Palin True Calling

What struck me most about Palin appearance on Saturday Night Live is the ease at which she handled her lines. She was smooth and calm and demonstrated a presence seen in only seasoned professionals. She was in her element. Juxtapose that performance with her interview with Katie Couric and you are left with the impression that the performing arts are her forte not public service.

Contrast the stumbling bumbling neophyte who couldn't identify a news source for her biases with the smooth bouncing hip hop momma who was rocking through a rap. Indeed, Palin is definitely a good performer. She is just not a suitable candidate to ascend to the presidency.

When she is talking theatrical nonsense, she is poised. When she is on the political stump she is a fear mongering, right wing pandering “no-nothing” who confuses patriotism with partisanship. She is iconic only in the sense that the far right is starved for anyone who can put a pretty face on the foolishness that passes as policy. Yet, there is something redeeming about her. She has a future in the world of make believe. She can saddle up along side Fred Thompson and become a prosecutor on law and order. She can even be the President as long the script is well written and her lines are clearly spelled out.

What has happen in 21st Century American Culture is that fantasy and reality have merged into one blur. In a world where a no-talent rich heiress can become a celebrity and a supposed legitimate newsman like Chris Mathews can assume a role in a movie, there is no differentiation between the real and the unreal. Consequently, everything dissolves into the surreal. We can call a dozen folks living in the world of survival a reality show and we can assume that proximity can be counted as foreign relations.

So, this is how Sarah Palin arose from the tundra to the national scene. She was selected by Central Casting. It was the talent scouts of “Rovian” persuasion to see the potential in a winking hockey mom. Yes on SNL, she was in her true element. Notice that there wasn't a single tongue tied moment. No brash claims of executive experience, no answer to be scrutinize. There was just this likable bumpkin acting her part.

Funny that the last great iconic Republican was an actor. I can see the wheels spinning in the minds of “neo-cons” as they retreat under their rocks to plan for the next great emergence of the silent real America. With a mixture of religion and no nothingness and a measure of false patriotism, the elephant can again be tamed to march across the civil liberties why the super rich continue to hoard the treasures of this country in pursuit of their excesses.

We can only hope that MGM puts Palin under contract to spare us from this next debacle.