Michael Cera, on his decision to act in "Juno" (or "Juneau"):
"Well, I had a feeling when I took the part that something like that would happen, that Sarah Palin would run and her teen would be pregnant, and so I'm glad that it finally was fulfilled."
☺☺☺☺
The Fargo Interview, with Marge Gunderson:
Gosh darn it, whether ya just love her or ya can't stand her, there's something about that Sarah Palin that's got everybody talkin' -- whether it's tryin' to talk her kinda plain ol' "Say it ain't so, Joe Sixpack" Hockey Mom talk, or just tryin' to figure out what the heck the gal is sayin'! Can ya tell what she thinks she means when she flaps that lipstick, or do ya just like the sparkle motion she makes when the words come out? Get back to me on that! Anyways, here we go again, with a buncha ways of looking at that Sarah Palin Talk that everybody's talkin' about:
Linguist Steven Pinker, "Everything You Heard Is Wrong," New York Times, October 4, 2008:
But it would be unfair to question the authenticity of her accent or to use it as a measure of her intellect or sophistication. The dialect is certainly for real. Listeners who hear the Minnewegian sounds of the characters from "Fargo" when they listen to Ms. Palin are on to something: the Matanuska-Susitna Valley in Alaska, where she grew up, was settled by farmers from Minnesota during the Depression.Since the vice presidential debate on Thursday night, two opposing myths have quickly taken hold about Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska. The first, advanced by her supporters, is that she made it through a gantlet of fire; the second, embraced by her detractors, is that her speaking style betrays her naïveté. Both are wrong. [...]
Daniel Libit, Twincities.com, September 30, 2008:
Hard as it may be for political junkies to believe, Thursday's debate will be the first time many Americans will actually hear Gov. Sarah Palin speak -- and they're in for something distinctly different. It's not just her habit of referencing moose hunting or pit bull cosmetology that distinguishes the governor. It's that accent.
Not since John Kennedy's Boston brogue took the stage at the 1960 presidential debates has a national politician's tongue stood out in such a way. [...]
"It's very 'Fargo,' " said former McCain campaign strategist Mark McKinnon, "ton of personality."
Sarah Palin, Vice-Presidential Debate, October 2, 2008:
"Say it ain't so, Joe, there you go again pointing backwards again. You preferenced your whole comment with the Bush administration. Now doggone it, let's look ahead and tell Americans what we have to plan to do for them in the future. You mentioned education and I'm glad you did. I know education you are passionate about with your wife being a teacher for 30 years, and god bless her. Her reward is in heaven, right?"
Bob Herbert, "Palin's Alternate Universe," October 4, 2008:
Now comes Ms. Palin, a smiling, bubbly vice-presidential candidate who travels in an alternate language universe. For Ms. Palin, such things as context, syntax and the proximity of answers to questions have no meaning.
Hendrik Hertzberg, The New Yorker, October 3, 2008:
Most of the [VP debate] commentators, again, seemed to get it wrong, mainly because they were grading on a curve. Palin did "better than expected." On the other hand, she had been expected to do so poorly that she could hardly fail to do better than expected, i.e., she was expected to do better than expected, which means that she did about as well as expected. But according to the insta-polls, the electorate, as opposed to what I once called the expectorate, seems to have concluded fairly clearly that Biden "won," possibly because what the electorate was expecting was a debate between two candidates for Vice-President, not the raw materials for some arcane calculation of who exceeded whose expectations. Biden succeeded in making a case for the Obama-Biden ticket. Palin succeeded mainly in making a case that she, Palin, is a person of near-normal intelligence and great superior adorability.
Roger Ebert, Roger Ebert's Journal, October 3, 2008:
You want to smile with her and wink back. But who did she resemble more? Marge Gunderson, whose peppy pleasantries masked a remorseless policewoman's logic? Or Jerry Lundegaard, who knew he didn't have the car on his lot, but smiled when he said, "M'am, I been cooperatin' with ya here." Palin was persuasive. But I felt a brightness that was not always convincing.
☺☺☺☺
Babe the Hot Hockey Mom!
