It is possible that Sarah Palin really knows the difference between being a small-town mayor and a community organizer. But it's unlikely—because she has more in common with community organizers than she realizes.
Just to be clear: I like organizers—if they sign onto the right causes. The best ones are clergy and the religious, who seem to be able to live out their roles as uniters and dividers more comfortably than the rest of us. My heroes are organizers like the Rev. John J. Egan, who worked on behalf of the poor in Chicago and could mingle with the mayors and governors but knew how to take it to the streets. Yes, I like insiders who are outsiders, or vice versa.
But very few can pull this off. Insiders should be insiders and hold things together. Outsiders, at times, have to pull us apart. And a country is in trouble if we can't keep these roles straight.
(via Slate)
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