Shatner Reads Palin

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Sarah Barracuda Leaves Alaska for the Big Time

When John McCain announced last August in Ohio that Sarah Palin would be his running mate for '08, I remember thinking, 'Wow. The cameras love her.'
I still maintain that the reason why Palin gets so much media attention is largely due to her aesthetics and how it is captured and translated via the lens. And yet she keeps bashing the media for being unfair to her not seemingly realizing that her refusal to engage them (the media) in a substantial way might perhaps be the main reason for the occasional, ok, not-so-occasional ridicule.

While Palin is seriously uninformed about a lot of issues, she oozes a kind of stamina and tenacity that is rare to see. Now that she's announced that she is resigning as Alaska's governor, she's signaled her actual interest in entering national politics. Vanity Fair has a gripping peace on her. A paragraph of note says:

"In dozens of conversations during a recent visit to Alaska, it was easy to learn that there has always been a counter-narrative about Palin, and indeed it has become the dominant one. It is the story of a political novice with an intuitive feel for the temper of her times, a woman who saw her opportunities and coolly seized them. In every job, she surrounded herself with an insular coterie of trusted friends, took disagreements personally, discarded people who were no longer useful, and swiftly dealt vengeance on enemies, real or perceived. “Remember,” says Lyda Green, a former Republican state senator who once represented Palin’s home district, and who over the years went from being a supporter of Palin’s to a bitter foe, “her nickname in high school was ‘Barracuda.’ I was never called Barracuda. Were you? There’s a certain instinct there that you go for the jugular.”

Read it all here.

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Palin-to-logy

Most of us who occasionally listen to pundits discussing pre- and post-election texts, suspected that after the results of the election were announced, one of the next topics would be 'What about Palin?'

Palin is receiving a lot of scrutiny post-election. The following clip comes from Fox News.

Fruit Flies in France

I was informed by different friends of mine who are in the medical research field and French Studies to check out the following:


I actually managed to see this on my own when Rachel Maddow first commented on it on Friday and my instinct was to ask my scientist and French Studies friends what they thought of it.

The thing is, research money is indispensable to progress. Without innovation, we cannot make any progress in any field, be it autism or literary scholarship. And innovation and progress need to be funded.

Tip of the hat to HDC and Alan for the pointer.

What's an Elitist?

Liam and I came up with a lexically different outcome when discussing the notion of elitism as it relates to identity.
Brian Williams of NBC just asked Sarah Palin who she thought a member of the elite was and she replied:

PALIN: Oh, I guess just people who think that they're better than anyone else. And-- John McCain and I are so committed to serving every American. Hard-working, middle-class Americans who are so desiring of this economy getting put back on the right track. And winning these wars. And America's starting to reach her potential. And that is opportunity and hope provided everyone equally. So anyone who thinks that they are-- I guess-- better than anyone else, that's-- that's my definition of elitism. Look for the elitism discussion circa minute 4:05
Here is the McCain/Palin discussion of the term elite as seen on tonight's segment on the NBC Nightly News:
How do you define the term elitism?

Text Behind Clothing: Substantial

Every news program I have marginally or solely seen/listened to from yesterday to today has not only mentioned but also analyzed the GOP's decision to give Sarah Palin a substantial makeover.
And people are having strong reactions to the $150.000 makeover. Some are even pointing out that the attention the Palin camp is getting on the matter is a sign of sexism and that male candidates spend thousands on designer suits all the time.

Personally, I don't know any hockey moms so I can't rely on personal experience to comment on this. Cognitively, there are a number of ways to interpret this, of course.

The thing I'm thinking about is the fact that the hockey/soccer mom image, at least the one that stereotypes inform, does not, for the most part, reside in a 'Prada-informed niche'. Prada does not come cheap.
When John Edwards' $400.00 haircut bill was made public many people commented on it and presented it as a sign of elitism. I don't tend to think that there is a direct correlation between wardrobe choices and elitism but I can see why certain clothing items could make some equate the wearer of such things with elitism. And this brings me to the whole 'hockey mom' notion as one that's [apparently?] antithetical to elitism.

Hockey moms and Prada items are not mutually exclusive.

Bottom line: The text behind clothing is a strong one. And aesthetics will not be irrelevant anytime soon. It never was in the first place.
The NY Times article points out:

"Such an image is unhelpful at this late stage of the general election, Republicans said, especially when many families are experiencing economic pain, and when the image applies to a candidate, like Ms. Palin, who has run for office in part on her appeal as an outdoors enthusiast and former small-town mayor who scorns pretensions.

