Sarah Palin’s unqualified support

Without a doubt, she has become the queen of the mainstream fringe; in fact, she’s become perhaps the leading symbol. Her cutie-pie cattiness has overwhelmed Glenn Beck’s irrational rants.

And before we dismiss Palin and her devout followers as some sort of splinter group, let’s not forget that by comparison, her opponents are loosely packed sawdust, flying around every which way. Liberals and the others she scornfully calls “elitists” are anything but elite when it comes to getting their act together.

Sarah Palin’s message that those in power now have messed things up royally resonates, and not just with true believers. Nearly everyone is downright scared about the future and disgusted with the feeling we’ve all been had by those in power.

As disorganized as the Tea Party crazies are, they are united in their hatreds, a natural audience for the Perky Palin Politics of Resentment. When despised commentators make fun of her for writing reminders on her hand, a lot of them say, “Hey, I do that.”

They are a force. For proof, look at the TV ratings. Fox News has been able to exploit the right-wing outrage and obliterate the other cable networks. Similarly, Rush Limbaugh and his clone voices of intolerance continue to dominate the airwaves like no one else. Meanwhile, the main outlet on the left, Air America, just folded.

Those of us who criticize Palin make her more of a force. We raise her volume and play right into her handwritten hands.

That is not to say we should stop. Those of us who are appalled by the same kind of transparently programmed superficiality that works so well with so many anchormen and -women need to point out how she employs these tricks of the trade. Then we can let the chips fall where they may.

Even with all our criticism, it’s important to remember that these polls show that 30 percent do NOT consider Sarah Palin unqualified. History shows any number of nations where leaders have been elected with true support smaller than that. They have snuck up on those embedded in a calcified system. At least Palin isn’t sneaking up.

Visit Mr. Franken’s website at www.bobfranken.tv.