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NationofChange / Op-Ed
Published: Sunday 18 March 2012
“She did not know that Queen Elizabeth II does not run the British government, and she did not know that North and South Korea are different countries.”
Sarah Palin’s Foolishness Ruined U.S. Politics
At some point while watching HBO’s absolutely smashing (and terrifying) movie “Game Change,” it occurred to me that Sarah Palin has ruined America. The movie has been scalloped out of the book by the same name and focuses on Palin, rather than on the entire 2008 presidential campaign. The decision to do so was absolutely correct. With her selection as John McCain’s running mate, American politics lost its way — and maybe its mind as well.
The movie portrays Palin as an ignoramus. She did not know that Queen Elizabeth II does not run the British government, and she did not know that North and South Korea are different countries. She seemed not to have heard of the Federal Reserve. She called Joe Biden “O’Biden” and she thought America went to war in Iraq because Saddam Hussein, not al-Qaeda, had attacked on Sept. 11, 2001. Not only did she know little, but she was determinately incurious and supremely smug in her ignorance.At the same time, she was a liar. In the movie, she was called exactly that by McCain’s campaign chief, Steve Schmidt, who came to realize — a bit late in the game — that one of Palin’s great talents was to deny the truth. When confronted, she simply shuts down — petulant, child-like — and then sulks off.
Palin objects to this characterization — as does McCain — but the movie has been endorsed by too many of Palin’s top campaign aides to put its veracity in doubt. Some of them had come to revile the Alaska governor — enough to leak some awful facts but not quite enough to go public. Had the election been really close, I wonder if they would have run out into the street yelling that Palin — a heartbeat away from the possible presidency — was a monster. Everybody loves their country. Some people love their careers even more.
All this is now history, I want to say. But then I must instantly correct myself. ApresPalin has come a deluge of dysfunctional presidential candidates. They do not lie with quite the conviction of Palin, but they are sometimes her match in ignorance. As with Palin, it seemed hardly to matter. Herman Cain for a while was a front-runner. He had a nonsensical tax plan, zero knowledge of foreign affairs and had never held elective office. Yet, for a brief but terrifying moment, many Republicans were saying he should be the next president of the United States.
Michele Bachmann told a touching fib about vaccinations and Rick Perry did not know squat about who governs Turkey, a NATO ally and a vitally important Middle East power. He got wrong the number of justices on the Supreme Court — he said eight — and could not remember a Cabinet department he had vowed to eliminate.
Rick Santorum knows his stuff, but his stuff includes a wild denunciation of John F. Kennedy’s famous speech about the proper role of religion in public life and a characterization of President Obama as a snob for extolling the value of college. Newt Gingrich has the wattage to be president, but so does Hannibal Lecter, if you get my drift. As for Ron Paul, he appears to be running for president of some theme park.
I have excluded Mitt Romney from my list of fools and knaves. (He has other problems.) But there once was a time when Romney would not have stood out as the only candidate who knew something about the issues that confront a president. Since Palin, though, ignorance has become more than bliss. It’s now an attribute, an entire platform: Vote for me, I know nothing and hate the same things you do.
Palin is no longer an anomaly. McCain didn’t choose her for her intellectual or experiential qualities, nor because he was geographically or ideologically balancing the ticket. She was an antiabortion woman with a pulse: Enough! She, like the out-of-nowhere Obama, had the stuff of celebrity — the snap, the dazzle, the self-assurance, the sex appeal. She didn’t need to dance with a star. God told her she already was one.
So far, the Palin effect has been limited to the GOP. Surely, though, there lurks in the Democratic Party potential candidates who have seen Palin and taken note. Experience, knowledge, accomplishment — these no longer may matter. They will come roaring out of the left proclaiming a hatred of all things Washington, including compromise. The movie had it right. Sarah Palin changed the game.
© , Washington Post Writers Group
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ABOUT Richard Cohen
Richard Cohen is a weekly columnist for The Post, writing on domestic and foreign politics. His column appears on Tuesdays.
Cohen joined The Post as a reporter in 1968 and covered everything from police, city hall, education, state government and national politics. As the paper's chief Maryland correspondent, he was one of two reporters who broke the story of the investigation of former Vice President Spiro Agnew. In 1976, he began writing a column for the paper's Metro section. His column became nationally syndicated in 1981 and has appeared on the op-ed page of The Post since 1984. Cohen is the author, with Jules Witcover of "A Heartbeat Away: The Investigation and Resignation of Spiro T. Agnew" (1974).
Cohen has received the Sigma Delta Chi and Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild Awards for his investigative reporting.
