Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

The Savaging of Sarah Palin
The Huffington Post ^ | July 7, 2009 | Heather Robinson

Posted on 07/07/2009 10:17:53 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

In the aftermath of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s announcement last weekend that she plans to resign from office, pundits have been scrambling for an explanation. Personally, the whole matter has left me feeling a little like I did at the end of seventh grade, after a year spent passively watching bullies ostracize and pick on one of the only black girls in the school: sick, and embarrassed for all of us.

Whatever your passionate opinions, whatever your disagreements with her views, this woman and her family were savaged in a manner that went beyond any reasonable standard. She is a public figure, but her husband and children are not. That did not stop certain members of the media and blogosphere from ridiculing them in vicious fashion, even long after the election was decided. President Obama, to his credit, spoke out against it. Would that more of his supporters had shown the same level of decency.

Instead, we got ridiculing of Mrs. Palin’s appearance, of her decades-old participation in a beauty pageant, and even of her children, which was especially cruel. Self-proclaimed “feminists” made a blood sport of hating and dehumanizing her. Personally, I do not agree with all of Governor Palin’s views, such as her absolutist pro-life position. But such vicious hatred, on the part of self-described feminists, was an embarrassment.

The Governor’s announcement, in which she offered her reasons for leaving her office, has, not surprisingly, been greeted with near-universal skepticism. But I am inclined to believe what she says. Essentially, she has been slapped with a slew of ethics complaints that have been dismissed as baseless. But, due to the nature of Alaska’s laws, her family has been required to pay legal bills to the tune of $500,000 to defend her good name.

The Palins are not wealthy, and they want to be able to afford college tuition for their children. It would appear the Governor cannot afford to hold a modestly paid position while facing such ongoing harassment from her political enemies without potentially facing personal bankruptcy. Not to mention that, although these complaints have thus far been found baseless, the time and energy required to respond to them is apparently reducing her effectiveness as Governor.

Then there is the matter of how the media treated Mrs. Palin’s family, especially her children. How sad that normal people may no longer wish to run for or hold public office due to this horrific sort of exposure, including abuse of their children.

It’s true that American politics have often been spirited, at times even vicious. During the Civil War, for instance, President Lincoln was burned in effigy in the South, and during the campaign of 1828, newspapers favorable to the National Republican Party falsely accused Democrat Andrew Jackson of having beaten up another man to steal his wife, to cite just a couple examples from history. But am I alone in feeling that ridicule of a disabled infant, and rape threats, represent a new low? How intensely cruel and hypocritical this behavior was, often coming from “feminists” and “progressives” who probably don’t realize how many conservatives they are helping to create, as anyone with a moral compass is likely to figure that, if that’s how liberals argue, maybe they’ll consider conservative ideas, thanks.

To a lesser extent, established media have embarrassed themselves and lost credibility. Since when do established feminists, for instance, dispatch with one of our nation’s only female Governors by disparaging her looks (”Caribou Barbie”).

Last month, the Governor’s husband Todd erupted angrily over David Letterman’s lewd sexual joke about one of the Palin’s teenage daughters. Clearly, Mr. Palin was angry. Placing one’s marriage ahead of one’s career ambitions may be an unthinkable in the realm of “progressive” media, but perhaps that is what Mrs. Palin is doing.

For the record, the media did not cease its savage dehumanization after the election. In the August issue of Vanity Fair magazine, a lengthy article by Todd S. Purdum entitled (italics added) “It Came from Wasilla” cites the opinions of several unnamed Alaskans that Governor Palin suffers from “narcissistic personality disorder.” Perhaps Mr. Purdum, who in a stunning feat of journalistic objectivity also asserts of Governor Palin that “no political principle or personal relationship is more sacred than her own ambition,” should be reminded of a psychological mechanism known as projection.

Is it possible her critics are projecting onto Governor Palin some of their own grasping motives?

Now that their scapegoat has simply wandered off, they are left to analyze her departure through the prism of themselves. And they don’t know what to think.

Hence, perhaps, they’re theorizing that this hyper-ambitious, moronic-yet-calculating, misogynist Lady Macbeth must be hiding something evil.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Editorial; Philosophy; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: palin; palinresignation; prolife; sarah; sarahpalin; waronsarah
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-99 next last
To: Earthdweller

Did you realize that both Hitler and Stalin were police infiltrators sent to spy on their respective parties? Both then took over and became party leader.


61 posted on 07/08/2009 12:04:45 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet (Democracy is the art and science of running the circus from the monkey cage. ~H.L. Mencken)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 60 | View Replies]

To: Peter Horry

As would this.

