Palin The Pretender: "A Midlife Meltdown".
Palin the Pretender: 'a midlife meltdown'
Ellen Goodman
BOSTON — It's probably dangerous to admit to a moment of empathy. I'll either get disqualified from ever becoming being a Supreme Court justice or be asked to turn in my press card.
But after watching reruns of Sarah Palin's resignation from the governorship, after hearing every grammatically challenged sentence and inconsistent paragraph dissected by some talk show host, I started to (blush) feel her pain.
There was the frozen smile, the vulnerability, the odd grab bag of unfiltered, unedited, unintelligible un-reasons scattered across the lawn. Palin quit to avoid being a quitter. She cut and ran as an act of self-sacrifice. She left her job to serve her country.
It wasn't like watching a car wreck. It was like watching a midlife meltdown. It was seeing her self-image as a strong, confident, ambitious woman shaken to the core. All that was holding her together was chewing gum, family and a little righteous anger.
What had happened to Sarah the Barracuda? The pit bull with lipstick? The mother of five, moose killer and marathoner who juggled a BlackBerry and a breast pump?
Ten months ago, when John McCain picked her as his running mate, it was like starting a middle-school basketball star in the WNBA. No, the NBA. As governor, she once remarked about an opponent's ability to spout off facts and figures, "Does any of this really matter?" As running mate, a McCain aide said, she doesn't even know what she doesn't know.
I was among those who harbored the "elitist" belief that a vice presidential candidate should know as much about public policy as, say, Katie Couric. Yet, I delighted in the fact that because of Palin, conservatives lashed out against "sexism," the religious right described teen pregnancy as a "challenge," and it became politically incorrect for the most reactionary Republican to criticize working mothers.
I never believed that it would be easy for Palin to go back to Alaska after the bright lights, big cities lure of a national campaign. But I didn't expect this.
Ellen Goodman
BOSTON — It's probably dangerous to admit to a moment of empathy. I'll either get disqualified from ever becoming being a Supreme Court justice or be asked to turn in my press card.
But after watching reruns of Sarah Palin's resignation from the governorship, after hearing every grammatically challenged sentence and inconsistent paragraph dissected by some talk show host, I started to (blush) feel her pain.
There was the frozen smile, the vulnerability, the odd grab bag of unfiltered, unedited, unintelligible un-reasons scattered across the lawn. Palin quit to avoid being a quitter. She cut and ran as an act of self-sacrifice. She left her job to serve her country.
It wasn't like watching a car wreck. It was like watching a midlife meltdown. It was seeing her self-image as a strong, confident, ambitious woman shaken to the core. All that was holding her together was chewing gum, family and a little righteous anger.
What had happened to Sarah the Barracuda? The pit bull with lipstick? The mother of five, moose killer and marathoner who juggled a BlackBerry and a breast pump?
Ten months ago, when John McCain picked her as his running mate, it was like starting a middle-school basketball star in the WNBA. No, the NBA. As governor, she once remarked about an opponent's ability to spout off facts and figures, "Does any of this really matter?" As running mate, a McCain aide said, she doesn't even know what she doesn't know.
I was among those who harbored the "elitist" belief that a vice presidential candidate should know as much about public policy as, say, Katie Couric. Yet, I delighted in the fact that because of Palin, conservatives lashed out against "sexism," the religious right described teen pregnancy as a "challenge," and it became politically incorrect for the most reactionary Republican to criticize working mothers.
I never believed that it would be easy for Palin to go back to Alaska after the bright lights, big cities lure of a national campaign. But I didn't expect this.
Labels: SILLY Sarah Failin'
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