Posted on 07/09/2009 12:15:55 PM PDT by EZ4You2Say
July 09, 2009
Hating Palin By Ben Voth
As a communication professional I have largely been at a loss to explain the judgments being drawn about Governor Palin by allegedly expert pundits. The general meme from pundits is that Palin is a quitter who cannot take the heat.
It seems like the 'heat' has been more like hate -- maybe we are dealing with a simple spelling error? Journalism has gotten rather weak of late.
A public figure openly called for Palin to be raped during the campaign. Months after the losing campaign was over, a major comedian joked about the fictitious rape of one of her daughters. Immediately after the election, her church was burned. It's fairly difficult to reconcile this 'heat' as something conventional in politics. In fact, there might be some good reason to collectively indict Palin critics for their silent complicity.
This would go a long way to explain why many in the public seem more drawn to Palin after the resignation and the absurd media reactions to it. Keep in mind that these incidents remain unrepented public attacks. The media refused to offer much comment on the burning of Palin's church -- a silence which conveyed an implied endorsement of that attack. Imagine if Obama had lost the election and Jeremiah Wright's church had been burned. Where would the punditry be?
Given the peculiar failure of pundits to "understand" her July 3 statement, it is useful to return to the actual text of her statement. With such attention we can discover some of the possible confusion of pundits and reveal the largely ignored messages contained in Governor Palin's statement. Most interesting is the discussion about her children:
"In fact, this decision comes after much consideration, and finally polling the most important people in my life -- my children (where the count was unanimous... well, in response to asking: ‘Want me to make a positive difference and fight for ALL our children's future from OUTSIDE the Governor's office?' It was four "yes's" and one "hell yeah!" The "hell yeah" sealed it - and someday I'll talk about the details of that... I think much of it had to do with the kids seeing their baby brother Trig mocked by some pretty mean-spirited adults recently.) Um, by the way, sure wish folks could ever, ever understand that we ALL could learn so much from someone like Trig -- I know he needs me, but I need him even more... what a child can offer to set priorities RIGHT -- that time is precious... the world needs more ‘Trigs', not fewer."
The mocking of a disabled child, Trig Palin, must stand out as one of the most uniquely cruel and despicable contemporary trends of American politics. Could this be what Bill Clinton envisioned when he asked the nation to bring to an end the politics of personal destruction in the 1990s? It is clear that the entire Palin family would like to broaden their advocacy beyond the borders of Alaska. What is also clear is that pulsing at the center of Media contempt toward Palin is not simply stated positions on abortion but real life actions that are so striking and meaningful that they enrage a pretentious political community feigning interest in "women's rights."
Palin was one of the rare political figures recently courageous enough to defend Carrie Prejean -- another conservative woman who "needed" to lose her job for speaking her mind on gay marriage. While Republicans stood around and stared at their political feet, and Democrats cheered from the sideline, Prejean was treated to a vicious rhetorical stoning in the national media. Palin stepped into the fray and in defense of another strong conservative woman. It is rather easy to see how Palin envisions trading her provincial limits of Alaska for a national pedestal on such transparent political problems confounding our culture.
Palin's conclusion utilized a quotation from Douglas MacArthur -- an American general famously dismissed by Democrat President Harry Truman. Truman's dismissal of MacArthur and the ensuing public controversy did great damage to Truman's public credibility. Despite his rogue disposition, MacArthur continued through his rebuttals to secure a place in history as a tough fighter on the military battlefield as well as the political battlefield. Here again pundits seem to miss the rhetorical boat about the larger fight Palin will bring in the next campaign after an apparent "defeat in the Philippines" of 2008.
Consider further the unique context of current events. Michael Jackson is revered at his funeral as someone who really knew how to love children -- unlike Sarah Palin who the Huffington Post reported would be running on the "more retardation platform" in 2012. Governor Sanford gets a slap on the wrist from his Republican colleagues and pundits agree -- he should not expect to resign. Could life be more absurd?
Punditry confusion over Palin's decision and statement is a strategy to absolve critics of their low moral stature in observing the despicable cultural conduct toward Governor Palin and her family. After all, America's political punditry does have an informal role as referee. Some partisans were not unafraid to suggest that Palin had crossed the line when she accused Obama of "palling around with terrorists." It was in their view inappropriate and excessive. The failure to fairly call the playing field of American politics has rightly left the American public observing an obscene scene of political mayhem. The scene clearly disgusts and offends the public across the political spectrum. According to the current commentators, all of the events since August 2008 are some sort of confused nightmare from which we in the electorate can now awaken and come to our senses. Nothing really happened since there was not a "real" candidate in Governor Palin. For some in the politically elite class, such absurd rationalizations will work, but for a sizable component of the public who saw in Palin their own cultural and political fortunes, these comments will serve as further fuel for their partisan fires.
