Sarah Palin, as told by Guy Rundle, Dover, Delaware:
Hair-piled high, in the signature red jacket, she powers out her message to near hysterical acclaim. The plastic frame of the TV buzzes with the static bursts of cheering.
“You know so great to be in the state that gave us the great Ronald Reagan, yeahhh. See all the mama Grizzlies out there. You’ve been ridiculed, you’ve been mocked, you’ve been slandered by the Left.” Cheering. “Still you didn’t let the big government-loving professional politicians and the complicit left-wing, lamestream media tell you to sit down and shut up. Instead no, you didn’t retreat. You reloaded. And you’ve turned this country around.”
Huge sustained cheering. Two years on, the know-nothingness has gone, filled out with some solid tuition in conservative libertarianism. “We gotta get back to the American exceptionalism that Ronald Reagan talked about, you know, and once we restore our republic, we restore our free markets, and you know well I can see 2012 from my house!”
Her speeches are brilliantly written, her delivery electrifying, a sing-song, jazzy rhythm half Mama grizzly, half mean girl, dripping with sarcasm and cheap triumph. I have heard nothing like it, ever. This is all either one of the greatest shows of recent times, or the start of something very big.
This is real and this is happening, people. Don’t blink and miss the mid-terms. Barack Obama’s campaign for another presidential term — which, as only Americans can, effectively started with his inauguration last year — unofficially kicks off now, and as we all know, the implications extend way beyond Dover, Delaware.
Sure, you and the rest of the world are powerless in the face of a Mama Grizzly onslaught, but at least you can say you paid attention.
I watched parts of that “speech” by Palin. Guy says he has heard nothin like it ever. I have, while visiting a zoo. If the Republicans are stupid enough to give this ‘person ‘ the nomination in 2012, the Democrats will be more than happy. The question will be, who is the Dems nomination? Barack or Hillary?
“The great Ronald Reagan” and a longing for smaller, less intrusive, government (“GFC’s with that, anyone?”) – where do these people get their daily dose of reality?
The (spin) doctors and nurses at “FUX News”?
Great stuff Guy. Most reminiscent of the best of The Great Shark Hunt. The crazy democratic political process – gotta love it, for better or for worse. Have fun!
DAVID: I was lucky enough to miss it, but I’ll take your word for it.
This strikes me as scary. Hitler had a similar affect on the Germans in the 1930s – hysterical acclamation by people who were going through hard times and the need to blame someone else for their pain.
Strong rhythms, sustained cheering, hand clapping, marching feet, torchlight marching to a strong beat all have an hypnotic effect that leaves the audience malleable, open to suggestion and lacking discrimination.
These methods have been used very successfully to obtain religious conversions down through the centuries.