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Atlantic piece on Sarah Palin

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by Dick Whitman, May 13, 2011.

  1. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    I always like a story that makes me think about a familiar subject differently, and Joshua Green's new Sarah Palin piece in The Atlantic is precisely that kind of story.

    http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/06/the-tragedy-of-sarah-palin/8492/1/

    Green's premise is that the Palin that showed up at the RNC, and hasn't stopped chattering since, is not the same Palin who governed Alaska. That Palin worked with Democrats and battled Big Oil. He postulates that the McCain campaign could have gone one of two ways with her. Sell her as a bipartisan candidate with the record to prove it - more of a record than Obama, in fact. Or turn her into a red meat spewing caricature. They chose the latter, and the rest is, of course, history. And it has made her a rich woman. But Green thinks the real Palin might have been good for the country (though he doesn't let her off completely easy - he talks about Troopergate and the early indicates of the vindictive personality that basically have derailed her public image. It's her tragic flaw. I know the Clintons are that way, too, but they are just better at it. More calculating and less emotional, at least publicly.)

    One thing really surprised me. I always thought that Palin was grandstanding when she does things like go after David Letterman for comments about her family. I figured she loves when she can get all indignant about perceived slights to Bristol and the gang. Apparently, that hostility might be genuine. Here is an email she wrote to a staffer before she ran for governor:

    Scott:

    Todd just told me you had spoken with him awhile back and reported that some law enforcement friends of yours claimed some dumbass lie about Track not being Todd’s son? This really, really disgusts me and ticks me off.

    I want to know right now who said it, who would ever lie about such a thing this is the type of bullshit lie about family that WILL keep me from running for Governor. I hate this kind of crap. I thought it was bad enough that my kids have been lied about recently regarding illegal activities that they had NO part in whatsoever. But a stupid claim like one of our kids isn’t fathered by Todd?

    I want to know NOW what this latest b.s. is all about because I want to get to the bottom of this garbage rumor mill. People who lie like this may know me well enough to KNOW THAT I WILL ALWAYS PUT FAMILY FIRST, AND IF UGLY LIES LIKE THIS ARE BELIEVED BY ANYONE AND ADVERSELY AFFECT MY HUSBAND AND KIDS I WILL PULL OUT OF THE RACE BECAUSE IT’S NOT WORTH IT—AT ALL—TO LET MY FAMILY BE VICTIMS OF DARK, UGLY POLITICS LIKE THIS.

    Sarah


    Interesting stuff, and well worth the read if you care to have a full picture of her.
     
  2. JackReacher

    JackReacher Well-Known Member

    Seems like that might be cause for an in-person meeting or a phone call. Not an e-mail. But that's just me, I guess.
     
  3. Bob Cook

    Bob Cook Active Member

    I'm not sure what it means that we have Mitt Romney running away from his biggest achievement, universal health care in Massachusetts, and Sarah Palin running away from her biggest achievement, working with Democrats to tax oil companies, root out corruption and make her state's budget flush with cash.

    I think it means a lot of people in politics are worried about what "wins," instead of what works.
     
  4. YGBFKM

    YGBFKM Guest

    If by a lot you mean all, I agree.
     
  5. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    What's the status on the book by McGinnis?
     
  6. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    Nice hyperbole in that title...
     
  7. micropolitan guy

    micropolitan guy Well-Known Member

    So she was good in the beginning, but just went too far.
     
  8. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    I'm not a fan of Palin on any level, but I don't see her as a "tragic" figure by any stretch of the imagination.
     
  9. Azrael

    Azrael Well-Known Member

    Definition: Tragedy depicts the downfall of a noble hero or heroine, usually through some combination of hubris, fate, and the will of the gods. The tragic hero's powerful wish to achieve some goal inevitably encounters limits, usually those of human frailty (flaws in reason, hubris, society), the gods (through oracles, prophets, fate), or nature. Aristotle says that the tragic hero should have a flaw and/or make some mistake (hamartia). The hero need not die at the end, but he / she must undergo a change in fortune. In addition, the tragic hero may achieve some revelation or recognition (anagnorisis--"knowing again" or "knowing back" or "knowing throughout" ) about human fate, destiny, and the will of the gods. Aristotle quite nicely terms this sort of recognition "a change from ignorance to awareness of a bond of love or hate."

    http://faculty.gvsu.edu/websterm/Tragedy.htm
     
  10. BTExpress

    BTExpress Well-Known Member

    A bit of a potty-mouth, isn't she? :D
     
  11. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    On that definition, it is definitely appropriate headline. Spot-on, actually, as he was clearly going for the literary meaning of "tragedy," as in her personality flaws derailed her chance to become a truly important and effective politician.
     
  12. Versatile

    Versatile Active Member

    I'd love a full picture of her, but it turns out that was just some porn star wearing glasses.
     
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