Rich Lowry, editor of National Review, October 3, 2008:
I'm sure I'm not the only male in America who, when Palin dropped her first wink, sat up a little straighter on the couch and said, "Hey, I think she just winked at me." And her smile. By the end, when she clearly knew she was doing well, it was so sparkling it was almost mesmerizing. It sent little starbursts through the screen and ricocheting around the living rooms of America. This is a quality that can't be learned; it's either something you have or you don't, and man, she's got it.
David Brooks, "The Palin Rebound," The New York Times, October 3, 2008:
There she was, resplendent in black, striding out like a power-walker, and greeting Joe Biden like an assertive salesman, first-naming him right off the bat. [...]
She spoke with that calm, measured poise that marked her convention speech, not the panicked meanderings of her subsequent interviews.
When nervous, Palin has a tendency to over-enunciate her words like a graduate of the George W. Bush School of Oratory, but Thursday night she spoke like a normal person. It took her about 15 seconds to define her persona -- the straight-talking mom from regular America -- and it was immediately clear that the night would be filled with tales of soccer moms, hockey moms, Joe Sixpacks, main-streeters, "you betchas" and "darn rights." Somewhere in heaven Norman Rockwell is smiling. [...]
The race has not been transformed, but few could have expected as vibrant and tactically clever a performance as the one Sarah Palin turned in Thursday night.
Jesse Sheidlower, Placing Palin's Accent, Slate.com, October 1, 2008:
Reaction to Palin's speech has been highly varied. Some people dislike it, finding it harsh or grating; others regard it as charming or authentic. These are common responses to a distinctive accent. Depending on the context, such an accent can make a person seem stupid or uneducated or, conversely, honest and folksily trustworthy -- often at the same time. Some people exploit this for effect, emphasizing and de-emphasizing dialect features to prompt a particular reaction. Linguists call this code-switching. In this Palin interview with Katie Couric, you can hear her enunciating her -ings and her yous more clearly in responses where she appeared to have a ready answer, and returning to her more natural -in' and ya when she seemed stumped, which suggests that Palin may have been deliberately attempting to minimize her dialect features for that audience.
Sarah Palin, VP Debate, October 2, 2008:
"Well, our founding fathers were very wise there in allowing through the Constitution much flexibility there in the office of the vice president. And we will do what is best for the American people in tapping into that position and ushering in an agenda that is supportive and cooperative with the president's agenda in that position."
Marge Gunderson, "Fargo":
"I'm not sure I agree with you a hunnert percent on your policework, there, Lou."
Marge Gundersen would never say anything as despicable as this:
"Our opponent though is someone who sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect, imperfect enough that he is palling around with terrorists who would target their own country," Palin said of Obama, also calling him an embarrassment.
This is the lowest I've ever heard one of the candidates sink. They usually leave this sort of dirty work to their affiliate groups. Looks like Governor Palin wants a new nickname: Caribou Coulter.
CL: Marge Gunderson has manners and decency and integrity and would never liken herself to a pit bull or suggest that it is admirable to behave like one. She also knows what words mean, and how to convey exactly what she wants to convey in conversation, which is why she's so devastating opposite Palin in the "interview" above.
I know Marge Gunderson. Sarah Palin is no Marge Gunderson. Palin just has an accent and a lot more lipstick.
Beneath Marge's veil of midwestern naivete there exists a genuine innocence and curiosity about the human condition.
Beneath Palin's veil of homespun winky charm there exists, as far we've been allowed to observe, homespun winky charm. Connecting with the American people is fine, but right now we are desperately in need of a leader who can also connect with the rest of the world.
There's more to politics than a little accentual performance, ya know. Don'tcha know that? Well. I just don't understand it.
Count me in as someone who loves her accent and how she talks. I grew up in the Midwest, which probably has something to do with it.
I just hate what she says.
I love an accent. An accent was one of the reasons I moved to Brazil and lived there for about 11 years. Portuguese, spoken by a carioca (a native of Rio de Janeiro) is one of the most beautiful things in the world.
