My thoughts exactly!
September 11, 2008
BY ROGER EBERT Sun-Times Movie Critic
I think I might be able to explain some of Sarah Palin's appeal. She's the "American Idol" candidate. Consider. What defines an "American Idol" finalist? They're good-looking, work well on television, have a sunny personality, are fierce competitors, and so talented, why, they're darned near the real thing. There's a reason "American Idol" gets such high ratings. People identify with the contestants. They think, Hey, that could be me up there on that show!
My problem is, I don't want to be up there. I don't want a vice president who is darned near good enough. I want a vice president who is better, wiser, well-traveled, has met world leaders, who three months ago had an opinion on Iraq. Someone who doesn't repeat bald- faced lies about earmarks and the Bridge to Nowhere. Someone who doesn't appoint Alaskan politicians to "study" global warming, because, hello! It has been studied. The returns are convincing enough that John McCain and Barack Obama are darned near in agreement
I would also want someone who didn't make a teeny little sneer when referring to "people who go to the Ivy League." When I was a teen I dreamed of going to Harvard, but my dad, an electrician, told me, "Boy, we don't have the money. Thank your lucky stars you were born in Urbana and can go to the University of Illinois right here in town." So I did, very happily. Although Palin gets laughs when she mentions the "elite" Ivy League, she sure did attend the heck out of college.
Five different schools in six years. What was that about?
And how can a politician her age have never have gone to Europe? My dad had died, my mom was working as a book-keeper and I had a job at the local newspaper when, at 19, I scraped together $240 for a charter flight to Europe. I had Arthur Frommer's $5 a Day under my arm, started in London, even rented a Vespa and drove in the traffic of Rome. A few years later, I was able to send my mom, along with the $15 a Day book.
You don't need to be a pointy-headed elitist to travel abroad. You need curiosity and a hunger to see the world. What kind of a person (who has the money) arrives at the age of 44 and has only been out of the country once, on an official tour to Iraq? Sarah Palin's travel record is that of a provincial, not someone who is equipped to deal with global issues.
But some people like that. She's never traveled to Europe, Asia, Africa, South America or Down Under? That makes her like them. She didn't go to Harvard? Good for her! There a lot of hockey moms who haven't seen London, but most of them would probably love to, if they had the dough. And they'd be proud if one of their kids won a scholarship to Harvard.
I trust the American people will see through Palin, and save the Republic in November. The most damning indictment against her is that she considered herself a good choice to be a heartbeat away. That shows bad judgment.
In what world is it "okay" for someone to sneer at the thought of someone going to an Ivy League school???
This is my whole problem with our country, this crazy turn that it has taken that makes it okay if your an idiot because then (unfortunately) you are relatable, but if you are intelligent and well spoken then you're an elitist?
September 14, 2008
BY ROGER EBERT Sun-Times Movie Critic
I watched Sarah Palin's interview with Charles Gibson, and felt uneasiness stirring in my stomach. The feeling did not involve politics. Somehow it was personal. Gradually, memories churned to the surface.
I was in class. I had been asked to answer a specific question. I could not. I hadn't read the book, or listened to the lecture, or done the research. The teacher was looking at me in expectation.
You know what I did. You've done it yourself, or seen it done. I couldn't say "I don't know." I replied with generalities about the subject, and then edged into something I did know about it. I masked my ignorance with my most confident tone of voice.
The teacher repeated the question.
My nightmare was happening to Sarah Palin. Gibson asked her questions she didn't have an answer for. No, I'm not thinking about his stumper on the Bush Doctrine. I doubt Bush could have answered it. I'm thinking of her reply on "reform." When Gibson asked her to name three items she would do to change the Bush economic policies, she couldn't. She replied with generalities and drifted into sound bites. He asked her again.
More vague language. He asked: "Three things. One. Two. Three." I think that's when my stomach began to churn.
Gun control. She opposes it. Gibson observed that a majority of Americans support a ban on semiautomatic assault weapons. She praised the tradition of gun ownership in Alaska, mentioning protection, hunting, and sport. With machine guns?
Abortion rights? "I am pro-life but respect other peoples' opinions." Would she respect the opinions of others if choices were substituted foropinions? "What we do not need is a cultural divide in this country." Of course we do, lots of them. Otherwise everybody would have to be on the same side. Words have meanings.
She was caught flat-footed. I've been there. She made a popular speech at the GOP convention, which was written for her. She has repeated sound bites from it ever since. This was the first time we have heard her speaking spontaneously. She crammed, she employed rhetorical strategies, she evaded specific answers. But she had not read the text, or listened during the lecture, or done the research.
Charlie was looking at her in expectation.
