Reactions to "The Speech"

John McCain is a jackass, but dammit, he's a brilliant jackass. Somehow, he knew exactly what kind of person would rally the tepid base to his cause - a young, dynamic, strong, attractive, ultraconservative woman who *gets it*. You couldn't have pulled Sarah Palin out of central casting and gotten anyone better.
Top that off with the obligatory angry, horrifyingly sorry, unfair, despotic media (who apparently got their instructions from George Soros and the NY Times) - and you get a riled-up, pissed off, conservative Republican base who are busy busting out the whooping sticks for anyone who dares to give the stinkeye to Sarah P. and her ever-expanding family. I find it encouraging and humorous at the same time. Encouraging because of the reaction (probably 90 percent of it from guys who see their own daughters in the VEEP candidate) from the Right, and humorous because some of the criticisms are completely nonsensical!
Allow me to demonstrate:
Criticism 1: "She's not experienced! She hasn't been properly vetted"!
Translation: She doesn't have the "right" experience, and her pick was such a total shock that the NY Times hadn't had an opportunity for the next Jason Blair to Google her yet.
Criticism 2: "We don't really want an average person in that high an office, do we?"
Translation: We don't really want an average conservative woman in that high an office. Besides, hasn't anyone ever seen the movie "Dave"? Or "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington"? Or "Head of State"? How's about one of the best ones of all time, "Being There"? Shoot, Hollywood has a movie for every day of the week about average persons who become President. America eats that up for breakfast!
Criticism 3: "She's can't be that good a mother if she has a Down's syndrome child and a kid who is having a baby".
Translation: She should have sex for fun, like the rest of us! To blame the mother of a child with special needs for not doing something right (aside from smoking crack or something similar) during her pregnancy should set our collective hair on fire with rage, especially the women who actually have kids. As for Bristol, well, what can ya do? She is nearly an adult, and does plan to marry the guy involved. Even if she doesn't, then the kid will be well-loved, provided for, and for sure will learn to field dress a moose at some point.
I would also be remiss if I didn't mention that the baby will be able to get an awesome spit-shine hairdo from a certain 7-year-old aunt. Could that have been any cuter? Talk about Hollywood moments!
Criticism 4: "Troopergate"!
Translation: We don't know exactly what she did, but she did something! No one in politics is that squeaky-clean. No, of course, Sarah has certainly been caught up in political garbage a few times and more often than not she has come out of it smelling like a rose. But like most of these non-stories, this one is the worst because it actually, you know, has to do with her exalted position. Even this doesn't have much traction because what the media doesn't tell you is that the pressure that she and her husband brought to bear on this tin pan bureaucratic started before the woman ever ran for governor. The only reason she did it, by the by, was because she was trying to get her ex-brother-in-law out of a job he clearly was abusing - starting with drinking on the job, Tazering his son (her nephew), and threatening her elderly father. Shoot, firing would be the least of his worries if that had been my nephew and father.
Let's look at this volcanic activity of negative attention from a historical perspective. For those of us who watched and enjoyed the series "John Adams" - can you imagine if Mr. Adams endured this kind of attention when he was running for Vice President and President? He would have been tarred and feathered! After all, he: a) defended the British soldiers involved in the Boston Massacre...and won; b) had an alcoholic, gambling son who he disowned; and c) had a daughter who had breast cancer but abandoned by her husband...helped along by Farmer John. Those things would have forced Adams into the background, given today's 24-hour news cycles and our own cynical nature.
Bottom line is, this woman is not perfect. I'm not sure where she stands on illegal immigration, taxes (though I know she'd rather people have more of their money than the government), health care (probably for it, I reckon), and whether or not we should go into Iran. However, I do know that Governor Palin deserves the benefit of the doubt because she is the kind of person who would get to the root of the matter and make a decision, rather than just do the most politically-expedient thing. She has her flaws and we love her for them. She's real. She will look at a problem and instead of saying, "let's order up a study", she will do what seems like the sensical thing. Instead of passing laws that seem to marginalize the majority in favour of an oddball minority (not necessarily racial minority), she will uphold the Constitution and provide equal protection under the law. Unlike most of the rigid, arrogant, condescending politicians who have been in DC forever, she will listen to the peeps. My only concern is that McCain is just using that to his advantage with no desire to actually use that down-home, listen to the voters mentality himself. T'would be a shame, indeed.
This country is starving for someone just like Sarah Palin, and win or lose, I couldn't be happier because I know that she is only going to spur on others just like her to take on politics as their melieu. That's a very, very good thing.