Today’s quote comes from Richard Cohen’s usual op-ed in the Washington Post. It’s an interesting tale – and one I was unaware of – which provides the details of two cruise ships full of conservative columnists and editors who set sail in 2007 to Alaska. Their purpose was a meet and greet with Governor Sarah Palin, and they came away with a cult following of love and devotion for the future GOP vice presidential candidate. Your quote in question, though, is not related to Palin. It deals with columnist William Kristol and his Eagle Eyed ability to spot honest to goodness, down home Real Americans when they come in sight.
Especially in the Weekly Standard, Palin was acclaimed as a tribune of the people. As for her critics, they were dismissed as “liberal media” types who were not, like conservative editors and TV commentators, one with the people. Kristol hit this theme hard, having somehow absorbed Wal-Mart sensitivities while living most of his life in either New York or Washington where, as I can personally attest, real Americans are encountered only when summoned to carry out home repairs. You can learn a lot this way.
There’s a bonus for you at the very end of the column.
The Boys on the Boats were similarly blinded. They mistook personal magnetism for presidential qualities while Palin, clear-eyed in a manner depicted in countless movies, undoubtedly saw in them just what she wanted: a way out of Alaska.