Why Palin appeals to shell-shocked Americans

In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, nearly every US house and apartment building flew the American flag and US foreign policy became in some respects as nationalistic and isolationist as it had during the McCarthy era. This was the first attack that the US had suffered on home soil since Pearl Harbor and Americans felt more vulnerable than ever before.

This vulnerability was only exacerbated by the fact that capturing Osama bin Laden and conquering the forces of al-Qaeda were simply not happening the way they were meant to.

In the past weeks, we have witnessed an even greater attack on the US in the form of the collapse of its financial markets. What were once considered 'safe-as-houses' investments are now suddenly in the high-risk category.

Humpty-Dumpty has indeed had a great fall.

As a result, the US is suffering from narcissistic shell-shock. When the over-confident individual suffers a life blow that is beyond his control, his first response is usually to attempt to regain an illusion of control by blaming the 'other', whoever that 'other' might be. Then, as a consequence of projecting blame onto others, the individual becomes paranoid about anything 'other' or foreign and this in turn can be used to justify further attacks. Finally, he retrenches into the stronghold of narcissistic behaviour and its promise of safety in power.

Because the financial crisis has been spawned from within the US, and not by outside enemies, it is trickier to deal with than 9/11. The 'blame' is much harder to push onto 'others'. One way of dealing with this kind of internal disaster/attack is by treating it as a kind of tsunami, or a phenomenon that is beyond our control and in the hands of God, nature, or fate.

Who could be better at spearheading this approach than Sarah Palin, McCain's choice as vice-presidential candidate?