Sarah Palin — the undisputed American politician who has mastered snark and sarcasm into a million-dollar media career and put her in contention for the 2012 Republican Presidential nomination — has often used Facebook and Twitter for blunt, throw-down-the gauntlet comments that spark political firestorms. And now she’s facing another: from black conservatives.
John Avlon writes on The Daily Beast that Palin has jumped the snark shark: black conservatives say Palin’s tweets defending talk show host Dr. Laura repeated use of the “n-word” on the air was ridiculous and indefensible—and that Palin may be “no longer fit to lead.” Here’s the beginning of his post:
Sarah Palin’s post-VP nominee career has so far benefitted from bomb-throwing. The process follows a tight script—a crude, semi-calculated comment is shot into the middle of a political debate via Facebook or Twitter. It gains national attention. Liberals are outraged. Conservatives rush to her defense. Sarah Palin dominates a news cycle and becomes more beloved by her base.
But by unnecessarily rushing to the defense of Dr. Laura Schlessinger—after she dropped the N-bomb 11 times and told the caller “don’t marry outside of your race”—Sarah Palin might finally have gone too far and picked a fight she cannot win.
.This is the sound of Sarah Palin jumping the shark in two tweets:
• Dr.Laura:don’t retreat … reload! (Steps aside bc her 1st Amend.rights ceased 2exist thx 2activists trying 2silence”isn’t American,not fair”)
• Dr.Laura=even more powerful & effective w/out the shackles, so watch out Constitutional obstructionists. And b thankful 4 her voice,America!The few black conservative candidates, columnists, and media figures—who represent the GOP’s only hope for reclaiming the legacy of Lincoln and, with it, long-term demographic relevance—are not amused. They’re now saying what many in the GOP increasingly believe: Sarah Palin is not fit to be a serious leader of the Republican Party.
I spoke to Michel Faulkner, the former NFL player and Harlem preacher challenging Charlie Rangel for a House seat, and he was unsparing in his criticism:
Go to the link to read all of it — and there is a lot more.
Unless you’re a Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity fan, Palin is definitely an acquired taste — if acquirable at all. For many Republicans, particularly those solidy on the same wavelength as the party’s talk radio political culture, she is nirvana. But to some other Republicans and independent voters she is exactly the kind of politician that this country does not need right now: a polarizing one who takes delight in delivering snark and sarcasm lines marginalizing parts of the electorate who do not already agree with her. Now she’s waded into the area of race…after fanning the flames against liberals, Democrats, parts of the country that somehow aren’t as American as parts she deems most American and Muslims in her inflammatory and inaccurate comments about the planned mosque two blocks away from ground zero.
The black conservatives say she might not be fit to govern; her gleefully divisive political style increasingly suggests that she could not govern, even if she was fit.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.