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I was going to write a column about the rise of naturalism in the 19th Century and how it eviscerated theatre and dramatic literature in the 20th Century and how film eventually dumbed-down into the bland boredom of so-called 'real life', evolving into the 'ass to lips' breath-devouring Reality shows on television, then furthered by the relentless, mindless, empowered-disempowered, 24/7 surge of words&pictures on the internet. And, though Scene4 is an international magazine, it seemed appropriate to me to focus on the culmination of this melting down of creative thought in the current American election, which, right or wrong, is the most important event on our withering planet today.
Quite an academic undertaking, yes?. But no... my purpose was to illustrate the naturalism cum reality cum 'wazup?' come full circle as it totally invades the news media with words and images that are so unintelligible, so opaque that viewers open eyes and mouths wide, breathe deeply, and believe they understand them.
My landing zone for this treatise was to be inhabited by one, spot-on, representative example: an 'avatar', a virtual creature who embodies the above-described reality of Reality in the media... the candidate for the Vice-Presidency, Sarah Palin. (A quick flash – S1m0ne, the 2002 not so good, prophetic film with Al Pacino. A quick segue –if they had nominated Hillary Clinton, as they should have, she would have won, hands down, and eight years later America would have elected its first African-American president, seasoned and savvy, and less maligned because the voters would have adjusted to the absence of white 'fathers' and many of the racist 'sumbitches' would have died.) Most significantly... there wouldn't have been a ‘Sarah Palin’!
But then, Fareed Zakaria wrote an article in Newsweek that rose above all of other thunderous columns and commentary that were published about the object of my treatise. I have no choice but to publish it here. Look at his choice of words and how he stacks them. It is deceptively simple and powerful and... real.
Palin Is Ready? Please.
Will someone please put Sarah Palin out of her agony? Is it too much to ask that she come to realize that she wants, in that wonderful phrase in American politics, "to spend more time with her family"? Having stayed in purdah for weeks, she finally agreed to a third interview. CBS's Katie Couric questioned her in her trademark sympathetic style. It didn't help. When asked how living in the state closest to Russia gave her foreign-policy experience, Palin responded thus:
"It's very important when you consider even national-security issues with Russia as Putin rears his head and comes into the airspace of the United States of America. Where—where do they go? It's Alaska. It's just right over the border.
It is from Alaska that we send those out to make sure that an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation, Russia, because they are right there. They are right next to—to our state."
There is, of course, the sheer absurdity of the premise. Two weeks ago I flew to Tokyo, crossing over the North Pole. Does that make me an expert on Santa Claus? (Thanks, Jon Stewart.) But even beyond that, read the rest of her response.
"It is from Alaska that we send out those …" What does this mean? This is not an isolated example. Palin has been given a set of talking points by campaign advisers, simple ideological mantras that she repeats and repeats as long as she can. ("We mustn't blink.") But if forced off those rehearsed lines, what she has to say is often, quite frankly, gibberish. Couric asked her a smart question about the proposed $700 billion bailout of the American financial sector. It was designed to see if Palin understood that the problem in this crisis is that credit and liquidity in the financial system has dried up, and that that's why, in the estimation of Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and Fed chairman Ben Bernanke, the government needs to step in to buy up Wall Street's most toxic liabilities. Here's the entire exchange:
COURIC: Why isn't it better, Governor Palin, to spend $700 billion helping middle-class families who are struggling with health care, housing, gas and groceries; allow them to spend more and put more money into the economy instead of helping these big financial institutions that played a role in creating this mess?
PALIN: That's why I say I, like every American I'm speaking with, were ill about this position that we have been put in where it is the taxpayers looking to bail out. But ultimately, what the bailout does is help those who are concerned about the health-care reform that is needed to help shore up our economy, helping the—it's got to be all about job creation, too, shoring up our economy and putting it back on the right track. So health-care reform and reducing taxes and reining in spending has got to accompany tax reductions and tax relief for Americans. And trade, we've got to see trade as opportunity, not as a competitive, scary thing. But one in five jobs being created in the trade sector today, we've got to look at that as more opportunity. All those things under the umbrella of job creation. This bailout is a part of that."
This is nonsense—a vapid emptying out of every catchphrase about economics that came into her head. Some commentators, like CNN's Campbell Brown, have argued that it's sexist to keep Sarah Palin under wraps, as if she were a delicate flower who might wilt under the bright lights of the modern media. But the more Palin talks, the more we see that it may not be sexism but common sense that's causing the McCain campaign to treat her like a time bomb.
Can we now admit the obvious? Sarah Palin is utterly unqualified to be vice president. She is a feisty, charismatic politician who has done some good things in Alaska. But she has never spent a day thinking about any important national or international issue, and this is a hell of a time to start. The next administration is going to face a set of challenges unlike any in recent memory. There is an ongoing military operation in Iraq that still costs $10 billion a month, a war against the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan that is not going well and is not easily fixed. Iran, Russia and Venezuela present tough strategic challenges.
Domestically, the bailout and reform of the financial industry will take years and hundreds of billions of dollars. Health-care costs, unless curtailed, will bankrupt the federal government. Social Security, immigration, collapsing infrastructure and education are all going to get much worse if they are not handled soon.
And the American government is stretched to the limit. Between the Bush tax cuts, homeland-security needs, Iraq, Afghanistan and the bailout, the budget is looking bleak. Plus, within a few years, the retirement of the baby boomers begins with its massive and rising costs (in the trillions).
Obviously these are very serious challenges and constraints. In these times, for John McCain to have chosen this person to be his running mate is fundamentally irresponsible. McCain says that he always puts country first. In this important case, it is simply not true.
Fareed Zakaria
Copyright©2008 Newsweek
You can close your eyes and close your mouth now. Amen.
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