Silly Sarah, Trix are for Kids!

So, I thought I'd post just a tiny, knee-jerk reaction to Sarah Palin's speech tonight. That is, if you feel like calling it a speech. It sounded to me a lot more like an opening monologue from "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno"-something that is usually mildly funny, yet so broad and unintelligent that you feel embarrassed watching other people laugh at it.

Firstly, I'll say that I thought Palin did a very good job delivering the speech. As a guy who loves the candidate who "gives good speeches", I think I know what I'm talking about. The beginning was aptly handled, and she did a good job introducing herself to the American people: the family, her journey to being governor, ect.

But, I was surprised as to how lacking in substance the rest of her speech was. After a whole week of people questioning McCain's decision-making skills, and worrying about Palin's novice status on the national stage, I thought her speech would be a great opportunity for her to prove that she was not a policy-lightweight. Instead, it was like Improv Night at the RNC.

Jokes about Obama's "bitter" quote, jokes about the set at Invesco, jokes about his campaign's misguided fake-presidency seal...and what really cheesed me off, and got my blood boiling a bit was her comments about Barack's days as a community organizer.

Now, I'll admit it was stupid, politically and in clear human terms, for Obama's campaign to respond to McCain picking Palin with a snide comment about her tenure as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska; however, both Obama and Biden quickly reformed that statement and the comment was quickly buried and forgotten, as it should have been. But for Palin to come out and dump on Barack's days on the South Side of CHI is just low-brow and dumb.

ANYBODY who spends time working with individuals in the worst parts of urban America deserve the respect of their fellow citizens (especially impressive when said organizer could be earning big, fat paychecks at top US law firms). As far as I was concerned, being a community organizer and mayor of a small town is pretty much a toss-up, and its stupid to debate such a thing.

But, since Palin (or really, a McCain speech writer) is stupid enough to make it a focal point of her speech, lets think about it, shall we? I think the contrasts between a small town in Alaska and the blight-filled South Side of Chicago are apparent, but just one example is looking at the poverty levels and family incomes in Wasilla versus people on the South Side. Believe what you want, but "the Kid" had to face some much harsher realities than Mrs. Palin.

I'd love to dissect more, but fine-combing the errors and misrepresentations in Palin's speech would be like caulking the Titanic: there's just too many holes. I didn't have any particular animosity for Sarah Palin when McCain picked her, but after belittling work done to alleviate the suffering of those in our inner cities, I have to say I'm ready for the hockey mom from up north to lose a few teeth (metaphorically speaking, of course).