Sarah Palin's Writing Style

[doug anderson]

This has nothing to do with crime fiction unless habitual lying is applicable. I missed the Slate contest, so here's my entry. Anyone game for this? We could have our own contest.

"And when I saw that Caribou I knew that I was right about Alaska and that if I was right about Alaska I was right about the United States and even New York. I pray for homosexuals and communists. I know what people want, people in the little towns where chopping a chicken's head off and watching it run around is all you need to do on Friday Night."

[I. J. Parker]

Is this an actual quote? I'll believe anything of Sarah Palin.

[doug anderson]

I wrote it after reading a paragraph of hers. It was fairly easy to slip into the voice. Mine is perhaps too grammatical to be exact.

[I. J. Parker]

LOL!

[Jon Loomis]

One of the really weird things about America is that people with no discernible talents or skills often rise to positions of great prominence. The only thing Sarah Palin is good at is creating the appearance of personal conviction when she recites the standard right-wing laundry list of imagined grievances (McCain could never quite muster it, somehow). My fondest wish is that she will either be the Republican nominee in '12, or that she'll lose the nomination and mount and independent run.

[doug anderson]

I think she presents a persona upon which a lot of nut jobs can project.

[I. J. Parker]

Nothing weird about that. Large numbers of Americans can relate. They're the ones who aren't buying my books.
She's also pretty and photogenic. This is very important for a female politician -- as important as hair for the male version.

[doug anderson]

I've somehow forgotten that she's pretty. Her pathologies precede any attractiveness she might have (to me, at least).

[Kris Neri]

How do you parody a writing style that's so stupidly funny? Tina Fey used actual quotes in her skits.

What's sad about the US culture is that, in this age of reality TV - and politics has surely become a branch of that - anyone can become a celebrity, even if they have no talent, accomplishments, or intelligence. I suspect Palin's goal was to become a wealthy celebrity, while doing the least amount of work, and she's achieved it. Her 15 minutes refuses to die, however. Since she won't go away, my hope for her echoes Jon's.

[doug anderson]

Good question. Same problem with Bush.

[I. J. Parker]

We are dealing with publicity!

[minervaK]

Because, in modern U.S. popular culture, a woman's appearance is her primary currency. What she thinks, how she votes, and the course of her behavior are all secondary. Welcome to our nightmare.

MK
www.minervakoenig.com

[doug anderson]

Yes, and a certain percentage of the electorate is incapable of understanding the issues anyhow. All they know is that someone who wants to ban books in Alaska libraries can't be all bad. That's about how deep it goes. All she has to do is mention the word "socialist" in somber tones and she gets a few more votes whether or not her constituency knows what socialism is.