Friday, April 20, 2012

Sarah Palin being Sarah Palin

I am not a fan of Sarah Palin. John McCain is my political hero and it angered me that Palin so discredited his campaign with her absurd inadequacies as a candidate. I also feel that she is someone who is willing to say or do just about anything to maintain her position in the public eye. In order to play to her 'outsider maverick' persona, Palin claims that an unjustified persecution complex exists against her.

This dynamic was again on show yesterday. The context - a Secret Service agent who was assigned to Palin during the 2008 election (and has just resigned over the Cartagena scandal) had posted a Facebook photo of himself behind Palin during a 2008 campaign event.  Below the photo he had made an inappropriate comment, joking about 'checking out' the former Governor. Clearly this kind of behavior is unacceptable and Palin has a right to be angry. However, during an interview with Fox News host, Greta Van Susteren, Palin turned the issue into a political tool to lash out with a broad arrogance against the Secret Service and President Obama.

Referring first to the photo-post agent, Palin stated,

'Well check this out, bodyguard. You're fired! And I hope his wife... kicks him into the dog house.'

My issue with this quote is in its unnecessary insult to everyone in the Secret Service, especially to all those agents and officers that previously put themselves on the line to protect Palin. These individuals are far more than simple 'bodyguards'. They are highly trained patriots who make great sacrifices and take great risks for the benefit of the most central sustaining element of American society -democracy. The photo-post agent clearly made an error in his Facebook comments, but that does not change the fact that in previously serving on Palin's protective detail, he was willing to put Palin's well being before his own. For Palin to so aggressively denigrate the man, his agency and his family was disgusting.

However, Palin wasn't satisfied with ending there. She also stated that Obama was partly to blame for the Colombia scandal, commenting, 

'Look who's running the show, people will say its boys being boys. I've had enough of these men being dogs and not being responsible for the taxpayer's dollars.'

This idiotic comment illustrates two of Palin's worst qualities. Her anti-Obama orthodoxy - blaming Obama for an incident he had absolutely no control over and no knowledge of. Secondly - her willingness to push any issue into the framework of her political agenda. While there is no evidence that any Secret Service personnel used agency funds for the prostitution scandal, Palin is trying to tie the incident into the ongoing GSA scandal. She knows that the incidents are not aligned, but for Palin, truth is truly subjective.

She is an embarrassment to the Republican Party and by the political effect of her conduct, she is also an unofficial member of Obama's campaign team.

UPDATE - In the same interview Palin also said.. 'The President, for one, he better be wary, there, of when the Secret Service is accompanying his family on vacation. They may be checking out the first lady instead of guarding her.'




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