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In her acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, Sarah Palin said this: "A writer observed: 'We grow good people in our small towns, with honesty, sincerity, and dignity.' I know just the kind of people that writer had in mind when he praised Harry Truman."
A nice line, except that the writer's name is strangely not cited, as is usual with such quotations. There's a reason for that. According to Wall Street Journal columnist Thomas Frank, that anonymous quote comes from the writer Westbrook Pegler. Pegler was a far right-wing writer, known largely for his anti-Semitism and hatred of politicians such as FDR (according to Frank, in Pegler's obituary, the NY Times noted that Pegler once lamented that a would-be assassin "hit the wrong man" when gunning for Franklin Roosevelt. )
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr has this to say: "Fascist writer Westbrook Pegler, an avowed racist who Sarah Palin approvingly quoted in her acceptance speech for the moral superiority of small town values, expressed his fervent hope about my father, Robert F. Kennedy, as he contemplated his own run for the presidency in 1965, that 'some white patriot of the Southern tier will spatter his spoonful of brains in public premises before the snow flies."
Small town values, indeed.
Now, mind you, since Sarah Palin didn't actually write her speech (which was reputedly created by Matthew Scully), I am not saying it was Palin's idea to use this quote from this writer. But it was somebody's choice -- who thought that using this particular's writer's words was a Good Idea. And I have to wonder what the code under that choice might be.
A nice line, except that the writer's name is strangely not cited, as is usual with such quotations. There's a reason for that. According to Wall Street Journal columnist Thomas Frank, that anonymous quote comes from the writer Westbrook Pegler. Pegler was a far right-wing writer, known largely for his anti-Semitism and hatred of politicians such as FDR (according to Frank, in Pegler's obituary, the NY Times noted that Pegler once lamented that a would-be assassin "hit the wrong man" when gunning for Franklin Roosevelt. )
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr has this to say: "Fascist writer Westbrook Pegler, an avowed racist who Sarah Palin approvingly quoted in her acceptance speech for the moral superiority of small town values, expressed his fervent hope about my father, Robert F. Kennedy, as he contemplated his own run for the presidency in 1965, that 'some white patriot of the Southern tier will spatter his spoonful of brains in public premises before the snow flies."
Small town values, indeed.
Now, mind you, since Sarah Palin didn't actually write her speech (which was reputedly created by Matthew Scully), I am not saying it was Palin's idea to use this quote from this writer. But it was somebody's choice -- who thought that using this particular's writer's words was a Good Idea. And I have to wonder what the code under that choice might be.