Ok. "Like" is a strong word, at least as it applies to David Frum. I can't actually "like" anyone who would write a book entitled The Right Man in reference to George W. Bush. One's head virtually explodes at the juxtaposition. Nor can I credibly "like" anyone who carries water for the odious American Enterprise Institute.
So "like" is probably an incorrect word. In fact, I don't think I have a word that can adequately characterize the discord of what I really think about David Frum vs. what he said about Sarah Palin on CNN's American Morning earlier today. But I found myself nodding agreement, turning to the cats and saying, out loud, "YES!" as he commented on the final installment of Sarah Palin's week-long Quitter's Tour.
More over the fold.
(One thing I like about CNN is that they are really timely in posting their transcripts - the one from this morning is already up.)
So, of course, CNN has been playing soundbite clips of Palin's final final final farewell picnic in Fairbanks, Alaska. They've picked out some of the "highlights" (if you can call them that) and are replaying them throughout the morning broadcast. Then they bring David Frum on after the fourth or fifth re-running of the final final final farewell picnic, and here's what goes down:
CHETRY: Well, this morning, she [Sarah Palin] wakes up a private citizen. But how long will this absence from political office last?
David Frum, the editor of the NewMajority.com. He's a former speechwriter under George W. Bush as well.
David, good morning. Good to see you.
DAVID FRUM, EDITOR OF NEWMAJORITY.COM: Good morning, Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. So, we had her last tweet as governor, saying "God bless Alaska, God bless the USA." She criticized the media a little bit. She talked about the need to eat, which is why people hunt, a little bit of a dig there at the anti-gun crowd.
What's her next step though?
Can I just interject by saying that hunting and eating, for the vast, vast majority of Americans are not actually connected? Continuing:
FRUM: Well, I think the most striking thing in that farewell was her blast at government delivers handouts, which has kind of strange impact coming from a governor who's most notable achievement was to increase the state payout to Alaskan residents by $1,200 per person.
Her next step: She's going to go out and make a lot of money. That's why she has resigned. She's now going to write a book, do speaking contract -- do speaking engagements. She will make a lot of money in the way that Bill Clinton did after he left the presidency. And with that money, I suppose she'll prepare for her next political outing.
I've always found this to be the only explanation, short of an as-yet-unbroken scandal, for her resignation. I think she's strapped for cash, and she quit her job because of that. Has anyone told her that the President doesn't make money for his speeches? Just sayin'.
CHETRY: You know, it's interesting that you talk about that because she was careful to point out -- she wanted her legacy to be that she saved billions for Alaska by cutting out wasteful spending, refusing to allow wasteful spending at the state and federal level, and she also talked about the fact that, you know, it was the independence of Alaska. And if you think government's the answer, you're in trouble.
So, at the same time, she really was sort of laying out a lot of what we heard on the campaign trail from her, as well. She went after the anti-gun folks. She said they're going to try to use Alaska to go after the Second Amendment.
Is she trying to, I guess, reignite a cultural war, if you will, as she tries to figure out what her national platform is going to be?
FRUM: Right. It's a reinvention. But as governor, she -- her major achievement was increase in the payout finance by a major increase in taxes on oil companies. Well, she worked with Alaska Democrats to achieve those things, because in Alaska, like everywhere, Democrats also like higher taxes and more government payouts.
She was not a culture warrior before John McCain chose her. That's a new identity and that's the message she's going to try to take as she positions herself in Republican politics in the lower 48. That's very damaging message for the Republican Party because in the rest -- I'm not even sure it works in Alaska -- but it sure is not going to work in the rest of America.
Funny how the culture wars kind of take a backseat with a lot of Americans when they are faced with losing their jobs, homes, etc.
