Posted on 09/09/2008 2:41:33 PM PDT by Red Steel
What is wrong with these people? was the nigh-upon-universal reaction among conservatives at the GOP convention last week. Liberal reporters inquired of conservative journalists, Republican delegates, right-leaning janitors, free-market short-order cooks, even the guys walking around in elephant suits: Will Sarah Palin drop out? What about the Eagleton Option?
For those who dont know, the Eagleton Option refers to Thomas Eagleton, George McGoverns first VP pick in 1972, who was forced to withdraw because of allegations of mental illness.
A hybrid of myth and deceit peddled by the chattering bandersnatches of the Democratic Partys backup offices at MSNBC and other press-release transmission belts of the Obama campaign, the whole pseudo-story was surely the brightest flare in the bonfire of asininity in St. Paul.
Of course, it was hardly the only journalistic will-o-the-wisp unleashed from the media bog. The claim that Palin was a Buchananite - and hence an acolyte of a Nazi sympathizer according to Florida Rep. Robert Wexler - was not true. The claims she cut funding for pregnant teens, that she was a member of the more-goofy-than-scary Alaska Independence Party, that Trig Palin - her special-needs baby - was really her daughters: these were all bogus.
But it was the Eagleton canard that spoke volumes. First, just as a matter of reportorial fact, as opposed to Keith Olbermann clicking his slippers and wishing it were so, the idea that the GOPs rank and file wanted her gone before her speech was distilled nonsense. Now, its plain hilarious.
In the wake of Palins performance Wednesday, theres vastly more support among conservatives for flipping the McCain-Palin ticket to the Palin-McCain ticket. Put the lipsticked pit bull at the lead of the Alaskanized GOP sled!
One barometer of conservative support: Rush Limbaugh now calls the Arizona senator John McGenius.
For good or ill, going forward, Palin is easily the most popular Republican in the country, at least among people inclined to vote for the GOP. The instant decision of Beltway blowhards to push the Palin-as-liability fable says a lot about how little they understand much of the American electorate.
One partial explanation for the feeding frenzy is the bowel-stewing fear among an Obamaphilic press corps that Palin might actually help McCain win.
But another part of the answer is that the press was simply surprised. Cockroaches scatter when shocked by a flipped light switch. Grizzly bears attack when startled. And when caught napping by big news, the press corps floods the zone. And all of a sudden, the norms and standards become a blur in the race to be first. In the case of Palin, the press vaulted over every principle and standard theyd established about what is and isnt fair game, like O.J. Simpson leaping over luggage in the old Hertz commercials. It required the Jaws of Life to pry news of John Edwards affair out of the mainstream press. But when it came to the personal drama of Palins 17-year old daughter, the press clawed for morsels like they were golden tickets from Wonka Bars.
The Eagleton Option exposed the press gut instincts, and the viscera are not pretty. Eagleton dropped out because it was leaked that hed received shock therapy for ill-defined mental problems. Many of those who expected Palin to withdraw see her values and her choices as proof of a mental problem. Shes more a conservative man than she is a woman on womens issues, quoth a spokeswoman from the predictably shrill National Organization for Women, which defines womanhood by a womans commitment to left-wing feminist dogma. If youre pro-life, or even just a Republican, youre suffering from gender confusion.
How long before the Palin-haters insist she needs shock therapy, too? For her own good, of course.
Don’t liberals always act irrationally?
JoMa
Let him rant and then remind him about your security cam recorder.
Sarah has singlehandedly ripped off the mask of Liberalism and showed the world the hate mongers of the left. The Democrats are doomed. But, like tigers driven by beaters, they will not give up easy and will fight with all the cunning and skill they have. Watch out. They will bend every effort to destroy Sarah, her family and McCain. It wasn’t planned this way. McCain was to play the old fool, like Bob Dole to a young Clinton, and Obama would just waltz into the White House to bring forth the joys of the Worker’s Paradise. But McCain has a few tricks up his sleeve. Watch for more to come. The Debates will seal the deal.
This is the BEAUTY of this VP pick.
Obama has to bring her down no matter how he does it so that HE is the chosen minority to win. In doing so, he belittles himself and loses stature.
Meanwhile, Biden drools in the corner half asleep. McCain in contrast, gets to go around acting mature and presidential.
U got that right!.........
My read is...even a few tepid Dem's are going for her...(Win-Win)...The far left is rabib though.......unbeaviably so...Keep some powder dry!
Yup!.......Have u noticed they ain't wearing any clothes when it comes to their arguments???...They have!...thats whats driving them NUTS!! they have raped themselves (their dogma) and they have nobody to blame but themselves!!!!
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