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Victor Davis Hanson: To Palinize...
corner.nationalreview.com ^ | September 03, 2008 | Victor Davis Hanson

Posted on 09/03/2008 2:01:05 PM PDT by neverdem

Palinize: to slander and caricature a working-class female public figure for the noble advancement of liberalism.

Sarah Palin—self-made woman, and governor of Alaska—is being reducing by the left to a hickish, white trash mom of five, analogous to the manner that esteemed jurists like Kenneth ("cigarette lawyer") Starr and Robert Bork were slandered by the media as incompetent right right-wing fanatics, and Clarence Thomas was pilloried as an affirmative action sex-maniac.

Why does the left and liberal media, in McCarthyite fashion, now seek to destroy rather than just oppose these public servants?

First, there is the annoited's notion that the noble ends justify the slimy means, that whether the issue is abortion or affirmative action or any other hot-button social gospel, the supposed interests of the many override the common decency that should be afforded the few.

We are supposed to think that given one's cosmic sense of fairness and caring, the white knight always is afforded a little human leeway in slaying dragons in the here and now. To save the utopian vision of "two nations" John Edwards, presidential candidate, hundreds in the media passed on verifiable stories of his adultery, the financial support of his mistress, and his blatantly untrue assertions in public press conferences; by the same token to stop "one nation" Palin, the private life of a 17-year old girl must not only be aired, but distorted and in some cases invented.

Second, as in the case of a Palin or Thomas, there is the notion that the slandered deserve it as interloppers—unauthentic women or minorities due to their conservative views, who piggyback on the hard work of feminists and those in the race/identity politics movement. They purportedly do not show enough appreciation and deference to the pioneers who suffered so much to give us abortion on demand, quotas in hiring, etc. and as ingrates thus get what they deserve. For talking-head feminists that a Sally Quin, Nancy Pelosi or Hillary Clinton—unlike Sarah Palin—had a well-connected, influential male around to energize her career is of no concern—except perhaps to make the animus against the outsider upstart even greater.

So class plays a lot too. The liberal left buys into the Gore notion of offsets—that by backing ever more entitlements, and public assistance, the caring liberal is allowed to feel a little tsk, tsk about Alaska moose-hunters, teenage white girls getting pregnant, and small-town mayorships, without incurring the charge of elitism. Writing a story about a struggling family or an illegal alien wrongly deported, introducing a bill to help working moms, announcing that an Obama speech is the equivalent of the Gettysburg Address, all that lets you unload on the Palin's teenage daughter or Palin herself in ways that any unbiased observer would consider sexist, snobbish, and condescendingly cruel.

Being a mother of a Down syndrome child, raising five children, rising, without money or family influence, to the governorship on an anti-corruption and commonsense platform, in addition to trying to run the largest-sized state in the union, critical to both the energy and defense security of the nation, all that should have made liberals and feminists, if reluctantly, nevertheless appreciative of her success in a mostly male political world.

Not this week, perhaps—but soon there will be a backlash against all this creepiness. Just watch...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Editorial; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2008rncconvention; liberalism; liberals; palin; pds; sarahpalin; vdh
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1 posted on 09/03/2008 2:01:07 PM PDT by neverdem
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To: Tolik

VDH just expanded the lexicon!


2 posted on 09/03/2008 2:03:00 PM PDT by neverdem (I'm praying for a Divine Intervention.)
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To: neverdem

“Liberals”, like all collectivists, are the worst kind of pragmatists.

Anything is justifiable in the pursuit of their goals.


3 posted on 09/03/2008 2:04:31 PM PDT by MrB (You can't reason people out of a position that they didn't use reason to get into in the first place)
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To: neverdem

excellent


4 posted on 09/03/2008 2:05:43 PM PDT by Blogger
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To: MrB

It is Machiavellian.


5 posted on 09/03/2008 2:07:10 PM PDT by bboop (Stealth Tutor)
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To: neverdem

Because now the democrats are full of hate. It’s too bad but needs to be dealt with on a professional level.....unless others have a better idea?????


6 posted on 09/03/2008 2:07:25 PM PDT by RC2
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To: neverdem

Let the backlash begin!


7 posted on 09/03/2008 2:07:44 PM PDT by sarasota
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To: neverdem
"...Sarah Palin—self-made woman, and governor of Alaska—is being reduced by the left to a hickish, white trash mom of five..."

