PrintJonathan Martin brings us yet another former McCain adviser stepping forward to accuse Sarah Palin of being a dunce. In this telling, Palin canceled a sit down with Spanish-language channel Univision because she felt uncomfortable talking about Hispanic issues. A campaign aide described it as “a near-crisis situation, with McCain officials worried that [Univision anchor Jorge] Ramos would say on the air that Palin wasn’t appearing because she was not capable of discussing” the issues.
I can see why a campaign adviser might think that this would constitute a “near crisis,” but I think the anecdote is actually sort of redeeming. After all, what always irked me about Palin was how brazenly confident she seemed in her own ignorance, the way she championed her mothering skills as a qualification for the presidency, and that she “didn’t blink” when offered the VP slot (she only winked.) But here’s an instance of her taking a step back and recognizing the limits of her knowledge on an issue and then refusing to speak publicly about it. Of course, she should have followed this self-correcting instinct a lot more frequently (which probably would have meant not accepting McCain’s offer in the first place) but I still think it’s nice to see that, in at least one instance on the campaign trail, she was struck with self-doubt.
On a similar note, Glenn Thrush flagged a rare flash of introspective thought from Michele Bachmann in an interview with the St. Cloud Times today. “I wish I could be more artful in the way that I say things,” she said. She continued:
But the other thing I’ve noticed that is kind of interesting is it seems like there’s also a double standard and bias in the mainstream media.
Polls today say that the American people more than ever think the mainstream media is biased in favor of the liberal position. And so conservatives, especially conservative women, are held to a completely different standard than liberals.
Well, one out of two ain’t bad.
COMMENTS (2)
I think there are far more important ways to understand and gauge a person than whichever side of the political fence they happen to inhabit.
I'm blessed to have known both liberals and conservatives who I consider to be among the finest folks I've ever met. I also know both liberals and conservatives who are, simply put, jerks.
It doesn't surprise me that Sarah Palin or Michelle Bachman would demonstrate humility, any more than it would that Joe Lieberman would reveal a sense of humor, or that Barbara Boxer would rescue a drowning child, or that Oren Hatch would help deliver a baby, or that Mitch McConnell would help an unemployed friend repair his car, or that John Thune would tutor a poor c ... view full comment
I think there are far more important ways to understand and gauge a person than whichever side of the political fence they happen to inhabit.
I'm blessed to have known both liberals and conservatives who I consider to be among the finest folks I've ever met. I also know both liberals and conservatives who are, simply put, jerks.
It doesn't surprise me that Sarah Palin or Michelle Bachman would demonstrate humility, any more than it would that Joe Lieberman would reveal a sense of humor, or that Barbara Boxer would rescue a drowning child, or that Oren Hatch would help deliver a baby, or that Mitch McConnell would help an unemployed friend repair his car, or that John Thune would tutor a poor child, or that Ben Nelson would write sonnets. I have no idea of any of the above has happened, but none of that would surprise me because I allow myself to have an imagination about other human beings beyond that which partisanship as defined and sold by media allows me in its self-defined wisdom to have. (After deciding to become an independent voter, by the way, I found that my imagination expanded even more because I no longer had to use partisan rationalization to fight the cognitive dissonance that accrues from toeing a party line.)
In my view, knee-jerk demonizing of someone because he or she thinks differently than me about one or more issues demeans me more than it denigrates the object of my high and mighty judgment.
One of the reasons I left Washington, D.C. many years ago is that I realized it was destroying a part of me that I realized I wanted to maintain: the humanity that allows me to accept those who are different from me--not just different in gender or race or religion, but in thought, mores, values. I was beginning to forget that, for me any way, the whole of humanity is greater than the sum of the individual humans. I need other humans, especially those who are different from me. I need to be around people--good people--who think differently from me on everything from abortions to zoos.
Beware the voice inside you that whispers, "You're right." Don't believe everything you think.
Out of the collection of possibilities w.yard presents, the easiest to test empirically seems to be: would Barbara Boxer rescue a drowning child? If someone will simply lend me a baby, I can put to rest a question that has vexed mankind for millennia.
Out of the collection of possibilities w.yard presents, the easiest to test empirically seems to be: would Barbara Boxer rescue a drowning child? If someone will simply lend me a baby, I can put to rest a question that has vexed mankind for millennia.