PDS On Display

PDS = Palin Derangement Syndrome. Whenever I post something here it automatically posts sometime later on Facebook, and yesterday's item "It's All About Trig" generated some spirited discussion from PDS sufferers. Let me replay some of it here, without the names of the PDS sufferers. They've beclowned themselves enough already. I'll just use "PDS1" and "PDS2"

PDS1:No...we detest Sarah Palin because she's a vacant, judgmental, self-absorbed hypocrite willing to exploit her own family in order to further her political career. Oh, and she has the intellectual depth of a snickerdoodle.... ;-)

That was dumb enough, but PDS2 was not only obsessed with misstatements about Palin, but defended them even when they were easily disproved:

PDS2: It's disingenuous to say the left (since more than just those left of the line dislike this politician) despises (emotion word and far too strong when it's about politics) her because of her kid. And disingenuous is me being nice. First up, the woman's got about twice the child's IQ herself. "I can see Russia from my house," and "the country of Africa" and "maverick!" and "goshdarnit" etc. And where the hell did that accent come from, Minnesota? Did she pick it up in the airport gift store? I have my own reasons for disliking her, and it has to do, oddly enough, with Hillary Clinton and Mary Ruwart and many other women who were in a position of running for high office. She was campaigning on the fact that she has a vagina -- she was McCain's proxy vagina to try to get the women's vote and some of the "historic" vote. I cannot respect someone who expects to win by affirmative action and not merit.

The thing that caught my eye was the "Russia" statement, which was never made by Palin, but by Tina Fey in a Saturday Night Live skit. That pretty much told me all I needed to know about PDS2.

The error was pointed out to her by another poster and I followed up:

Rick Moore: Michael beat me to the punch, but the fact that you thought "I can see Russia from my house" came from Palin tells me you're paying attention to the wrong political sources.

And here came the defense:

PDS2: By the way, the exact Russia quote is this, from Palin herself: "They're our next-door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska." Anybody care to look at a map and see how well you can see RUSSIA from Alaska? Tina Fey's quote is just a paraphrase, but the stupidity is still the same. Or the lack of geographical knowledge, we'll say.

Rick Moore: It took me 30 seconds on Google Maps - Diomede Island is approximately 3 miles from an island that belongs to Russia. Certainly "seeable".

PDS2: Russia itself is inland. An island belonging to Russia? That's like saying you can see the U.S. if you can see Puerto Rico. But whatever.

Rick Moore: PDS2, quit digging. For God's sake open Google maps and take a look. The Russian Republic goes all the way from the waters that border Alaska to Eastern Europe. It's the largest of the former Soviet republics. It includes a number of islands off the Eastern coast.

PDS2 was not heard from again.

PDS2 is certainly entitled to her own opinion, but not her own facts.