Juxtaposition of the Day: Palin’s (Not So) Inner Jew

I grew up among Nixon voters, so I can report that theirs is a different light spectrum altogether.  They see things we don’t; and conversely, they miss things we see clearly.  Moreover, when we see the same things there’s no guarantee we’re seeing them the way they see them.  Remember Nixon’s “Checkers Speech”?  We think it was laughably overdone, in fact shameless.  But Nixon voters thought it was a rare moment of sincerity shining through.  Eisenhower ended up putting Nixon on the ticket because of the Checkers speech.

Palin’s Star of David is a good example of a symbol whose meaning varies depending on your point of view.  It doesn’t necessarily connote an identification with Jewishness, the way we might interpret it.  It could be a wink to the evangelicals who look for the restoration of the land of Israel as a necessary condition for the Second Coming of Jesus.  Or it could be nothing of great significance at all.  “When in New York, wear the Star of David necklace the supporter gave you; you won’t get to wear it in Utah.”

Sarah Palin shares with Richard Nixon the quality that Tom Wicker described in his book, “One of Us.”  Nixon was a commoner, and so is Palin.  The fact that she’s essentially nobody drives people crazy – the same way Nixon drove ‘em crazy.

Just another accessory like the cross, flag pin, children, and motorcycles.  Will we ever (please God) see her in a burqa?

Palin doesn’t have a “theology”, unless it is “god as personal butler”, always opening doors for her.

What Palin does have is a need for props (including Tri-G and Piper) and costumes. Anyone doubting that she is mentally ill should Google “Sarah Palin and Barbara Walters” images, to find Sarah bizarrely copying the look of the older woman. On Oprah, Sarah wore strange “Nellie Olsen”-type curls and an uncharacteristic sweater set, announcing that she purposefully wanted to “look like” Oprah.