I was watching another Palin interview yesterday and it suddenly dawned on me why I dislike her. It’s not her partisan attacks on all things Obama, because there are plenty of partisan attack dogs on both sides that frame and spin every issue as “we’re right and they’re wrong.” It’s definitely not her family, because I pretty much think that all politicians have screwed up families. It kind of goes with the job. It’s not even that she sometimes seems completely uninterested in learning anything about anything. Bush shared that attribute and though I didn’t like his policies, I can’t really say I hate him. In fact, he’s still got a likability to him as a person.
No, what really, really bugs me about Palin is the complete lack of loyalty and respect to McCain and his staff. This woman was virtually unknown to most of the country when McCain picked her. Now, she’s famous, making money, and a national power in her party. She owes all of that to McCain taking a huge gamble on her. He could have played it safe, he could have picked someone more well known, but instead he picked her.
Even if she really does think his staff treated her badly and blew the election, the classy thing to do would still be to be publicly grateful for the incredible opportunity they gave her. I think that is one trait of Bush’s she would do well to emulate at least a little. He was loyal to a fault to those around him. In contrast, Palin seems ready to trashy anybody and everybody in order to make herself look good.
There are limits to how far anybody should go out of loyalty, but Palin’s disloyalty is really unbecoming. It is just tacky. Considering where she was two years ago and where she is today, just about every sentence out of her mouth should start with a thank you to Senator McCain. She’s just so negative about McCain, his staff, the media, Obama, and everyone around her. She’s now on top of the world. And she talks like she earned it in spite of all the people that helped her get there.