A lack of dignity and self respect.
Reading Pandagon today I was amused to find out that in both America and Britain have the same problems with untalented rightwing celebrity contestants in their dance shows. Across the Atlantic, they have rightwingers voting for Bristol Palin in Dancing with the Stars to teach uppity liberals a lesson, while in old blighty it’s Anne Widdecombe making a fool of herself on Strictly come Dancing.
As you know, Strictly Come Dancing is a lighthearted entertainment show and dance competition featuring a dozen or so celebrities who’ve never had dancing lessons and their professional partners. Some of the celebs find out that they’re actually good at show dancing, some find out they’re crap and weeks of training doesn’t change that much, while most muddle through for shorter or longer periods. Widdecombe is of the second category, hopeless and with no chance of improving. There’s no shame in being a bad dancer, but what Widdecombe does goes against the spirit of the show: she doesn’t even attempt to try and dance to the best of her abilities, but flat out refuses to do anything she deems indecent. Though how shaking your hips is indecent while being dragged over the dance floor legs akimbo with your bum sticking out isn’t, I’ll never know.
Had she any dignity and sense of moral responsibility, she would withdraw, but I can’t see Widdecombe doing that: she has a much too huge ego. As a result, each week better and more deserving dancers are voted off. It’s a typical Tory move to abuse priviledge this way, disguising ego as principle by saying it would be rude to withdraw when people keep voting for you.
Poor Bristol Palin may be even worse off, lacking dancing talent but kept in Dancing with the Stars not because the voters find it funny to keep her in, as with Widdecombe, but to teach liberals a lesson:
Bristol is unpopular with the judges and the fans not because of any personality traits or anything she’s done wrong, but because she doesn’t work hard and she sucks. If she wasn’t considered a member of the wingnut tribe, she would have been gone a long time ago. But due to extensive conservative online organizing and possible cheating, Palin in hanging in.
[…]
Oh, those wily liberals! Always smiling and so smug, thinking they’re so cool. We’ll show them. We’ll get Bristol Palin to win on “DWTSâ€, even though she doesn’t deserve it, and elect any nutbar to Congress with an “R†behind their name. It’s all culture war and everything is about scoring points, damn the consequences. The possibility that it doesn’t actually piss off many liberals—for instance, I’ve never seen “DWTSâ€, couldn’t tell you who’s on it, or who has ever won it—didn’t seem to have been a factor.
As with Widdecombe, the dignified thing for Palin to have done by now was to resign, rather than suffer being kept in the show for ulterior motives. But then dignity is not a virtue much seen on the right, is it.