{"id":850,"date":"2008-10-16T12:03:41","date_gmt":"2008-10-16T16:03:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/godandculture.wordpress.com\/?p=850"},"modified":"2008-10-16T12:03:41","modified_gmt":"2008-10-16T16:03:41","slug":"jon-meachams-palin-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.godandculture.com\/blog\/jon-meachams-palin-problem","title":{"rendered":"Jon Meacham’s Palin Problem"},"content":{"rendered":"

In his cover story for the October 13, 2008 issue of Newsweek<\/a>, managing editor Jon Meacham continues the media\u2019s relentless personal attacks on Governor Palin, characterizing her as the equivalent of the fourth century Roman political hero Cincinnatus without brains, further describing her as \u201c\u2026an odd combination of Chauncey Gardiner from “Being There” and Marge from “Fargo.” In Meacham\u2019s elitist worldview, Governor Palin is mindless because she is a conservative woman.<\/p>\n

What, you ask, warrants such viciousness from the normally mild-mannered Episcopalian editor of Newsweek? With a mocking tone, Meacham quotes an \u201cunnamed McCain adviser\u201d:<\/p>\n

\u201cPalin is on the ticket because she connects with everyday Americans.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Meacham, it seems, is shocked to discover that Republican presidential candidate John McCain actually made a political decision<\/em> when he tapped Palin to be his Veep, believing \u2013 rightly\u00a0it turns out \u2013 that by choosing Palin the Republican base would be energized while capturing the imaginations of independent and undecided voters. It\u2019s as if Meacham believes he has discovered the October surprise which will be the sinking of the McCain campaign: Politics influences McCain\u2019s choice of VP<\/em>!<\/p>\n

While rightly surmising that the point he is making may be construed as elitist, Meacham digs his hole deeper by asking:<\/p>\n

\u201cDo we want leaders who are everyday folks, or do we want leaders who understand everyday folks?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Just how far down his nose were his glasses when Meacham typed those words?<\/p>\n

Is Mr. Meacham suggesting it is only elites like him \u2013 and Barack Obama and Joe Biden \u2013 who can truly connect with ordinary Americans? Is he further making the ridiculous claim that an ordinary American really has no idea what it is like to be an ordinary American<\/em>? Is it Mr. Meacham\u2019s view that only people with Ivy League credentials can truly understand the needs, longings and aspirations of ordinary Americans? Or is it rather Mr. Meacham\u2019s view that ordinary Americans like you and me need extraordinary elitists like him to tell us what our needs, longings, and aspirations should be? Did Mr. Meacham actually assert that Governor Palin is mindless because she is a woman who connects with everyday Americans? Does Mr. Meacham believe that all everyday Americans \u2013 especially everyday American women \u2013 are mindless?<\/p>\n

Mr. Meacham has done us all a favor. He has confirmed what we have widely suspected. The liberal elite problem with Palin as represented by Meacham isn\u2019t that they believe Governor Palin unqualified<\/em> to be vice-president. After all, people with elite levels of education can readily see that she has more executive experience than the ACORN affiliated community organizer who is at the top of the Democrat ticket for president.<\/p>\n

The real problem elitists like Meacham have with Governor Palin is that she has achieved success as a female politician without sacrificing her morals at the altar of liberalism to gain the credentials<\/em> required by the media elite.<\/p>\n

Yes, Jon, Governor Palin connects with everyday Americans because she, like millions of ordinary American women, has managed to balance work and home without abandoning her husband for a lesbian lover. Governor Palin connects with everyday Americans who believe every life from the moment of conception is a valuable life, resisting the cultural pressure to exterminate the baby she is carrying in\u00a0her womb because elites like\u00a0you view children like Trig as a burden on society. Governor Palin connects with everyday Americans who haven\u2019t lost one moments sleep mulling over which Supreme Court decisions they most disagree with. Governor Palin connects with everyday Americans because she buys diapers at Wal-Mart, which elites like\u00a0you view as Saks for trailer trash. Governor Palin connects with everyday Americans because she hasn\u2019t perfected the art of looking down her nose at us when she speaks, even though she looks great in those Kawasaki specs. Governor Palin connects with everyday Americans who rely on sources other than the New York Times, the Washington Post, CBS News, and Newsweek to keep them informed about the world. Governor Palin connects with every day Americans who opt for \u201cDarn it all\u201d and \u201cYou betcha\u201d over \u201cMerci bo cu.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meacham\u2019s Palin problem is that she lacks the liberal credentials elitists require for those who aspire to high office. That\u2019s good news for me and you. That makes Sarah one of us. Someone needs to shout it loud that Jon Meacham has exposed himself not only as an elitist, but a chauvinist as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In his cover story for the October 13, 2008 issue of Newsweek, managing editor Jon Meacham continues the media\u2019s relentless personal attacks on Governor Palin, characterizing her as the equivalent of the fourth century Roman political hero Cincinnatus without brains, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[406,435,472],"class_list":["post-850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-jon-meacham","tag-newsweek","tag-sarah-palin"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.godandculture.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.godandculture.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.godandculture.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.godandculture.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.godandculture.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=850"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.godandculture.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.godandculture.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.godandculture.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.godandculture.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}