"poisonous Grimm Sister telling toxic fairy tales to audiences drunk on fear, and hate and nonsense"

[muriel_volestrangler]

Charles Pierce gives the definitive description of Sarah Palin, and her CPAC rant:

By now, and by god, it should have settled permanently in the consciousness of the nation what a huge and untoward gamble with the country John McCain and his campaign took in 2008 when they elevated Sarah Palin from her rightful place on the tundra to the political celebrity she currently enjoys. McCain should pay a heavy price for unleashing this ignorant, two-wheeled bilewagon on the country's politics. If you think she's a legitimate political leader, you're an idiot and a sucker and I feel sorry for you.

Yesterday she gave a wildly received speech to ring down the curtain at CPAC. The applause, as far as I know, may still be going on. It was as singularly embarrassing a public address as any allegedly sentient primate ever has delivered. It was a disgrace to politics, to rhetoric, to the English language, and to seventh-grade slam books everywhere.

This ambulatiory bag of rank resentment pulled out all the tricks. The cheap shots; "Aw, John, why the long face?" to the Secretary of State. The sneering, wheedling playground taunting -- "You can't make a phone call without Michelle Obama knowing, 'This is the third time this week you dialed Pizza Hut Delivery'" -- and a full panoply of funny voices that are the trademark of dipshit comics in every two-drink minimum club in America. We got "hope and channng-ey," and how "some members" of the GOP establishment are saying to us, "Hush, America. Go to sleep, little lambs." And, in what is being celebrated as the piece de resistance , she turned Green Eggs And Ham into an extended taunt.
...
A friend bailed on the speech, making the very plausible case that Palin is simply another political celebrity freakshow, like Donald Trump. I can see the point there but, with Palin, and watching the hysterical reception her puerile screed received, there is something more serious going on. She is the living representation of the infantilization of American politics, a poisonous Grimm Sister telling toxic fairy tales to audiences drunk on fear, and hate and nonsense. She respects no standards but her own. She is in perpetual tantrum, railing against her betters, which is practically everyone, and volunteering for the job of avatar to the country's reckless vandal of a political Id. It was the address of a malignant child delivered to an audience of malignant children. If you applauded, you're an idiot and I feel sorry for you.

http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/sarah-palin-cpac-2014-030814

[Berlum]

1. There you have it

[marble falls]

2. Your friend nailed it, its a freak show.

[Scuba]

3. Pierce is superb, again. Thanks muriel.

[LeftishBrit]

4. k&r

[Godot51]

5. John Cleese:

“I think the problem with people like this is that they are so stupid that they have no idea how stupid they are. You see, if you are very, very stupid how can you possibly realize that you’re very, very stupid?”

[geckosfeet]

7. Yes. And they ARE very very stupid. And I do not feel sorry for them.

[Hoppy]

13. that begs the question,

-- how to any of us know that we are right?

[arcane1]

15. Evidence n/t

[siligut]

35. Because we think for ourselves and still come to the same conclusions, much of the time

[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]

The right-wing voters are fed lies, they are more susceptible to suggestions from authoritarian figures and social pressures.

[tblue37]

73. From Yeats's poem "The Second Coming":

"The best lack all conviction, /And the worst are full of passionate intensity."

[treestar]

52. the more you know, the more you know how much you don't know

and could learn.

[cui bono]

62. Science ans stuff.

[Rex]

63. True, even if we are very very stupid...how would we comprehend it if told so?

However that begs the question, have you ever been told you are very very stupid?

[Warpy]

36. The Dunning-Kruger effect in a nutshell

Cleese's statement was backed up by what no dummy believes in, real science.

Since they're too stupid to realize how stupid they are, they're just full of confidence and sunny optimism. Sadly, people find that sort of thing appealing.

[progressoid]

49. Yep. Perfect example of Dunning-Kruger. n/t

[kardonb]

59. stooopid

ignorance can be enlightened and informed , but there is no cure for stoopid , ever . And so often stupidity and arrogance go together , unfortunately .

[Half-Century Man]

68. There is an old saying that death can't even cure stupidity.

And as tempting as it is to test that theory .......
One more example of the very few drawbacks of civilization.

[RVN VET]

44. Hammer meet Palin's head

But it's not just her, it's her audience that's stupid, and the audience's familiars and acquaintances. And it's even worse than that. The GOP, it appears, is getting stupider. Even Goppers who used to be not so stupid are getting stupider.

Take, as just one of many examples, Michael Medved. He -- I'm risking an attack here -- was not always stupid. He used to have a sense of humor and an appreciation for what is real and true. Now, in his premature dotage, he joins Palin in the stupid pool, only with less of a fatuous following and smaller breasts.

(And, alas, the same is true of George F. Will.)

