Thursday, September 4, 2008

Palin Overdose - Escape from Alcatraz


I officially had a Palin Overdose, yesterday.
I think I might petition the American Medical Board or whatever organization you reach out to when it's time to report an undiagnosed ailment, because this thing is serious.

It's my fault, really.

Yesterday, I hopped to the laptop piping early and made the crucial mistake of turning on cable news and never turning it off.

As the news unfurled with analysis after juicy analysis, a 12 hour preshow to Sarah Palin's career defining speech, I think I heard every possible spin and strategy assessment repeated a gazillion times, each time with a slightly different twist to keep me hanging and wanting to hear the next analysis and rebuttal.

And it's not like I did nothing all day. On my way to my morning meeting, WVON had a lively discussions about the condemnation of teen pregnancy.

After the meeting NPR was talking about Palin's extreme conservatism.

When I got back to the office, it was more nonstop- Palin. The investigation regarding her brother, new revelations about her husband, her pastor; photo ops with McCain with her pregnant teen daughter and boyfriend.

It was inescapable. I wrote maybe two stories or so, did some interviews and had some conference calls. But in between every working moment I heard a new twist on Palin.

Her name must have bounced off my ear drums at least 12,000 times. Which is odd because it had never bounced off my ears before.

As the hour of the speech grew near, I found myself feeling claustrophobic.

Someone reminded me that Venus and Serena Williams were playing tennis as well.

"You've gotta be joking?" I said, speeding through the streets looking for an impenetrable Palin zone, shocked that something else was actually going on in the world.

I drove to my self proclaimed workout cottage and did several dozen butterfly kicks. I almost forgot this Palin fever. I felt refreshed, renewed. There is, apparently, something else going on in the world besides Palin's pending speech. But just when I thought I'd escaped the web of political spin I went to to freshen up and her speech was blaring on the TV screen.

So I watched it. I felt it was my duty after all the hype to have an opinion on it.

Obviously, I didn't agree with any of it. But that's not the point.

The point is, that when I returned to my fair laptop, my TV set was still on and the analysis was in full steam. But I was too deluded from stream of consciousness politico clouds in my brain that I couldn't turn it off. Weary, I fell asleep. But the news was still on, rewiring my dream sleep with enough political strategy to make me conjure up a few during REM zone myself.

I should probably call a campaign manager and share them.

Nevertheless, when I woke up, I felt like I hadn't gone to sleep.

Calm was only restored when a self imposed silence doubled as my aspirin and I was able to regain consciousness.
Boy, what a nightmare.

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