Posted on 03/09/2010 8:28:51 PM PST by Brices Crossroads
I cannot tell how much of this outrage about Sarah Palin's endorsement of McCain is feigned by those who do not wish her well. It is not principally to those folks that this post is directed.
To those conservatives who are genuinely disappointed by Sarah Palin's decision to support McCain, let me say that I think Rush and Mark Levin understand it and have said that it is a question of loyalty and that loyalty is a virtue. That makes sense to me and, personally, I would be a little put off if she did otherwise, since it would look like rank ingratitude.
But, if you remain unappeased by this explanation, let me give you an historical analogy, based upon the supposition that Palin was wrong to endorse McCain to attempt to put the matter in perspective. In 1943, there was an American General who had taken the Seventh Army from a humiliating defeat at the Kasserine Pass to the conquest of all North Africa and then of Sicily. He appeared to be the overwhelmingly likely choice to lead the invasion of Europe, code-named Operation Overlord. The German General staff viewed him as, far and away, the best field commander in the Unnited States Army, and they feared and respected him enough to follow his every move.
He had no tolerance for shirkers, however. While visiting a field hospital, he saw a soldier suffering from battle fatigue, lost his temper and slapped the soldier, humiliating the man but not injuring him. I think that most anyone would agree that the General was wrong to slap the soldier. He was relieved of command of the Seventh Army and sent back to England. The invasion of Italy was commanded by a mediocre General whose lack of ability cost the lives of many Americans at Anzio and Cassino and the command of the Normandy Invasion forces fell to a less talented commander, who got bogged down in the hedge row country, again with heavy casualties. Just in the nick of time, this General was recalled to active duty, given command of the Third Army and carried out one of the most remarkable military campaigns in history, smashing huge German armies at Saint Lo, the Saar and finally the Ardennes Forest.
That little slap in Sicily cost the lives of many American soldiers and could have altered the war, because the response to it by the General Staff was DISPROPORTIONATE. In the larger scheme of things, it was no justification for removing a commander of this stature. In 1943, many a worried parent would have preferred to know that their son was under the command of this general because their boy's very life was at stake, and they would not have wanted a fracas in a field hospital to interfere with what they regarded as a matter of life and death. Great military commanders are a relatively rare commodity. They don't turn in long casualty lists and they have been known to save their countries.
Political geniuses are no less rare. They too have been known to save lives and to save their countries. The stakes in this upcoming election could not be higher. The Republican party, at this particular point in history, possesses a unique weapon, a political genius who so flummoxes the other side that they devote all their attention to her every move. Yet there are some sincere conservatives who believe that her endorsement of John McCain, a 75 year old Senator likely serving his last term, is so serious as to justify removing her from consideration for the GOP nomination. This strikes me as the political equivalent of "cutting off one's nose to spite one's face." The response is, once again, disproportionate.
My view is that the Obama White House would be as delighted to see Palin removed from the scene as the German General Staff was delighted to see Patton relieved in 1943. For the Germans, it was much easier to contend with the likes of Mark Clark and Omar Bradley than Patton. For Obama, it is much easier to contend with the likes of Pawlenty, Romney or Huckabee than Sarah Palin. With our country very likely at stake in 2012, can we as conservatives, even if we sincerely believe Palin to be wrong in this matter, afford to be so disproportionate in our response to it?
Patton had not proved many times that he was a great commander.
“Don’t know much about Patton, do you? You conveniently left out the Mexican expeditionary raid, his service, and leadership during WWI and his several commands between the wars.”
The Mexican raid, his service, and leadership during WWI and several commands between are hardly proof of being a GREAT Commander.
“Your analogy of Sarah Palin with one of the greatest military commanders in history is... well...silly.”
Either your bias is showing or you just don’t read well. BryceXRoads analogy doesn’t “compare Palin to Patton”.
The analogy compares Patton’s slap to the face and taken off the field...to Palin’s endorsement of McCain and a vocal minority punishing her by eliminating her from consideration or “taking her off the field”. The best viable conservative in the field at that.
“And it makes a mockery of the thousands of veterans who did NOT return home”
Hyperbole, see my last post.
You’re a Romney bot, always have been and always will be.
You can feign all you want...but if he is nominated you will be his biggest supporter (of course because obama is the bigger threat).
At that point it won’t matter what you say or what Palin supporters say. Romney has no chance due to ObamaCare passing.
The odds are that you will get your way. Romney will hand the 8 year term to Obama. I’ll be laughing my ass off at you Romneyites. ObamaCare equals taking out Romney instantly.
The other part of the grand plan by Palin attackers is the 3% Fringers and PaulNuts will have divided conservatives and maybe crack 3.5%. Interesting that establishment GOP types forming a coalition with Fringers to give us Obama.
You can feign all you want...but if he is nominated you will be his biggest supporter (of course because obama is the bigger threat).
Of course I will support him in the General Election. I supported McCain in the last election, even though he was 5th on my list in the republican primary. I've never said or "feigned" otherwise -- it works better if your straw man is something that is actually silly.
You can’t run away from your past lol.
Why would someone want to run away from their past?
I’ve been accused of many things, but hiding my opinion has never been one of them.
VERY good points and very well said!
This is precisely how I feel about Palin. There is NO other political figure at all who even remotely gets this response from Obama. Not even close. Romney, McCain, (insert name here, no one gets the response of the obamanation that Sarah does, and that tells me that it is HER they fear.
If they fear her, then they have REASON to fear her. That works for me!
Ok, so name ONE office that Obama filled the full term of.
(crickets)
She left for exactly the right reasons, and it was a BENEFIT to the state that she did.
- Stay and spend the next 2 years fighting BS Ethics violations and doing literally nothing else for that entire time
vs.
-Resign and allow the state to move forward with out the BS Ethics violations that were literally grinding the working of the governor’s office to a complete standstill.
One does nothing for the state of Alaska, the other does a great deal.
One required that she deliberately choose to handicap the state for two years. The other took that target out of the field, and allows Alaska’s government to FUNCTION to the benefit of the people it is supposed to be working for.
You do the math.
She made the HARDER decision to leave, and it was the RIGHT decision for the State.
LOL.
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