[awoke_in_2003]

47. I disagree with almost everything

that Medved or Will say, but I will cede that they (at least at some point) were not stupid.

[RVN VET]

74. I remember a column Will wrote -- maybe 30 years ago?

It was a brilliant comparison of Solzhenitsyn and Norman Mailer. Mailer got the short end of the stick, and I thought Will was a little unfair to him. But, oh, it was a crisply written, well thought out piece.

And didn't Medved do the "Golden Turkey" awards, reviews and overviews of terrible -- sometimes hilariously so -- movies?

[IrishAyes]

55. That type always reminds me of a guy I've had the misfortune to know, living near

stop me if you've heard this story before!

this tiny town in RedNeckLand - uh, 'flyover country' - where I retired for financial reasons. He was (maybe still is) a frequent passenger on the regional OATS minibus I used to ride twice a week. As a self-described intellectual, he often bragged how he had graduated 8th grade and could read, but his girlfriend had almost completed the 11th grade! I used to enjoy comedic characters like Barney Fife and Jethro Bodine until I met too many of their real life counterparts. Police chief (has one part time deputy) here remarked once that the guy is literally the craziest person he's ever met. Thank you, Ronnie Raygun, for dismantling the mental health centers those sad cases need so badly. One of the last times I rode the bus, the (now ex-) driver let this guy scream furiously at me a full five minutes w/o doing a thing to damp it down. Of course that driver was at least nearly as dangerous as his buddy passenger.

Point being, the usual 'gang of 10' as I thought of them, all considered themselves brilliant because they could regurgitate what they'd heard their idol Rush spewing the day before. My own sense could be questioned, I guess; I needed that damned bus too for transportation, but I should've kept ear phones and dark glasses on and my mouth shut the whole time. Usually I didn't argue back with them too much because a) they wouldn't listen anyway; and b) they usually kept up a bloodthirsty roar all on their own.

However, in true Irish fashion, sometimes I'd wait until a brief lull and then chirp, "Isn't it fabulous what President Obama did this week? yadayadayada." They'd all start screaming again on cue. Well, they'd already worn me out and I felt devilish enough to poke them back a little.

On rare occasions I'd bait somebody directly, as in the following account with a woman I'll call Keggy because she was often half drunk at least:

Keggy: "Last night Rush said blahblahblah (about economics)...."

Me: "Keggy, if you want to impress me with your financial wisdom, first you have to demonstrate some knowledge of the basics, okay?"

A moment of dead silence followed; she was at least able to grasp that something she wouldn't like was about to happen.

Me: "First of all, what's the difference between micro economics and macro economics?"

Dead silence. Rush hadn't told her that, possibly because he might not know either.

Me: "What's the main news organ of the NY financial community? Don't anybody tell her the answer, now!"

More dead silence, as expected, because I knew they didn't know either or they would've blurted it out.

Me: "Well, here's an easy one: Who's known as the Sage of Omaha?"

Not quite so quiet now; a low rumble of disapproval started.

Me: "OK then, let me ask you one more question. If you - and apparently everyone else on this bus - doesn't have the slightest idea in the world what you're talking about, pray tell why should I listen to you regurgitating the crap you heard Rush vomit on his latest show? Guess what? He probably doesn't know the answers either! hahaha..."

At that point if not before, all hell would break out. Today I'm still amazed I ever got off that bus alive. The (ex-) driver did eventually file a false police report against me, claiming I'd carried a gun on board and threatened everybody, and they were all ready to testify about it. So you can take your choice about who was more stupid, them or me for ragging them on now and then - but I had no choice! It was either that or risk a heart attack from stress.

Unfortunately I have to admit one thing: they really might have represented the brightest and best the locals have to offer. When I supposed that aloud one time, it took forever for the insult to sink in, and then it never percolated down past the surface. They just sensed somehow that it might not be quite the complimentary concession it sounded like at first.

(No, they're not ALL that stupid - just 90-95%) Be careful before buying a house in a red state. Maybe your yearly property tax will only be $184 refundable like mine, but you will pay big time in other ways.

[Botany]

6. smack down

We even got the inevitable gloat. Back five years ago, somebody wrote down on a little card for her that allowing the Russians to invade Georgia -- as though there was anything we could have done about that -- would embolden Vladimir Putin to move on Ukraine. She dutifully read it in public and now, of course, she is the smartest geopolitical mind in the country.

"After all, who could have seen this one coming?"

In 2008, we should remember, she wasn't sure how many Koreas there were, thought Saddam Hussein was behind the 9/11 attacks, and was unclear whether or not Africa was a country. So, in an act of Christian charity, I will grant that some anonymous staffer, who very likely has only now recovered from the serious heroin habit he developed while working with Palin on foreign policy in 2008, was slightly clairvoyant about the intentions of the Putin government. Well done, unsung hero. If you respect her knowledge of anything beyond where her next speaking fee is coming from, you're an idiot and I feel sorry for you.

