As IF Times

link Op-Ed Columnist – Palin’s Cunning Sleight of Hand – NYTimes.com.

If you’re just observing the political action in the U.S. and have no stake either way, as is my case, the level of commentary and debate is both fascinating and amusing.  Unlike the Canadian experience where the overwhelming political zeitgeist is liberal and socialist in inclination, the American environment is one of strongly held convictions from both the political left and right.

American politics is fascinating because of the deep roots and traditions of political parties there.  There are those whose entire lives are lived in the political arena and their very names are synonymous with politics.  Think of the Clintons and of course, the Kennedys whose only role in life is the pursuit and maintenance of political office.  

Cynicism aside, it’s hard to imagine that most anything said or done by such political animals is for any other reason than  the pursuit of some partisan end goal.  People whose lives are governed by polls and popularity will tailor their messages to assuage the most voters.  Professional handlers and spinmeisters constantly control the message.  Consequently, unless you happen to  blindly agree with all party policy issues, you would be rightly skeptical of anything that comes out of mouths of career politicians.  Politics is indeed a very sophisticated and evolved contact sport there.

The amusing side is the level of debate and discussion which stands in such stark contrast to the process just described.  Rather than issues based debate, much of what passes as repartee is essentially name calling by grownups who should behave better.   After all, most participants are highly educated legal types from Ivy League schools.  Throw partisan media into the mix and the whole process resembles high school for middle-agers. 

At the moment, the present administration is beset by failures on all policy fronts, on domestic economics, on domestic seccurity and most importantly failure to maintain the confidence of the electorate.  It becomes clearer as time passes that the people charged by the admistration to run programs have not been up to the task and this perception of incompetence is creeping up the ladder.  Appropriately, the oppostion’s job is to point out the failures of policy and bring up instances of incompetence where applicable.

In response, the administration prefers not to defend their policies, but to attack and demonize those that oppose them.  The favorite target of attacks is of course, Sarah Palin, an individual who doesn’t even hold public office.  As the condescending linked article notes, there are continued snide references to Palin’s intelligence and referral to her as a “sub-literate clown”.  Ironically, the Democrats actually do have a member of congress who was formerly(?)a professional clown.  The mainstream media have been particularly keen to jump on the “slag Palin program” as everyone from political commentators, to comedians have thrown cheap shots her way.  To watch from afar, it’s hard not to see this as a real life “Mean Girls” movie, since the venom is irrational, it is personal and it is tribal.  I seldom read any intelligent critique of her policies, the attacks are always directed at her perceived lack of intelligence and at her values.  Next time, pay attention to who exactly is calling for a “civilized debate” on the issues.  Hint: they’re in office.

Interestingly, as the author acknowledges, these attacks only serve to make Palin more popular among “the regular folk”, or those not in the high school “in crowd”. She is mobbed everywhere she goes despite not being a public politician.  Obviously, what she says and what she stands for is agreeable to many depite being disparged by the media.  There is a lesson here for politicians.  While the shrillness of the left has favor with the media and most entertainers, there is a large silent majority of “plain folk” for whom the snide exhortations of the Chris Matthews’ , of the Rosie O’ Donnells and Jon Stewarts and Katie Courics don’t resonate.  Just completed were a series of state elections widely accepted as referenda for the administration’s policy initiatives.  In resoundingly clear terms, the policies were rebuked by the electorate and surprisingly in erstwhile friendly states to the incumbents.  So far, it’s appeared to fall on deaf ears.  Global Warming.  Cap and Trade.  As if.  So who’s the dummy?

People can figure  out over tiime  the genuine article from manufactured personnas.  What the left leaning media may never figure out is that when they attack Palin, they attack a large contingent of Americans as well.  Palin’s message has been consistent and it appears unscripted.  She doesn’t appear to be governed by polls or popularity efforts.  It appears that her central message, that people should be more self reliant and not depend on government’s ever expanding role in their lives is one that’s embraced by many ordinary people.  Doesn’t sound stupid to me.