Brushfire of Freedom
The Irritable Pundit
It hit like a hammer. Number 1 on Amazon before it was even released. 300,000 copies sold on the first day. 1.6 million in the initial planned run in printing, another million or so hastily added to make a 2.6 million total run. All of them set to be bundled and bound, making their way along the boulevards and byways that feed the literary appetite of the masses.
There were a lot of naysayers of course. It wouldn't sell, no one would care. If it did sell, it would still never make money. Even if it did make money, it would only be bought by rubes, hicks, and others who couldn't read above a 6th grade level. Ha! If she even wrote it herself! Meanwhile, there were prewritten negative reviews by the hundreds just waiting to be filed (easily by deadline). One review proudly admitting that it had been written without reading the work in question. Doubtless not the only such review written, but that one at least notable for its candor.
And the pundit class raised their jackal jaws and howled in unison at the obvious failure, drooling at the feast soon to be had.
Only... it sold and sold big. Adoring crowds gathered a day early to be first in line. Average americans stood out in freezing rain to get a glimpse of a blue bus pull up to a book signing. It was a concert, the launch of the iphone, and 6 am on black friday at Walmart -- all in one. Sarah Palin was coming.
The scrambling amongst the wizards of smart was amazing. Frank Rich was apoplectic. Dowd was "dowdy" as usual. Frum could only point to her sex appeal dismissively (and mercy doesn't he sound more and more like an obsessed stalker?). But looking at those crowds on TV, I was struck by how half seemed thrilled for Sarah Palin personally, and the other half seemed wryly just to enjoy the fact that the naysayers were eating a heaping helping of crow again. Thats when it hit me. I finally and fully understand Sarah's appeal. More than that, I truly understand the zealous protective instinct so many seem to have about her.
Sarah Palin is ours, deeply and personally, because she is family.
Remember that obnoxious overly-competitive parent at the games that said your son couldn't make the big play? Remember your happiness for your son when he did? Tell me, wasn't there also just a touch of satisfaction that the obnoxious helicopter parent was proved wrong? You know there was. Remember the tears of your little girl when the "cool kids" didn't like her? Remember the beautiful girl that your daughter became and how you smiled when she came home excited about her awesome prom? Mixed with your joy and happiness was just a touch of "Well look at her NOW!" wasn't there? Oh yes, there was, don't deny it.
It is natural. The same thing happened with your parents and you, and your aunts and uncles and nieces and nephews. It is the odd and nuanced expression of familial bonds. Think back, you remember saying something overly protective about family a time or two I am sure. "That is MY sister, and you wont say anything about her!" or even a "He may be a jerk, but he is OUR jerk." sort of remark. It is a gestalt of "us" and "ours". It is primal, tribal and deeply personal. It is ancestral pride. No one picks on YOUR family. In fact, the more they try to pick on someone in your family the more you defend your brother/sister/cousin and so on. And while you are truly happy when someone in the family does well, there is also a touch of "Ha! That'll show them!" in some measure wherever someone bets against them. Less so among the beatifically kind perhaps, but it is there all the same.
You add your spouse or significant other into the "us" gestalt, but you likely also have a friend or two that you pull into your emotional world-view so completely that they share in this protective mindset as well. It happens. But someone outside of your immediate circle has to touch you in an extraordinary way in order to be viewed as family. It explains the devotion some have to a songwriter, author, or artist. We are impacted by their songs or stories on such a deep emotional level that we begin to bond our self-identity and close-circle feelings to them, generally all unknowing.
This is exactly what has happened with Sarah Palin. Somewhere along the way, Sarah connected on such a deep level that she has become family. She is ours. Her success makes us joyful for her sake and also allows just a touch of smug satisfaction at her success. Hows that crow tasting Brooks? Want another bite Kathleen Parker? Oh! Can someone get a second plate for Peggy Noonan while they are up? Hey, did you guys see the show today? Wow! Sarah just kicked kiester on Oprah! Yeah, I'm serious! isn't that great? She is doing us proud isn't she? Did I send her PAC a donation? Of course...
...family always takes care of each other.
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