I alternately enjoy and depise John Kass but he hates all politicians equally. Since Chicago is largely devoid of any potent GOP presence, he most often hacks away at Democrats.


Palin's small-town ways will play big across U.S.
John Kass - Chicago Tribune
10:37 PM CDT, September 3, 2008

ST. PAUL — Sarah Joan of Arc isn't as catchy as Sarah Barracuda, yet even so, the throng called for her to lead them, an unknown from the edge of nowhere, a woman with no experience in the great city of light.So Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the conservative running mate for Sen. John McCain, hit the necessary themes in the most anticipated speech of the Republican convention: pummeling the high priests of the Washington media establishment, pushing for oil drilling in the wilderness even though the Democrats don't like it, and promising political reform while reveling in her small-town ways."I'm not a member of the permanent political establishment," Palin told the delegates. "And I've learned quickly these last few days, that if you are not a member in good standing of the Washington elite, then some in the media consider a candidate unqualified for that reason alone. But here's a little news flash for all those reporters and commentators: I'm not going to Washington to seek their good opinion. I'm going to Washington to serve the great people of this country."

Despite the Republican spin, Palin is a political animal, a real human with the capacity for ambition and revenge and all that comes with it, including all the flaws. As I mentioned a few days ago, she is not some plaster saint to be venerated, not a Mother Teresa with a Buck knife. Her record and her background must be fully investigated if she is to be a heartbeat from the presidency, and her conflicts examined, like those of Joe Biden and his son the lobbyist.

But there's been a zeal to the Palin media vetting. Reporters here have acted like perturbed clerks, snippy that established procedure wasn't followed when McCain surprised them with Palin. Perhaps he should have gone to a party at Sally Quinn's house and asked for opinions. Years ago, McCain might have done so, back when he shamelessly sucked up to the press, but they've left him for Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama and they're not coming back. So McCain had no obligation to go through that ridiculous pantomime expected by some in my business, who think politicians actually give a rat's ears about sitting down and consulting with journalists.

And there's that family issue with Palin. Her 17-year-old daughter is unmarried and pregnant. Palin herself has a 4-month-old infant with special needs. The suggestion has been made that if she's such a good mom, she should stay home with her family rather than run with McCain. If Palin were a Democrat, such talk would be grounds for serious shunning. But Palin is a conservative. She receives no such protection.

She also poses the greatest threat yet to the Obama reform narrative. The cynical epic has become the establishment media bedtime story, with Obama as the young King Arthur riding forth to promise change. In this, the Washington Beltway media colony has been his eager Merlin, hoping to guide him, cleaving desperately to the theme that he's some kind of reformer, even though Obama is a politician backed by Chicago's Daley machine and never once challenged the political corruption in Chicago and Illinois. Not ever.

The contrast with Palin—who actually went after the Republican Party bosses in Alaska on the corruption issue—is profound and challenging for the Obama-friendly media that willfully ignore his lack of leadership on the reform front, yet are consumed to find out if Palin has an overdue library book.In her speech, Palin also pulled an old political trick, publicly reveling in what is considered a deficit—that she's from a tiny town, almost as far as geographically possible from the sophisticated salons of Washington. Electoral vote-rich Pennsylvania and Ohio don't have salons either, but they do have small towns.The Republicans will remind them relentlessly in the weeks ahead that former community organizer Obama—in a foolish display of ego—said that small-town folk deal with an uncertain world by clinging to their guns and their religion."I had the privilege of living most of my life in a small town. I was just your average hockey mom, and signed up for the PTA . . . because I wanted to make my kids' public education better," said the former mayor of Wasilla, Alaska (population 8,471). "And since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves. I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a 'community organizer,' except that you have actual responsibilities."

Expect Palin to knock squirrels out of trees across Ohio and Pennsylvania, along with other critters, fur and feathered. Unlike other candidates, she'll probably do her own shooting and skinning, and maybe roast them on sticks, with a pinch of salt, demanding reporters eat some, so they can say it tastes like chicken.St. Joan was a threat to the established order, and Palin is being positioned as a threat.

Unfortunately, the French handed Joan over to the English, and she was burned. I don't think we know yet what happens to Sarah.