Other things I love are compliments. My ego feeds on them like a hungry, hungry hippo. I love a free flirt. A flirt that doesn't have to lead anywhere just there saying or winking "I like you". My favorite accent is a southern one, maybe because I'm from the south but having lived away for so long I find it has an attractiveness that I never percieved when I was a teenager.
Now, based on the information above am I ready to lead a country?
I question the following things in our "political debates":
1) why does religion play a part in politics at all when our constitution explicitly says it shouldn't?
2) What is the filter of liberal media that Sarah talked of? Funny, because the right wing thinkers are totally intergrated into all forms of mass media. Why do they complain of the "liberal" media? Are any of the right wing media workers any more objective than their liberal counter parts?
3) Lies for lies and half-truths for half-truths, both parties and their supporters are guilty. What can we do or where can we turn to weigh the different versions?
4) If you don't want "joe-six-pack" doing medical procedures on you, why would you want "joe-six-pack" leading your country?
5) Hockey / soccer / baseball / football / basketball / moms are great cheerleaders for their children, love their children, take great care of their children and wear awesome shades of lipstick. Are these the qualifications for leading a country? (I know this is part 2 of question 4)
6) Are you less "patriotic" because you question the validity of actions taken by your government and fellow citizens?
7) How does support your troops turn into a desire to see them face bullets and bombs? Most adults would seperate teenagers when they fight, even though all the other teenagers are yelling "fight, fight!".
8) If we can take out the heads of states we think are bad, can we also start taking out the heads of families who we think are doing a bad job?
I'll leave it at that. But I do agree with Jim in the sense that Marge represents what is best in us and not what is worse. Marge would have crushed both Biden and Palin in the debate.
I've been saying she sounds like Marge Gunderson for weeks. My friends, of course, don't know what I'm talking about. Shockingly, I haven't seen people make this connection across the internet until recently. It's just sooo spot-on.
I don't know much about Palin. Only as much as the media has told me. I haven't yet decided, for a number of reasons, who to vote for in this election. But it surprises me a little bit when people are just looking to rip her apart. Sometimes we are as nasty in the things said about her as she has been about others (as in the quote offered by CL).
Whatever weaknesses she may have (and there seem to be plenty), she has been the governor of a state. Alaska isn't New York or California, but to govern a state well takes some level of intelligence. Her jobs of mayor and governor are more complex and demanding than most any job that we will ever hold.
Is Palin ready for the job of Vice President? I doubt it. Would I want her as President if McCain were to die? No. But our need to constantly tear her apart is starting to tire me. It's starting to border on being sadistic. I know that the Presidency and vice presidency are very serious matters, and I don't mean to say that we should just take pity on her because she's in way over her head. She might have been a horrible choice for McCain to make as his running mate, but she's more than an accent with extra lipstick.
Nathan: exquisitely well said. Thank you.
Sure, there are lots of valid questions and concerns (as well as meaty comedy zingers to be had) about McCain and Palin. But most of the feeding frenzy has IMHO become tiresome at best. And I'll acknowledge that when I pointed Jim to some clips of Palin's state debate performances, he agreed that she displayed some intelligence and substance in them.
Is there anyone else here besides me who thinks that sometimes, the best criticism and parody comes from sources that aren't entirely "anti-" the target? Call me nuts but (again IMHO) Tina Fey's spot-on impression doesn't seem entirely devoid of empathy and affection for Palin. And from what I've heard, Fey's actually a friend of McCain's, although she obviously doesn't share his politics.
Nathan:
You doubt she is ready to be VP and is in way over her head but have not decided who to vote for?
I do agree that certain attacks have been over the top.
I'm sorry — I don't mean to sound mean or insensitive — but I think that Palin deserves all of the criticism and scrutiny that she has received, if not more. It's nothing personal against her, and I do feel awfully sorry for her position of being in over her head, for being put into situations that she is obviously ill-prepared to face and left to flounder. The reason why her failings need to be emphasized is the very fact that so many people in this country have been charmed by her winning persona into thinking that she's actually qualified to run this country. The criticism is meant to serve as an antidote or a chaser for her image-oriented politics. Unsophisticated viewers of the VP debate would be easily persuaded into thinking that she was a strong debater with intelligent things to say, but the rest of us know better. We can see through the deliberate artifice. If we give Palin an easier time, I'm afraid that we risk allowing image-oriented politics more influence than it has an right to be.
