Palin-Free February
A new idea has been sweeping through the media. The idea is to ignore Sarah Palin. The Washington Post‘s Dana Milbank explained how this idea developed:
But today is the first day of the rest of my life. And so, I hereby pledge that, beginning on Feb. 1, 2011, I will not mention Sarah Palin — in print, online or on television — for one month. Furthermore, I call on others in the news media to join me in this pledge of a Palin-free February. With enough support, I believe we may even be able to extend the moratorium beyond one month, but we are up against a powerful compulsion, and we must take this struggle day by day.
I came to this inner strength by trusting in a power greater than myself: my former Washington Post colleague Howie Kurtz, now with the Daily Beast. A week ago, on his CNN show, “Reliable Sources,” I was complaining about the over-coverage of Palin when I found myself saying that “the best thing would be — it’s impossible, of course — that we in the media should declare some sort of a Sarah Palin moratorium.”
Milbank describes why the media is obsessed with her.
The media obsession with Palin began naturally and innocently enough, when the Alaska governor emerged as an electrifying presence on the Republican presidential ticket more than two years ago. But then something unhealthy happened: Though Palin was no longer a candidate, or even a public official, we in the press discovered that the mere mention of her name could vault our stories onto the most-viewed list. Palin, feeding this co-dependency and indulging the news business’s endless desire for conflict, tweeted provocative nuggets that would help us keep her in the public eye — so much so that this former vice presidential candidate gets far more coverage than the actual vice president.
We need help.
I saw one pundit describe her once as a “tuning fork.” She makes her followers vibrate on a certain frequency. Her frequency also vibrates among her critics. Seriously, is there anyone who doesn’t have a strong opinion on Sarah Palin?
Talking Points Memo‘s Josh Marshall has a different take. The media covers Palin because she is important and that calls to ignore her are self-defeating.
Frequently a reader will write in to say, “Why are you giving her so much attention? You’re just pumping her up. If you and the other places would stop giving her so much oxygen, she and her whole circus would just wither away.”
I don’t know which circle of the hell of myopia you need to be residing in to think like this. But it’s very deep in there, I assure you. Much as I love this thing our team has created, I assure you that Palin’s popularity, notoriety, footprint on the public stage is quite independent of TPM. Indeed, TPM and a dozen other similar or not so similar publications you can find on the web. Palin is such a big deal because she’s got a chunk of the political nation that is very, very into her. She resonates deeply with her core supporters. She’s one of those people who cuts an electric figure on the public stage because she slices right through the society and generates one intense response from one side and a completely opposite but equally intense response from the other. And she says, let’s be honest, a lot of really crazy stuff.
This is actually a real blind spot for liberals in general — the idea that things that are crazy or tawdry or just outrageous are really best ignored. Don’t give them more attention. You’re just giving them what they want. Or maybe it’s not so practical and utilitarian. Maybe, they say, it’s just beneath us. Focus on the important stuff.
On so many levels this represents an alienation from the popular political culture which is not only troubling in itself but actually damages progressive and center-left politics in general no end. It’s almost the fatal flaw. Democrats often console themselves that even when they don’t win elections, usually their individual policies are more popular than those of Republicans. Too bad you can’t elect a policy. It’s true for instance that Health Care Reform — which still has more opponents than supporters — is pretty popular when you ask people about its individual components. But why is that? It’s not random, because that pattern crops up again and again. It’s another one of the examples where liberals — or a certain strain of liberalism — focuses way too much on the libretto of our political life and far too little on the score. It’s like you’re at a Wagner opera reading the libretto with your ear plugs in and think you’ve got the whole thing covered.
I do agree with Marshall that progressives focus way too much on policy and not enough on politics (and Republicans do the opposite). To really win, progressives need to learn how to talk to people’s emotions because, let’s face it, that’s how most people make decisions.
But I leave this question up to you. Should we participate in Palin-free month? Is Palin a beast of our own creation or is it wrong to ignore her? Leave your answer in comments.
yes. And to up the anti— if DL does it, i pledge to not mention palin on my facebook, this blog, in conversation, if she is yapping on the TV i will change the channel…. pretty much make a personal attempt to forget she exists.
