Why, Oh Why?

Fergus Shanahan, a British journalist writing for The Sun in London, compares Sarah Palin to the current crop of British politicians:

Palin shows us how it's done
From FERGUS SHANAHAN

WHY, why, why can’t WE have a Sarah Palin?

That was the question churning in my mind as I witnessed this astonishing American presidential race.

A week ago few in Britain had heard of Palin.

Today, the moose-huntin’ mom is the most talked-about woman in the world.

And with good reason.

Her sensational performance at the Republican convention may turn out to be the moment the White House slipped from Barack Obama’s grasp.

She was an electrifying mix of passion, energy, optimism and plain speaking. The exact opposite of the slippery, two-faced, depressing bunch of third-raters who parade on our Westminster stage.

My first reaction to this was to wonder: Why, why, why, can't we have the likes of a Fergus Shanahan on the staff of (say) the New York Times? How refreshing that would be compared to the pap that rag feeds us today.

I rather like the rough-and-tumble, no-holds-barred, heavy-on-the-humor style of the British press. There's much to disagree with on the content, but the style I greatly appreciate – most especially the unabashed advocacy of positions, and the lack of pretense about “objectivity” so laughably claimed by our press here. Their newspapers are much more along the lines of our talk radio. Oh, and they make money, too – something you'd think our down-and-nearly-out newspapers would pay attention to...