Is Palin any more intelligent or competent than George W. Bush? I personally don't think that Bush is as dumb as we all jokingly say that he is. But however intelligent he may actually be, it clearly was not enough to lead this country in a direction that the majority of the public wanted. So why take the chance of making the same mistake again by letting Palin anywhere near the White House?
I'm surprised that any thinking person, Republican or Democrat or independent, would even consider the McCain campaign to be viable anymore because of Palin alone. Admittedly, if McCain were elected, the odds would still be against him dying in office, but you must remember that we don't elect the Vice President. The presidential candidate makes what is in essence an appointment, and we have to deal with it. In order to grant the VP any legitimacy within the democratic system, we have to vote in the general election as if the VP nominee were being considered for President. A vote of confidence for the presidential nominee has to also be a vote of confidence for the VP nominee. Thus, on principle alone, the McCain-Palin ticket should be rejected.
I'm still willing to consider voting for McCain, because Palin isn't the only thing I'd be voting for. If I choose that ticket, it would have more to do with ideology. I'm also not entirely willing to take Obama and Biden, good men that they may be, at their face value. You can dress them up any way you like, but a politician is still a politician. An Obama administration might be the best choice, but anyone who assumes that either candidate will turn America into a bed of roses is fooling themselves a little.
Voting, as in all political matters, seems a compromise. I always think it's funny in a debate when one of the candidates points out how the other voted for or against something. When you are in the senate, you read a whole bill. Sometimes you vote against something that's good, because there are other components of the bill that are bad. vice versa. If I vote for McCain, or Obama, there will be things I don't like about either. But really, it won't matter, because I live a few miles from Obama's house, and I doubt the good people of Illinois are going to give their state to McCain.
I've read in several places where people have a problem with her accent. It's important to note that her accent has little to do with this. It's her manner of speaking we're discussing here, not the accent.
When she mispronounces "nuclear" ("nuke-u-lar"), I think to our current president and his same problem with that word.
And, drawing that comparison, I get scared. Hell, I get REALLY scared.
Okay, I curl up into a little ball on the floor and cry out for my mommy.
Something that I feel I have to throw out there is that Sarah Palin sounds NOTHING like an Alaskan. I heard a piece on NPR last week where they had a linguist explaining how she has a very typical Alaskan accent and I couldn't disagree more. I am from Fairbanks, AK and have many relatives in Anchorage (just around the mountain from Wasilla) and NOBODY speaks like she does. She is midwest, through and through. You also won't find too many Alaskan's that are so disingenuous - that's not as common a trait there compared to the lower 48.
Sarah Palin is a perfect example of why I have always had such a low level of respect elected officials in my home state. The governing body is so out of step with the actual people who live there. I've never understood it. Outside of hunting rights and a desire for minimal government interference (supposedly a Republican stance... yeah right), the state is pretty centrist, leaning liberal. Yet, AK is always red.
I love how most of us hold Marge Gunderson, a character, so dear that we have the urge to defend her so.
Alex: It's true. Marge is a more sympathetic and believable character than Palin, too. I consider her less fictitious.
Alex: It's true. Marge is a more sympathetic and believable character than Palin, too. I also consider her to be less fictitious.
I'm still trying to figure out just what exactly, are the many "failings" Gov. Palin has allegedly exhibited. Did she cheat anyone? Did she lie about her past? Did she steal any money? Did she attend a coffee to launch her political career in the home of a former unrepentant KKK member who bombed black churches in the 1960s? Did she endorse any books written by any KKK church bombers? Did she serve on any foundation boards with Nazis, Klansmen, or white supremacists? Just wondering. She was the mayor of a small town, and was reelected. Then she charged elected state officials with ethical wrongdoing. Then she was elected governor and has presided as governor with great popularity. That doesn't add up to many failings, in my book. But then, I'm just a regular person and not as sophisticated as most readers of the New York Times.