Top Stories
By Green Shadow Cabinet
42 comments on "Sarah Palin’s Foolishness Ruined U.S. Politics"
March 19, 2012 8:16am
Sarah Palin is, of course, little more than a wind bag and worse - a liar, a deceiver, a fanatic, a barely literate fool. However, she did not ruin U.S. political life. She is merely a symptom of a massively corrupt political system, the causes of which are too numerous to discuss in this comment.
Mr. Cohen's assessment of her causative role is regrettably terribly superficial. One wonders why Cohen even bothered writing such an article.
March 19, 2012 8:15am
Sarah Palin is, of course, little more than a wind bag and worse - a liar, a deceiver, a fanatic, a barely literate fool. However, she did not ruin U.S. political life. She is merely a symptom of a massively corrupt political system, the causes of which are too numerous to discuss in this comment. Mr. Cohen's assessment of her causative role is regrettably terribly superficial. One wonders why Cohen even bothered writing such an article.
March 19, 2012 8:15am
Sarah Palin is, of course, little more than a wind bag and worse - a liar, a deceiver, a fanatic, a barely literate fool. However, she did not ruin U.S. political life. She is merely a symptom of a massively corrupt political system, the causes of which are too numerous to discuss in this comment. Mr. Cohen's assessment of her causative role is regrettably terribly superficial. One wonders why Cohen even bothered writing such an article.
March 19, 2012 12:42am
What has ruined politics in America is that a small wealthy elite now own the system and the politicians. Sarah Palin is a side show.
March 18, 2012 11:21pm
A touching screed-but lacking insight. Palin must cede pride of place to that jocular old fraud Ronald Reagan (Ray-Gun) who rode out of the cowboy mythos movies into first the governorship fo CA-land of fantasy-and then into the WH bringing chaos and ruin with him-the first big thing he did was to fire all the unionized air traffic controllers of PATCO-whose main sin was trying to make our skies a little bit safer by demanding upgraded equipment and better working conditions-but it seems it is better for the bottom line to use outmoded screens and falling asleep traffic controllers. Thirty years on-Palin was just another of a long list of incompetent and stupid politicians. Not that things have gotten any better, even among the 'intelligencia' all of which seem to believe the 'Official History' of 911 that 19 Arabs (7 whom are still alive BTW) flew planes into things (disappearing completely the one that supposedly hit the Pentagonand which left no evidence of itself-no wings, engines, wheels, bodies , seats or luggange and an immaculate lawn) and melting 100,000 tons of steel each tower bldg. with 60,000 gallons of jet-grade kerosene.Wow and all that time steel workers thought they needed blast furnaces to make steel! And from that lie-welcome to the endless wars. Wake up people-the alarm has gone off more than 30 years ago-or have you forgotten the 'magic bullet' theory that explains the JFK assassination? Harry Potter, where are you now when we need you in the 'real world against Lord Vodemort and his Death Eaters-like the heartless Zombie Cheyney?
March 18, 2012 10:58pm
Folks, Democracy has a weakness, it is human beings. Through out our history we have elected great people and idiots. Thank God, Fate, Luck, or whatever that we are still here. Remember we come out of the slave culture. We have massacred Native people without shame and called it glory (e.g. Wounded Knee, Trail of Tears, and the Oklahoma land grab). We have elected Jackson, Harding, Nixon, & Bush 2. Give me a break. The issue is not who Sarah is. The issue is that a part of us as a country vote for, like, and support this type of behavior. Sarah is sincere in her approach (however misguided and ignorant), her sincerity coupled with peoples need to connect with someone who represents their chosen interpretation of life is what makes her possible. The Tea Party sees itself as victims, a large segment of the religious-blue collar-white population sees itself as being victimized by those in control (which is filtered as Democrats, Progressives, Liberals, etc. not Wall Street, the Military-Industrial complex, Rush Limbaugh-Fox News-etc). We have failed to convince the rank and file that we understand and they can connect with us. Say what you will, but Sarah connects. The danger is that she is more powerful than we are in connecting with the rank and file to distract them from their own self interest. We have failed to produce people and a message that engages the rank and file to rally around a common interest. Thankfully the Republicans are doing their level best to alienate non-whites, women, and the 99% with their anti-white, anti-women's rights, and pro 1% tax break approach. If we didn't have the Republicans shooting themselves in the foot, we would be in trouble. So give Sarah a break. She is not to be blamed for being popular. She is just being herself. We need to hug Sarah and come up with an approach that leads to her being ignored.
