Palin Isn't Perfect. Neither Are You

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Political satire comes with the territory when running for any political office and more so when it's an executive office position such as president or vice president. Regarding the content of political satire, some would argue it's disrespectful and disingenuous to the person and the office they hold or hope to hold. Others would argue, it's all fair game because they are political figures and, like celebrities, different rules apply when it comes to potentially besmirching the person.

With McCain's choice of Sarah Palin for the office of Vice President and Barack Obama in the running for the office of President, the country has two firsts (oops, one) on its hands. A women is running for Vice President (sorry, forgot about Ferraro. no one's perfect) and a black (OK, half) is running for President. We've seen the spoofs. Goofy pictures of Obama in his bathing suit or sporting a 'fro as a kid; pictures of Palin in a red, white and blue bikini holding a rifle and all sorts of other stuff.

With a black man and a woman running for the highest offices in the land, it's comforting, at least from what's been done do far, the spoofs haven't gone to the terrible places they so easily could. Racism and sexism, for the most part, have been absent from the daily barrage of spoofs floating around. Likely, there are some nasty ones out there but they don't seem to have reached a widespread audience.

It certainly helps that Obama ad Palin are very intelligent and well-spoken people. It's much harder to make fun of people who are not idiots. Oh yes, people are all over Palin for her unmarried, pregnant daughter and Obama for his inexperience but those two things don't necessarily completely define the two candidates.

There are many fine, upstanding people who, for various circumstances, may find themselves in places not deemed 100 percent perfect by society but that doesn't make them bad people. There have been plenty of unwed mothers (and their parents) who have positively contributed to society just as there have been inexperienced people placed in positions of power and done just fine.

Everyone loves a good laugh or to experience a bit of schadenfreude every so often and the media can't help but provide that content. Though it's a delicate balance between good, clean fun and lowest common denominator filth. All too often, the media tends to swing towards filth highlighting, proliferating and sensationalizing the tiny parts of people's lives that aren't, well, perfect according to some unwritten standards.

As we laugh at the spoofs of Palin, McCain, Obama and Biden, we should realize we are all imperfect and we all know people who are imperfect. To expect there will e perfect person, Republican or Democrat, chosen to run America is shortsighted. Not that too many people expect this but it's sometimes hard to tell given the onslaught of trash routinely heaped upon those running for office.

Neither candidate is out to maliciously harm the country. Both fully intend to do what they think is best. They will, of course, take different paths towards that definition of best and that, my friends, is where the devil enters the details.

by Steve Hall    Sep-12-08   Click to Comment   
Topic: Opinion, Political   

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Comments



Comments

Two firsts? You ever heard of Geraldine Ferraro?

Posted by: John Smith on September 12, 2008 11:21 AM

Whoever wrote this needs to get their facts straight. Maybe if they had modified the sentence with "First Republican woman running for vice president". Idiots.

Posted by: Kip on September 12, 2008 11:35 AM

She's not the first woman to run for VP. But is she the first VP candidate to have a pregnant, unwed, teen-age daughter?

Posted by: MotorCity on September 12, 2008 11:44 AM

well that was one of the most pretentious self absorbed pieces of fluff ever to have leaked out of steve hall...

the fact that you highlight palin has not wanting to "harm the country" makes you look idiotic to the rest of the thinking world...jeez america...you look pathetic.

Posted by: viralista on September 12, 2008 11:54 AM

ok, ok, OK!!! I thought Ferraro ran for President, not VP. My bad. Sorry. Fixed.

Posted by: Steve Hall on September 12, 2008 11:59 AM

You thought Ferraro ran for President? That's even worse! Do yo do even a modicum of research before you write?

I guess it proves that you're not perfect either. Also to call Obama a "half" black is insane; for most of this country's history saying he had a white mother still wouldn't have allowed him to vote or hold office, and probably not have kept him from being lynched. Which half is not black? None that I can see.

Nobody's expecting Palin (or Obama, or McCain) to be perfect. I think the only president we've had who was perfect was George W. Bush. Instead, we need someone who can learn (from his or her mistakes or the mistakes of others), admit mistakes when they are made, and admit their own deficiencies and seek to surround themselves with others who complement themselves.

Of course Palin doesn't want to "harm the country." I daresay nobody running for president wants to "harm the country," but that' setting a pretty minimal standard.

Posted by: steve Michel on September 12, 2008 12:06 PM

Palin is well-spoken?

I've heard better campaign speeches from 8th graders running for student government.

She might be intelligent but she is NOT well-spoken; she can't speak a complete sentence without taking a breath.

Just because she speaks to an audience better than 90% of Americans might does not mean she is "well-spoken," to the contrary, most Americans simply are not well-spoken. So just because she does better than you would does not mean she's "good."

Posted by: joseph on September 12, 2008 12:26 PM

I DON'T KNOW.
She seems so well-spoken and so clean that Biden might've named her VP had he gotten the top spot.

Posted by: LARRY DUNBAR on September 12, 2008 12:40 PM

Come on. I will give Sarah Palin "well spoken" (from an autocue) but "highly intelligent?" Please! Did you see her ABC interview? We are all imperfect, but someone with such an important job has to be held up to immense scrutiny. She's not up to it.

Posted by: Bill on September 12, 2008 1:40 PM

The bikini shot of Sarah (not the one above) is Photoshop and has long been exposed as such, and the rifle is a pellet gun not an AK47, as some ignorant of firearms have claimed. The photo above is of course fake also.

As for Palin being unable to speak well, it would seem a huge portion of the population of this country would disagree. You may accuse them of being ignorant rednecks, but do so at Obama's expense.

As for historic firsts, this election will see either the first black man as president or the first woman as VP.

Posted by: Lane on September 12, 2008 2:36 PM

Well the photo in this article is fake only in the sense it comes from a video (real) that was shot, perhaps, on green screen.

And, Lane, thanks for getting those firsts right. Clearly I screwed up in the piece.

Posted by: Steve Hall on September 12, 2008 2:56 PM

We were attacked under a Republican president and the Republicans have failed to catch Bin Laden. How can you vote for them for national security and they dont keep the nation secure?

Posted by: LoLo on September 13, 2008 7:59 AM

We were attacked under a Republican president and the Republicans have failed to catch Bin Laden. How can you vote for them for national security and they dont keep the nation secure?

Posted by: LoLo on September 13, 2008 7:59 AM

Umm Palin cant pronounce nuclear to save her life.
Its not flipppin noocoolar. Cant imagine another 4 years of that right wing red neck drivel.

Posted by: CBETA on September 22, 2008 11:02 AM