The Perils of Palinism

by Melanie on 01/12/09 at 9:07 pm

From Going Rouge: Sarah Palin–An American Nightmare, edited by Richard Kim and Betsy Reed, available only by direct order from OR Books.

“But what of the poison’s other effects? Her nonsensical statements may inadvertently provide comic relief, but it’s no laughing matter when serious debate is distorted by the wild misinformation she feeds to her increasingly paranoid base. Sometimes the lunacy is contained on the fringes. At a recent Wisconsin Right to Life fundraiser, she somberly raised the decision to move the “In God We Trust” motto to the edge of the presidential dollar coin. “Who calls a shot like that?” she said, insinuatingly. Actually, George W. Bush did. It was an embarrassing gaffe that also neatly captures the key elements of Palinism: fact-free conspiracy, hollow patriotism and public religiosity–the very coins of Republican populist rage.”

via The Perils of Palinism.