A president ‘just like me’
In a season where it’s hard to pick the most frightening development, here’s a leading candidate: the notion that the president and vice president should be "average Joes, just like me." It’s especially scary considering that the "average" American now reads less, knows less history and is more ignorant about the world than most of the generations of the 20th century — the American Century.
Now comes Sarah Palin, claiming she is a victim of the elites. She told radio host Hugh Hewitt, "Oh, I think they’re just not used to someone coming in from the outside
saying you know what? It’s time that normal Joe six-pack American is
finally represented in the position of vice presidency, and I think
that that’s kind of taken some people off guard, and they’re out of
sorts, and they’re ticked off about it."
It is a sign of national madness if one has to point out the complex issues and challenges facing the nation’s leaders. While years of preening and bullying in Congress are less meaningful (Republican John Sidney McCain III), our situation cries out for officials with sound judgment, wide knowledge, supple intellect not calcified in dogma, and curiosity. Palin has shown none of these traits in her tightly controlled interviews — quite the opposite. We’re reminded of a less qualified version of candidate George W. Bush. (And a little racist code there, in "normal…American"?)
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