In My Face

I have written only 24 pieces for this blog over a two year period. Not particularly prolific. Yet even with this small accounting I have applied, in part or in whole, a disproportionate amount of my monologue to Sarah Palin. Now here I go again. However, this time I’m more interested in trying to figure out why this woman continues to be “in my face”, what it says about this American culture, and what it means to me.

Certainly the lady continues to generate press. The choices made by the media are the result of what they believe mirrors the interests of their audience – simplistic, but basically true. The importance of a chosen story, and therefore its coverage, is of course relative. If 9/11 happened today instead of 9 years ago, the oil spill in the Gulf would be page 3 news. That’s where part of my problem begins – why does the story of Sarah Palin surface above so many other things that are happening in the world, or even in this country? I think her activities (and those of Todd, Bristol, Trig, and Levi et al) trumps popular coverage of our military efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, where soldiers are still dying by the dozens monthly. It makes no sense to me, but almost by definition it must make sense to a lot of other people.

Sarah was the topic of a recent Newsweek cover story. Given it was Newsweek and given the description on the cover I expected it to be another critical review of her inept presentations, if not an out and out bashing. I was surprised to read that it viewed her in a rather favorable light. The focus of the article was why Palin is so revered by so many Christian Conservatives, in particular Conservative Christian women. The article points out how she has attained a can-do-no-wrong status. Combine that with the superstar curiosity she generates and one can understand why she is such a huge draw wherever she goes. In a recent star studded commercial event in Richmond she had top billing over such heavy weights as Colin Powell, Rudolph Giuliani, and Terry Bradshaw (to name a few) and she only had to attend by satellite feed instead of carting her kiester down there like the others. She undoubtedly made more money than the rest as well.

She recently stumped for Carly Fiorina in Carly’s California Senate bid to oust Barbara Boxer. As Fiorina (former CEO) probably wouldn’t have given Palin a job at Hewlett-Packard above Assistant VP in charge of Inuit Marketing, one can only imagine what was going on in Fiorina’s head as she stood in the shadows behind Palin. Yet it brought out the faithful in large numbers. Whether it did Fiorina any good is another question all together.

The Newsweek article attributed her popularity primarily to the single issue of abortion and her pro-life stand. Her credibility is solid gold as she often sports Trig around on her hip, a living testimony that no man (emphasis on the word “man”) can refute. In a post-election Stephanopoulos interview, however, she was asked the question “what would you have told Bristol if she (Bristol) had come to you and said she was getting an abortion”. Palin responded that she would have counseled her daughter hoping that she would make the right decision to keep the child. Of course, that is the pro-choice position in the debate, but no one appeared to notice the inconsistency. Titling the Newsweek article Saint Sarah was not an exaggeration.

So what does this adulation say about our culture and why does it seem to disturb me to the point where I’d prefer…no, wish Palin to fade into Alaskan obscurity?

Palin only brings up the abortion issue like the gas engine in a hybrid car recharges the batteries. The perceived truth of that one issue affords her the credibility on almost anything conservative, allowing her to go miles and miles on the most outrageous positions and proclamations. A Christian Conservative (man) I know who is thoughtful and well-read described her to me as “refreshing”. I tried to get from him what that meant, but he neither had a answer nor wanted to delve into the specifics of why I thought she was the political equivalent of a carnival barker. What I think he was saying was: I like her…and I don’t care why.

I believe too many of us have reached a point where we have surrendered the search for our own identities to simplistic themes and to those who present them. Ignorance has always been the primary fuel for fear and intolerance. It is most identifiable in the presence of certitudes. Young children are the most certain of their environment because their knowledge is so limited. They are also fearful of what is unknown to them and naturally intolerant. It can take a lifetime for one of us to grow into an acceptance of uncertainty and diversity. Unfortunately, in many of us it never happens at all. When that’s the case, a person will often gravitate toward that which they intuitively feel will alleviate their fears and justify their intolerance. How many historical events could one attribute to that dynamic? So many it is history itself. Perhaps this culture is becoming the victim of its increasing inability to find comfort with the unknown as our numbers increase and our systems become more complex. Then, almost mysteriously, the Sarah Palins of the world pop up like mushrooms on a damp lawn.

For me, I find myself becoming more tolerant of Sarah Palin. She’s simply a saleswoman and she’s only meeting the demand. Instead of complaining about the mushrooms on the lawn, perhaps I should be grateful that they’re able to tell me that things have gotten a bit wet.