December 2, 2010--Keeping Up With the Palins
On Morning Joe the other day, Arizona Republican Congressman John Shadegg began by making a fool of himself and ended by revealing how big a political coward he is.
MSNBC's Mike Barnicle asked him to reconcile GOP opposition to unemployment benefits, because, as he and his GOP colleagues claim, they are not paid for, with their support for extending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest, without saying how they would be paid for.
Shadegg ignored this obvious contradiction and went on to disagree with Barnicle's contention that unemployed benefits are "an immediate benefit" to the economy.
"No, they're not," Shadegg said with a smug smile, adding, "Unemployed people hire people? Really? I didn't know that."
Barnicle replied, "Unemployed people spend money, congressman, because they have no money." And jobs are created and economic activity occurs as a result of that spending.
To which Shadegg mockingly said, "Ahh, so your answer is it's the spending of money that drives the economy. I don't think that's right. It's the creation of jobs that drives the economy." And then he made his incredible claim, "The truth is the unemployed will spend as little of that money as they possibly can."
With a look fo disbelief Barncile said that the unemployed have been shown to spend all their unemployment money as fast as they recieve it since they have bills to pay and no other source of funds. And that this is economically stimulative. Two dollars of economic activity is generated by every one dollar spent.
Changing the subject, former Republican congressman and Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough asked Shadegg if he thought Sarah Palin was qualified to be president. Shadegg mumbled something about how that's not for him to say, that it's up to the people to decide. Joe asked again, "Is she qualified to be president?" Shadegg continued to dodge the question as Scarborough asked it again and again. Four times in total.
After Shadegg left Scraborough wondered out loud why so many Republicans are reluctant to say in public what they say in private--that she has great political instincts and enormous charisma but she is totally unqualified to be our commander in chief.
One of Morning Joe's other guests said that this is because they are afraid of her--if she wins the nomination they will have to contend with her as the leader of their party; if she decides not to seek the nomination they will want and need her support in their own campaigns.
"Even Shadegg?" someone asked. "After all he's not running for reelection and has no aspirations for higher office."
No one had a good answer. Fear of her and her power, I suppose, is enough render Republicans mute on the subject.
This got me thinking about the nature of her power. A demagogic power not to be underestimated.
In this age of electronic distractions--from cable TV to Twitter to Facebook and blogs--she is our biggest star.
It is no surpirise that she has a reality show of her own, Discovery Channel's Sarah Palin's Alaska that attracted an unheard-of 5.0 million viewers for its premier, and that she and her family are living a reality-show kind of life. From tabloid headlines when it was revealed that her unmarried daughter, Crystal, was about to have a baby and then moved on to become a highly-paid abstinence advocate and a star in her own right on Dancing With the Stars to a string of made-for-the-mall books that leap right to the top of the best seller list.
A couple of years ago I compared the Palins to the Bundy family from the perverse but hilarious TV sitcom, Married With Children. How this economically struggling family, where the hapless husband-father was an inept shoe salesman, would do anything to get their hands on money and even their neighbor's newspaper.
Sarah Palin's shopping spree at Saks and Neiman-Marcus after she was nominated felt very Bundy-like. And of course it continues. Her remarkable version of success, while thumbing her nose at the educated elite, is one of her great attractions.
But now the Palin phenomenon is no longer a laughing matter. But it remains profoundly entertaining. In fact, I consider her more a political entertainer than a serious politician. But that of course is what people like me said about Ronald Reagan and we know what he managed to achieve.
MSNBC's Mike Barnicle asked him to reconcile GOP opposition to unemployment benefits, because, as he and his GOP colleagues claim, they are not paid for, with their support for extending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest, without saying how they would be paid for.
Shadegg ignored this obvious contradiction and went on to disagree with Barnicle's contention that unemployed benefits are "an immediate benefit" to the economy.
"No, they're not," Shadegg said with a smug smile, adding, "Unemployed people hire people? Really? I didn't know that."
Barnicle replied, "Unemployed people spend money, congressman, because they have no money." And jobs are created and economic activity occurs as a result of that spending.
To which Shadegg mockingly said, "Ahh, so your answer is it's the spending of money that drives the economy. I don't think that's right. It's the creation of jobs that drives the economy." And then he made his incredible claim, "The truth is the unemployed will spend as little of that money as they possibly can."
With a look fo disbelief Barncile said that the unemployed have been shown to spend all their unemployment money as fast as they recieve it since they have bills to pay and no other source of funds. And that this is economically stimulative. Two dollars of economic activity is generated by every one dollar spent.
Changing the subject, former Republican congressman and Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough asked Shadegg if he thought Sarah Palin was qualified to be president. Shadegg mumbled something about how that's not for him to say, that it's up to the people to decide. Joe asked again, "Is she qualified to be president?" Shadegg continued to dodge the question as Scarborough asked it again and again. Four times in total.
After Shadegg left Scraborough wondered out loud why so many Republicans are reluctant to say in public what they say in private--that she has great political instincts and enormous charisma but she is totally unqualified to be our commander in chief.
One of Morning Joe's other guests said that this is because they are afraid of her--if she wins the nomination they will have to contend with her as the leader of their party; if she decides not to seek the nomination they will want and need her support in their own campaigns.
"Even Shadegg?" someone asked. "After all he's not running for reelection and has no aspirations for higher office."
No one had a good answer. Fear of her and her power, I suppose, is enough render Republicans mute on the subject.
This got me thinking about the nature of her power. A demagogic power not to be underestimated.
In this age of electronic distractions--from cable TV to Twitter to Facebook and blogs--she is our biggest star.
It is no surpirise that she has a reality show of her own, Discovery Channel's Sarah Palin's Alaska that attracted an unheard-of 5.0 million viewers for its premier, and that she and her family are living a reality-show kind of life. From tabloid headlines when it was revealed that her unmarried daughter, Crystal, was about to have a baby and then moved on to become a highly-paid abstinence advocate and a star in her own right on Dancing With the Stars to a string of made-for-the-mall books that leap right to the top of the best seller list.
A couple of years ago I compared the Palins to the Bundy family from the perverse but hilarious TV sitcom, Married With Children. How this economically struggling family, where the hapless husband-father was an inept shoe salesman, would do anything to get their hands on money and even their neighbor's newspaper.
Sarah Palin's shopping spree at Saks and Neiman-Marcus after she was nominated felt very Bundy-like. And of course it continues. Her remarkable version of success, while thumbing her nose at the educated elite, is one of her great attractions.
But now the Palin phenomenon is no longer a laughing matter. But it remains profoundly entertaining. In fact, I consider her more a political entertainer than a serious politician. But that of course is what people like me said about Ronald Reagan and we know what he managed to achieve.
posted by Steven Zwerling at
5:00 AM
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