I’ve heard it said that the harshest truths — the most spot-on, no-nonsense criticisms — usually come from those closest to you, especially your family. And so I was delighted to see conservative columnist Peggy Noonan’s recent impalement of the Palin Gospel, an absolutely scathing undressing of all the hypocrisy, double-standards and sheer thoughtlessness that surrounds this woman. Because, you see, I could’ve written much the same (though not nearly as well), but no one would listen.

Note that Noonan (nor I) blame Palin per se… if you found yourself in her shoes, a relatively normal woman in charge of a relatively unremarkable (though entirely unique) state, you’d probably jump at the chance to run for vice president, too. No, the blame falls squarely on the shoulders of all the Republican elites who put her on such a high pedestal, then cried foul when reporters/commentators/citizens stated the obvious: she just isn’t ready.

I want to get into Noonan’s outstanding column, but first let me rebuff a criticism that pro-Palin readers may throw at me. “There’s nothing wrong with average!” you may say. “Just because she isn’t well-read or ‘walking in the right circles’ doesn’t disqualify her!” Well, I’d say you’re right on the first part, and entirely misinformed on the second. It’s well-documented (if not well-known) that Palin’s ascent from governor to conservative darling began during an Alaskan cruise, one that included several “elite” Republicans, most notably Weekly Standard head Bill Kristol. These men found themselves enamored with an attractive (some would even say “hot”!) young governor who used all the right buzzwords (Reagan, pro-life, maverick), and saw a glimpse of electoral success. These men used their influence IN THE RIGHT CIRCLES to get her name out there, and at a time when John McCain’s campaign was flailing, headless-chicken style, toward defeat, she seemed a risky but bold choice to shake things up and maybe grab a big chunk of “the female vote.” (That this is beyond condescending to females in general should be evident.)

But let’s turn the situation around. Say, for instance, that my governor Steve Beshear found himself on the Democratic ticket next to Barack Obama. He likely knows very little about foreign policy, has likely thought little about the appropriate response to Pakistan’s harboring of terrorists or Iran’s nuclear program or the ongoing crises in so many parts of Africa and the Middle East. Would Democrats thus defend him as being “a normal guy” who ran “an important state” (after all, lots of Middle Easterners show up every year for the Derby, including Saudi royals who benefitted from having the right friends in the right places during a time when they should’ve never been allowed to board a plane)? No, he wouldn’t get that defense — and he shouldn’t, because he’s a GOVERNOR, whose job is to handle the affairs of the state of Kentucky, not to worry about the White House’s position on detaining terror suspects or the Supreme Court’s position on tort reform.

And of course, ultimately the electorate saw through it.

McCain-Palin lost. Mrs. Palin has now stepped down, but she continues to poll high among some members of the Republican base, some of whom have taken to telling themselves Palin myths.

These myths, Noonan explains, included:

“She’s not Ivy League, that’s why her rise has been thwarted! She represented the democratic ideal that you don’t have to go to Harvard or Brown to prosper, and her fall represents a failure of egalitarianism.” This comes from intellectuals too. They need to be told something. Ronald Reagan went to Eureka College. Richard Nixon went to Whittier College, Joe Biden to the University of Delaware. Sarah Palin graduated in the end from the University of Idaho, a school that happily notes on its Web site that it’s included in U.S. News & World Report’s top national schools survey. They need to be told, too, that the first Republican president was named “Abe,” and he went to Princeton and got a Fulbright. Oh wait, he was an impoverished backwoods autodidact!

America doesn’t need Sarah Palin to prove it was, and is, a nation of unprecedented fluidity. Her rise and seeming fall do nothing to prove or refute this.

“The elites hate her.” The elites made her. It was the elites of the party, the McCain campaign and the conservative media that picked her and pushed her. The base barely knew who she was. It was the elites, from party operatives to public intellectuals, who advanced her and attacked those who said she lacked heft. She is a complete elite confection. She might as well have been a bonbon.

“She makes the Republican Party look inclusive.” She makes the party look stupid, a party of the easily manipulated. …

“The media did her in.” Her lack of any appropriate modesty did her in. Actually, it’s arguable that membership in the self-esteem generation harmed her. For 30 years the self-esteem movement told the young they’re perfect in every way. It’s yielding something new in history: an entire generation with no proper sense of inadequacy. [all bolds mine–R]

So why does any of this matter? I could explain it, but not as well as Noonan goes on to do:

Here’s why all this matters. The world is a dangerous place. It has never been more so, or more complicated, more straining of the reasoning powers of those with actual genius and true judgment. This is a time for conservative leaders who know how to think.

The era we face, that is soon upon us, will require a great deal from our leaders. They had better be sturdy. They will have to be gifted. There will be many who cannot, and should not, make the cut. Now is the time to look for those who can. And so the Republican Party should get serious, as serious as the age, because that is what a grown-up, responsible party—a party that deserves to lead—would do. … We are going to need the best.

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 12th, 2009 at 9.24 am and is filed under politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.