[IrishAyes]

57. Have pity - she probably thought the staffer meant that Georgia just south of the Mason-Dixon.

[cali]

8. wow. I think a hell of a lot of Pierce's take and I think this is the best piece

I've ever read by him.

He summed up what's most frightening about politics today and about republicans.

[malaise]

9. This

McCain should pay a heavy price for unleashing this ignorant, two-wheeled bilewagon on the country's politics. If you think she's a legitimate political leader, you're an idiot and a sucker and I feel sorry for you.

[Ikonoklast]

24. Palin's real name must be Sarah Petard.

She blows up everything she ever touched.

[malaise]

27. I rather like Lady Blah Blah which was coined by a DUer

[AAO]

45. I would like that, but she really is no lady. Maybe Shady Blah Blah.

[roguevalley]

46. bible spice. the boreal narcissist. the idaho potato head

[LongTomH]

48. Petard is a kind of bomb -- it's also French for a fart!!!!!!

Either of which describes Sister Sarah!

[mountain grammy]

10. K & R for Charlie Pierce and his excellent take on the clown show..

"the address of a malignant child delivered to an audience of malignant children" indeed.

That this collection of wealthy malcontents makes it to the mainstream media so called "news" every day they meet says a lot about where we are in America today. The fascist fringe has seen the light of day for far too long.

[gulliver]

11. I hope she just keeps talking.

We should never let voters forget that Sarah Palin was the Republican VP candidate. McCain should be reminded every time he opens his mouth.

[zeemike]

16. The more she talks the stupider the base gets.

and that is a good thing for the neo-cons...stupid people are easy to control.

[siligut]

41. Stupid, fearful and smug people

So true, fear interferes with thinking and for people who don't think much to begin with, well . . . And the pride they get from being part of an important group is also a reason to conform and not question.

[Ned Fenwick]

21. Exactly

The best thing for the all of us in the United States in the coming year would be a lot more exposure in the media for this person. An awful lot more, lots of screeching speeches, campaigning for "real conservatives". That's what the voters need to hear. That tiresome,monotonous, adolescent attitude, the voice, like nails on a blackboard. Excruciatingly perfect!!

[Number23]

71. I could not agree more

EVERY SINGLE TIME he steps foot in front of a camera and starts to talk about something, ANYTHING, the first comment should be "yes, that's all good but didn't you pick Sarah Palin to be your running mate? Why should anyone believe anything you have to say? About anything?"

[hobbit709]

12. Grifterella needs to go back to Moronica and stay there.

[rurallib]

14. Pierce nails it. I often wonder what makes a Sarah Palin click

or a Limbaugh or a Cruz. They can't believe themselves what they are saying because they so often contradict themselves.

It doesn't take long to get to an answer: Money, money, money. Just like the old time patent medicine wagons, Palin and her ilk have found a bunch of really rich rubes who will pay top dollar for her bullshit and that of the others.

Just say what they want to hear over and over and make them feel very comfortable with their anti-human stances on issues. The Palins of the world also serve to get enough people to vote against their own interests which keep the 1% in power.

[loudsue]

17. That was, actually, brilliant.

I haven't seen anyone capture my own feelings of anger and disgust quite as brilliantly as he did. I feel nothing but contempt for that whole scene: a school-yard bully-rally.

[onecent]

18. Everytime I see her Green Eggs and Ham piece this morning I turn the channel,

finally just shut television off. Dear Lord she needs to get a job replacing Captain Kangaroo.

[tomp]

32. hey, you got a problem with the captain? nt

[colorado_ufo]

51. Seems to me a lawsuit is in order.

She has no right to use the Seuss piece without permission. Where are his publishers? His heirs? I am no attorney, but this stinks of theft of intellectual property and copyright infringement.

And money is all she understands.

[CrispyQ]

19. "She is the living representation of the infantilization of American politics..."

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

20. This is a spot on evaluation by Charlie Pierce but-

it makes me wonder yet again why we even pay attention to the crap this woman spits out of her mouth. What is on here resume that even remotely validates here as an expert or thinker on big policy issues. If I want political analysis like her's, there's a bar in town I can go to and there's usually a couple of drunks willing to expound on the evils of Obama and liberals. They're very entertaining too.

Palin was a poor example of a small town mayor who served 1/2 term as a the governor of the tundra and was part of a train wreck of a failed presidential ticket. She sounds like she's speaking in tongues at every public appearance. Giving her publicity is no different than reporting on what Dennis Rodman just said or the fact that Lindsey Lohan just got arrested again or who got mad at the Papparazzi or what nasty note some obscure person left on a restaurant receipt this week. Its all bull!