I used to bullshit my way through entire research papers and essay tests, you can't bullshit in the White House (excluding our current president of course)
BY ROGER EBERT Sun-Times Movie Critic
I think I might be able to explain some of Sarah Palin's appeal. She's the "American Idol" candidate. Consider. What defines an "American Idol" finalist? They're good-looking, work well on television, have a sunny personality, are fierce competitors, and so talented, why, they're darned near the real thing. There's a reason "American Idol" gets such high ratings. People identify with the contestants. They think, Hey, that could be me up there on that show!
My problem is, I don't want to be up there. I don't want a vice president who is darned near good enough. I want a vice president who is better, wiser, well-traveled, has met world leaders, who three months ago had an opinion on Iraq. Someone who doesn't repeat bald- faced lies about earmarks and the Bridge to Nowhere. Someone who doesn't appoint Alaskan politicians to "study" global warming, because, hello! It has been studied. The returns are convincing enough that John McCain and Barack Obama are darned near in agreement
I would also want someone who didn't make a teeny little sneer when referring to "people who go to the Ivy League." When I was a teen I dreamed of going to Harvard, but my dad, an electrician, told me, "Boy, we don't have the money. Thank your lucky stars you were born in Urbana and can go to the University of Illinois right here in town." So I did, very happily. Although Palin gets laughs when she mentions the "elite" Ivy League, she sure did attend the heck out of college.
Five different schools in six years. What was that about?
And how can a politician her age have never have gone to Europe? My dad had died, my mom was working as a book-keeper and I had a job at the local newspaper when, at 19, I scraped together $240 for a charter flight to Europe. I had Arthur Frommer's $5 a Day under my arm, started in London, even rented a Vespa and drove in the traffic of Rome. A few years later, I was able to send my mom, along with the $15 a Day book.
You don't need to be a pointy-headed elitist to travel abroad. You need curiosity and a hunger to see the world. What kind of a person (who has the money) arrives at the age of 44 and has only been out of the country once, on an official tour to Iraq? Sarah Palin's travel record is that of a provincial, not someone who is equipped to deal with global issues.
But some people like that. She's never traveled to Europe, Asia, Africa, South America or Down Under? That makes her like them. She didn't go to Harvard? Good for her! There a lot of hockey moms who haven't seen London, but most of them would probably love to, if they had the dough. And they'd be proud if one of their kids won a scholarship to Harvard.
I trust the American people will see through Palin, and save the Republic in November. The most damning indictment against her is that she considered herself a good choice to be a heartbeat away. That shows bad judgment.
In what world is it "okay" for someone to sneer at the thought of someone going to an Ivy League school???
This is my whole problem with our country, this crazy turn that it has taken that makes it okay if your an idiot because then (unfortunately) you are relatable, but if you are intelligent and well spoken then you're an elitist?
September 14, 2008
BY ROGER EBERT Sun-Times Movie Critic
I watched Sarah Palin's interview with Charles Gibson, and felt uneasiness stirring in my stomach. The feeling did not involve politics. Somehow it was personal. Gradually, memories churned to the surface.
I was in class. I had been asked to answer a specific question. I could not. I hadn't read the book, or listened to the lecture, or done the research. The teacher was looking at me in expectation.
You know what I did. You've done it yourself, or seen it done. I couldn't say "I don't know." I replied with generalities about the subject, and then edged into something I did know about it. I masked my ignorance with my most confident tone of voice.
The teacher repeated the question.
My nightmare was happening to Sarah Palin. Gibson asked her questions she didn't have an answer for. No, I'm not thinking about his stumper on the Bush Doctrine. I doubt Bush could have answered it. I'm thinking of her reply on "reform." When Gibson asked her to name three items she would do to change the Bush economic policies, she couldn't. She replied with generalities and drifted into sound bites. He asked her again.
More vague language. He asked: "Three things. One. Two. Three." I think that's when my stomach began to churn.
Gun control. She opposes it. Gibson observed that a majority of Americans support a ban on semiautomatic assault weapons. She praised the tradition of gun ownership in Alaska, mentioning protection, hunting, and sport. With machine guns?
Abortion rights? "I am pro-life but respect other peoples' opinions." Would she respect the opinions of others if choices were substituted foropinions? "What we do not need is a cultural divide in this country." Of course we do, lots of them. Otherwise everybody would have to be on the same side. Words have meanings.
She was caught flat-footed. I've been there. She made a popular speech at the GOP convention, which was written for her. She has repeated sound bites from it ever since. This was the first time we have heard her speaking spontaneously. She crammed, she employed rhetorical strategies, she evaded specific answers. But she had not read the text, or listened during the lecture, or done the research.
Charlie was looking at her in expectation.
I used to bullshit my way through entire research papers and essay tests, you can't bullshit in the White House (excluding our current president of course)