legislative branch, led by a polarizing and incapable Nancy Pelosi, and spurred on by the milquetoast Harry Reid. At least the emergence of Palin as the face of the Republican party shows an equal lack of political astuteness, as well a willingness to wallow in the sad puddle of social Nazism masquerading as "family values", at the expense of examining the real issues. The relative incompetence of the Pelosi/Reid axis is a starburst of brilliance compared to the insipid public display and self-serving ravings of the Alaskan governor.
The emergence of such a senseless twit as Palin will probably cement the spiraling fate of the conservative movement, and maybe the Republican party, as well. Rather than seize the day with more capable Republican leaders, they are going with this bubble-headed cowgirl. Ronald Reagan was able to guide the Republican party out of the wasteland Nixon exiled them to, with a success that remains astounding and impressive. But Palin is no Reagan, who was always respected as a worthy political leader, even by those who disagreed with him vociferously. Palin is a national punchline trying to extend her fifteen minutes of fame and ride it to a serious Presidential run.
Which is entirely possible; I mean, we did elect W in 2004, after his incompetence has already been brilliantly illuminated. But it took a special kind of dimwit, one John Kerry, to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. And Palin makes Kerry seem positively Lincolnesque by comparison.
