Speaking in Tongues

Sarah Palin couldn't have made the all important evangelical wing of the Republican Party any happier last night unless she had started speaking in tongues. Since that would have been a tad too much on prime-time TV she settled for speaking in code.

First, a word on her performance. She performed the speech beautifully. It should be noted that like many top Republicans, Palin's first love is the art of performance. She was a sportscaster who wanted a gig on ESPN. Much like Fred Thompson who always seemed like he would prefer giving an Emmy acceptance speech than speak on the Senate floor or Ronald Reagan who would never have become president if only he could have gotten better roles than "Bedtime for Bonzo" she knows how to act in front of a camera. Biden: please take note.

Now, on to the content:

Well I was born in a small town

And I live in a small town
Probly die in a small town
Oh, those small communities

Wondering about all that sarcasm about being a community organizer? Billmon nails it:

On the face of it, it's a pretty weird repetitive theme. Obama's done lots of stuff -- teaching, state legislature, writing books, etc. -- but "community organizer" seems like an odd one to fixate on. The words themselves have generally positive connotations, particularly that first one: everybody is in favor of "community" (as long as its their community).

Which is exactly the point, I think. Used the way the GOP speakers used the words tonight (i.e. with a sneer), community = ghetto and organizer = activist.

It essentially was a coded way of pointing out Obama's work in, with and for the black community (see? even I'm doing it) on the South Side of Chicago. Also the fact that his work involved helping low-income people stand up for their legal rights, as opposed to a GOP-sanctioned "real" job like business owner or career military officer (or moose hunter.) They were trying to put Obama back on the same level as Jesse Jackson -- i.e., the black protest candidate -- and mocking him for it.

To cut right to the nasty, they were using "community organizer" as a euphemism for "poverty pimp."

Here's someone else who wasn't laughing:


Basically more of the infamous Southern Strategy.

Plus, Republicans know that they have fallen even with the working class. Increasingly hard economic times, war fatigue and the realization that Republicans seriously fucked up Katrina (total lack of competence) has made many willing to actually consider voting their economic interest and less vulnerable to the constant blitz of "only we can keep you safe from terrorists and those who would kill Jesus all over again" (Democrats).

That's why Palin had to pour on the small town love like nobody's business.

Besides, everyone knows the alternative to small towns are big cities which are, um, darker and sinful. And while small town families may have "challenges" if they are good Christians, they get the guy to put a ring on their finger and all is forgiven while the evil sluts in the big, bad city become single mother welfare queens and are illegals anyway sucking the life's blood out of the good, good salt of the earth types. Which is why when Palin had the chance, she line item vetoed support for unwed teen moms.

I am woman, hear me birth

Did you know Sarah is a Mom? Five times over? Did you know that evil Democratic types wanted her to ABORT!ABORT!ABORT! her child with Down Syndrome? Well, if you happen across many of her online supporters, you would certainly be led to believe that we had all sent her wire hangers in the mail.

Palin and her supporters regale her choice to keep her baby while trying to insure that no one else has any choice in their own family planning. How is anything a choice when their party platform demands that all abortions be outlawed including those to save the life of a woman?

"A Servant's Heart"

I want a servants heart
And I will gladly bear the markings
Of one held captive yet free
Not my will but thine
For Lord in your own time
Only you can make a servants heart

He compels me to go
But I would rather stay
He sent me a valley
Once again today
My self determined will
Keeps tearing me apart
But when the works completed
I'll have a servants heart

More and more Lord I see
There's a work I must do
Father may you find me faithful
Trusting only you
Take all that I have been
There, your will to start
And then I'll serve no other master
with this servants heart

Palin used this phrase both in her speech last night and in her speech last Friday when she was introduced to the country.

Just like George W. Bush, Palin uses evangelical dog whistles. This phrase is one:

The third factor is whether Palin's deep devotion to God will cloud or impact her political judgment. In her speech last Friday, Gov. Palin mentioned her intention to serve government with "a servant's heart." According to the National Catholic Reporter, "That reaction wasn't simply about approval of good government; the phrase 'servant's heart' is a popular bit of evangelical terminology, used as a shorthand for Christian humility."

It's also a bit of a cottage industry (books, videos, courses).

In last night's speech Palin said:

But we are expected to govern with integrity, good will, clear convictions, and ... a servant's heart. I pledge to all Americans that I will carry myself in this spirit as vice president of the United States.

Translation for those who cannot hear evangelical dog whistles:

I will serve Jesus as vice president of the United States according to my [and your] correct brand of Christianity.

Might as well have been speaking in tongues

And then there was her distortion of her own record which twisted the facts into outright lies:

PALIN: "I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending ... and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. I told the Congress 'thanks but no thanks' for that Bridge to Nowhere."

THE FACTS: As mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a lobbyist and traveled to Washington annually to support earmarks for the town totaling $27 million. In her two years as governor, Alaska has requested nearly $750 million in special federal spending, by far the largest per-capita request in the nation. While Palin notes she rejected plans to build a $398 million bridge from Ketchikan to an island with 50 residents and an airport, that opposition came only after the plan was ridiculed nationally as a "bridge to nowhere."

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