Images of Sarah Palin from the latest issue of Vanity Fair magazine.Vanity Fair has a big article this month on former Alaska Governor, former Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin. I'm not a fan of this publicity-seeking, clueless egomaniacal opportunist. I was interested to read the piece and see what the magazine had learned about her that hasn't already been in People magazine.
Unfortunately, author Michael Joseph Gross was unable to get anyone of substance to talk with him on the record and thus has nothing new to say about her.
Well there was one thing new: in addition to all those clothes she charged to the Republican National Committee, she also charged a bunch of Spanx girdles to them. I sat up in my chair when I read that. Sara Palin needs a girdle? Who knew?
Oh, and her husband Todd's emails are peppered with bad grammar and misspellings. Now there's a revelation. Todd Palin a dunce? I'm shocked. Shocked.
Beyond those little nuggets the pickings were pretty lean. Since she's become famous she doesn't go out much in Wasilla, not the way she used to. Wow. A woman who quit her job as governor of Alaska so she could hit the road and make millions of dollars on the speakers circuit is dissing the folks of Wasilla? There's a surprise. She shops incognito at Target right before closing to avoid discussing her Target purchases with fans. Hmm. Sounds pretty logical to me. She has a big No Trespassing sign on the fence around her house. I would do that too if people were reporting on my Spanx girdle purchases. (I'm going to have to try those things!)
What I would have liked to learn was: why does a brilliant conservative like William Kristol support her and apparently play a role in her inner circle? Why does Richard Lowry of the National Review defend her in the pages of William F. Buckley's iconic magazine? Did these guys refuse to talk with Michael Joseph Gross, or didn't he think to call them? That should have been mentioned in the piece.
It really gags me to think that intelligent conservatives can't do better than this ghastly paper doll of a candidate. That's why I would liked to have heard from some leading thinkers about her so-called phenomenon. Personally, I think her time in the sunlight will be very short. She's made out of air and sugar candy and she'll dissolve in the first rain.
Gross justified his lack of quotes by saying everyone was afraid to talk to him. Everyone? Leading thinkers at the Hoover Institute? Pepperdine University political science professors? Everyone? If that's true then "everyone" should be ashamed of themselves.
Buried in the article was the fact that McCain staffers learned during the '08 campaign that she didn't know who Margaret Thatcher was. If that is true, then someone of intelligence needs to write a real piece about her. Just talkin' trash about Sarah only feeds the phenomenon and simply lengthens the painful time in which we must watch this inept woman dance in the spotlight.
