There he was, in all his glory – talk-show host Glen Boeck, in front of a crowd of thousands in Washington D.C., assuring all those present and all those watching on TV or seeing clips of his speech on the news, that we can indeed restore America, or American honor, or the civil rights movement, or something. I’m not really clear on what the big rally was for, but it’s clear the man can draw a crowd and give a speech.
Boeck was the star of the show, but his co-star, Sarah Palin, can draw a crowd in her own right, and has learned a lot in the past few years about how to speak to large crowds. It’s my guess there was as many people there to see her, as there were to see him.
It’s no surprise that the blogosphere is alive with suggestions the two of them should make a run for the White House in 2012, and Boeck quickly said he’s “too divisive” to run for the highest office in the land, but that statement is more a short-term dismissal than a firm “no.” And Palin has the experience of running for national office under her belt now and presumably has learned and recovered from the beating-up she got from the likes of Katie Couric.
I think the two of them – Boeck and Palin – should make a run together in 2012. I’m not sure if Rush Limbaugh or Glen Boeck or John Boehner or Fox News is actually driving the Republican Party these days, and maybe Boeck is too divisive for the Republicans. How about the Tea Party? Boeck calls himself a libertarian and not a Republican, but what little I know about national party politics leads me to believe the Republicans would strongly oppose a Boeck (or Palin) third-party candidacy, since it would draw votes away from “the mother ship.” Boeck’s ego is strong enough to buck the party leaders.
All I know is both of them are acting a lot like candidates, and that usually means something.
If the Republicans lose in 2012, part of the reason will be that the voters will suddenly remember who was running the show when TARP and all that other stuff actually started. If the Democrats lose, part of the reason will be that they didn’t get unemployment under control. If Glen and Sarah win, people will be trying for centuries to figure out what it means.
Colonel,
ReplyDelete>> If Glen and Sarah win, people will be trying for centuries to figure out what it means. <<
Too right! But since it'll never happen we can only fantasize about it.
I've said this before: Glenn Beck made the most cogent, insightful, and trenchant defense of the Second Amendment I've ever seen -- and I'm not a gun owner. I read it in one of his books, "Arguing with Idiots"...which I didn't buy, by the way; I borrowed the library's copy. The balance of the book was pretty predictable, but his 2nd Amendment defense was brilliant.
But his self-admitted divisiveness will be the determining factor when it comes to nominating a candidate. The old "electability" qualification.
Sarah Palin may have been beat up by Katie Couric -- I didn't see the interview; I only read about it -- but I'd say that that can be chalked up to inexperience. She had only really been a politician for a handful of years as a Mayor and a Governor before she sat down with Couric and made her nervous performance.
The tough thing about being interviewed by someone as experienced as Couric is that the interviewer has the luxury of picking apart the interview subject's off-the-cuff public statements which cannot possibly be as smooth, thought-out, or well-reasoned as the speeches he/she gives. It isn't for nothing that a politician learns to say nothing at all while saying it with grace and flair. Then there's little for an interviewer to skewer. (Like that alliteration?)
Noozmen make their bread and butter by spot-lighting political gaffes. The ostensible reason is to show the viewers the "human" side of a politician, or rather the in-human side since what is spot-lighted is so frequently mean, venal, or rude. Perhaps that's the most human, come to think of it.
Anyway, I say all this not to commend Beck and Palin. I think Beck is quite happy doing what he's doing. Reportedly he makes an 8-figure annual income...not something that could be matched by a job as President...and he wouldn't be able to spout off as he does now.
Palin will continue to be a thorn in the side of the progressives and the Democrats for a while, the woman they love to hate.
Palin's public ordeals (remember the gossip about her son Trip actually being the illegitimate son of her daughter?) remind me of an old short story written by the late Steve Allen. It involved a modern-day Coliseum in which criminals were publicly executed. Rather than being torn apart by jungle cats, though, the criminals were simply placed in the center of the arena while the hate of the crowd was worked up to a fever pitch by the emcee. The focused waves of hate were bent upon the condemned man who suffered a horrible death.
That's what being a controversial politician is like these days. Some have better hate shields than others.
The Town Crank
Neenah, WI
Beck, IMHO, is daft, but pleasantly so. He's managed to bring the Progressive movement into the spotlight, which is a good thing. You should know, living near Bascom Hill, which has historical significance for that bunch.
ReplyDeletePalin got torn apart by Katie Couric two years ago not because of inexperience, but because she's an incurious intellectual midget. When someone asks what magazines you read, as Couric did, and you respond, as Palin did, "all of them," you betray a level of ignorance that makes you unqualified to tend my cat for the weekend, let alone be vice-president of the United States. (You ought to at least be able to make up something that sounds good.)
ReplyDeleteThat such a person could be taken seriously as a political leader is symptomatic of the profound trouble we're in as a country.
jb,
ReplyDelete>> she's an incurious intellectual midget <<
Awww! I can see that you've got a special place in your heart for Ms. Palin!
The Town Crank
Neenah
Hate? Heavens, no! This is enormously amusing.
ReplyDeleteGlenn Beck, an alcoholic, drug-abusing, God-sneering morning radio jock turned heretic Mormon (even mainstram Mormons think his bunch is weird) ... suddenly takes a messianic "Christian" turn. As Sarah would say... "You betcha."
Speaking of her Palin-ness. She's a dysfunctional parent and a resume-inflating, geographically confused, ethically challenged, failed governor of a client state; an opportunist who traded her public trust for a pile of money. She cannot put two coherent sentences together unless they are in her stump speech. She "ad libs" by writing crib notes on her hand. And she's a believer in witchcraft! What's not for the Democrats to like about Sarah Palin?
I'm not sure if the GOP really admires these low-grade people or if they're just easily suckered. Either way ...