“It looks like nobody with a political antenna was working on this,” said Ed Rollins, a Republican political consultant who ran President Ronald Reagan’s re-election campaign in 1984. “It just undercuts Palin’s whole image as a hockey mom, a ‘one-of-us’ kind of candidate.”

Mr. Obama and his wife, Michelle, have been described as elitist by both Republicans and Democrats at times, and so much was made when she appeared on “The View” in June in a black-and-white patterned dress. Turns out it sold for $148 at an off-the-rack store.

Few Republican operatives or politicians, even those critical of the McCain-Palin campaign, were publicly criticizing the ticket on Wednesday over the clothing purchases. Some said privately that doing so would be akin to kicking a campaign while it was down.

Others said the issue was tainted with sexism, given that male politicians often spend thousands of dollars on suits.

“She had a legitimate need to purchase clothing to get her through three months of grueling campaigning in the constant spotlight of television cameras,” said William F. B. O’Reilly, a Republican consultant in New York. “No one would blink if this was a male candidate buying Brooks Brothers suits.”
Read more here.

Is Clothing Text: The Palin Wardrobe

Paul and I were discussing Palin's wardrobe choices earlier today so it's only apropos I link this after I just encountered it via Brian Williams. Clothing is textual, indeed. And not only per the sartorialist.

"The Republican National Committee spent about $150,000 on clothing, hair styling, makeup and other "campaign accessories" in September for the McCain campaign after Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin joined the ticket as his running mate.

The McCain campaign now says the clothing will go to a "charitable purpose" after the campaign.

The expenses include $75,062 spent at Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis and $41,850 in St. Louis in early September. The committee also reported spending $4,100 for makeup and hair consulting."
The red leather jacket is, indeed, superb and it has gotten much air time.
Btw, this is the picture I included in the entry from months ago about the Argentinian president de Kirchner.

Bringing leather back?

What Does the Veep Do?

I just turned on the news and learned from an energetic Chris Matthews from MSNBC's Hardball that Sarah Palin got the job description of the vice president wrong when answering a question by a third grader. Here is the clip:

P.S.
Thanks to Paul's astute point, I was reminded of an earlier blog entry of mine regarding Argentina's president, de Kirchner. What do you think of the red coat here?

Rappin' Amy? You Betcha!

The line to look for: "All the mavericks in the house put your hands up."

"Palin and McCain Administration"

Who is the GOP nominee again?

Sarah Palin's Accent: Where Is It From?

Have you ever wondered where Sarah Palin's accent comes from?
Linguist William Labov discusses Sarah Palin's accent here. Definitely worth a listen.

Palin Matters and Gendered Politics

Bloggingheads discusses femininity, gender, and politics in this clip.

It's getting more and more surreal that gender is being perceived and discussed is such a congealed way in 2008. Check it out and see what you think.

SNL's Take on the VP Debate

Since I missed the vice-presidential debates due to travel, I went to the one place where I thought I could get informed about what transpired. And Tina produces yet another linguistically compelling piece....

Travel and Various

Let's face it. If you're a professional on the go and time is the most valuable commodity you have, travel can be a tad difficult on account of delays. However, today I am taking a moment and thanking the airports that provide free WiFi. WiFi is definitely one way to make make delays bearable. Work gets done, emails get attended to, and, of course, some blogging gets accomplished as well.

Also.

I was looking forward to the Sarah Barracuda vs Joey, the Shark debate tonight (to quote Bill Mahr) but since I will be in Dallas, I will most likely miss it.

I hope some of you will be blogging about it so that I can get your reaction. And with luck I will have access to WiFi.

Phrase of the Week

Well, folks, the phrase of last week had to be Katie Couric's "...not to belabor the point..."
Having in mind all the traffic, buzz, and attention her Palin interview engendered, I think it gets the cake.

Palin out of Corn?

When I got back from the Andy Warhol exhibit tonight, a friend sent me the following link.
Art comes in many contents and media.
Corn, anyone?
Read more here.
per AP

Jon Stewart on Gender

Here's a Jon Stewart's bit that, per Comedy Central, was seen over 1.5 million times in a single day. The show was aired Wednesday night.

Maureen Writes

I enjoy reading Maureen Dowd of the Times for the most part. The sentence of the day comes from her:
"Instead of going home and watching “Miss Congeniality” with Sandra Bullock, I get to stay here and watch “Miss Congeniality” with Sarah Palin.

Sheer heaven."
Read all here.
graph per ny times