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7/12/09



Sarah Palin, Public Servant


We hate snobs.

There, we said it. It's on the record. If ever we succumb to the temptation to slap some snob when he said something stupid and cruel about our kids, or our country, or our soldiers, we'll probably serve an extra year or two in the slammer for running afoul of federal hate crime laws.

But now that we're out of the closet as unrepentant snob haters, we might as well tell all. We've always hated snobs. We hated them in high school (they were always the dumb ones), and now we hate them in the news (who watches Letterman anyway?).

Most of all we hate snobby politicians - we'd like to tell Jimmy Carter in person just where he can stick his malaise.

We know, we know: we should take the Christian view - hating the snobbery but not the snobs. After all, snobbery is often funny. We all like to laugh at the foibles of other people, especially those dummies we don't agree with, but we've outgrown much of our sympathy for personal mockery. That's still the province of the young, the kids laughing along with Jon Stewart or Saturday Night Live who are still groping for a world view and taking comfort from their group think.

We do have some tolerance for the younger snobs. It's a stage, as they say. And after all, we were young once. But we recall Nietzsche: Maturity comes when one is as serious as a child at play.

We're older now, dear reader, and we have no excuse for silliness, even though we indulge in it from time to time. It's fun, and we enjoy poking holes in the pompous egos of politicians, but we try to confine ourselves to mocking their ideas, not their persons.

We have come to value thinking things through, not just intelligence, but the character of thought.

That's the thing about snobbery. It's not only a sign of dullness, it indicates a poverty of spirit, a willingness to hurt others for personal satisfaction. .

So if for no other reason than because she is mocked by snobs, we like Sarah Palin.

Reagan and Eisenhower were also the targets of personal attacks. Never mind that Eisenhower was a top student, an extraordinary poker player, and an organizer of the largest military campaign in history, he was just another dumb Republican to much of the press. Reagan, whose political skills were legendary and whose prodigious letter writing reveals an educated and supple mind, was written off as slow and out of touch. Now the media imply Sarah Palin is just another dumb Republican. Well, we could use more dumb Republicans like Eisenhower and Reagan.

Those two served the people well because they believed the public knew best. They were public servants, not public scolds. They made the elites uncomfortable because they believed that people were wise enough to make their own decisions. Snobs don't believe this--maybe they know themselves too well.

We'll let Palin speak for herself.

...I'll work for others who still believe in free enterprise and smaller government; strong national security for our country and support for our troops; energy independence; and for those who will protect freedom and equality and life. I'll work for and campaign for those proud to be American, and those who are inspired by our ideals and won't deride them.

We suppose it's easy to make fun of such sentiments; they are rather plain and straightforward, but they are qualities that are still valued in much of America, and apparently in Alaska, where Palin is greatly admired.

We've never been to Alaska, but we would guess that snobbery is less common in that still rough and ready state than it is in the effete worlds of Hollywood or D.C.

Alaskans are closer to the natural order of things, the rhythm of the salmon runs, the struggle to manage natural resources like gold, timber, oil. They have less time for nonsense in that unforgiving climate and that wondrous wilderness. We see in Palin that Alaskan spirit.

We see in her the King Salmon, roaming wild in the Pacific before returning strong enough to swim upriver against the icy currents.

We see in her a little Yukon gold, that precious metal that reflects the light from the constrained power of shimmering electrons.

We like the qualities of salmon, of gold, of Alaska, of Sarah Palin.

And boy do we hate snobs.
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