Vice of a Female Dunderhead

Palin has the essential vapidness of Quayle and bush jr, but with a greater facility of speech, more akin to Ronnie the actor, and little or no interest in facts or truth. A, proud, standard bearer of the Republican party mythology and falsity. She plays well to small town, main street America, to the George Babbitts and Elmer Gantrys. In the short run, at least, she has rallied her party with enthusiasm. Time will tell, whether before voting day, it will be apparent to the electorate, whether the diabolically, clever gambit will be parried by recognition, or stealthily succeed. The vice-presidental, candidate selection has usually meant nothing to the vote. In this very short time, McCain seems bound fast with rope to Palin. It has been an effective, and quick defining and branding. A virtual unknown has been given a glamorous stand.

The image of McCain as a politician is a fraudulent portrayal. He is not a maverick. The “straight talk express” is a wheelbarrow heaped with foul bovine, and equine, manure; but fast, early and repeated lies often defeat truth, in the minds of men.

If it is true, that, party bosses scotched McCain’s favorites and pals Lieberman and Ridge, and he fended off being saddled with Romney, then this substitute is a tour-de-force. Picking a female will not turn Democratic Hillary Clinton voters to McCain, it may turn silly, female partisans, but then male partisans will cancel some of that effect. The abortion and “family values” voters have been satisfied.

Subsidiarity is the catholic principle in society and government, which, has the simplest unit possible to handle an activity. If something can be done within a family, then the family ought to do do, and not be subject to a larger unit. If something can be done by a smaller, local governmental unit, then it ought to be done by that simpler unit. That is the idea behind the Xth amendment. It is also part of the European Union. Pope Leo XIII wrote about this in Rerum Novarum, in 1891. It is the modern cornerstone of Catholic social, and governmental, thought.

Subsidiarity encourages community activity and organising, that which, Palin sarcastically ridiculed. The Republicans lie about small government. Subsidiarity and community organising promotes smaller government, as well as a check against the monied powers. Ah, that is why the Republicans attack community organising. Small government, libertarian type Republicans, who will actually be true, to principle, is insignificant. It is just the spider teasing the fly.

If the press has played with Wright and Pfleger to attack Obama, and the Catholic press to attack Biden (over abortion), then it should be able to look at the nuttiness of Palin’s religious background. So far, she has been well shielded. The corporate press has not scrutinised her much, though last night, NBC did softly report some of her untruths. Palin is a joke, funnier than Monty Python. Unfortunately, Mencken may have been right in his sarcastic, cynical pessimism. In the United States, why must the idiot, and the liar have the advantage?