Thursday, September 11, 2008

"My Fair Lady"

I've been looking for something that describes both the lunacy and the substantive issues with the Palin candidacy. Yesterday's NY Times column by Maureen Dowd is close.

The next act -- the ABC interview -- will be aired in multiple places, but it looks like the main event is Friday at 10 pm EDT. I suppose we have no choice but to see it.

Sadly, the dynamic in all this reminds me of the weird hoopla that surrounded the Bobby Riggs/Billie Jean King tennis match in 1973. We all watched this "necessary spectacle" unfold with horror and fascination. In promoting the "Battle of the Sexes", Riggs used hustle and spook tactics to promote himself as superior to all woman players. While his tactics worked the first time with the top female player of the time, Margaret Court, it failed to carry with Bille Jean King. She prepared herself mentally, did not get sucked into his cheap-shots game, and beat him straight up in three sets.

Moral: Beware the Palinistas

No comments: