Thursday, September 04, 2008

Palinized Again


We all know patronized and most of us don't like being talked down to. After all, we are an ocean and several centuries away from the deferential British society.

Listening again to Sarah Palin's GOP convention speech, I had to revel in the thoroughness of her tricksy behavior, as Gollum might say. Her blend of confidence, outright deceit, unrecognizable quarter-truths, emotional ploys, and plain old audience pandering started from the top of her remarks. They continued like a flood of bacteria nibbling away every shred of honor, honesty and decency in the hall.

Let us consider palinize as our coinage of the week.


pa·lin·ize [pey-li-nahyz, pa‑]
–verb (can also be used with object), -ized, -izer, -iz·ing.

1. to make a series of false claims to gain advantage, particularly by simultaneously insulting another.
2. to deny obvious flaws in one's past or present by defaming others dishonestly.
3. to make a stream of dishonest statements in an oration.

Also, especially British, pa·lin·ise. [Origin: 2008; after Sarah Palin (1964-), Alaskan politician.]


Quickly, amid the GOP and media delight in her strong delivery, a few sources have begun listing some of the most obvious flaws and whoppers in her speech. Consider the gentle chiding from the AP.

I listened to her masterwork more than once. It doesn't make much knowledge or discernment to catch many of her boners and lies. Likewise, the whole McCain camp speechifying is hip deep in similar tactics.

At their most benign, they are still laughable. For example, she has McCain himself palinizing with such claims as that she is governor of our largest state. Of course, that is true only in the most simple-minded and literal sense of square miles.

To palinize though, you'd want your neophyte candidate to have had an important job. It's best to lie by omission here — the lowest possible number of electoral votes (3), the lowest possible representation in the House (1), and 47th in population (under 700K). If you can't say much about national influence or complexity or size of the budget and government either, best stick with land mass — oh, and just palinize it as "largest."

I can hear this creeping into the language as she spends two more months palinizing the Dems. How long before some teens, maybe her own, snap back at a teacher or parent, "Don't palinize me, man!"

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3 comments:

Bill Baar said...

She was awfully good!

Robin Edgar said...

How about PalinDrone instead? ;-)

Her theme tune, Heart's Barracuda, kinda says it all -

You lying* so low in the weeds
Bet you gonna amBush me
You'd have me down on my knees
Wouldn't you, Barracuda?

Back over Time when we were all trying for free
Met up with porpoise and me
No right no wrong you're selling a Song - a name
whisper game

If the real thing don't do the trick
You better make up something quick
You gonna burn it out to the wick
aren't you, Barracuda?


I know it's a catchy tune and all. . . but did she or anyone else in the Republican Party bother to listen to, or read, Barracuda's lyrics before choosing it as the unofficial theme song for would-be Vice President Sarah Palin aka Sarah Barracuda?

* Can U*Us say inU*Uendo? ;-)

Anonymous said...

4. To knowingly lie to people whom know there being lied to. With both parties pretending otherwise.

I really palinized my resume