March 18, 2012 5:22pm
I think the problem goes further back, to the Reagan era. Although his quote about "government is the problem" was taken out of context, ever since then it has been the mantra of the Republicans to dismantle government. Corporations jumped on the bandwagon, because hey, they can make a lot more money if they don't have rules and the government bails them out if they fail.
March 18, 2012 9:34pm
Dan Quayle comes to mind. He helped set the stage for W to be considered presidential material.
March 18, 2012 2:46pm
"Not only did she know little, but she was determinately incurious and supremely smug in her ignorance."
The word for this is called "fatuous." It means ignorant and proud of it.
It's an American value because most Americans are about as astute or less so than Palin, so they identify and that makes them feel better about their ignorance.
March 18, 2012 3:51pm
Agree. How do we educate, or re-educate this populace as to the importance of a fine intellect, accurate world view, and sense of other. It is indeed terrifying. I thought the GOP had fulfilled H. L. Mencken's prediction with the second Bush, but he only presaged things to come. Mencken: "As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron."
March 18, 2012 2:45pm
Foolishness started with Reagan when he mocked Carter saying "there you go again" and implying that his daughter was too stupid to understand the concept of nuclear war. The next foolishness came when Clinton puffed but did not inhale and that he did not have sex with that woman..... The real stupidity started with W. who was told by god to run for presidency and then he got away with 911 so easily. We had to believe what W's buddies told us not what we saw or what the rules of logic stated and the "facts" were never verified about 911. W. and his Dick/company literally got away with mass murders. The campaign of god and terror was the highest point of stupidity and the creation of mass hysteria. Palin is just a pretty face, perfect for Playboy centerfold in her 20s and god knows how she got into politics.... Sliding on her back all the way to the top seems to be the most rational explanation.... Today's US politics are perfect movie script for dumbed down masses. The 1% rules and the rest have to follow no matter how destructive their rule might be to the 99%. The two parties have become servants of the 1%. Independents/thoughtful people are progressively dropping off the system until an event lights up their fire and they might become catalysts for a new social order based on ideas of Ralph Nader, Dennis Kucinich, Paul Krugman, Robert Reich.
March 19, 2012 3:14am
The nation is approaching "Idiocracy".
March 18, 2012 2:26pm
Guess I am more concerned about how someone gets vetted as a running mate. A running mate whom if one gets elected is a heartbeat away from being President. Yes, I was a bit put off by the gotcha moment where Katie Couric asked Ms Palin what publications she read, and no answer was forthcoming. We live here in the Sierras and could quickly note a dozen we read weekly. And since the '08 election so much has come out about Ms Palin that is troubling. Not to mention the few international places she has been (Israel/India)where the feedback on her lack of knowledge continues. She isn't Jewish yet showed up recently wearing a Star of David. Does anyone think that the reason the McCains dare not say anything negative about Ms Palin is because they fear the nonsense she would unleash about them?Has any reporter or debate host asked any of these Republicans how well vetted will their prospective running mate be, and if they are vetting in some way now?
March 18, 2012 2:13pm
A war can never be won without extinguishing the advisory’s home base. Since we have never been willing to challenge Pakistan directly, it was never going to end well. We should have hired the Indians to takeover nation building from the start. The mere suggestion would have provided Pakistan the necessary incentive to do their part or face a motivated opponent.Combat collateral damage, cultural offenses and tragedies caused by fighters suffering from posttraumatic stress and combat fatigue endured by the Afghans sadden me, but is what you expect to have happen when your country is a combat zone.But when I look at Afghanistan, I wonder why we want to do anything more for the country. Who in the country is saying, “I appreciate your efforts for trying to stabilize our country.” Let them work it out for themselves. There is nothing for us to win, only to lose more blood and treasure.
March 18, 2012 2:13pm
The corporate powers who decide who rules chose airhead Palin as VP candidate under mentally-challenged McCain, effectively destroying the campaign. Obama was cherry-picked by the big shots, fully aware that he would obey their agendas, i.e. continue the tragic , though immensely profitable, occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan. He would also promote The Patriot Act, suspend Habeas Corpus,maintain Gitmo, reward bankers and business moguls for their crimes, bail outthe auto industry, etc. all of this at the expense of the middle and working classes. We have been had.
March 18, 2012 1:53pm
Palin brought "U.S politics" low, to be sure. But starting from where? Look at the parade of bozos who have proceeded her in recent history. I don't have to name them.
March 18, 2012 12:07pm
It makes complete sense that Republican misogynists would prop Palin up as their ideal woman. She's subservient, insipid, and a proven breeder.
