Palin Derangement Syndrome

Ever since John McCain announced that Sarah Palin would be his running mate there has been an enormous amount of coverage on this woman.  Many conservatives (not pundits, but regular Joe’s) loved her, most liberals hated her.  Most of the criticism came in the form of mocking her small town hickish ways and disparaging of having a person like this be in line for the presidency.  And now (I am behind on this, I guess this is actually a few days old) there is a rumor going around the media, and most likely started by republican McCain staffers themselves, stating that Palin didn’t know that Africa was a continent and not a country.

From everything I have read, this clearly seems like a senseless smear on her for some sort of undefined gain – considering she is no longer running for office.  I put zero stock in its veracity, but if by some reason it was determined to be true, then there is no defense for that sort of ignorance.  And that is one of the very reasons it must be false.  This woman is not an imbecile.  She was governor of the largest state in the union and dealt in all sorts of civic and national programs that would require a modicum of intelligence that having a fourth-grade education would have required, and she clearly succeeded in them… hence, she must know that Africa is a continent.  I would wager that if someone heard something that they then started a rumor about, it most likely was a slip of the tongue.  It’s the fact that the media has so quickly adopted this as some sort of fact about Sarah Palin that disturbs me.  John McCain accidentally (and quite funnily) referred to Barack Obama as Senator Government.  Bwwaaah, look at McCain he doesn’t know his opponents own name!  Seriously, if this is the best people can come up with, then it’s time to get into a different game.

But this brings up another point.  This type of smear is typical of what was being portrayed about Palin.  That she was ignorant and small town.  Unworthy of national office.  Victor Davis Hanson gave a speech at BIOLA not long ago (sent to me by Pete) and during it he criticized the elitism of education as evidenced by the failures of these numerous investment banks lately and the educational background of those running them.  Our country’s recent political history is almost solely made up of men and women with illustrious degrees from Harvard, Yale, Oxford and elsewhere.  And yet aren’t these the same people who get involved in scandals, take money from lobbyists, make bad decisions, and in some cases kill their dates?  What would be wrong with someone like Sarah Palin, with a normal education, a non-fancy degree, and a typical life filled with issues, being vice-president, or even president?

It’s disappointing to hear about these new rumors going around about her, and only adds to my dismay at the way she was treated during the campaign.  Sarah Palin is not my ideal, and neither was John McCain… but to attack a person and portray them as dumb simply because they come from a ‘backwoods’ town and didn’t graduate from Cornell is disturbing, and even more elitist than I can stand – and we know I put up my share.

UPDATE: To show how quickly people want to embrace stories, before they are vetted, here is a link on how MSNBC and others were duped by people pretending to be the leak on the Palin story.  (This doesn’t debunk the Palin controversy, but just shows that news is most often assumed true nowadays before being investigated.

AND MARK ADDS:  And remember dear readers (including my glorious brother), this post is not defending Palin as a VP candidate, but is stating that I believe that when push comes to shove she knows a continent from a country.