Feigned Ignorance

Not everyone who read my last letter about the “feigned” ignorance of Eisenhower and Sarah Palin realized it was written tongue in cheek. So I want to make a heartfelt apology to Ms Palin for having suggested, even in jest, that her ignorance is not genuine. As president, Ike had occasional reason to fake it. Sarah doesn’t need to because she’s a natural.

Sarah’s assortment of non sequiturs is reminiscent of Gracie Allen. Much of Gracie’s “ignorance” was written for her, making her literally a comic actress. Sarah’s written speeches plus whatever she can write on her hand, are just run of the mill doctrinaire. It’s when she has nothing to read and has to wing it that the fun begins. The following, quoted in Newsweek, says it all. “Oil and coal?  Of course, it’s a fungible commodity and they don’t flag, you know, the molecules, where it’s going and where it’s not….So, I believe that what Congress is going to do also, is not to allow the export bans to such a degree that it’s Americans who get stuck to holding the bag without the energy source that is produced here, pumped here.” Few if any speech writers are capable of this kind of prose. Gracie’s was a stage persona while Sarah is all method acting.

From the preceding verbal meandering it might be hard to tell on which side of the fence she sits. One look at the audience at her rallies leaves no doubt. They are on the older side and very, very white. To her credit, in talking to reporters she has managed to memorize key words to many right wing talking points, not always relevant to the subject in question. I see a rough similarity to dolls that “speak” words when a string is pulled.

Now that Sarah’s vice presidential flirtation is behind her and the imminent threat has been removed, she is just what the doctor ordered, comic relief for a nation in distress. This may be a case of sending in the clowns. Circus audiences were once a slice of Americana and I’m for whatever might work. So I want to thank her for giving us laughs at a time when we need them. And lest we forget, a hearty note of appreciation to John McCain for abandoning her on our doorstep.