Deep Thoughts.....FROM WICKEDPINTO???

This is a couple of weeks old, mainly because it's posted on wicked & mesa's "old" blog. I'm so used to getting my daily wickedpinto fix from "The Hostages" that I don't go back to Absolute Moral Authority as much as I used to. That's my bad. I'll try to make up for it, guys.

The topic's one that I've thought about myself, but the conclusion never occured to me until I read it at AMA. Conservatives like me feel friendly towards Sarah Palin because she's a "Reagan Conservative". I don't mean "Reagan Conservative" like one of the Republicans swept into office in the early 80's by Reagan's two landslides, I'm talking about someone who developed their worldview while Ron was running the show.

Sarah's only 4 years older than I am, and I was 12 when Reagan beat Carter. That means that she was 12 when Carter beat an anemic Ford to win the Presidency. Even with the Watergate scandal and Ford's many gaffes ("Poland isn't in the Soviet sphere of influence?"), Carter still had to work hard to get the job, and when he proceeded to turn his presidency into one gigantic Mongolian Goat Rodeo, even a 9-year old punk from Iowa could tell that he was being found wanting on the national stage. Imagine how I'd have felt at the time if I had been four years older like she was. Her formitive years were during our giveaway of the Panama Canal, our total withdrawal of support for the Shah of Iran that helped cause the Iranian Revolution, the continued post-'Nam toxification of our military, and the Energy Crisis. You remember the Energy Crisis, don't you? Jimmy "Dr. Science" Carter advised everyone to turn down their thermostats and wear sweaters. Since I was so young, I don't remember if this advice came in the summer or the winter, but knowing Carter, I wouldn't be shocked if he said it during the Fourth of July weekend.

With all that happening as she went through Junior High and started High School, I can just imagine how she felt once Reagan came along and moved Jimmah's Joooo-Hating ass back to Plains, GA.

I remember the early 80's. I remember Reagan building up our military, to the chagrin of Europe, Hollywood and the Democratic Congress. I remember David Stockman being painted as Reagan's Lavrenty Beria by the media. Since Iowa was in the grips of the 80's farm crisis at the time, Reagan's budget cuts were especially villified in our area. I remember Tip O'Neill saying that Reagan's just a senile figurehead, and that Congress would take care of America in spite of him. I remember the old Genesis "Land of Confusion" music video, sort of a "Sid & Marty Krofft Enter the Political Arena" enterprise. Even with all that happening around me, it took college to turn me into a true conservative. If I'd been four years older like Sarah Palin, I'd imagine that my turn from the darkside would have been even more pronounced.

You know what memory stands out the most from the 80's? The absolute venomous attacks on Reagan by the media. He was senile, he was a babykiller, he was a Nazi, he was a B-Movie actor who let his wife run his schedule with astrology. Even back then, before "Piss Christ" and movies that are 90-minute mastubatory fantasies about killing the president, Reagan elicited a rage that even Nixon couldn't gin up among the media. The elite saw his connection with the "great unwashed" out here in flyover country, and they hated him for it. That remind you of anything we're seeing today?

Don't get me wrong: I'm not ready to guzzle the "Palin is Reagan's Political Heir" kool-aid just yet. I just think that it's fascinating that she became a registered Republican at 18. Maybe it's growing up in Alaska, where "rugged individualism" is on display daily, or maybe she just had her shit together from the get-go.

Anyway, I wanted to link this piece here so that all of you can see why we love wickedpinto. Admittedly, he ain't no spurwing plover, but if you can wade through his rants with your eyes open, you might just learn something.

At least you'll hear some "No shit, this really happened to me..." stories. And glorious tales of bitchbreaking. If I weren't a complete lazy POS, I'd come up with a "Bacon Legion of Merit" medal to give the man for this insight.

posted by Russ from Winterset at 10:37 PM

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