Palin: Reductio Ad Absurdum

In her recent New York Times piece, Maureen Dowd conjures an interesting take from the latest episode of “Sarah Palin’s Alaska”, an episode which features Palin out caribou hunting with her father:

Sarah’s view of America is primitive. You’re either a pointy-headed graduate of Harvard Law School or you’re eviscerating animals for fun, which she presents as somehow more authentic.

I’m wondering why you can’t be both. I guarantee there are more than a few Harvard Law graduates for whom pumping a .30-06 slug into a caribou would be no problem whatsoever. What is a caribou to them anyway? I’m pretty sure caribou can’t get a 165 on the LSAT so ef ’em. Caribou aren’t partners in any prestigious law firms. They are largely unnecessary. I’m not afraid to say that, and I guarantee that Harvard Law grads aren’t either.

However, I’ll take an evening out drinking with an animal-eviscerating buddy over a night with Harvard Law grad any time. Sure, the Harvard Law grad could handle your public intoxication case, but could he or she apply a proper rear naked choke or kimura if you get into a fight? I doubt it.

Back to Dowd’s absurd reduction of the ‘Cuda … Palin is out on a hunt with her father and she bags a caribou. After Dowd rails on Palin’s hunting skills and takes several token swipes at the ‘Cuda, we are led down an interesting allegory with President Obama as the caribou and Sarah and her father as the GOP. Not the Gray Lady’s finest moment. In fact, some might say it’s downright embarrassing. I was more impressed when I recently attended a “Schoolhouse Rock is Racist!” symposium at a local college.

Dowd mailing it in this way, the condescension toward Palin palpable, is the gift that keeps giving. Sarah Palin has fans for many reasons, one of them being that she elicits pure hatred from her detractors in the American media, which brings their not-so-awesome sides into full view. Not that Palin necessarily needs this to galvanize her base, but it certainly isn’t hurting things. I won’t lie; I get a kick out of it when I read the caterwauling. In the parlance of our times, she’s in their domes, big time … hella big time.

The hostility toward Sarah Palin seems to be reaching the “What is this, a center for ants?” Derek Zoolander level.

Many esteemed writers/pundits/whatever look at Palin and seem utterly confused. Unrecognized is the fact that Palin is a microcosm of much of this country: self-reliant and appreciative of America. Like it or not, Palin’s libertarian leanings are squarely on the pulse of mainstream America. Her appeal is natural… hard work, family, fishing, hunting… a wholesome, gorgeous environment such as Alaska? Come on… a gift for driveling circumlocutory rhetoric cannot compete with that, at least not for long. Sooner or later, you’re going to have to kick somebody’s ass, and no amount of academic experience is going to help you with that.

As much as we would like to think that the world is an ever-changing, meaningless experiment, some things never change. Sarah Palin, along with many Americans, understands that. Dowd does hit one thing squarely on the head: Palin’s view of America is primitive. That’s a good thing for many, many Americans.

Sarah Palin probably doesn’t know how to apply a proper rear naked choke or kimura, but she’d learn how, no matter how long it took. Heck, who am I kidding… she probably knows how.