Palin andClimat Chng: Happn’g 4 Ions
As my family, with some embarrassment, will attest, I am not someone who feels a knee-jerk hatred of Sarah Palin. I don’t agree with her on virtually any issue, but I think she is smarter, or at least, shrewder, than many people from my neck of the non-woods (New York City) admit. I also have a soft spot for Palin simply based on the memory of her youngest daughter (Piper?), seen at the Republican convention, earnestly pressing down Palin’s baby’s wayward bangs with a saliva-moistened palm. (It’s hard not to like Piper.)
But Palin’s blindness to reason and fact really get to me; Palin is especially upsetting because she’s so glib, so willing to cast aside the complications of truth to get to the beguilingly simplistic. She’s a bit like a cheerleader: as long as something is catchy, short, and supports her team, she will (smilingly) say it, whether or not it makes sense, or is even consistent with her other positions.
The most recent example of Palin’s reductiveness can be seen in her remarks on climate change. Palin’s comments were made in the form of “tweets,” a good method of communication for Palin since fractured thinking is not only allowed, it’s practically mandatory:
“Copenhgen=arrogance of man2think we can change nature’s ways.MUST b good stewards of God’s earth,but arrogant&naive2say man overpwers nature. (Palin Tweet, 11:44 PM Dec 18th from TwitterBerry ).
Earth saw clmate chnge4 ions;will cont 2 c chnges.R duty2responsbly devlop resorces4humankind/not pollute&destroy;but cant alter naturl chng.” (11:57 PM Dec 18th from TwitterBerry)
There’s no room for the complications of science and fact here; no space for actual data.
There’s not even room for eons of change, but only “ions,” those teeny little charged particles that (according to some bogus scientists) make up various atoms and molecules.
I understand that Palin’s position is based, in part, on her Christian faith; but her faith seems terribly reductive here. Although Palin pays lip service to a broader view of the environmental equation ( “humankind/not pollute and destroy”), this statement seems just a spoonful of sugar (to help the development go down). It’s worth noting that one of Palin’s earlier tweets that day congratulates the Alaskan legislature on fighting the Endangered Species Act, a fight in which Alaska is working to delist the polar bear and to avoid a listing of the ribbon seal, two species that have been harmed by a severe decline in habitat due to climate change.
Apparently Palin believes that the polar bear and seal can live 4 ions, even without a habitat.
Explore posts in the same categories: Environment, news, UncategorizedTags: Alaska & andangered species act, Christian stewards of environment, Copenhagen, eons/ions, fractured thinking on twitter, Palin on Climate Change, Palin on Copenhagen, Piper Palin, polar bear, Sarah Palin, Sarah Palin on Twitter, spoonful of sugar
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ManicDDaily 
December 22, 2009 at 8:32 pm
I’m with your family on Sarah Palin.
With all due respect, I see an analogy between Palin’s views on the environment, and your softer views on her.
Palin doesn’t see environmental degradation as a clear and present danger to her own personal fortunes. On account of this (illusary) luxury, she hasn’t truly engaged the issue but rather uses public interest in the environment to shift focus to issues that she does embrace, namely bible-centered Christianity and unfettered mercantilism. Now you don’t see Sarah Palin as a clear and present danger to your personal vision of America- she sank the GOP ticket, speaks now to a fringe following and doesn’t look like an immanant national office winner. So you have the luxury, while duly lamenting her politics, to see her, say, as an opportunity for reflection on the treatment by the media of woman as leaders.
I find her, not just her ideas, very dangerous, and I find her ubiquitous public presense now, despite her defeat, disquieting. Even if you’re right, that some quarters reject her for the wrong reason, sexism, I say let’s fight sexism on some another front and count our blessings on this one.
December 22, 2009 at 9:42 pm
Yes, I also find her popularity upsetting; she sometimes seems to bring out the worst in people.