Every couple of months headlines all over the internet, and often times even on tv indicate that Palin, who came within a respectable distance of becoming this country's VP, is... stupid. You're probably familiar with her latest gaff concerning Paul Revere, and her incorrect interpretation of the famous story. I'm not defending her, I just think calling her stupid is an unfair characterization. She's an easy target, and she's often in the cross hairs. The liberals LOVE to hate her, which actually amuses me. What does not amuse me however is that every time she gets gotten from the gotcha question, the incident is taken out of context and turned into a Tina Feyesque jab. Everyone looks at Republicans as if to say, you would have been ok with her in charge!
There is a vicious circle of misinformation about Palin. Despite the fact that Palin did not say "I can see Russia from my house" in 2008, most people, especially those who hate her, believe that she did say it. In fact the real quote was altered and put in an SNL skit. Obama voters in this video didn't know much about anything, but they did think Palin actually made that comment. It's a fairly lengthy video produced to discredit Obama voters, however, they begin asking about the Russia quote halfway through the interviews.
Her latest gaff concerning Paul Revere was the result of a gotcha question during her bus tour of historical American landmarks. When someone asked her who Paul Revere was her answer went something like this: He warned the British that the Americans were coming, and there were bells and a horse and some shots fired in the air. That is not at all word for word, and I probably made her sound more dumb. Critics point out, and rightfully so, that Revere actually warned the Americans not the British and there were no bells. And while the answer is less than scholarly, some have pointed out that it is NOT inaccurate at all. In some not so fabled or poetic historical writings it is found that Paul Revere did in fact warn the British that the Americans were ready to fight. I realize that it's a stretch to consider this is what she had in mind when she gave her answer. After all, when you think of Paul Revere, you think of the poem, or the story that details his famous ride through the streets. So what's my point? Palin is often picked to prove the point of perilous POTUS potential. See how I did that? It just started that way and I went with it. It served no purpose however. The gotcha question and subsequent headlines are designed to let conservatives know that they almost let her happen.
The problem is, if you take anyone, even Obama, and play gotcha with them, you will get a similar result. Imagine if throughout the next several months you were approached by
someone asking a random question about a historical event, or foreign affair. If you're smart, you'd probably get most of them right, but you wouldn't
get all of them right. Even the so-called easy ones! Quickly, and as if you
had a microphone shoved in your face right now, tell me without hesitation who President Carter's VP was.
Most of you probably had the answer within seconds, after all you're all friends of mine, and you're smart! But I guarantee that some of you didn't. Don't worry, you don't have to admit it. Imagine though, if I judged you for that lack of knowledge for the rest of your life. Wasn't it Obama who remarked that he visited 57 states? I know he doesn't think there are 57 states. He was probably tired or just wasn't thinking clearly at the time. Or maybe it was wishful thinking. The more states, the more people he could require to purchase health care.
Palin is a lightening rod. People love to hate her, so I think they want her to be stupid. I believe Palin is intelligent. I could rattle off a list of her accomplishments but it could easily be picked apart by detractors, or even worse, compared to Obama's accomplishments before he was President. In which case, I actually think Palin wins hands down. All that is beside the point, and it's not the purpose of this blog. The purpose is to illustrate that often times the parody, especially a really funny one, becomes reality. And it's just as unfair when it happens to liberal democrats, although it does not appear to be paraded in the public nearly as much. But The Tina Feys and Jon Stewarts are all too happy to perpetuate these misconceptions. They are like the cool kids in high school who make fun of the jocks, or the mathletes, or the good looking students. Their well placed barbs solidify their coolness and their target's so called un-coolness. They're good at it, there's a reason they're in the position they're in.
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| I'm not funny? |
Although, I can't really explain Bill Maher.
Bottom line: I'm not taking a stand against popularity here. I Just want you to consider that It's easy to make fun of someone's answer about Paul Revere. It's another thing to give the answer.
