sarah palin on kierkegaard

sarah palin and i registered for the same philosophy class at the community college this fall: existentialism. she and i have the same problem: who are we? is she a perky, hard-hitting politician, a pit bull in lipstick, or is she a sweet loving mother of five, devoted to her kids, even the unmarried one with the bun in the oven, and her snowmobiling dude and with all those good american family values and moose for dinner. (who am i is another question. i do know i like roast moose).

this week, our first exam was on kierkegaard. standing in the hall before class, sarah told me, "Ya know, that keerka--keerko--oh what the heck, whatever his name is, is hard to read. all that stuff about the 'knight of faith" and "tragic hero"--i might be a knight of faith, but i'm not quite sure...i'm gonna ask my pastor. john is one fer sure, you betcha."

she winks and goes on: "well, ya know, me, i like aristotle. he was a philosopher, wasn't he? i think so anyway. we read about him in some class at hawaii pacific. it's kinda hard to study in hawaii, ya know, with all those buff surfer dudes in class."

"i bet it is," i muttered. "where i went to college there weren't any surfers or any dudes, so i didn't have that distraction."

Sarah huffed, "Well, i'm just gonna talk about aristotle on my exam. he liked happiness. i think it was him, unless it was that plato guy."

"Yep," I said, "it was aristotle. it's a special kind of happiness, actually."

I resisted throwing out the word 'eudaimonia.' my pronunciation of classical greek isn't the best, but i do know how to say "where is the bus?" in modern greek.

Sarah grinned. her glasses flashed and her bangs trembled."i'm really happy. really, really happy. i have it all, now don't i?"

"Well, not quite yet." i tried to cross my fingers and hold my thumbs at the same time.

"That teacher, bless her, she is so lucky to have me in her class, don't ya think? someone with a lot of experience, a regular american with a family. doggone it, i'll just write what i like, about happiness and all. i'm a maverick. i'm sure she'll give me a good grade, don't ya think?"

"you betcha," i replied. "good luck to us all."