The Trouble With Palin

by tristero

I’d like to add one more point to Digby’s post below. It is quite true that Sarah Palin is, as Digby says, “a quitter, a liar, [and] a greedy opportunist who more commonly speaks in incoherent gibberish.” But, as appalling as all that is, those are her best qualities.

For even if Palin was a reliable public servant, even if she was as honest as the day is long, even if she was not greedy, and even if she was even remotely articulate, she would represent the worst trends in modern American politics. She’s been known to pal around with rightwing extremists like the John Birch Society:

. She attempted to name [Steve] Stoll, a John Birch Society activist known in the Mat-Su Valley as “Black Helicopter Steve,” to an empty Wasilla City Council seat.

When she was on the Wasilla City Council she also publicly associated herself with the Birch Society, posing for this photograph with Bircher literature:

And, of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg. In reality, there is more to Palin than merely a high level of comfort with denizens of the far right. To the extent that her politics are discernible, she is one more extremist. The fact that she’s also a cheap grifter has given us some diverting, even mind-boggling, examples of loony behavior, but it has served to derail serious discussions of what she stands for and what her real political friends are. Fortunately, Dave Neiwert reports that, finally, the mainstream media are starting to catch on. To be clear:

Palin and the people she associates herself with are not only nuts, as in “crazy.” Their political views are nuts as in “demented,” potentially violent, and highly dangerous.

There is one thing about which Broder and I agree:

Take Palin seriously.

But Mr. Broder, Sarah Palin, by no stretch of the imagination, is “good.”