I keep meaning to write something about the response of the liberal Left media to the selection of Sarah Palin as the Republican candidate for Vice President of the United States—there are parallels with the way parts of the Right responded to Bill Clinton’s sexual incontinence—but, as I bring my fingers to the keys, I keep seeing the same shade of red that sometimes washes in front of my eyes when I am in the company of over-educated¹ and/or posh people who are nodding at each other admiringly and talking shit. Don’t get me wrong: I love posh people; it’s just that gajillions of air miles, multiple degrees, rooms full of books, and broadband Internet access render certain prejudices inexcusable.

(When the redness descends, I sometimes have to slip away for a moment and sit on the edge of someone’s bath, where I swear like a cabinet maker who’s just put a chisel through the palm of his hand until the World’s colour balance is restored. I’m no longer as much of a fan of Doonesbury as I used to be, but yesterday evening I was actually in my own bathroom when I heard parts of a radio documentary on 4 that seemed to be full of such people: Quentin Blake, for example, sneering at Garry Trudeau’s draftsmanship—hah!—Matthew Parris comparing the apparent irony and sophistication of Doonesbury strips with the usual “big-headed” impression he gets of Americans. BBC Radio 4 should start offering its regular listeners courses of antihypertensives. God knows, with my family history of cardiovascular disease, I can barely afford to listen to the station these days.)

Perhaps I’ll have a go at the Palin thing when I’ve calmed down a little. In the meantime, here are a couple of posts, one from Shuggy and one from Norm that overlap somewhat with what I might try to say.

1. people schooled beyond their capacity for reason [↩]