CHETRY: It's interesting you talk about what works and what doesn't work. This is what got the biggest applause according to people that were there at the picnic yesterday. Let's listen to what she said. It was a dig at what seems to be her favorite target, which is the media.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PALIN: You represent what could and should be a respected, honest profession that could and should be a cornerstone of our democracy. And that is why -- that's why our troops are willing to die for you. So, how about, in honor of the American soldier, you quit making things up.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Can I just add - WHAT. THE. FUCK. Did that mean? Lord that woman is a ninny.
CHETRY: Does that work?
FRUM: Well, the secret of Sarah Palin's post-election success is her ability to turn her personal grievances and resentments and make them expressions of grievance and resentment that are felt by other people. But you don't win elections in America on a platform of grievance and resentment. I mean, in election after election, Americans choose the more optimistic, the more cheerful, the more tolerant person. That's why Ronald Reagan was so successful.
Uh... And Barack Obama, notably absent from Frum's comment. But I do think he's right on in that observation. And one of the things that bothers me most - particularly as a woman - about Sarah Palin is her "poor me" approach to garner support, as opposed to a "look at me - I'm competent" approach (which she can't pull off, of course).
CHETRY: Right.
FRUM: He didn't -- he [Regan] had plenty of grievances, but he didn't say things like, in the name of the American soldier, quit publishing negative things about me. Maybe the American soldier has other requests of the media, like, please publish more material about our achievements in Iraq, or maybe, please print more pictures of girls in bikinis. But I think stop attacking Sarah Palin is not necessarily the first request of every fighting serviceman or servicewoman.
Too bad he didn't go there and use the word that really sums the whole thing up - narcissism.
CHETRY: And I want to ask you about that, because according to the latest "Washington Post" poll, 53 percent of those in this poll view Sarah Palin negatively, 57 percent say they don't think that she has a good grasp of complex issues, 54 percent don't think she's a strong leader. Can you be a national candidate with negatives in that range?
FRUM: Well, candidates do sometimes overcome the negatives and they can discover resources in themselves that allow them to do that. I think, for Sarah Palin, the more worrying thing is the decline that she has seen among Republicans, especially since the announcement of her resignation. That Republicans are -- look, this is the party of small business, this is the party of people with responsibilities, that Republicans do disproportionately well among parents.
So, among people who have to execute work, who have burdens to carry, the idea that you just lay down the burden because -- as you yourself say, "I can't get the job done, I'm facing too much criticism," and as you don't say but is true, "because I'd like to make more money doing something else," is not an attractive message.
Interesting comment on Frum's part. If I allow for the idea that Republicans are the part of small business, of people with responsibilities (I don't), I can see where they would be pretty unhappy with a person who shuns those responsibilities to simply make more money. But - since I'm reality-based - I can say: The idea that someone shuns responsibility (practical and moral) to make more money is ABSOLUTELY what the Republican Party is ALL ABOUT. They're all about "me first" and "everyone else second." They're all about Machiavellian gains at whatever cost to actual people. It's what they've always been about, as far as I'm concerned, in modern times. So in a way - while Frum's comment on Palin is a criticism, it's also the absolute truth: Sarah Palin is only following the track record of her Party, which embraces any opportunity to make money at whatever cost.
And with that, they wrapped it up.
FRUM: So, our party, you can see a deterioration in support for her, but we have some very difficult choices in 2012. It's not impossible. She could have a future inside the Republican Party. Nationally, a different story.
CHETRY: All right. David Frum, editor of NewMajority.com, former speechwriter under President Bush -- thanks for joining us this morning.
FRUM: Thank you.
One of the things I found most surprising was Frum's ability to parse what sounded, to me, like stupid nonsense from Sarah Palin during her final final final farewell picnic in Fairbanks. Personally, I think I probably would have gotten more content had Palin used the Random Nonsense Generator (h/t Plutonium Page for tweeting that out yesterday) to construct her final final final address as Governor.
So I don't know which is more striking - the deconstruction of Sarah Palin by one of her own party that lays bare a vapid, uninformed, whiny and blameful person, or the fact that somehow Frum thinks what she did - left office to make money - is somehow outside of the Republicans' core value system.
It's all a mystery to me.