With few exceptions, all candidates for national office are awful. Palin is awful too. She can maneuver seamlessly between dangerous populism and fascism and conservatism in order to cement her appeals and gain the power she covets. I see that she is making a run for the presidency. More and more items about her are appearing in the news. There is no abatement in the high degree of the selling of candidates by calculated means, by image, by mainstream media and entertainment vehicles, by packaging, by adoption of certain positions, and by behind the scenes money and powers. The falseness and emptiness just goes on and on. The Candidate is a reasonably entertaining film on this theme. The candidates (be they Biden, McCain, Obama, Bush, Clinton) are cynical and shallow men and women who lack experience, maturity, truthful knowledge, and even the slightest gloss of statesmanship. They are filled with themselves. They think way too much of themselves and their capacity to lead. This is what the system of government systematically produces. The glitter of the publicity drives for Palin and others is empty, but it’s still powerfully effective on those who vote.

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