Sarah Palin & The Pretty Girl Who Ate Crickets

When I was a lad, I would often meet young ladies. Demographics being what they are (even in Montana, despite what you may have heard) it’s difficult to avoid it. On occasion, I would encounter a young girl who would catch my eye and I would be smitten. Yes, I am from the 1950s and use the word ‘smitten’. Sometimes I would even hang onto this state of puppy love for a good while. Then, almost without fail, an unpleasant fate would befall me. I got to know this young female person… and she ate live crickets. That particular problem only actually happened once, but the point is that further investigation led to the realization that this lovely young woman wasn’t quite who I hoped she was. So now that’s out of the way.

I’ve held off on blogging the Sarah Palin bombshell resignation because there is a lot of pain involved for people I have a great deal of affection for… and also because I’m afraid of my mother. Pain because Sarah Palin’s positive offerings were so compelling that her apparent failings are made a tumult of emotion, angst and denial. Fear of my mother because she, like hordes of other Conservative folks who care deeply about family values, has come to invest heaps of hope in the Alaska Governor and my takes on what we’ve witnessed are not positive. Alas, as the angry journalist David Gregory and myself are set to speak on Palin during the This Week with Goose podcast coming out this weekend, it was time. And tonight it all came together in my head. Sarah Palin was the pretty little lady who ate live crickets. Not exactly – but close. Let me explain.

As I can still dimly remember some of those shining moments from youth, how can we forget the night in which so many of us were swept away by Sarah Palin’s speech at the Republican National Convention. Back then, the only thing anyone knew about her was that she was Alaskan, she had successfully slayed moose, and her daughter was great with child. But that night she deployed a multi-point  assault on the Democratic nominee who had heretofore been ensconced in an unassailable corona of hugs and loving coverage by an adoring media. Palin playfully mocked Obama’s past, his policies, and his worldview. What’s more, her charisma and speaking style were fresh and somewhat delightful. We were in full fledged puppy love.

The weeks and months that followed that speech have been full of learning all that is Sarah Palin. Katie Couric, Charles Gibson, anonymous McCain aids, and Levi Johnston have been just some of the surprising conduits through which we’ve gleaned more knowledge of Alaska’s most famous resident. Levi we can pretty much discount, but it’s what we learned in the Couric and Gibson interviews – as well as from the McCainiacs – that was more disconcerting. She was inestimably shaky on foreign policy, could be unfocused and at times erratic in her speeches, and she employed a Bill Clinton / Mike Huckabee progressivism (class warfare) alongside her conservatism. Palin also seemed to think a great deal of herself too, (as Peggy Noonan notes well) a phenomenon that was particularly illustrated to me by her insistence that she give a concession speech along with McCain on election night. And then came last weekend and the announcement that Palin was resigning as Alaska’s Governor.

Now, the young lady who ate live crickets was probably the biggest disappointment of the early life crushes. I mean, man, that is just disgusting. Similarly, Sarah Palin has proven herself as the most anguishing Conservative politician in recent memory – particularly to faith and values Conservatives. She was one of us. She had charisma and a great story. She had promise. So when the crickets came out , most of us circled our proverbial wagons around her and steadfastly refused to believe anything ill of her. We believed she was the victim of a vast left wing media conspiracy, the victim of her own campaign, and the victim of elitist class warfare. But if memory serves, my cricket-eating crush wasn’t being forced to consume crickets – she was chiefly the victim of her own odd desire to eat crickets. There’s no question that Governor Palin was made into a caricature by folks in the media that loathed her. But she has also proven the willing architect of her own demise. CNN, ABC, and the Huff Post didn’t force Palin into a race in which experience, effective communication, and well rounded knowledge were neccesities. And, despite the governor’s implication, they didn’t force her out of the Alaska statehouse either.

As Conservatives of every stripe we need to remember that a Democrat can run on charisma (and hope & change) alone, but a Republican can’t. It isn’t fair, but it is so. And maybe it’s not so bad after all. A President of the United States should be held to a high standard for job readiness and preparation for the challenges he/she is sure to face. Governor Palin has proven she isn’t. The verdict is out. The crickets are chirping. And it’s time we Conservatives faced the music.

If you are experiencing strong emotions right now feel free to comment or share the piece below. If the emotions are still there, maybe try drinking some hot tea? Still there??? Since we know this particular topic is a doozy and bound to find a lot folks in hearty disagreement, we invite you to have a go at penning a guest blog rebutting Goose’s take on Sarah Palin. Send yours to comments@gooseradio.com.