It is quite un-f***ing-believable -- I'm sorry but that's how I feel -- but, today, American politics were about pigs and lipstick.
For my far-away friends, let's recap briefly.
In her convention speech, Sarah told a joke: What's the difference between a hockey mom and a pitbull? Lipstick.
Today, in a rally where Barack wanted to convey the idea that John McCain's policy would be the same as Bush's, no matter what he says and how many times he claims he represents change, he said "You can put lipstick on a pig, it is still a pig."
As you know, this is a colloquial expression, a very old phrase, funny, colorful, and very clear.
Well, apparently, it was not clear to everybody, or so they want us to believe. The Republicans have been acting outraged all day, complaining that Barack has called Sarah a pig.
Yep. And that's all they talk about, on all channels, all day long. And I am sure the newspapers will talk some more about it tomorrow.
I just can't believe the abysmal level this campaign has reached. That must be a historical campaign, and not only because there is black man and a woman running.
I have to say, again from my French point of view, and from someone who is really not a couch potato -- oops, I hope I am offending no one with my metaphors -- that I quite appreciate some of the journalists who really don't let their interviewees get away with dodging the questions. Tonight, for example, MNSBC Chris Matthews repeated over and over again the question he posed to his Republican guests: "Do you really believe Obama called Palin a pig?" "Well, what I know is..." was usually how the answers started.
The winner, tonight, is Mary Fallin (R), US Senator from Oklahoma. In his speech, Barack had elaborated on his metaphor by saying "you can wrap an old fish with a paper that says Change all over, it is still gonna stink."
Well, guess what. Mary Fallin, a brilliant Republican mind, not only thinks that Obama called Palin a pig, but she also thinks he called McCain an old stinking fish.
If I were not holding a gun in my mouth, I would burst out laughing.
I promise, if I survive my rage, I will soon write a post about political issues. It's been a while.
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3 comments:
Sadder than the fact that people believe Obama was targeting Palin is the fact that McCain used the same phrase, supposedly in reference to Hilary Clinton, last year. And Obama has used it twice before, when Palin was just a Governor and no one knew who the heck she was.
Unfortunately, I think the Republicans are lying when they say they believe that. I can't wrap my brain around the idea that people could really believe that's what he meant. It's an old phrase! He didn't make something up just for her. He didn't say you could "put lipstick on a bulldog." Or even a hockey mom,for that matter. And he never even implied that that old, stinking fish was caught in Alaskan waters.
What I meant to say (and rambled myself into forgetting) was that uninformed voters are easily swayed; Oklahoma is traditionally a conservative state, Mary Fallin is a conservative woman, and casually political women recognize her as a role model. The things she says are meant to reflect the views of her constituency, and I'm rather offended that she's serious about this. It only takes a passing glance to realize that Barack was using a phrase he uses fairly often, but it doesn't even take that glance to see that by twisting this into a big freaking deal keeps the attention on Palin (and how mistreated she is) and not on the struggling Republican agenda; I'm convinced the entire thing is just a big maneuver to distract voters from what Obama was saying: that McCain-Palin is the same as Bush-Cheney, and we don't want it... regardless of whether it's hot or not.
I think you are absolutely right, they are lying when they say they believe it, just like they are lying when they say they are winning in Iraq, just like they are lying when they say Palin opposed the bridge to nowhere, etc., etc.
The problem is, it is by repeating lies over and over again that they finally create, if not truth, reality, by which I mean a real context in which they can finally justify anything.
The WMD in Iraq were a lie. But Cheney and Bush repeated so often that Iraq had them that it became real enough to justify the war and the invasion.
I am preparing a longer post on the power of the language and the reality-creating lies.
Take Orwell's "Politics and the English Language", stir in a soupcon of Sinclair Lewis' "It Couldn't Happen Here" (well worth checking out) and hey presto! Sane people see a nightmare, Republicans see a campaigning strategy.
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