No Longer Sarah Plain and Tall!

In the animated show two Sundays ago, a
teenaged character named Chris is romancing Ellen, his classmate. She has Down
syndrome. As Chris delves into Ellen’s background, she makes this statement,
“My dad’s an accountant and my mom is the former governor of Alaska.” The fact
that the actress who does the voice for Ellen, Andrea Fay Friedman, has Down
syndrome in real life complicates this story. In fact, Freidman attempted to
make Palin the bad guy by saying that the former governor has no sense of
humor.

In an e-mail statement sent to the New
York Times Friedman went on to say, “I thought the line … was very funny.
I think the word is sarcasm. My parents raised me to have a sense of humor and
to live a normal life.” Not a bad statement for an adult with Down syndrome.

Friedman’s plausible defense of the
program is obviously self-serving. Unfortunately, she reminds me of a black
comedienne who uses the “N” word in her routine; but would picket any white
person who did so.

Even more ironic than the fact the Down
syndrome actress wants to secure her career at all costs, is the fact that the
program was aired on the Fox family network. The Fox news network has hired
Sarah Palin as a commentator, and is obviously very protective of the governor.
This glitch shows that the Fox news network operates independently from its
entertainment branch.

Before I go forward with my comments,
let’s take a moment to define Down syndrome. The WebMD says that most kids with
this condition have distinct facial features, such as a flat face, small ears, slanting eyes and a small
mouth. They also tend to have a short neck and short arms and legs. Another common trait is weak muscles
and loose joints though muscle tone usually improves by late childhood. They
also tend to have below-average
intelligence.

For my money, Bristol Palin gave the
quintessential comment on the matter in a statement on her mother’s Facebook
page. Bristol declared: “People with special needs face challenges that many of
us will never confront … why could anyone want to make their lives more
difficult by mocking them? If the writers of a particularly pathetic cartoon
show thought they were being clever in mocking my brother and my family yesterday,
they failed.”

As the national debate rages about the
latest set of tasteless remarks about the former governor and her family, there
is a shift in the tone and tenor of the criticism levied against her.  The
comments about her do not reflect a new level of political persecution; instead
they reflect the fact that the ex-governor is starting to reach icon
status. Cultural icons like Sarah Palin and Tiger Woods are famous because
of who they are  –not just because of
what they do. Icons don’t just make the news; they are the news. Their fans
dote and their detractors perseverate. They fight the harassment of the
paparazzi and the gratuitous use of their names and images. Simply
sighting an icon can be a life-defining event versus sighting the garden-variety
celebrity. 

A great example of how one rises from
celebrity to iconic ranks is the meteoric ascent of Paris Hilton. Her family
name brought her into the limelight and her “jet set” lifestyle made her the
envy of everyone on the celebrity party scene a few years ago. Suddenly she
stepped into the icon zone. Wikipedia defines her career as follows: “an
American socialite, heiress, media personality, model, singer, author, fashion
designer and actress.” This means that she has no permanent job other than
being a celebrity.

Returning to the assertion that Sarah
Palin has become an icon, let me quote Time magazine, which said last
week, “Palin hits the same mystic chords as [Bill] Clinton. A woman who goes to
war against the 19-year-old boy who knocked up her daughter and then posed for
Playgirl is far more comprehensible to most Americans than deficit spending is.
In her Fox interview with Chris Wallace the day after her Nashville speech,
Palin said she’d been focusing more on ‘current events’ since she quit as
governor of Alaska.”

Even her political allies are starting to weigh in on the
love vs. hate Palin campaign. A prominent Tea Party leader from Texas (Dale
Robertson) is warning that the movement “is becoming nothing more than a
wholly-owned subsidiary of the Republican Party.”  He goes on to slam
Palin as being part of “a growing insider’s attack to the heart of the Tea
Party.”

Contrary to Mr. Robertson’s sentiments,
countless newspapers and magazines are hailing Palin as the de facto leader of
the Tea Party movement. If these writers are correct, her best selling book Going
Rogue may become a manifesto. In addition, her commentaries on Fox may help
focus and refine the insights of millions of followers.

Sarah,
Plain and Tall
is the title of a book and a trilogy of movies known by children everywhere.
The award-winning book is a study of the universal themes of loneliness and
abandonment. For months many Americans wondered if Palin and her family could
survive the rough and tumble atmosphere of modern American politics.
 Fortunately for Palin, her epitaph will not be “Sarah Plain and Tall.” In
fact her destiny is to become a culturally defining icon. She will undoubtedly
become a role model of what a wife, mother and citizen can be. 

You go girl!!!!

Harry R. Jackson Jr. is senior pastor of
3,000-member Hope Christian Church in the nation’s capital. Jackson, who
earned an MBA from Harvard, is a best-selling author and popular
conference speaker. He leads the High-Impact

Leadership Coalition.