Ignorance in Action

“There is nothing more terrifying than seeing ignorance in action,” comedian Tommy Smothers said when accepting his Emmy award last Sunday in Los Angeles.

Mr. Smothers didn’t utter any names – the organizers of the awards ceremony didn’t want any live political commentary. But then why say something everybody knows?

The smoke raised by the nomination of Sarah Palin has subsided in the United States. Almost a month later, Americans don’t like what they see. McCain’s running mate attracted passionate crowds early on, but aside from the religious Republican base, no one else seemed to take the bait. For 10 days, the favorability numbers for the McCain-Palin ticket in every poll are in free-fall.

Even undecideds seem to be fleeing from the conservative duo. That’s what the Florida newspaper, the St. Petersburg Times discovered, which has been tracking a barometer of undecided voters since the beginning of the summer.

Last week, the newspaper was surprised to see that the majority of polled undecideds felt insulted by Palin’s candidacy.

“I am truly offended by Sarah Palin,” said Philinia Lehr, 37, a Republican mother of five who voted for Bush in the previous elections. In her opinion, a mother of five children doesn’t have any time for a demanding position like the vice-presidency of the United States. “What is she going to say if her newborn has a problem? Excuse me, my fellow Americans, I’m busy?”

This week, Palin wrote a new chapter in the history of the United States: she is the first vice-presidential candidate to refuse media questioning.

You read that right: almost a month after being nominated, Gov. Palin has held only one press conference. Case in point, Obama’s running mate, Sen. Joe Biden, has held more than 50 since August.

Media Revolt

The situation has otherwise led to a mini-revolt on Tuesday: reporters who follow Palin’s itinerary have threatened to stop writing or reporting anything about her if they don’t have access to her meetings with various heads of state in New York. Journalists were finally given access for about 29 seconds before being ordered out.

The exasperation spilled over onto CNN, where anchor Campbell Brown spoke directly to the camera, telling the McCain campaign to “liberate Sarah Palin.”

“Frankly, I’ve had it up to here,” she said. “I’ve had enough of the sexist treatment of Sarah Palin. The McCain campaign keeps us from asking her questions, like she’s a sensitive little flower that has to be protected. It’s disrespectful towards her. Free Sarah Palin from the chains of chauvinism. Sexism has no place in this campaign.”

Several commentators notice that McCain’s strategists no doubt have excellent reasons to shield Gov. Palin from the media. Apparently, she doesn’t have the required knowledge to handle any prolonged questioning.

For example, Gov. Palin continued this week to assert that Alaska’s relative proximity to Russia gives her foreign policy experience.

“Anyone who dares emphasize that that explanation doesn’t make sense is an elitist,” Sam Harris wrote in Newsweek, in a long article on the depressed expectations of the Republicans. He finds it scandalous that McCain’s running mate got her first passport just last year. “What troubles me is everything that Gov. Palin does not know: markets, financiers, the environment, the Middle East, the Cold War, Islam, medical research, etc. Her ignorance doesn’t come from not having the time to read the paper in the morning. Sarah Palin’s ignorance comes from how she’s spent her 44 years on Earth,” he wrote.

It all starts looking like a sketch from “Saturday Night Live” — the audience’s laughter at least.