palinopsia pal·i·nop·si·a (pāl’ə-nŏp’sē-ə)n. Abnormally recurring visual imagery.
The American Heritage® Stedman’s Medical Dictionary
What is the hold that Sarah Palin seems to have on the American media establishment? There doesn’t appear to be any real substance to her, yet the media persists in a series of interviews based upon her perceived star power. They cannot be conducting these interviews with an aim to convince all of us of her intellectual acumen, since the depth of her knowledge makes the depth of the nearest kiddie wading pool seem like that of the Marianas Trench by comparison. What is the fascination?
The possible answers would appear to be one or more of the following (hereinafter, the “Palinopsia Possibilities”):
1. The media is suffering from Palinopsia, and what we are seeing is nothing more than recurrent after images generated by the overly strong spotlight in which she was bathed for the several weeks of her involvement in the presidential election campaign. This is the kindest of several possibilities.
2. The media, always fascinated by behavior that is less than stellar and that borders on blowzy, is once again engaging in its favorite pastime of gossip mongering for lack of any real idea of responsible journalism. This is the most likely of several possibilities.
3. She really, truly is the future star of the Republican party, and her every move between now and the next presidential election cycle deserves to be chronicled in all of its magnificent detail for an admiring world. This is the least likely of several possibilities, but the answer that the media will give, if pressed for one.
4. The national electorate is actually dumb enough to eventually conclude that she is a viable candidate for anything outside of Wasilla, Alaska. After all, Alaska voters have already made that mistake on a statewide scale, and the media owes it to those of us in the lower 48 to prove her viability for national office. This is the most dreaded of several possibilities.
5. The public’s fascination with the continued free fall of the world economy needs to be diverted by bread and circuses, and a lurid vision of Ms. Palin in the middle of the Coliseum floor surrounded by stalking lions may be the very thing to allow the powers-that-be to retain their hold despite their incompetence. This possibility has the media as the hapless tool of the aristocracy. Another dreaded possibility.
6. She is the political equivalent of Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears et al, and the very essence of her awfulness is of a source of media enthrallment. This is my personal favorite – it is simple, it fits the nature of the media, and reminds one of a cat playing with a mouse.
If I didn’t know better, I would have to conclude that the media has been ensorceled by La Palin and that they are well and truly bound by their state of enchantment to repeat her every word and ponder her every possibility. I rather suspect, however, that they are really a pack of wild dogs circling their intended prey while waiting for the first sign of weakness before attacking. If this is correct, the final attack is well overdue given the fodder for a feast that she has already given us. Only by visualizing the media as toying with that proverbial mouse can we explain their reluctance to proceed to a kill.
Personally, I am hoping for an early cure to our Palinopsia. The image burned on my retina is not a pleasing one that I care to ponder for an indefinite period of time. I confess to wondering what her ultimate downfall might be and to relishing the various hypothetical means by which it might occur. But this, too, is a version of the cat playing with the mouse, since her take down is inevitable. As the potential victim, she is doing her best to invite the inevitable meal with her as the main course by her blatant attempts to pander to every possible voter within view. How else can one explain her statement that she admires President-elect Obama even though she still wonders about his attachment to an avowed terrorist?
There is a great headline this morning at mlive.com that says: “Palin has reached her sell-by date.” This is so true – so much so that one wonders how the likes of Matt Lauer, Larry King, Wolf Blitzer and the remainder of the current clique of “heavyweight” media pundits cannot seem to grasp it. The reason simply has to be somewhere among the Palinopsia Possibilities. If only I could be certain which one it might be!
As a postscript, I tried very, very hard to arrive at a suitable palindrome in order to name this piece “Palinopsia and Palindromes,” but without any suitable success. The only palindrome I could find or imagine was “Harass selfless Sarah,” but if there is anything at all selfless about Sarah Palin it must be of the nature of the universe’s long sought antimatter – a theoretical place holder impossible of validation given the present state of our scientific knowledge.