62 posted on 07/08/2009 12:07:11 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet (Democracy is the art and science of running the circus from the monkey cage. ~H.L. Mencken)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 58 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet
Yes, I believe that Hitler was a marxist style fascist.
63 posted on 07/08/2009 12:11:11 AM PDT by Earthdweller (Harvard won the election again...so what's the problem.......?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 61 | View Replies]

To: SolidWood

“I read the last sentence as a sarcastic comment on how her haters see her.”

I can see it both ways. One of the things about sarcasm, though, and you know this if you tend to make sarcastic remarks, is that you have to make some kind of determination as to whether your audience will or is capable of “getting it.” You have to know them some, and they have to know you some. It’s really not much different than having the discretion to know that if you can’t resist telling Polish jokes that maybe you should find out if the people you just met are Polish before you launch.

A lot lot lot of people don’t or can’t deal with sarcasm without knowing you. That doesn’t make them dumb or you smart, in my book. If your initial approach to people is one of hard sarcasm, you’ll offend many of them. I’d even say *most* of them.

So, I’ll concede your point from the theoretical standpoint (eg; it’s possible) But I am not so facile in accepting as genuine a single concession, the first and only, from an entity that has attacked “me” or “my ideas” or “my opinions” or “our views” three hundred times. Viciously, with absolute abandon of anything I’ve ever considered any kind of couth. It’s kind of a question of balance. As I’ve said, the attacks against Palin went miles beyond anything I can recall, and were especially puerile, loathsome in their reach, and plenty of them were published in HuffPo. They start from a very deep hole is what I’m saying.

Let’s see the next article. HuffPo has to earn my trust, and I don’t trust former mortal enemies easily.


64 posted on 07/08/2009 12:12:28 AM PDT by Attention Surplus Disorder (What kind of organization answers the phone if you call a suicide hotline in Gaza City?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 53 | View Replies]

To: Clock King

Sara Palin HAS to be taken down NOW and her enemies know it as well as we do. Oh, perhaps not the average idiot libnuts like Letterman and such, but the politico leaders know it. Robinson is trying to get the the small brained minions to lighten up, not because she is ashamed... because she is afraid.

The BIGGER question here is WHO in the REPUBLICAN party are Palin’s enemies? Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney? John McCain? She will undoubtably beat their pants off in the 2012 primary. It is even possible that THESE are her greatest enemies.

Could it be that Sara is a pretty savvy chick?
As a governor she is open to a lot of attacks. No matter how baseless, these attacks take up time... time that could be better spent accomplishing and preparing.

Sara will now have time to bone up, make friends and perhaps pursue a few lawsuits. Lawsuits that splash across the news for days running would let those less politically informed know the savagery her family has endured, and thereby endearing folks to her.

Let’s hope she can out maneuver her enemies on both sides of the aisle.


65 posted on 07/08/2009 12:14:18 AM PDT by armourup (Your Doctor is 100% wrong about Lyme Disease.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 49 | View Replies]

To: SoCalPol
I wrote a letter to investor relations at Wells Fargo demanding they pull their Wachovia Bank banner ads from HuffPo. My father passed on my email to his broker with Wachovia Securities... and he's going to redirect it so there is some action.

I'll see if I get any response, let alone results... Wells Fargo may be liquidated from my portfolio in the next week or so (like it's worth anything anymore anyways).

66 posted on 07/08/2009 12:49:19 AM PDT by Rodamala
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: SoCalPol

Yep, Palin will soon have all the resources (money) needed to drive places like Huffington Post to despair.


67 posted on 07/08/2009 12:54:13 AM PDT by glorgau
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: SoCalPol

>>>The HuffPo allies on FR have a thread going to divide Republicans, pushing their third party crapOla which = a democrat winner

Don’t you mean “The RonPaulite allies on FR have a thread going to divide Republicans, pushing their third party crapOla which = a democrat winner” ?

Not that there is much difference of course.


68 posted on 07/08/2009 1:27:17 AM PDT by tlb
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

RE: 3rd party votes equal dim votes.

Not always.

Perot, ‘92 gave us the clintons.

Nader, ‘00 gave us w.

Sarahcuda scares the shit out of both sides so badly it’s really fun to watch. I went to a last minute called campaign stop for Sarah in Asheville, NC, (SF east), and she was sold out hours before I even got there. 25K seats in 18 hrs, now that’s impressive! Acorn and zero can’t compete with real Americans who are energized.


69 posted on 07/08/2009 1:38:53 AM PDT by mapmaker77
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

“Wow! Even some on the Left finally get it.”

Oh, heck no!

This is CYA. You don’t understand how they operate yet because you think like a mensch, a decent human being.

Palin is very very popular and her popularity is growing.

The left is starting to see a very big threat. Even Rove can’t get it on the right.


70 posted on 07/08/2009 3:33:51 AM PDT by OpusatFR (Those embryos are little humans in progress. Using them for profit is slavery.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sarah Barracuda
"have my eyes deceived me"

Yes, actually. This is yet one more very insincere screed that the Lefties are writing to self absolve.