I agree with the comments that the more she talks, the bigger a hole she digs for herself and the republicans. But why do we even give this woman the time of day to begin with. That goes for the rest of CPAC as well.

[cali]

22. Me, me, me. Waves hand in air. I can answer that I think

We pay attention to her because she's immensely popular with a significant minority that has control of a couple of dozen states and has seriously impacted the dialogue and policies in this country.

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

25. Isn't lke a chicken and egg question?

It almost like people who are famous for being famous. Her popularity is linked to the amount of attention we pay to her. Its certainly not based on the quality of her ideas or her long history of public service. She's entertaining. Do we put her on TV because people follow her or do people follow her because she's always on TV?

[muriel_volestrangler]

34. Yes, but the attention paid came from Fox News, and other media 'we' have no control over

Fox hyped her a lot, and more neutral media (CNN, NBC etc.) bought into it. It'd be great if they hadn't - comparatively, that 'neutral' media hasn't bought the Benghazi meme in the same way, and so it hasn't got established as a 'reasonable' criticism.

[pangaia]

54. Maybe it's like driving by the proverbial 30 car automobile crash.

[MisterP]

56. why is the GOP's main talking point "anyone against us is a traitor" when their fave President

backed Pol Pot, Saddam, cocaine-running, the GenSec of the CPSU, the Mullahs, the Taliban, AND gave money to Hezbollah?

[66 dmhlt]

23. I've said it before, and I'll say it again ...

I prefer to refer to Palin as "The Whore of Babblin' On"

Lest anyone think I'm being misogynistic:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whore_of_Babylon

[mazzarro]

31. 1000% - Agreed! - n/t

[TxDemChem]

26. Damn....he didn't hold back at all

She's an idiot.

[rock]

28. Sarah's level of intelligence

matches her audience's. That's why they're crazy about her.

[Stargazer09]

29. That was quite a put down

And it was very, very good.

[Martin Eden]

30. The scary part is the enthusiatic applause for her toxic fairy tales.

The venue wasn't a Loon Lodge in Alaska; it was in front of a nationally prominent political action committee that represents a great deal of money and power.

A recent thread asked "WTF is wrong with our country?"

Well, this is a contender for Exhibit A.

[progressoid]

50. Yep. At a dinner gathering last night, I overheard a couple RWers praising her yesterday.

"Did you hear Sarah's speach!" Gush gush gush.

It was sickening.

[niyad]

33. he certainly nailed it. some of the comments after his piece were. . .well. . pathetic.

[Cleita]

37. She actually did a stand up routine, except it was mean spirited and not funny.

There was no substance, no thought, just making fun of our President and others. She wouldn't last on the mic in a comedy club for a whole minute before being boo'd off the stage. It goes to show what cretins those who were cheering her on are.

[Blue Owl]

38. She's the ogre in that fairy tale

n/t

[spanone]

39. k&r...

[lunatica]

40. I think of her as the Sarah Palin of Pandora's box

McCain unleashed Palin's box to the country. There's no stuffing her back into the box because her followers were cowering in the bigot closet before she gave them permission to out themselves and their Idiocracy onto unsuspecting Americans. She could be President Palin running against President Camacho and winning by a landslide that would put the Great Garbage Slide to shame.

[ctsnowman]

42. K & R

[xocet]

43. It is too bad that the Brothers Grimm are primarily only remembered in conjunction with fairy tales.

They both were accomplished academics.

Here is a link to an outline of their lives:

http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm.html

Here is a link to their dictionary:

http://dwb.uni-trier.de/de/

What would a pair of linguists do with a complete idiot such as Palin?

[AlbertCat]

53. What would a pair of linguists do with a complete idiot such as Palin?

Study the phenomenon. I mean.... do you understand it?

[xocet]

69. Yes, studying the phenomenon would be interesting. n/t

[ROFF]

60. Actually I like Palin.

I think that she did the country a great favour by showing what a fool Mcain was in selecting her. I believe that Mcain had a small chance of winning the 2008 election, until he selected her. Of course, he cannot admit it, but it must hurt knowing that he might be President now if he had used the big head instead of the little one.

[Skittles]

66. I don't think he picked her

I think the repuke establishment picked her

[world wide wally]

61. Good synopsis…. now tell us what you really think

[DeSwiss]

64. K&R!!!

''If you think she's a legitimate political leader, you're an idiot and a sucker and I feel sorry for you.''

- Best line I've read all day!

[blkmusclmachine]

65. Crazy

[toby jo]

67. She's gotta be getting under the skin of some republicans.

They're not all at a 90 IQ. I say let her speak, she'll turn more our way than not.

[russspeakeasy]

70. Circus time.

[area51]

72. Love the quote

"ambulatiory bag of rank resentment"