First, let me start by saying I am not the biggest Sarah Palin fan in the world. I mean, I don’t dislike her, I just don’t think she is the future of the Republican Party. Her resignation as Governor of Alaska just affirmed my belief that she is simply not fit to be the President of the United States. If you can’t stand the heat in Anchorage…well, you get the picture. Sure, the media targeted her, and she had a rough time, but no one can explain to me how anyone truly competent to be President can be that bad in interviews.
That said…the liberal bashing of Palin is now completely out of control. I thought they had reach their zenith with Letterman making sexual jokes about Palin’s daughters…but apparently, that is not enough. This week, Newsweek targets Palin as the bane of the existence of the Republican Party.
What exactly has Palin done to enrage the left so? Writing a book? Heck, Obama wrote his own book (with his own ghost author, as rumor has it); what is so different? If you oppose her politics, state that clearly. Say what you disagree with her on. That is fair.
But the attacks on Palin have been anything but above board. They are snide, condescending, and demeaning. When Hillary Clinton commented on being treated differently as a woman, I laughed. Well, I don’t laugh any more. The media clearly has a bias against strong women in the political arena. There is a clear double standard. Let me ask: would they ever put Barack Obama on the front of Newsweek in short shorts, and then question his use to his party? Such a headline is unheard of.
We are seeing a trend of these attacks. Whether it be Palin, Carrie Prejean, Michelle Malkin…women on the right are treated differently. The attacks on Palin are personal…not political.
Newsweek, and Jon Meachum and Evan Thomas in particular, should really be ashamed. Their sexist and prejudice view of Palin and many Republican women show their utter bias as journalists. There is much to criticize Palin about. Legitimate, articulate, and intelligent arguments can be made on why she is not fit for higher office. But they are not making those arguments…they are taking the low road.
The arguments are even less meaningful when you think back at who the left nominated…Barack Obama. A man that served less than 180 actual days in the Senate; before that, was a State Senator for several years. And that is it. His experience was nonexistent. But you make the same person with two X sex genes, and all of a sudden they are a threat to America according to Newsweek.
And here is the irony…if they don’t fear her, why destroy her? They all seem to agree that she is no threat to usurp Obama in 2012. Then why don’t let Republicans nominate her and self-destruct? The logic on the left is baffling.
I personally doubt that I could ever vote for Sarah Palin…for anything. But I will defend her right to say what she wants, when she wants to. She does speak for a segment of America that the Democrats don’t speak for, and Obama is ignorant of. And her voice, although sometimes shrill, is no more or less important than that of inane voices on the left.
At this moment, I think Palin is unfit to be President. That could change; no one knows what the future holds. In 1950 no one in America would have picked a former liberal and labor boss B Actor from Hollywood to be leader of the conservative movement. But that said, liberal attacks on her and others on the right are pathetic. Palin will win or lose in the market of ideas, the way all politicians do. The personal attacks should stop, if they want to retain any credibility as objective journalists.