It's like those guys you knew from high school who'd complain that all women are drunk and shallow.. then only date drunk and shallow girls they meet at bars. That's the kind of mentality we're dealing with. They'd rather have the "typical female" that fits into their worldview rather than some free-thinking Lilith.
March 20, 2012 9:39pm
Lilith would have fed their their flaccid penis' to the dogs.
March 18, 2012 11:55am
I agree. Palin was simply to be a figure (head). Unfortunately she was so dumb/ignorant she didn't get the message and really felt important enough to be Veep. They should have told her up front what her role was.
March 20, 2012 9:41pm
She's a bad example for other women. She ought to be sent back to that archipelago she lives in.
March 18, 2012 11:52am
I noticed that Sarah Palin really went down in the popularity polls when it was announced that she went out with a basketball star. That news was hushed up and now I never hear about it.
March 18, 2012 1:48pm
Correction: a BLACK basketball star...
March 18, 2012 11:48am
I would just remind all of you that idiot comes from the Greek, the people who are supposedly the authors of democracy. What does it mean in Greek? Oh, voter. Look it up.
March 20, 2012 9:43pm
You got to be kidding - she's a Greek? She puts them to shame as she does toward the image of women.
March 18, 2012 3:15pm
You're an idiot...it was a term for non skilled person...who did not vote. "An idiot in Athenian democracy was someone who was characterized by self-centeredness and concerned almost exclusively with private—as opposed to public—affairs." In other words it was not a voter as voters were very involved in public affairs.
March 18, 2012 3:13pm
You're an idiot...it was a term for non skilled person...who did not vote. "An idiot in Athenian democracy was someone who was characterized by self-centeredness and concerned almost exclusively with private—as opposed to public—affairs." In other words it was not a voter as voters were very involved in public affairs.
March 18, 2012 2:24pm
I didn't find "voter" in the word history, I found from Gk. idiotes "layman, person lacking professional skill," lit. "private person,"
March 18, 2012 11:31am
With all due respect to an interesting thread, the final coment misses a vital distinction between Democrats and Republicans especially in primaries, and damages the whole column in my mind. Democrats expect that their candidates to be able to make government work for the people and for the country. Republicans want to tear down government and try to make it not work, other than to run our sex lives. The Norquist adage in action- shrink it to where we can drown it in a bathtub- is the operative attitude of the Republican electorate. That is where the smugness of ignorance starts to come in, although that is itself a deeper topic. Democrats are different. Witness the fact that in '08, the distinctions in tax plans and health care plans amongst Edwards, Obama, and Clinton created huge turmoil and debate amongst Democrats, while the inane tax plans of all the Republicans this cycle, not just Cain, elicit bloodthirsty yells for more and deeper ripping and shredding of our government amongst this primary. That distinction is the central feature of today's discourse, and what makes this a truly scary election. Will we maintain a central and functioning government for the general welfare or not? The Palin phenomena of hubristic ignorance is a partisan issue, not two sided, and does not deserve a false equivalency. Our side has its own flaws, no question, but requiring a commitmnt to policy and governnance amongt our leaders is not one of them.As for Romney, his sheer rank dishonesty and convictionless ambition should disqualify him.
March 18, 2012 11:25am
The intellectual and political atmosphere is so poisoned by her example, that thoughtful observations like this will go unheaded.
The article needs to ask "Why was she possible?" WHy did she represent celebrityhood? And then, "How specifically has the current campaign" dumbed down the dialogue even more, while more celverly distorting facts and making ill founded conclusions. Logic has been the biggest victim this time out.
The answer is decades of poor public education and the profit motives of big media, who pursue ratings before facts and information.
March 18, 2012 11:19am
Palin is far more than just some vain ignoramus and because she has a bully pulpit at FAUXNEWS from which to spew her racist, hateful rhetoric, she is dangerous. And that so-called documentary "Undefeated" was basically a joke.
All of Palin's behavior points to NPD-Narcissistic Personality Disorder. With The Republican and Tea Party folks obsessively focused on individual responsibility to the point of socio-pathology, a candidate like her was inevitable in the GOP, just as the passel of lying, fear-mongering nitwits we're seeing now vying for the Republican nomination. The GOP seems to be in a race to the bottom.
For the record, I'm an independent who tends to vote Democratic or Green (I live in a state has several parties), and I have voted Republican when the candidate has the qualifications for a particular job and is moderate and understands that she/he must represent all of their constituents and not a small extremist group.
I don't think a candidate with the mental instability that Palin has could make it far as a Democratic candidate. Liberal voters tend to be more savvy about mental health issues, maybe it's because they're more educated. The folks who support the GOP seem to be against anything that threatens the status quo or their narrow world view. They also seem to have more antiquated views about mental health and they don't seem to be as well-educated or even willing to listen to new ideas; a genuine lack of open-minded curiosity.
