The Cowardly Character Assassination Of Sarah Palin

[Desertdog]

It should be criminal to do what they are trying to do to Gov. Palin.

The Cowardly Character Assassination Of Sarah Palin
By Michelle Malkin
November 7, 2008
http://www.gopusa.com/commentary/mmalkin/2008/mm_11071.shtml


Sunken ships loosen bitter lips. The failed McCain campaign, for all its high-minded talk of honor, duty and courage, is now teeming with unscrupulous gossipmongers. Seems the dishy staffers forgot to crack open their copies of Sen. McCain's bestseller, "Character Is Destiny: Inspiring Stories Every Young Person Should Know and Every Adult Should Remember."

Rest assured: Their cowardly character assassination of Sarah Palin won't be forgotten.

The finks turned to Newsweek and Fox News to spread petty rumors about Palin's intellect and character. The magazine peddled anecdotes from sources horrified that Palin greeted top advisers at her hotel room -- gasp! -- "wearing nothing but a towel" and "wet hair." Fox News reporter Carl Cameron breathlessly reported that his unnamed McCain sources told him Palin lacked "a degree of knowledgeability necessary to be a running mate" because, they claimed, she didn't know which countries were parties to the North American Free Trade Agreement and "didn't understand that Africa was a continent, rather than a series, a country just in itself."

Let's assume for a moment that the McCain rumormongers are telling the truth about Palin (and I don't believe they are). Who would it damn more: Palin, or McCain and his vetters, who greenlighted her for the vice presidential nomination? Don't need a fancy Ivy League degree to figure that one out.

In introducing her to America, McCain praised her independence and backbone: She "stands up for what's right, and she doesn't let anyone tell her to sit down." The inside snipers are now roasting her for that very attribute -- redefined as "going rogue" -- because she had the nerve to try to schedule media interviews on her own. The nerve of her!

Palin's response to the campaign fragging? At a late Wednesday night airport press conference in Anchorage, immediately upon landing home after the election defeat, she smiled cheerfully. The Alaska governor shrugged off the "foolish things" said by the McCain saboteurs, and simply said, "It's politics. ... It's rough and tumble and you've got to have a thick skin just like I've got."

Hollywood savaged Palin. Journalists mocked her. Liberal blogs slimed her. Opponents cursed her, Photoshopped her, hacked her e-mail, hanged her in effigy, called her bigot, Bible-thumper and bimbo, and attacked her husband and children. But nothing Palin endured during the election season compares to the treatment she's receiving from these backstabbing blabbermouths who worked on the same campaign she poured herself into over the last three months.

Sarah Palin worked her heart out. She energized tens of thousands to come out when they would have otherwise stayed home. She touched countless families. I didn't agree with everything she said on the campaign trail. But she vigorously defended the Second Amendment and the sanctity of life more eloquently in practice than any of the educated conservative aristocracy. And she did it all with a tirelessness and an infectious optimism that defied the shameless, bottomless attempts by elites in both parties to bring her and her family down.

Liberty needs a virtuous people to survive; self-governance requires virtuous leaders. "Knowledgeability" is a necessary trait in political life, but it is not sufficient. The elitist critics of Palin, so blindly enamored of Barack Obama's ability to hold forth for hours on theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, ignored the Founding Fathers' counsel: Character counts. In times of adversity and crisis, it counts more than IQ points, instant trivia recall and bloviation skills.

"The most important thing I have learned, from my parents, from teachers, from my faith, from many good people I have been blessed to know, and from the lives of people whose stories we have included in this book," John McCain wrote in "Character Is Destiny," "is to want what they had, integrity, and to feel the sting of my conscience when I have risked it for some selfish reason."

John McCain not only failed to make that message stick with the electorate, he apparently couldn't persuade his own staff to heed his advice and practice what he preached.

---

Michelle Malkin is author of "Unhinged: Exposing Liberals Gone Wild." Her e-mail address is malkinblog@gmail.com.

[gunsmith]

thank you for posting that!
I asked my new roomie (hates Palin) where Palin was from, "Alaska" was the prompt reply.
"Biden"? I asked, no idea! Palin is light years ahead of Biden.

[ronnyreagan]

she didn't know which countries were parties to the North American Free Trade Agreement and "didn't understand that Africa was a continent"

If this is true.... They must be making that up.
I would love to see her on "Are you smarter than a 5th grader" though. 

[Zardozimo Oprah Bannedalas]

she didn't know which countries were parties to the North American Free Trade Agreement and "didn't understand that Africa was a continent"

But unlike our world-wise president-elect/messiah, she probably knows that socialism doesn't work. 

[MicroBalrog]

And we wonder why they lost.

[ilbob]

She should get used to it. Politicians who stand by their moral principles are few and far between and almost always get hit by the character assassination machines of those with no moral character at all.

Remember the saying from the Clinton era that character does not matter anymore.

[agricola]

If this is true.... They must be making that up.
I would love to see her on "Are you smarter than a 5th grader" though. 

