Saturday, October 25, 2008

Sister Sarah's New Clothes

Gov. Sarah Palin is still making plenty of headlines, and not just in the US. During my weekly trip to Watching America I found two articles on the vice presidential nominee's shopping spree. The first was in Germany's Handelsblatt. The article was notable only for its appearance in a foreign paper and was merely a re-hashing of the Politico and NY Times stories.

The second, in the Middle East Times, had a bit more substance to it. It also had the niftier headline: "Oops...She Did It Again."

U.S. presidential contender John McCain must be kicking himself these days. After the initial novelty wore off, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has become more of a liability than an asset. The votes the McCain campaign hoped to pick up thanks to the down to earth "real America" image Palin projected did not materialize. Not only that, but a good number of Republicans are giving the McCain-Palin ticket serious second thoughts. ...

According to reports in the "elitist media," where "gotcha journalism" is practiced, the woman who has been on the campaign trail since she was picked as McCain's running mate, saying how much the two would change Washington, has been on a wild spending spree.

As the country faces a near recession, and as she toured the country praising the "real America," Palin and her family is reported to have spent $150,000 on clothes. ...

The New York Times reported that more than $130,000 of the charges used to outfit Palin and her family were initially footed by Jeff Larson, a prominent Republican consultant in St. Paul whose firm has been tied to the onslaught of negative robocalls from McCain's campaign on Obama.

Federal Election Commission records showed Larson was reimbursed by the Republican National Committee for charges at Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Macy's, Barneys New York and Atelier New York, a men's clothing store.


Pretty good snark, yes?

Also a rather nice analysis of the whole foolish affair.

In other news on Gov. Palin, Kathleen Parker is keeping up her barrage of disparaging columns. In this one she tries to determine just what Sen. McCain was thinking when he selected his running mate. Her amateur psychological sleuthing is quite revealing:

That men are at a disadvantage when attractive women are present is a fact upon which women have banked for centuries. Ignoring it now profits only fools. McCain spokesmen have said he was attracted to Palin's maverickness, that she reminded him of himself. Recognizing oneself in a member of the opposite sex (or the same sex, as the case may be) is a powerful invitation to bonding. Narcissus fell in love with his own image reflected in the river. In McCain's case, it doesn't hurt that his reflection is spiked with feminine approval.

As my husband observed early on, McCain the mortal couldn't mind having an attractive woman all but singing arias to his greatness. Cameras frequently capture McCain beaming like a gold-starred schoolboy while Palin tells crowds that he is "exactly the kind of man I want as commander in chief."


Now that is pure comedy gold.

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