Of course the Hitler analogy is way out of bounds, as my reader notes. But I do think the fact-free cult of personality around Palin - her embodiment of an idealized representation of the America some feel they are losing - does represent something new and dangerous in politics. What we see is a politician who, for a critical segment of the population (the GOP base) cannot do wrong because she is Sarah Palin. She is a symbolic, iconic figure - and her support comes from non-rational identity politics in a time of economic distress and great social change.
Look: I've read history. I'd rather be over-vigilant than sorry.
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