I refuse to believe that any politician gets to where she has got, and spent the amount of time in politics that she has, without knowing either of those things she is alleged to not have known.  It would have come out sooner.  It is not as if she lacks enemies in Alaska.  

The rest of the allegations were inane - apart from the bathrobe just-after-the-shower thing, for obvious reasons.

[longeyes]

It will backfire.

It amounts, as a analog of what was done to Clarence Thomas, an "electronic rape."

[MechAg94]

Obama didn't know which states were between Kentucky and Indiana (something like that) or what the 57th state was.  That didn't seem to hurt him much. 

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

Politicians goof and say stupid things all the time.  Didn't Barakc claim to have visited all 57 states?

Little slips like these don't mean anything.  It's a natural consequence of lack of sleep, stress, and being on camera nonstop for months at a time.

[Waitone]

Palin wants to play in the big leagues so she has to expect hard and cheap hits.   Part of playing the game.  I do think she was set up for failure by staffers who did not like the idea of a religious, pro-life, gun-totin', hayseed on the ticket.  Problem is she will be back and she will run things her way and her handlers this go'round will be out of a job.  I don't see her putting much confidence in those who are trying to slip a knife between her ribs.

[ronnyreagan]

Little slips like these don't mean anything.  It's a natural consequence of lack of sleep, stress, and being on camera nonstop for months at a time.

There's a difference between putting your foot in your mouth and not being able to answer basic questions like "what publications do you read?" in a sensible manner. Everyone slips and says dumb stuff they didn't mean (especially Joe Biden it seems) but that's different than lacking the knowledge in the first place.

Now saying that she thought Africa is a country is going a bit far, and so I have a hard time believing that. However, her knowledge regarding matters outside Alaska seemed lacking and calling everyone who points that out "elitist" is a pretty weak defense. The media was hard on her, but she gave them ample ammo with interview responses that ranged from off topic to incoherent.

Maybe she will be better prepared in four years, but I have my doubts.

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

There's a difference between putting your foot in your mouth and not being able to answer basic questions like "what publications do you read?" in a sensible manner. Everyone slips and says dumb stuff they didn't mean (especially Joe Biden it seems) but that's different than lacking the knowledge in the first place.

Now saying that she thought Africa is a country is going a bit far, and so I have a hard time believing that. However, her knowledge regarding matters outside Alaska seemed lacking and calling everyone who points that out "elitist" is a pretty weak defense. The media was hard on her, but she gave them ample ammo with interview responses that ranged from off topic to incoherent.

Maybe she will be better prepared in four years, but I have my doubts.

Snotty questions from reporters trying to make her look like hick don't count.  Enough camera time in front of hostile interviewers will make anyone look bad.  This is especially true when consider the way the media selectively harped on her bad responses and ignored all her good ones.

Palin was dead right on all of the important issues.  She knew the constitutional roll of the vice president, something the future vice president doesn't know.  She knew the correct size and scope of Federal government.  She knew the biggest issue of fiscal policy is to limit spending.  She had a sense of right and wrong.  She understood that the United States is a force for good in the world, and worth defending vigorously.  She knew that massive tax hikes would be devastating right now.  All down the line, on the important issues she was dead nuts right.

Any of those issues taken singly are more than enough to make her more qualified and more knowledgeable than Obama or Biden.  Combine them all and you see that she would have been one of the best national politicians we've seen in decades.  A couple of brain farts on Africa and NAFTA don't change the fact that she would have made a superb vice president.

[buzz_knox]

McCain and his crew are ticked and looking to place blame anywhere and everywhere but where it should lie, with them.

Palin was the only boost McCain got in the campaign right up until Obama started revealing his true nature.  He should be thanking both of them for not making Nov. 4 even bloodier for him personally and professionally.

[seeker_two]

The finks turned to Newsweek and Fox News to spread petty rumors about Palin's intellect and character. The magazine peddled anecdotes from sources horrified that Palin greeted top advisers at her hotel room -- gasp! -- "wearing nothing but a towel" and "wet hair."

Why didn't the MSM report this earlier?......this could have won McCain the election AND encouraged support from foreign ambassadors..... 

[gunsmith]

I wish she had turned the tables a little more, for instance, when Gibson asked her about banning semi - autos I am willing to bet he doesn't know what they are.

[Monkeyleg]

Many people who work on campaigns do it for a living, especially in the senior ranks. If the blame can't be put on Palin, where will it go, and how will that affect some staffers' future employability?

[BridgeRunner]

Oddly,  the very liberal classmates and prof I had lunch with today were pretty kind to Palin, and mentioned that they both expect to see her as a major player in national politics in the future. 

Of course, one of 'em is a rare pro-2a ACLU-er, so maybe an exception rather than a rule.

[De Selby]

Oddly,  the very liberal classmates and prof I had lunch with today were pretty kind to Palin, and mentioned that they both expect to see her as a major player in national politics in the future. 

Of course, one of 'em is a rare pro-2a ACLU-er, so maybe an exception rather than a rule.

