Essence of Palin

Dahlia Lithwick over at Slate distills Sarah Palin into a single paragraph [Emphasis mine.]:

It's too easy to characterize Sarah Palin as an irrational bundle of bristling grievance. But I think it's more complicated than her simple love for playing the victim all the time. If you think of Palin as someone who never felt herself to be fully heard or understood, not truly politically realized in the eyes of the American public, her rage toward the country, the media, and those of us who fail to love and understand her is easier to comprehend. Think of an American visiting France who believes that if he just speaks louder, he will be speaking French. Palin has done everything in her power to explain herself to us, and still we fail to appreciate what she is all about. I'd be frustrated, too, if I thought I was offering up straight talk and nobody was getting the message. Especially if I held a degree in communications.

I've used that "speak louder" idea myself to describe the frustration many liberals feel in trying to communicate with conservatives. As with Palin, if your audience is not getting you, maybe the problem is you.