If Sarah Palin gets back into active politics you will see the same unbridled visciousness all over again.

71 posted on 07/08/2009 4:16:08 AM PDT by Jimmy Valentine (DemocRATS - when they speak, they lie; when they are silent, they are stealing the American Dream)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: thecabal
You are operating under the faulty assumption that GOP == Conservative. FRiend, I bought the lie for far too long, but I’ve come to learn that your boogieman doesn’t scare me anymore. A pox on both houses of the oligarchy. Here’s to hoping that Sarah ditches the very same GOP who stabbed her in the back.

No here"s to Sara taking over the huge GOP voting block and turning it into a UNBEATABLE CONSERVATIVE powerhouse!

It is like taking an old junker car and restoring it to a show car!

72 posted on 07/08/2009 4:35:07 AM PDT by sausageseller (http://coolblue.typepad.com/the_cool_blue_blog/)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 50 | View Replies]

To: Razz Barry
This country started downhill when dueling was outlawed.

Strangely enough, neither the Federal Government nor most State laws do not outlaw dueling as such -- only the possible outcomes thereof.

73 posted on 07/08/2009 4:48:38 AM PDT by Turret Gunner A20
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

have you noticed more and more support for sarah and the questioning and criticizing of the attackers....something is happening...


74 posted on 07/08/2009 5:18:43 AM PDT by The Wizard (DemonRATS: enemies of America)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

have you noticed more and more support for sarah and the questioning and criticizing of the attackers....something is happening...


75 posted on 07/08/2009 5:18:56 AM PDT by The Wizard (DemonRATS: enemies of America)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet
if that’s how liberals argue, maybe they’ll consider conservative ideas, thanks. My first thought when I read this was "that IS how liberals argue - it always has been." But then she added "Maybe they'll consider conservative ideas, thanks." as if for someone to "consider conservative ideas" would somehow be a terrible thing to have happen!
76 posted on 07/08/2009 6:29:36 AM PDT by JaguarXKE
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

Actually, this is the 2nd or 3rd column from HuffPo writers that has been very supportive of Palin. I know, it’s a surprise. I suspect HuffPo has deliberately allowed some pro-Palin commentary to gin up the number of hits on their site. Since you can find anti-Palin stuff anywhere, the HuffPo was just one of a multitude of sources. Since pro-Palin commentary is less widespread, even conservatives will be drawn to the HuffPo. Just a thought.


77 posted on 07/08/2009 6:51:57 AM PDT by euram
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Turret Gunner A20
Not true.

Most states have had anti-duelling laws since the 1830s or so.

They were honored more in the breach than the observance before the Civil War, but the postwar period pretty much brought duelling to an end by destroying the culture that supported it.

Nowadays, most states still have the laws technically on the books but have not bothered to publish them in successive Code revisions because nobody is interested in duelling any more (because the culture that supported it is "gone with the wind".)

Georgia's anti-duelling law is still technically in force, but no longer in the published Code. I've got a copy of it lying around somewhere.

78 posted on 07/08/2009 7:12:53 AM PDT by AnAmericanMother (Ministrix of ye Chasse, TTGC Ladies' Auxiliary (recess appointment))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 73 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet
From the first speech Sarah made after being asked to accept the position as candidate for vice President w/ McCain: which was a knock out speech indeed. She has been turned over the coals, like a pig on a spit ... unrelentingly.

Why? Because she is that GOOD ... She is a winner, and they are afraid of her. She is what this country has always been about. Family values, supporting the Constitution that formed the United States of America to become the most blessed nation ever. The liberals show no mercy, there is nothing to bad to say or attack. They do want to completely destroy her and there is no real hidden secret to expose.
So they make it up with accusations and back biting, harassment on going. Truth has nothing to do with it. They want to win, whatever It takes.

The part that puzzles me is there are republicans that agree with much the liberals accuse Sarah Palin having as shortcomings. God help us in our day ... in Jesus name I pray. amen.

79 posted on 07/08/2009 8:13:36 AM PDT by geologist (The only answer to the troubles of this life is Jesus. A decision we all must make.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: madamemayhem
Mo

They hate because ...liberalism/socialism/ communism/Marxism ... is there religion and they will kill metaphorically in order to forward their agenda.

As simple as that. Has nothing to do with right or wrong, nothing to do with facts, ... it is all about winning; and subverting our government; and ruling/controlling America's people.

They are the elite!!!!!! Ordinary people do not get their thinking and actions. It is much too perverted for caring, kind hearted, hard working people to ‘GET’/ understand.

Evil disguised as good.

God help us in our day ... God bless America in the name of Jesus I pray. Amen

80 posted on 07/08/2009 8:23:56 AM PDT by geologist (The only answer to the troubles of this life is Jesus. A decision we all must make.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 56 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-99 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson