Sarah this, Sarah that. Sarah Schmarah.
Sarah this, Sarah that.
Sarah Schmarah.
The question is really this:
If, because of a long, "jobless recovery", a large number of America's 350,000,000 people would enjoy listening to a demagogue, then finding a very effective one among 350,000,000 people won't be all that difficult.
Is it Sarah?
Well, at the moment she is the most known and commented contender.
Is she "too dumb" to succeed?
Being a successful demagogue really doesn't take that much of a "brain", it takes a talent mostly.
Palin's convention speech showed that she had that talent.
Examining the "brain" thing in demagogues:
Remember that the most successful demagogue of all time, Adolph Hitler, was dumb enough to declare war on the USA, when he was already at war with the Soviet Union. They don't come any dumber than that.
However, so
that there be no confusion, unlike many of history's demagogues Sarah
Palin is certainly not an antisemite, in fact, she is a staunch friend
of Israel.
This from the Washington Times:
Sarah Palin displays an Israeli flag in her governor's office in Juneau, even though she has never been to the country, and attends Protestant evangelical churches that consider the preservation of the state of Israel a biblical imperative.A couple of general rules of thumb when considering demagogues:
Her faith makes her a favorite with the staunchly pro-Israel neoconservative elements in the Republican Party.
1.) The people who follow demagogues aren't interested in thinking, they are interested in feeling: demagoguery is a form of political pornography: up and on, who cares about the "plot"?
2.) The rational people who use demagogues do plenty of thinking, in fact, they don't want anybody else to think very much at all.
That is the whole point of demagoguery, to eliminate rational thought.
That is the whole point of fascism for that matter, to replace objective, individual thought with mass emotion.
The question remains: is there a market right now or in the foreseeable future for someone like this?
I think you've found your strong suit. As in "It can't happen here."
July 16, 2009 9:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
It worries me that the entire infotainment industry discourages thinking or intelligent discourse. Just think that the Lincoln Douglas debates were telegraphed around the USA and were discussed thoroughly and that Lincoln became a national figure because of people reading what he said in their local newspapers.
This infotainment culture is the perfect yeast culture for fascism: by Goebbels out of Disney.
July 16, 2009 12:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Received...Sarah Schmarah indeed!
July 16, 2009 10:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
"Remember that the most successful demagogue of all time, Adolph Hitler, was dumb enough to declare war on the USA, when he was already at war with the Soviet Union." This omits the fact that we declared war on Germany before they declared war on us. He was sinking our boats, true.
And, Hitler managed what he did through political thuggery, after building his base by demagoguery, that's different than what you're attributing to her here.
And demagoguery is used to manipulate those who like simplistic answers, and they get their asses kicked in any rational argument, as Obama and Biden cleaned McCain and Palin's clocks.
July 16, 2009 10:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
Sorry, but Germany declared war first... like Casey Stengel used to say, "you could look it up".
July 16, 2009 12:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ok, the photo is very chilling. If this photo gets pushed around, I see the stance becoming popular, GOP speakers will incorporate it into their speeches. Later, the pols will deny it meant anything, but this is a powerful photo when it comes to generating emotions. It feels like we are slipping down a slope.
July 16, 2009 11:18 AM | Reply | Permalink
Remember that the most successful demagogue of all time, Adolph Hitler, was dumb enough to declare war on the USA, when he was already at war with the Soviet Union. They don't come any dumber than that.
Not that you will be overly excited but I must render unto you the Dayly Line of the Day Award for this here TPMCafe site, given to all of you from all of me.
You have more salient points than this, but I wonder about war mongers sometimes. I mean to say Hitler was keeping his word per treaties with Japan is laughable. I mean he never gave a damn about treaties.
We find ourselves in a war in Afghanistan where we saw the Ruskies go absolutely nuts FOR TEN GODDAMN YEARS. And everyone knows that because our mongers gave weapons of mass destruction to Saddam to further interfere with the aims of the Ruskies...
And OUR people think, hey, as long as we're over in that hell hole lets go into Iraq too.
THIS WAS NUTS
But again, as far as Sara...she is the dumbest politico I have ever heard. I do not think even Jim Bunning could match her. Our Bachman is sure doing her best though.
THE END
July 16, 2009 12:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thank you kindly.
July 16, 2009 12:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh, and I cannot resist:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqRTtkEHrA4
July 16, 2009 12:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
Here is something from Steve Walt:
Now think about it for a moment, are the "neoconservatives" going to take such a reasonable outcome lying down?
Of course not.
Since any reasonable person would immediately see the sense of spending American taxes on Americans, their health and welfare, then what is needed to fight such reasonableness is obviously "unreason".
That is the moment that a demagogue earns his or her keep.
July 16, 2009 3:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
For a post re: Pat Buchanan, one of the most well-known racists of our team, click here:
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/gregorzap/2009/07/keeping-racism-alive-and-well.php?ref=reccafe
July 16, 2009 4:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sarah Palin - Aimee Semple McPherson? Aimee Semple McPherson - Sarah Palin?
You decide...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aimee_Semple_McPherson
July 16, 2009 6:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
I had never seen a FOursquare Church until I came to the NW. So, it's the beginning of the Big Box Churches. Kind of like K-mart.
July 16, 2009 7:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
recommended, but way too tired to respond. What a week! I am 61 and working like a 20 year-old ---I hope there is something left once I retire!
PS -- Sarah is a perfect example of what is wrong with this country. Ignorance. Lack of general reading. Poor grammar (from poor education and lack of reading). Very little historical OR contemporary knowledge.
AND -- most importantly -- pride in the lack of all the previous mentioned lacks.
July 16, 2009 9:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
What worries me the most is that the entire media structure supports and panders to that type of attitude.
July 17, 2009 1:11 AM | Reply | Permalink
You are right. It does. How did we get to the point where we want to be led by people who the lowest common denominator identify with? That is not a put-down. I consider myself smart, and I am far more informed, and more intelligent than Sarah Palin.
I want someone SMARTER than I am to be our president. I don't want someone leading our country who just thinks it would be really really cool to be President. That is Sarah! And people accept that. Hopefully, it is not enough people to doom us to another Bush-type Presidency.
But if so, how many rooms do you have in your casa? I have friends in Grenada -- could I go back & forth?
July 17, 2009 9:09 PM | Reply | Permalink