Let’s take away medusa’s power!
And I pledge to drop her from my deeply satisfying sadistic sexual fantasies and replace her with Michelle Bachmann.
Should we participate in Palin-free month?
Yes. Anything Palin-related will be well covered elsewhere. Don’t take this personally but DL’s Palin coverage will not be missed for a month.
Of course, if you really want to participate you have to also not read Palin coverage anywhere.
Should we participate in Palin-free month?
You betcha!
Stupid idea. Ignore the Republucan who is a leading contender to be the GOP’s presidential nominee. The DC press corps is moronic.
I do wish the media wouldn’t cover her every tweet and Facebook post. If she wants media attention she should actually have to face them and answer questions.
Capt Willard, LOL.
Bachmann has crazy eyes.
I do wish the media wouldn’t cover her every tweet and Facebook post.
Lazy media can cover the Palin beat from home in their underwear.
I’m with UI.
I’m actually looking forward to her pop-eyed tea-bagger response to the STOU.
i am too…. but you better believe i’ll be playing to SOTU drinking game so i can handle whatever batshit crazy “non violent” call to arms she issues to the Bagger Brigade.
i wonder if They still surround US!
How do you play?
there is usually a set of buzz words or events online. It gets updated every year… for example if he says “civility” that could be a sip. If Joe Wilson has an outburst = shot. There are lots of different rules.
I’m with Jason on this. The more Sarah Palin is the face of the Republican Party, the better. Make them own every tweet.
(And, yes, I do get sick of her.)
pandora, i totally agree. The thing is, she is SO insecure and predictable and attention-addicted, that if there is a serious effort to ignore her, she will say even more crazy things to get back on top of HuffPost.
This Momma Grizzly is a bear than can be poked by ignoring her.
I have an idea. Everyone who has CANCER should just ignore it. Cancer will go away if you just talk about baseball or something.
This ‘boycott’ business reminds me of something that a group of eigth-graders would do to try to remedy some faux ‘mean girls’ pact.
Besides, blog comments, Web site hits and overall viewership would slow… lol.
Like most boycotts, it is a publicity stunt, one that reinforces the point that Sarah Palin is an annoying idiot. No harm in that.
And why not?
In my scenario,Sarah”Shoot your Guns”Palin, without constant access to depilatory devolves into the “grizzly mom” she promotes.
Cancer will go away if you just talk about baseball or something.
That actually works for nausea, sometimes.
Yes, please.
Make her go away.
And while we’re at it. Let’s make this a Christine O’Donnell free month too. She’s been a loser. She is a loser. She will always be a loser.
Absolutely not! We need to start talking now about how great President Palin will be.
I am all for it. You guys have nothing good to say. Let the woman have one month without your nipping at her heels.
Good lord, yes. I heartily disagree with Josh Marshall that obsessive Palin coverage does not enhance her influence or standing in the eyes of many Americans. If “news anchors” on mainstream outlets constantly tout her as a legitimate presidential possibility, more Americans will believe she is. Simple as that. No coverage at all is a little extreme, but I’m totally jumping on the boycott bandwagon while it’s hot and so should you.
Ultimately, I would hope the media would just treat her a little more objectively – frame her as an Ann Coulter-type demagogue or something like that rather than a mainstream political powerhouse, because in reality, that’s much closer to what she is.
That would be great. You could choose from at least 10 other enemies to obsess over rather than look for or attempt to discuss rational solutions to the nation’s problems! Yay!
Ironically, DL suffers from the same political Tourette’s as Palin, so I can’t imagine you’ll be able to control your outbursts without medication.
Yes, because once rational solutions to the nation’s problems are discussed here, it’s just a matter of weeks! — months at the most! — before they’re adopted by the nation at large!
Y’know how I know that’s bullshit, Dom? Because whenever rational solutions to the nation’s problems — or, perhaps more to the point, the state’s problems — are discussed at Delaware Liberal, you’re nowhere to be found.