Dems may be somewhat spineless and too focused on compromising when that's the wrong way to go, but if anyone showed up with the same amount of bats**t craziness factor along with good looks and charm, I still think that Dems would reject that candidate.
Good article, though. I'd like to see this Game Change movie spark sincere discussions around the country about NPD and socio-pathology. It's far more prevalent than many think. And as much as I can't stand Palin's behavior, I do feel compassion for her and anyone who has to deal with her. NPD is ultimately isolating for the people who have it; they end up driving everyone away from them and die alone.
March 18, 2012 11:08am
I thought the movie was very entertaining. One of my beliefs about the elections we have is that the candidates we pick and the onese we elect say more about our country than it does about the people running for office. Every 4 years (and even 2 if you look at local politics) we find out who we, as a community realy are. What we really believe. If it's scary, then so are we.
Well you've all seen one side of the story. There is also another movie, Undefeated, which is actually a documentary presenting the other side. I don't say Sarah Palin hasn't made blunders, haven't we all done that including President Obama. I'm saying open your minds people and get the facts from both sides. Don't look at any issues through tunnel vision - get the whole picture first. Don't believe what you hear, check it out for yourself. Find the truth for yourself.
March 19, 2012 3:40am
This is all you need to know about Sarah Palin.
"He who warned, uh, the British that they weren't gonna be takin' away our arms, uh, by ringing those bells, and um, makin' sure as he's riding his horse through town to send those warning shots and bells that we were going to be sure and we were going to be free, and we were going to be armed." --Sarah Palin, botching the history of Paul Revere's midnight ride, June 3, 2011
March 19, 2012 3:30am
If the "other side of the story" depicts Sarah Palin in a positive light it is devoid of facts.
Sarah's problems go far beyond "blunders".
March 18, 2012 12:03pm
There are numerous books out there regarding Palin and of the 2008 election and if you have read any of them you would see for yourself that this movie shows what actually DID happen. But if one choses to only read the Palin books she had someone write for her you will only get the distorted views of a woman who still can't see that she didn't help McCain and that election will probably go down in history of the most bizarre one ever. Far too many people who don't live with Ms Palin agree that this movie is the truth for me to believe otherwise.
March 18, 2012 11:13am
what... were you in a coma in '08?
March 18, 2012 10:47am
I still feel that McCain, an experienced politician and competent leader, should have known better. Was He so trusting of his campaign advisors that He accepted her as his best shot of winning the presidency? Or had He just become a hollow suit willing to do anything to win. The movie leaves that unanswered yet gives us another testament to the sad state of American Presidential politics.
March 18, 2012 11:11am
self- answered: He had just become a hollow suit willing to do anything to win.
(The only think that ever gave McCain credibility was the McCain/Feingold campaign finance legislation... pretty hard to take that the least bit seriously at this "citizen united" point! He was always a hollow opportunist.)
March 18, 2012 10:43am
I watched the film last night and my first thought was that Julianne Moore needs to dust off a spot on her mantle for the inevitable Emmy. I think our politics were ruined long before Grifty McQuitter arrived on the scene, but she certainly helped speed up the process. She clearly is as ill-informed as a lot of Americans, and like them is often wrong but never in doubt.
Fuck Steve Schmidt, though. His mea culpas now are in no way adequate for his role in elevating this idiot onto the national stage. He should have left right then and there rather than waiting four years to tell us what we already knew.
March 18, 2012 10:41am
Sarah Palin's prominence was the product of a very dysfunctional media. The media lets in anybody as long as they are pro-war (which automatically leaves out people who love their country and have their eyes open).
I do not think there will be anything equivalent coming out of the left, at least if it is anti-war. The media won't stand for it. (They're doing their very best to ignore the issues Ron Paul brings up about the war, this article not excluded.)
March 18, 2012 10:41am
I remember one programmable idiot rethug woman explain to the news media why she really liked Sarah Palin as a national political candidate stating. "She makes me feel like I could be president too."
Idiots hire/elect other idiots. That's why we are headed down the drain.
(We should skim off the scum and discard it instead of allowing it to rise and stay on top putrefying everything underneath it.)
March 18, 2012 10:28am
I don't mean to split hairs... or to act as apologist for Palin, but it sounds to me like it was the decision to sidle up with Palin––the decision made by McCain and as advised by his team––that "ruined U.S. Politics." One ignorant governor could never have done all that damage alone. Behind this one vain and ignorant women is the powerful set of malevolent men staging the coup.