At National Review's blog The Corner, Kathryn Jean Lopez compared Sarah Palin to Mary Tyler Moore, of all people. And the comparison is perfect. She quoted the theme song to Mary Tyler Moore's show, which was set in Minneapolis.
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YzFiNGY3YTUzYWM2NGVmOTA1YmVmZWU4Zjc1YTM5MTE=
"Who can turn the world on with her smile?
Who can take a nothing day, and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile?
Well it's you girl, and you should know it
With each glance and every little movement you show it
Love is all around, no need to waste it
You can have a town, why don't you take it
You're gonna make it after all
You're gonna make it after all"
I'd take a bet on very long odds that Joe Biden is a lot less confident today about facing her in their debate. This woman will go into that debate very confident of coming out with his head to display in her office with her dad's bear skin rug and the rack of the last caribou she shot; and she'll be smiling all the while.
There's a new sheriff in town.
Best quote, "Before I became governor, I ran for and became mayor of my home town. A mayor's like a community organizer, only with real responsibility."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Sorry, but Mary Richards was a liberal. In one of the episodes, for example, she openly supported abolition of the death penalty. Her character was also a feminist and friendly to homosexuals at a time when society as a whole still hostile to their very existence.
Frankly, as someone who grew up watching Mary Tyler Moore, it's a real stretch to compare her sunny and gentle demeanor with a self-described "pit bull" and barracuda like Palin.
Anon,
I recall watching Mary Tyler Moore, but I don't remember a political message. Later I recall the Lou Grant, or the guy who played him was a liberal icon out in the media. Perhaps I wasn't as aware of political things back then. Or maybe we only watched the early years. As well, I've always been pretty liberal (libertarian actually) on social issues, so maybe the feminist and homosexual thing didn't surprise me or shock me enough to make me notice. I favor the death penalty, but don't think I would have been shocked at seeing that a cosmopolitan like Mary was against it.
I have to disagree with you about demeanor. Palin is no doubt a barracuda (as all, or nearly all politicians are, it's a rough sport - see the story of how Biden lied to Clarence Thomas about the nature of the questioning to expect at his confirmation hearing), but I thought Palin came across pretty sunny and gentle last evening. As well, I can't remember Mary as a creampuff, although I don't remember many situations calling for actual toughness.
Anon,
I should expand on that social issues statement I made in the last comment. I've always, at least since college been libertarian on a personal level. But I do have some concerns about policy re how personal freedoms impact on societal stability. For instance. I think gays should have an equivalent of marriage with all the legal rights, but I don't think they should have a right to "marriage" which is a religious union because I think there are a lot of impacts that will show up down the road on churches, plus I'm not sure how depart from the Judeo Christian definition of marriage and avoid a slippery slope that leads to plural marriage, etc. England already has this problem.
I've always been pro-abortion as well, but on that it's because I believe the person birthing the baby is responsible for raising the baby. I would hold deadbeat dads fully responsible for half the cost of raising a child and I would require mothers to identify the dad or else take responsibility for the entire cost of raising the child.
I believe in equal pay for equal work, but note that I don't believe in much governmental interference with freely arrived at contracts. I offer you a job and a pay level. If you accept I find it very hard to see the government having a regulatory reach to question that contract outside of outrageous instances.
This is a subject too long and involved to fully explore here, but I had homosexual friends in college and never thought it odd to associate with them. Also, and unusually, by chance I roomed and became good friends with a homosexual officer in the navy, although I thought he was bisexual when we were both in the navy. For complex reasons I think don't ask don't tell is about the best policy possible for the military, and it was the policy long before it was officially formulated. Winston Churchill was famously quoted as telling an officious admiral (in like 1920) something like, "Don't tell me of the traditions of the naval service. Rum, sodomy and the lash, those are the traditions of the naval service." Incidently, I'm straight, always have been straight.
Please note that I am anonymous ***.
I will say this much. Sarah Palin's speech seems to be having an effect on women who generally don't discuss politics.
There is a woman at work who told me prior to the last presidential election that I shouldn't discuss politics. The feeling I got from her is that she simply was not up on what was going on and didn't want anyone else to know.
Today she actually asked people if they'd watched Palin give her speech and how they felt about it.
As a libertarian, I don't agree with everything Palin has to say, but it appears that she may encourage women to pay more attention to what's going on in the political arena. I look forward to the day when I can have in-depth conversations with other women that amount to more than just sound bites that they've heard on the news.
Funny thing I caught on CNN after McCain's speech (I didn't watch FOX's commentary, because they are talking to the choir...I prefer to watch a little controversy). Anyway, they interviewed a youngish couple from Texas. The wife was really psyched up about Palin. Basically said that women can be tough and still be feminine. That it's okay to throw a punch with a French manicure. :-)
***
Post a Comment