For Democrats, Kossacks and a good part of the traditional media, Sarah Palin is easily mockable and ultimately dismissable as a potential President.
For the conservative base, Palin is the Great White Christian Hope, who will take this God-blessed nation back from the godless Democratic usurpers.
On FreeRepublic today, I ran across this image of Palin, as a modern-day Rosie the Riveter, fighting you-know-who.
The artist, DALE, said on his website that he was inspired by his view that:
America is arguably in peril from forces potentially as destructive as Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. During WWII Rosie the Riveter kept 'em flying, and today when most of our "conservative" leaders are majoring in hand-wringing, the girls are stepping up.
DALE's work is right-wing-fringe, as you can see on his site. This one is a reimagining of the World War II icon of an anonymous woman shipyard worker into an icon of a particular contemporary culture warrior, Sarah Para Bellum (Sarah Prepared for War).
A discussion of wingnut inconography, below.
Way back in college, I took several art history courses and learned about iconography in religious art, the symbolic meaning of flowers, animals, etc., that were part of most medieval and Renaissance paintings.
There is a similar iconography at work in Sarah Para Bellum, especially when compared to the Norman Rockwell original.
Let's start at the bottom -- Rosie's right foot rests on, and slightly crushes a paperback "Mein Kampf" by Adolf Hitler; Palin's right foot rests on and similarly crushes a paperback "Rules for Radicals" by Saul Alinsky.
The obvious reading is that Obama, who was an Alinskyish community organizer briefly in his 20s, equals Hitler.
Palin's footwear is also different from Rosie's -- Palin will be going to her war wearing red, strappy, 1-inch platform, high-heel sandals; Rosie wears more sensible work shoes.
Not very realistic, but it emphasizes Palin's sex appeal, even as a warrior.
Moving on up, Palin is wearing a dress (Rosie was wearing denim overalls), and both have their feet together and their knees apart. That's quite unladylike in a dress, offering a glimpse of Palin's inner thigh.
But it does symbolize Palin's sex appeal and her fecundity, which are both attractive to the Republican base.
Next, Rosie has a rivet gun in her lap; Palin has a shotgun and three shotgun shells.
This obviously refers to Palin's alleged hunting skills and to her Second Amendment fundamentalism, which are quite popular with the 20 percent.
It also implies that Palin is ready to lead the hard-core Republican base in a violent revolution against the usurpers.
Atop Palin's left thigh is what looks like a Sarah-emblazoned purse, with a couple of DVDs poking out of it, and a box of ammunition. Rosie had her lunchbox on her left thigh, because she was on her lunch break.
More implied violence there, plus a possible reference to the wingnut underground of anti-Obama, anti-government DVDs.
Rosie has something oval but unidentifiable (by me anyway) in her right pocket; Palin has a Bible in her right pocket, plus what looks like a copy of the Constitution.
I read this two ways -- Palin is God's anointed candidate/warrior, and the USA is a Christian nation. Which are both essential parts of her appeal to white Christianists.
The right hand -- Rosie's rests on her lunchbox, under her left elbow; Palin's arm is atop her purse, but her hand is grasping a diamondback rattlesnake (which somewhat correlates to the air hose connected to the rivet gun in the Rockwell original) near its head.
The snake symbol has an ancient meaning -- representing the crafty Lucifer from Genesis, and others who would try to inspire doubt among believers.
Lately, the snake has come to have another, somewhat dissonant meaning among teabaggers -- one of their favorite props is the Gadsden flag, showing a coiled, ready-to-strike rattlesnake above the words "Don't tread on me." In this meaning, the rattlesnake represents true American patriots who will not stand for the current Democratic tyranny.
It seems DALE was confused about the snake.
The left hand -- Rosie holds her lunch sandwich; Palin holds a Blackberry with "DEATH PANELS" clearly visible in the display.
So Palin is comfortable with modern technology, and is devoted to fighting a government that plans to kill sick and/or old people.
Rosie has a row of buttons, one with a Red Cross, others presumably factory production awards, across the top of her overalls. Palin's row also starts with a Red Cross, then includes a pro-life and a Reagan campaign button. Also visible there is a gold cross necklace, necessarily outside the dress.
Palin's buttons and cross re-emphasize her Christianist and right-wing Republican bona fides.
Rosie's head looks to the right, almost in profile; Palin gazes directly at the viewer through her designer glasses, with what is supposed to be a determined look on her face, but also resembles a smirk.
She connects with the people.
Both Rosie and Palin have a white-line halo above their heads.
They are both saints.
I don't know how viral this odd image of Palin is in the right-wing Internets, but my guess is that it's popular and getting more clicks and links all the time.
The relentless iconography of Sarah the Warrior/Savior will strike a chord with the Republican Christianist base, as it does with a commenter at DALE's site who proclaimed the Rosie/Palin image an "instant American cultural classic."
And I'll betcha this image will be a major money-maker for the T-shirt/button/sign sellers at the next big teabagger event.