SARAH PALIN, SMART PEOPLE ARE THE ENEMY

These two articles make a good case for Palin's suspicion and resentment of anyone who might be smarter than her.... which is a whole heckuva lot of people. Let's not forget it took her 6 years in 5 colleges to finally get a Bachelor's degree in Sports Journalism from Idaho State.

But in Sarah's world that's the same as Barack Obama graduating top of his class at Harvard Law, being the first African-American to head up Harvard's Law Review and his subsequent years teaching Constitutional Law. After being raised by a single mom on food stamps.

Anywho, The New Republic has a terrific article called "Barracuda" that offers an eye-opening profile.

Here's an excerpt:

In 1996, Palin was also asserting herself more and more. For example, she'd demand to know why Stein, the mayor, had "raised the budget." Stein and Carney tried to explain that he'd done nothing of the kind--that, when a city grows, businesses collect more in tax revenue, but that new residents also increase demand for public services. Palin wasn't appeased. She'd say things like, "'Oh, okay. Well, that's the way you think about it,'" Stein recalls. "I was thinking--these are things she should know better. Why is she asking me these stupid questions?"

Carney saw ulterior motives. During a break one evening, he stopped Palin as she was heading to the restroom. "Sarah, it sounds like you're running for mayor," he said, half-joking. Palin turned red and became visibly upset. "What makes you say that? I never said I was running for mayor." "You never denied it, " Carney responded. Palin just repeated herself and stomped off.

Within a few months, Palin was officially challenging Stein and exploiting the cultural shift masterfully. She welcomed a national anti-abortion group in to carpet bomb Wasilla with pink postcards affirming her pro-life bona fides. She orchestrated an NRA endorsement and a mailing from the group falsely proclaiming Stein, a lifelong hunter, "anti-gun." (Stein complained to the local newspaper that Palin was telling voters he wanted to "melt down" all the firearms in the state.) And, in a move practically out of
Karl Rove's playbook, she dwelled on how Stein's wife used her maiden name, going so far as to demand a marriage certificate as proof of their nuptials. Palin's campaign literature proclaimed her "deeply devoted to conservative family values"--all in the context of an ostensibly nonpartisan election. (Stein himself was a moderate Republican.)

And then there's Andrew Sullivan's observation that:

Here's one way to look at the question: how has Palin brought up her own kids? Her eldest son is a high-school drop-out. Her eldest daughter has had, so far as one can tell from press reports, very uneven attendance in high school, and no plans for college. Her other daughters seem to spend a lot of time traveling the country with their mom at tax-payers' expense. I've seen them at several rallies with the Palins this fall. Are they not in school?

The least one can say is that none of her children seems to have been brought up thinking that college is something to aspire to. And her new son-in-law just dropped out of high school as well.

What makes people think this woman should be allowed anywhere near the White House? She's the Tanya Harding of politics. Except instead of working her ass off relentlessly to become a world class skater only to throw it all away by stabbing a teammate in the back, Palin skipped straight to the backstabbing part.

Look, I can sorta understand why Budweiser dudes want to bang her. She's got that naughty librarian thing going on. Go ahead, bang the hell out of her. Just don't vote for her.

P.S. It astounds me that Sarh Palin claims she's just like "small town" folks yet spends $150K in two short months on clothes for her campaign. That's as much as the average American makes in 4 years. Explain to me how she's just like Joe Six Pack?