I don't wish to join Isaac in piling on Matthew Continetti's love letter to Sarah Palin in the Weekly Standard. Wait. Let me re-phrase that. I do wish to join Isaac in piling on Matthew Continetti's love letter to Sarah Palin in the Weekly Standard. I know I shouldn't but I can't resist. Here's a passage that gives you an inkling of the method Continetti used to compile his argument:
Whenever the arbiters of educated opinion witness the emergence of a populist leader, they spew insults. Sarah Palin has been called--among many, many other things--a "bantamweight cheerleader" (Maureen Dowd), an "airhead" (Charles Wohlforth), an "idiot" (Victoria Coren), a "character too dumb even for daytime TV" (Matt Taibbi), a "puffed-up dimwit with primitive religious beliefs" (Taibbi again), and a "white trash trophy wife wearing glasses so she looks intellectual" (Catherine Deveny).
Okay, let's take a look at these "arbiters of educated opinion." Just how representative of elite opinion are they? Maureen Dowd, to be sure, is an influential columnist who writes for a prestigious forum. But Dowd traffics in put-downs. She has called President Obama "America's pretty boy." Hillary Clinton is "Mommie Dearest." Al Gore, she wrote, is "so feminized and diversified and ecologically correct, he's practically lactating." In other words, Dowd is a satirist and provocateur. Matt Taibbi, a political writer for Rolling Stone, is sort of a far-left version of Dowd, but without the literary subtlety. He writes extreme polemics that grab attention by going over the top. Naturally Continetti sites him twice.
Rounding out the list are three writers I have never heard of. I am not saying this to dismiss their abilities or their career achievement -- I point this out only to note that I write about American politics for a living and have a reasonably good familiarity with any writers who have attained any influence in my field. Charles Wohlforth turns out to be a travel writer based in Alaska. Victoria Coren is a British poker columnist. Catherine Deveny, according to Wikipedia, is:
a comedy writer, stand-comedian, and a regular and sometimes controversial opinion columnist in "The Age" newspaper since 2001. She has performed on all Australian TV networks, in all Australian premier comedy venues and on radio.
Apparently Continetti is operating off of the idiosyncratic theory that, when educated Americans need to form an opinion on the issues of the day, they turn to obscure, controversial Australian comedians.
It is odd that Continetti does not provide an affiliation for any of these elite arbiters. It's standard journalistic practice to identify names you introduce in an article. Some people are so famous that they do not need identification, but Coninetti labels such well-known figures as "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi." Does he assume that all his readers can identity the likes of Wohlforthand Coren, and thus need no identification? Or did he figure that identifying his targets would make it clear that he cherry-picked a handful of marginal figures that he is trying to pass off as the arbiters of educated opinion?
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COMMENTS (4)
It seems to me to be almost a fallacy of the sci-fi meme "Rule of three," where any mention of greatness has three examples, two common historical ones from 'real life,' and one fictional from the future between now and when the show is set. Star Trek is great at this. So you get things like "this scientific discovery will put you in the company of Newton, Einstein, and Stupek of Vulcan!" or "this goes back to the basics of human rights: The Magna Carta, the Constitution of the United States, the Fundamental Declaration of the Martian Colonies!" He cites Maureen Dowd (NY Times), Matt Tabbi (Rolling Stone), and then other people we've never heard of, but because of those two, they must al ... view full comment
It seems to me to be almost a fallacy of the sci-fi meme "Rule of three," where any mention of greatness has three examples, two common historical ones from 'real life,' and one fictional from the future between now and when the show is set. Star Trek is great at this. So you get things like "this scientific discovery will put you in the company of Newton, Einstein, and Stupek of Vulcan!" or "this goes back to the basics of human rights: The Magna Carta, the Constitution of the United States, the Fundamental Declaration of the Martian Colonies!" He cites Maureen Dowd (NY Times), Matt Tabbi (Rolling Stone), and then other people we've never heard of, but because of those two, they must also be important! Never mind they're fundamentally small change.
crock, that is pretty funny. I am not sure if your knowing this rule is clever on your part, or scary in a nerd-geek kind of way. And the truly scary thing (for me) is that I actually know where those references come from.
The thing about this posting is that Chait never gives his own opinion, but surely he thinks that Palin is a backwoods bubbleheaded nitwit, someone who I would not even consider putting in charge of a shoe store much less a state (which is kind of what Alaska is) or even the country, that being the case than Chait is being fundamentally dishonest, unless, that is, he doesn't consider himself to be an educated opinion writer, or he thinks Palin is intelligent.
Continett ... view full comment
crock, that is pretty funny. I am not sure if your knowing this rule is clever on your part, or scary in a nerd-geek kind of way. And the truly scary thing (for me) is that I actually know where those references come from.
The thing about this posting is that Chait never gives his own opinion, but surely he thinks that Palin is a backwoods bubbleheaded nitwit, someone who I would not even consider putting in charge of a shoe store much less a state (which is kind of what Alaska is) or even the country, that being the case than Chait is being fundamentally dishonest, unless, that is, he doesn't consider himself to be an educated opinion writer, or he thinks Palin is intelligent.
Continetti screwed up in quoting small fry, but be honest, if he did a little effort he could have found a host of famous opinion writers who view her as being a ditz.
"Apparently Continetti is operating off of the idiosyncratic theory that, when educated Americans need to form an opinion on the issues of the day, they turn to obscure, controversial Australian comedians."
Continetti is pointing out that obscure, controversial Australian comedians are a "gateway drug" down the sordid road toward even more dangerous, wretched opinions.
I wish someone had warned me. I started off on Melbourne's finest and soon hit the harder stuff: opinions spouted by truckers trolling for hookers on CB Channel 19 outside Bakersfield; inaccurately dubbed opinions clumsily inserted into reruns of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood by sullen, coughing Croatian chain-smokers on the Zagre ... view full comment
"Apparently Continetti is operating off of the idiosyncratic theory that, when educated Americans need to form an opinion on the issues of the day, they turn to obscure, controversial Australian comedians."
Continetti is pointing out that obscure, controversial Australian comedians are a "gateway drug" down the sordid road toward even more dangerous, wretched opinions.
I wish someone had warned me. I started off on Melbourne's finest and soon hit the harder stuff: opinions spouted by truckers trolling for hookers on CB Channel 19 outside Bakersfield; inaccurately dubbed opinions clumsily inserted into reruns of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood by sullen, coughing Croatian chain-smokers on the Zagreb Public Television website; a rejected Bollywood screenwriter droning on about how, in his opinion, we're all fucked because of the Second Law of Thermodynamics at that night class at Boise Junior College.
Now I have hit rock-bottom. I lube up Little Willie and let him slide undirected across my Ouija board (a family heirloom!), while I dutifully record the opinions revealed during his journey and subsequently model my behavior accordingly.
They say the first step on the road to recovery is admitting you have a problem. Small comfort.
The gal from Oz sounds like Sarah's doppelganger. When asked what newspapers she reads, Sarah replied "Um, all of them, any of them that have been in front of me over all these years." When supplying her bio to WIkipedia, the gal from Oz said claimed that she "has performed on all Australian TV networks, in all Australian premier comedy venues and on radio."
The gal from Oz sounds like Sarah's doppelganger. When asked what newspapers she reads, Sarah replied "Um, all of them, any of them that have been in front of me over all these years." When supplying her bio to WIkipedia, the gal from Oz said claimed that she "has performed on all Australian TV networks, in all Australian premier comedy venues and on radio."