Feeling for Palin

Over at The Atlantic, Ta-Nehisi Coates has a very thoughtful, empathetic, and moving blog posting in which he, as a black man, really probes the depths of his feelings about how he reads the Palin selection. In short, Coates finds grounds for solidarity with Palin and thinks that McCain has misused and abused her for cheap political points in the identity politics game. It's truly a must-read and Coates has given all of us a very new perspective on the Sarah Palin selection.

I wrote a comment on Coates' blog in response to his posting, and I want to repeat that comment here. This is what I said:

I do have twinges of empathy for Sarah Palin for what McCain has done to her; and I'm even more angry at McCain for doing so. But I always have to remind myself that Sarah Palin is a woman with agency who can certainly take care of herself. It is a fundamental flaw of Sarah Palin's character and her intelligence that, when asked by McCain if she wanted to be his running mate, she, by her own words to Charlie Gibson, didn't blink. She should not only have blinked, but also reflected and said "thanks, but no thanks" to this McCain earmarked career bridge to nowhere. So, my empathy only goes so far. I wish her well, but I want her (and by extension McCain) to crash and burn because I want Obama and Biden to win -- big.