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Get off Sarah Palin's back
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I do not understand the visceral dislike liberals and the MSM have for Alaska Governor Republican Sarah Palin and her family but it's long past time for it to stop.
Palin is a successful career woman and politician. Obviously she gained national prominence last year as Sen. John McCain’s vice-presidential running mate and has a record of largely conservative policy and governing positions. I suppose that is a big enough threat to the lefties to cause some of their rage. But the degree of vitriol being thrown at her has grown from about a week of principled disagreement last fall to months of apoplectic derangement.
In the past, liberals and the MSM have not constantly attacked the losing party’s vice-presidential nominee for months after the election. Or the losing presidential candidate, for that matter. Dan Quayle remained a periodic punching bag for about a decade after Bill Clinton defeated George H. W. Bush in 1992, but he faded from view quickly. Al Gore injected himself into the popular culture more significantly after 2000 with his global warming hysteria—from which he’s made bazillions in related commercial ventures, by the way—and largely been treated with kid gloves by the MSM. He even won an Oscar for Pete’s sake. Jack Kemp and Joe Lieberman were not repeatedly attacked after their losses in 1996 and 2004 respectively. Indeed, Lieberman was only pilloried by the MSM for breaking with his former party (the Democrats, naturally) on principle.
Apparently, Palin is different. She has been repeatedly harangued since last fall up through the present day, more than 8 months after the election. Her family has faced vicious personal attacks, been the subject of tabloid exposés and, most recently, offensive jokes from tasteless talk show hosts. The MSM has selectively ignored the time-honored (and eminently reasonable) tradition of laying off the minor children of candidates and brought the hammer down on the Palin family.
Why?
Can it be that the MSM is actually afraid of what Sarah Palin would do if she were elected to national office? That can’t be it for if we believe the media, Palin is a stupid hick, a hypocrite who can’t raise her own kids well but preaches family values, doesn’t understand the issues and has no leadership and little government experience. If the MSM is to be believed, Palin seems to have a lot in common with President Obama.
Perhaps the MSM actually believes the opposite and, perceiving her as a true threat to the socialist agenda, is using deception to convince the American people to dislike her. But even if that’s the case, can you imagine David Letterman or some other sniper joking about someone knocking up Malia or Sasha Obama? No American, conservative or otherwise, would stand for it.
It is time to get off the backs of Sarah Palin and her family. She is in Republican leadership by virtue of her position and party popularity so she’ll be in the news. And it is fine to analyze her policy positions, her governance and her command of the issues and criticize her when appropriate. That should be done with every candidate, even liberal socialist darlings like President Obama. If Palin is to be the Republican presidential candidate in 2012, she’ll have to prove herself just like every other potential candidate. If the MSM had done its job in 2008, we might have had different outcomes in the primaries and election. Unfortunately, while the attacks on Palin and her family are unprecedented, they are probably just a taste of what will come against conservatives and Republicans in future election cycles.
No one is suggesting that Palin should get a free pass. But she and her family, and all conservatives in politics and their families, should be treated with the same dignity, respect and honor that the MSM gives all Democrat and liberal candidates and policy-makers. The personal attacks against Palin have gone on for far too long and have long since passed the boundaries of fairness.
I’m sure Palin is strong enough to handle it. The problem is, she shouldn’t have to.
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