Also odd: Alexander Cockburn (of counterpunch.org infamy) wrote a piece during the campaign that praised her connection to the working class and administrative talents over everyone else in the race.  I got the feeling he genuinely supported her as a candidate, even though he's more of a Ralph Nader leftist.

[longeyes]

Palin delenda est.

The RINOs know that Palin has touched that "We the People" nerve.  They have to destroy her.

My view of her is that she is not fully-formed but will become a quick study.  In four years she will be formidable.

[Sergeant Bob]

Palin delenda est.

The RINOs know that Palin has touched that "We the People" nerve.  They have to destroy her.

My view of her is that she is not fully-formed but will become a quick study.  In four years she will be formidable.

Bingo.

[Hawkmoon]

McCain and his crew are ticked and looking to place blame anywhere and everywhere but where it should lie, with them.

Gotta disagree, Buzz.

The blame lies squarely on Jorge. McCain had zero chance, mostly because Jorge sold out just about every traditional Republican attribute and left the party with no compass. McCain's biggest problem wasn't himself OR Sarah Palin, it was that too many voters (including many Republicans) were pissed off at Jorge Bush and weren't in any way reassured that McCain wasn't going to follow up wit more years of abandoning what the Republican party was supposed to stand for.

[longeyes]

You know, I'm really beginning to wonder about this country...

Sarah Palin blamed by the US Secret Service over death threats against Barack Obama
Sarah Palin's attacks on Barack Obama's patriotism provoked a spike in death threats against the future president, Secret Service agents revealed during the final weeks of the campaign.
 
By Tim Shipman in Washington  [The Telegraph, UK]
Last Updated: 4:04PM GMT 08 Nov 2008

Palin's tone may have unintentionally encouraged white supremacists Photo: Reuters
The Republican vice presidential candidate attracted criticism for accusing Mr Obama of "palling around with terrorists", citing his association with the sixties radical William Ayers.
The attacks provoked a near lynch mob atmosphere at her rallies, with supporters yelling "terrorist" and "kill him" until the McCain campaign ordered her to tone down the rhetoric.
But it has now emerged that her demagogic tone may have unintentionally encouraged white supremacists to go even further.
The Secret Service warned the Obama family in mid October that they had seen a dramatic increase in the number of threats against the Democratic candidate, coinciding with Mrs Palin's attacks.
Michelle Obama, the future First Lady, was so upset that she turned to her friend and campaign adviser Valerie Jarrett and said: "Why would they try to make people hate us?"
The revelations, contained in a Newsweek history of the campaign, are likely to further damage Mrs Palin's credentials as a future presidential candidate. She is already a frontrunner, with Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, to take on Mr Obama in four years time.
Details of the spike in threats to Mr Obama come as a report last week by security and intelligence analysts Stratfor, warned that he is a high risk target for racist gunmen. It concluded: "Two plots to assassinate Obama were broken up during the campaign season, and several more remain under investigation. We would expect federal authorities to uncover many more plots to attack the president that have been hatched by white supremacist ideologues."
Irate John McCain aides, who blame Mrs Palin for losing the election, claim Mrs Palin took it upon herself to question Mr Obama's patriotism, before the line of attack had been cleared by Mr McCain.
That claim is part of a campaign of targeted leaks designed to torpedo her ambitions, with claims that she did not know that Africawas a continent rather than a country.
The advisers have branded her a "diva" and a "whack job" and claimed that she did not know which other countries are in the North American Free Trade Area, (Canada and Mexico). They say she spent more than $150,000 on designer clothes, including $40,000 on her husband Todd and that she refused to prepare for the disastrous series of interviews with CBS's Katie Couric.
In a bid to salvage her reputation Mrs Palin came out firing in an interview with CNN, dismissing the anonymous leakers in unpresidential language as "jerks" who had taken "questions or comments I made in debate prep out of context."
She said: "I consider it cowardly. It's not true. That's cruel, it's mean-spirited, it's immature, it's unprofessional and those guys are jerks if they came away taking things out of context and then tried to spread something on national news that's not fair and not right."
She was not asked about her incendiary rhetoric against Mr Obama. But she did deny the spending spree claims, saying the clothes in question had been returned to the Republican National Committee. "Those are the RNC's clothes, they're not my clothes. I asked for anything more than maybe a diet Dr Pepper once in a while. These are false allegations."
Speaking as she returned to her native Alaska, Mrs Palin claimed to be baffled by what she claims was sexism on the national stage. "Here in Alaska that double standard isn't applied because these guys know that Alaskan women are pretty tough, on a par with the men in terms of being outdoors, working hard," she said.
"They're commercial fishermen, they're pilots, they're working up on the North slopein the oil fields. You see equality in Alaska. I think that was a bit of as surprise on the national level."

[Sergeant Bob]

It's the politics of personal destruction, made mainstream by the Master, Der Schliekmeister.

[doczinn]

The attacks provoked a near lynch mob atmosphere at her rallies, with supporters yelling "terrorist" and "kill him" until the McCain campaign ordered her to tone down the rhetoric.

Funny how no-one but one reporter heard anything like that. Not even the Secret Service heard it.