Sarah Palin and "extreme partisanship"

By Michael J.W. Stickings

I must admit, Sarah Palin sounds better (or reads better) when she's speaking to her fellow Republican governors about "conservative solutions to these economic challenges" than when she's stirring up vicious mobs at hate-filled rallies on the campaign trail. Not that I approve of "conservative solutions," but at least she was coherent today. Besides, I'm not entirely against "the federalist principle" (whether in the U.S. or here in Canada). As much as I desire an active/activist federal government on issues such as health care and education, there ought to be responsibility and accountability at all levels of government, and, in some areas, state and local government is indeed better suited than the federal government to address issues effectively and efficiently. And it's not like I support government bailouts of big banks and big corporations.

And, yes, Palin also said some very nice things about Obama today, things that are completely at odds with what she said about him during the campaign, such as: "If he governs with the skill, and the grace, and the greatness of which he is capable, we're going to be just fine... [T]his is a shining moment in American history. Sen. Obama has achieved a great thing for himself and for our country." (Sure, but doesn't he also pal around with terrorists?)

And yet... for Palin to complain about "obsessive, extreme partisanship," well, that's just nuts. As she proved on the campaign trail, she is as obsessive and extreme a partisan as there is. Her barrage of attacks on Obama was nothing if not obsessive and extreme. A partisan of the extremist fringe, she's even obsessive and extreme within the context of her own obsessive and extreme party.

Then again, maybe this entirely self-unaware and unironic comment should come as no surprise. After all, it's not just that she seems to be utterly clueless, it's that she's so full of herself, so sure of her own righteousness, that her "reality" is whatever she wants it to be at any given time.

"As far as we're concerned, the past is the past," she said. Presumably, then, she's already forgotten all about the campaign that exposed her as a twit, a thug, and a fraud.