Today’s news is reporting that Sarah Palin is proclaiming that she is a ”not a quitter. I am a fighter.” Reading this in light of her having just quit as governor of Alaska brought a number of cultural touchstones to mind. I was reminded, of course, of Alice in Wonderland. Also springing to mind was Richard Nixon, who famously told David Frost that “when the President does it, that means it is not illegal.” George Orwell’s criticisms of the abuse of language in “Politics and the English Language” and 1984 also sprang to mind. And in Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes recognized that the ability of words to take on various meanings is itself a source of civil unrest, and so he sought to stabilize meanings through a positivist lexicon that would denude words of their power to incite action and violence. But to associate Sarah Palin with the likes of Hobbes, Orwell, and even Nixon seems a bit much. Aren’t there some more apt cultural precursors to invoke? Why yes, there are. My favorite lens through which to view Ms. Palin’s insistence that she’s actually a fighter, even though it appears that she’s just a quitter, is a verse in the Ballad of Brave Sir Robin from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Here, with thanks to GuntherAnderson.com, are the words:
Brave Sir Robin ran away – No!
Bravely ran away, away – I didn’t!
When danger reared its ugly head
He bravely turned his tail and fled – No!
Yes, brave Sir Robin turned about
And gallantly he chickened out
Bravely taking to his feet
He beat a very brave retreat
Bravest of the brave, Sir Robin
P.S. Sarah: If you want to sue me, e-mail me and I’ll send you the address for your process server.