Several critics, from Hollywood to Washington, are chiming in on HBO’s latest film, “Game Change”, based on the book of the same name, written by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin. It details the goings-on of the 2008 GOP presidential campaign, covering everything from the private, emotional bruising endured by key players to the very public failures of the campaign at large.
One such critic, as noted by Gloria Goodale, of VOX News, in her article, "'Game
Change’: Could Sarah Palin portrayal affect the 2012 election?", is Barbara O'Connor,
director emeritus of the Institute for the Study of Politics and Media at California State
University, Sacramento. O'Connor states that, "the devastating grilling over issues like
Palin’s wardrobe and verbal gaffes sends a chilling message to the next generation.
This absolutely sends the message, ‘Do not run,’ to young women.” She adds, “This
shows them they will be treated differently.”
The professor also claims that she has noticed a growing reluctance among her female students “to even consider” political involvement. According to her, they see many women politicians subjected to a double standard when it comes to family and clothing issues.
And it is O'Connor's assessment in particular that begs the question, "Is this "professor" crazy?" And she's a director emeritus at an institute for the study of politics?? Come on. Did she actually WATCH this movie??? (23 out of 24 McCain/Palin campaign insiders ATTEST TO the veracity of both the book and the film). It might be difficult for Ms. O'Connor to admit, but I think that it's quite clear to the thinking world that Palin didn't know the first thing about just about everything...or at least, everything that a VP candidate should be aware of. She missed the FIRST QUESTION, at least as was portrayed in this film, that Steve Schmidt, McCain campaign manager, asked her..."what should the president do in dealing with the Iraq War while also continuing strong relations with Great Britain, who opposed our continued involvement in Iraq (by 2008)." Palin responds that our strong relations with the Queen should help us "ride the tide", or words to that effect. She didn't even know that the Queen of England is head of state, and that Great Britain has a PRIME MINISTER!!!! And she didn't know what the Fed was. And she didn't know what basically our "three" wars were. And on. And on. And on. And this STUPID "professor emeritus" is defending her???? I guess I don't have to guess which party she belongs to, because the rightwing really is unable to publicly denounce its own. At least Jack Cafferty did, way back, when Palin first hit the scene. The CCN commentator/host, who is a CLEAR right-winger (he called the radio station "Air America" a Communist radio station), basically said that Palin is severely unqualified, and that it is quite frightening to think of her as being one 72-year-old-heartbeat away from the presidency.
This film showed, among other things, that Palin lacked the ability to recognize her limitations....her VAST limitations. It underscored her need to self-promote, above all else. It underscored her vapidity. It underscored that John McCain was (and is) a desperate, old man who was willing to do ANYTHING to be president, including putting the country at risk by installing this bubble-headed air brain into ANY position in Washington, much less the one that's a heartbeat away from being the leader of the free world. He was completely oblivious to what went on for so long, and certainly has never made any apology for his gross misread of this shell of a "politician", Half-Governor Palin, and gross calculation of what the American could tolerate. But what scares me is the fact that Palin has still spawned the Tea Baggers, and that they won so many seats in the 2010 election. They need to be thrown out in 2012. They're unthinking, dangerous morons who want to destroy this democracy, and who stand for nothing but sheer hatred and stupidity.
What this film says is that people who are devoid of intellectual curiosity - backtrack - people who are simply STUPID, emotionally immature, completely culturally insensitive, uneducated (consider where she went, and how MANY institutions of "higher learning" she went to before finally settling down to complete a little bachelor's degree from a nothing college), and unequivocally unqualified to take on one of the two highest offices of the land should just not toss their hat in the ring in the first place. I would have had more respect for her if she at least had RECOGNIZED her severe limitations and declined the offer from McCain in the first place. I wish they showed the real-life scene, which was played often on news cycles, of her wearing her running outfit and being interviewed by some journalist saying, "I'm just a hockey mom! I don't know what he's thinking about tapping me for VP!"....the "hockey mom" comment...yes, that pretty much sums up all she has been her whole adult life. And that's fine. But, it's not a credential that gives you license to run for VP, or governor of any state either. Her ego knows no bounds, clearly. She has no ability to critically think...apparently about much of anything. People should view this film as a big cautionary tale to ANALYZE ONESELF CAREFULLY, and make an honest assessment of your true capabilities before venturing out and trying to take on way, way, way, way more than you can possibly chew...especially when the job you're considering taking is going to affect the lives of millions. Yes, push hard, STUDY HARD, and learn new things...absolutely. The mind is a muscle to be stretched, no doubt. But Sarah Palin clearly has never, ever done this. The scenes of her zoning out were priceless.
To be so ego-centric and off-the-mark as to think you are capable of becoming the U.S. VP when you haven't one qualification to do so is truly incendiary to most halfway self-aware human beings. I would say that, judging from some of the people I've worked with and sometimes reported to in the past, these characteristics are often sadly found in Corporate America as well. Ms. O'Connor completely missed the mark in thinking that Palin's campaign staff "mistreated her". Are you kidding???? Quite the contrary, the McCain staffers coddled the hell out of her. Any mistreatment they launched was directed toward the American public, for shoving that idiot Barbie doll down our throats and trying to display her as a viable candidate in the first place.
After John McCain’s FAILED bid, Palin’s insanely exalted position on the national stage and consequent attachment to the Tea Party unfortunately influenced a number of its severely-less-than-educated members to come out in droves to spew their hatred toward the president, call him a Nazi, call him a Muslim, carry signs reading "keep the government's hands out of my healthcare, and don't touch my Medicare", carry signs with numerous misspellings, and ultimately hijack every news cycle, for too long. Yet they stand for nothing more than what is wrong with the human condition. They don't know what a democracy is. They don't know a thing about this country's history. They certainly don’t even follow issues of the day. They’re not aware of civil liberties. They’re nowhere without their organized religion. And they love to spew their hatred, toward all sorts of people. But a few loud voices within this dangerous tent managed to get elected to the US Senate and House of Representatives by just enough unsuspecting voting souls, and a lot of corporate money. And I hold Sarah Palin directly responsible for the rise of the dangerous Tea Baggers, since the time she joined them.
The COUNTRY was severely mistreated by McCain and his selection of Palin, "Professor O'Connor", NOT Sarah Palin.