I suspect that many journalists watching their market shares evaporate and their shareholders sell, are aware that the American public is not sad to witness their collective demise. The stony silence among the media class about the hateful vitriol dispensed upon Governor Palin and her family has not gone unnoticed in the public. Whatever the future of Governor Palin, it's a safe bet that her political career will last longer than a great many pundits who make themselves complicit in this disgraceful conduct of American politics and culture.
Ben Voth is Associate professor of Communication, Southern Methodist University
Page Printed from: http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/07/hating_palin.html at July 09, 2009 - 06:47:45 AM EDT
Forward this to Keane.
a great article on Palin is at http://www.alaskadispatch.com/palin-watch/1282-palin-is-now-free-to-exercise-her-real-power
It begins with ...
“The general who advances without coveting fame and retreats without fearing disgrace, whose only thought is to protect his country and do good service for his sovereign, is the jewel of the kingdom. - Sun Tzu”
Sandra Bernhard stated that she thought Palin needed to be gang raped by a bunch of “brothers” when she visited NYC.
oh... I thought he meant someone in politics.
You know how journalists do things, don’t you?
If they want to say something but not get the blame for saying it, they’ll find someone else who says it and “quote” them.
The left is SCARED OF HER ... rightly so. I expect her to win by a land slide.
That is why they hate her so vitriolically. Amazing how the so called ‘feminists’ did/do not support her, Sarah is pro life. A genuine honest person, ‘for’ the good of conservatism.
I welcome this time of her growing and campaigning and developing her future ... which I see being in the political arena for sure.
God bless Sarah Palin and her family. Protect her from evil. Amen.
Yea, I do. I didn’t have my critical thinking hat on at that time. Saying ‘public figure’ has a certain connotation to it and while Sandra Bernhardt is a public figure by any definition, people like her would typically be referred to as ‘entertainer’, ‘comedienne’, or perhaps even ‘political activist’. I just think ‘public figure’ has more of a “government” connotation to it and thought I was going to find some really juicy dirt that I had missed during the campaign. When I heard it was Bernhardt, I was just like ‘meh’.
How so? Any specifics?
We know that most everything the media says about her is twisted, out right false, incorrect ... etc.
Sounds like Mr. Keene is one of those Beltway Boys who is discounting Sarah's chances. I believe he is going to be surprised.
God catch on Palin news.
Another is at http://www.alaskadispatch.com/palin-watch/1282-palin-is-now-free-to-exercise-her-real-power
That article begins with the words ...
“The general who advances without coveting fame and retreats without fearing disgrace, whose only thought is to protect his country and do good service for his sovereign, is the jewel of the kingdom. - Sun Tzu”
I think that MBB is referring to Bristol.
Sarah Palin has a very young child with special needs. Rather than “guiding the house” and be a “keeper of the home” she decided to run for Vice President a position that would require her to be outside the home extensively. During this same time, her daughter Bristol was pregnant and unwed. At the very time her children needed her in the home with her family in dire predicaments, she decided to pursue an opportunity that would take her further from her God ordained position. Her pursuit of the Vice Presidency also exposed her young daughter's moral failure to the world. I do not believe this satisfies the requirement of “loving your children.”
Finally, it is reported that the Palins allowed Levi to live in their home while Bristol was living in the same residence. This was after the pregnancy, but that is irrelevant to God. I do not believe this is keeping with God's command to “abstain from the very appearance of evil.”
I also understand that Ms. Palin eloped when she got married and was pregnant at the time. Track Palin was born 7.83 months after the marriage. I understand that people make youthful mistakes. However, we should do all we can to make sure our children do not make the same mistakes. In my mind, this required Ms. Palin to particularly be a “keeper of the home.” Instead, we see the same destructive pattern described in Ezekiel 16:44, “...Like mother, like daughter.”
YOU might be hoping for someone with particular Christian family values for President, but people of good will can disagree on just what those are. Most voters are looking for honesty and integrity overall, not necessarily strict adherence to sectarian values, and I think Sarah has those values in good measure.
No, it wasn't. Reactions in the more thoughtful areas of the media seem to run from disapproval of this sort of behavior (seldom voiced while it was going on) to a stern and strident denial that it ever took place and a demand for examples. Unfortunately for the latter position, examples abound.
Reaction in the less thoughtful mainstream has been essentially to declare this business as usual and to deride its victim as a whiner. That's only a temporary position at best. The positions open in the self-proclaimed Fourth Estate referee business have been abandoned in favor of extreme partisanship and when their former occupants return to claim them again they're going to find that one of their requirements is a credibility that the occupants no longer possess. Tough times ahead for journalists. Same as the rest of us.
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