Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Palinomania   [John Derbyshire]

Blimey, you go take a few days off (and "off," to a true reactionary, includes off the TV and computer, and squinting carefully at the display on the phone to see if the caller is someone I want to be bothered with, answers breaking no/yes about 99/1) and the GOP goes and puts a human being on the ticket. Whatever next? Heck, the gal hasn't even been to law school!

The base is going nuts. Some of my emailers are totally out of control. Here's a long-time correspondent, male, married with kids and perfectly heterosexual so far as I know:  "Would I marry her? Heck. I'd marry him!"

Calm down, everybody, please. It's only politics, for goodness sake. None of these gasbags is going to lower your taxes, eliminate a major gumment program, establish orderly and rational immigration, "defeat evil," outlaw abortion, give five seconds' thought to congressional term limits or the prohibition of public-sector unions, or do any of the other things that conservatives want done.

We stared down the U.S.S.R. till the thing fell apart from its own internal contradictions. That was the great conservative achievement of the later 20th century. Possibly there'll be another one in the 21st century, but not for a few decades yet. In the meantime, government power will steadily increase, individual liberty will steadily decrease, our economy will get still more gummed up with litigation and regulation, more and more kids will attend college to less and less purpose, we shall lose a couple more tall buildings to crazy terrorists, we shall go trash a couple more no-account "countries" in retaliation, and the Republic will stagger along somehow, electing a Tweedledum or a Tweedledee to supreme executive office every four or eight years. This you can take to the bank.

As for Rick's noise about being at war: Which nations are we at war with? When shall we exclude nationals of those nations from our territory? Or, if we are at war with some ideology, why are we not excluding adherents of that ideology from our shores, as we excluded communists (correctly, in my opinion)? War, fiddlesticks. Who feels himself to be at war? Where can I buy my gas mask and my War Bonds?

All right, all right, the Palin pick. At random:

Good choice?  Terrific choice. Adds youth, beauty, executive experience (slight by universal standards, but enormous by the standards of these campaign tickets …), and un-DC-ness.

Annie Oakley or Calamity Jane?  Who knows? We'll find out. I'm betting on Annie.

Creationist?  Couldn't care less.

Knowingly bore a Down Syndrome child?  Same answer. Nobody's business but their own. (And same answer if she'd aborted the fetus, as I and my wife would have — sorry, Rich — though acknowledging of course that she would not then be on the GOP ticket!)

Foreign policy experience?  Would someone please define the phrase "foreign policy experience" for me? Thank you.

Daughter named Bristol?  Prolly best not to send her for a study year in England.

09/02 08:30 PMShare