That is exactly what the liberal elites think of most of the county. Obama's comments to the San Fransisco liberals about bitter people clinging to their guns and religion is the epitome of such liberal elitism. That Palin is sharp, successful politically and is resonating with much of the country makes liberals cringe.

8 posted on 09/03/2008 2:10:12 PM PDT by The Great RJ ("Mir we bleiwen wat mir sin" or "We want to remain what we are." ..Luxembourg motto)
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To: neverdem

CNN has really changed their tune today.


9 posted on 09/03/2008 2:10:24 PM PDT by lookout88 (Combat search and rescue officer's dad.)
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To: neverdem
I love how he slides on in after checking to make sure which direction the current’s running, and not unsurprisingly, in an opposite direction than those who he's co-authored books with. Opportunism certainly holds no bounds by party affiliation, but hey, least he's made the right associations in this article, vs others who simply stated that Palin was picked because she's a woman, and holds no other qualifications.
10 posted on 09/03/2008 2:12:09 PM PDT by kingu (Party for rent - conservative opinions not required.)
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To: lookout88
CNN has really changed their tune today.

Methinks they got a memo from their legal department.

11 posted on 09/03/2008 2:12:31 PM PDT by JennysCool (A man who served his country well vs. a walking Che poster. Is it really that tough a choice?)
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To: lookout88
CNN has really changed their tune today.

Methinks they got a memo from their legal department.

12 posted on 09/03/2008 2:12:41 PM PDT by JennysCool (A man who served his country well vs. a walking Che poster. Is it really that tough a choice?)
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To: neverdem
Not this week, perhaps—but soon there will be a backlash against all this creepiness. Just watch...

And I, for one, cannot wait to see it. I am frankly getting sick of the "Palinization" -- anyone who objectively looks at the woman, her leadership record (SHE HAS ONE!!!) and her convictions will quickly see that what the media is doing is sick and wrong.

I am so waiting for the backlash...

13 posted on 09/03/2008 2:12:54 PM PDT by dfwright (The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left (Eccl. 10:2, NIV))
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To: neverdem

mark


14 posted on 09/03/2008 2:14:17 PM PDT by Ladysmith ((NRA, SAS) Praise God and pass the ammunition!)
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To: neverdem
Not this week, perhaps—but soon there will be a backlash against all this creepiness. Just watch...

I believe it has already started.

15 posted on 09/03/2008 2:14:46 PM PDT by paudio (Can you tell me a single thing Obama has done in senate?)
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To: lookout88

They couldn’t have gotten worse - have they gotten better?


16 posted on 09/03/2008 2:15:13 PM PDT by LimberJim
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To: neverdem
Why does the left and liberal media, in McCarthyite fashion, now seek to destroy rather than just oppose these public servants?

It's all in Saul Alinsky's handbook - check out #13! The highlights are mine.

ALINSKY's RULES FOR RADICALS

"Personalize it"

Saul Alinsky's rules of power tactics, excerpted from his 1971 book "Rules for Radicals: A Practical Primer for Realistic Radicals"

  1. Power is not only what you have but what the enemy thinks you have.
  2. Never go outside the experience of your people.
  3. Whenever possible go outside the experience of the enemy.
  4. Make the enemy live up to their own book of rules.
  5. Ridicule is man's most potent weapon.
  6. A good tactic is one that your people enjoy.
  7. A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag.
  8. Keep the pressure on.
  9. The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself.
  10. Maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition.
  11. If you push a negative hard and deep enough it will break through into its counterside.
  12. The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative.
  13. Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.

Apparently all libs play by these rules now, not just the Clintons.

More Saul Alinsky and Hillary Clinton thesis here.

17 posted on 09/03/2008 2:24:23 PM PDT by weef
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To: neverdem

BUMP!


18 posted on 09/03/2008 2:25:57 PM PDT by fanfan (SCC:Canadians have constitutional protection to all opinions, as long as they are based on the facts)
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Comment #19 Removed by Moderator

To: JennysCool

You may be right. National Enquirer is already on notice.

“And late Wednesday afternoon, Schmidt made a second statement threatening legal action against the National Enquirer for its report that Palin had an extramarital affair.”

http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2008/09/feisty_mccain_tells_staff_hes.asp


20 posted on 09/03/2008 2:30:00 PM PDT by Ladysmith ((NRA, SAS) Praise God and pass the ammunition!)
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