The Clampdown

I’ve been away for a week, hiding out from the forces of the Clampdown, and made a promise to myself that I would spend a full eight days not reading newspapers or watching TV. I’m still trying to catch up with everything that happened last week, but clearly the Sarah Palin story is a big one.

Palin’s resignation from the Governor’s chair stunned everyone. The press conference was hastily called and the announcement was made with no prior warning signs. The big question is, “Why?”

The short answer is that I don’t know. The only people who really know are her family. Of course the smear merchants on the Left are insinuating that it’s because there’s a huge scandal about to explode with her name on it and that the FBI is launching an investigation into her. The FBI denies it. I must confess that this thought did cross my mind, as well. The last time a governor called a press conference this quickly was when South Carolina’s Mark Sanford admitted that he had a gal in the Argentinian mountains, or when New York’s own Eliot Spitzer admitted to consorting with a hooker (sorry, at those prices she’s an escort). Or perhaps my favorite, when New Jersey’s Jim McGreevy did his “I’m a gay American!” press conference. Now that was a keeper. Good times, good times.

Palin’s supporters maintain that she’s laying the groundwork to run for President in 2012. If this is true, this seems an odd way of doing it. One of the knocks against Palin was her inexperience. It was always a cheap rap, especially in light of our Community-Organizer-in-Chief’s brief resume, but it seemed to stick for some reason. It seems to me that finishing your term and being the best damn governor Alaska’s ever had would improve your chances of becoming President.

I don’t believe that Palin will ever be President. The way the Left attacked and smeared her left an indelible impression in the minds of many swing voters. It was grossly unfair. Palin’s a smart, self-made woman. Her policy expertise was lacking in some areas, especially foreign policy, but no more so than Barack Obama’s (remember, Obama picked Biden to shore up his inexperience in foreign policy). But the precedent to remember here is Dan Quayle. The fact is that Quayle was the smart one on the Bush/Quayle ticket and was considered one of the most knowledgable experts in foreign policy in the Senate. But the media blasted him as a dummy who couldn’t spell “potato” and the image stuck. Quayle was never able to overcome that calumny because every time he stuck his neck out the media dragged out the old lies and distortions one more time. The same will be true of Palin. It’s not fair, of course, but Palin will be remembered not as the self-assured woman who gave a great speech at the Republican convention, but as a caricature voiced by Tina Fey. Staying in Alaska out of the media’s eye, doing a great job, and studying the issues would have helped her out more in 2012 than jetting all over the country giving speeches now.

Of course, the other possibility is that she’s tired of the lies, the attacks, and the constant smears by her political enemies and wants out of the game. If that’s the case, I wish her well and hope she and her family have a long and wonderful life together, but I can’t say that I blame her.

The Left hates this woman with a passion the likes of which I have never before witnessed. My personal opinion is that they dislike her and want to see her defeated because of her politics, but they hate her because she didn’t have the common decency to abort her Down Syndrome child. Sarah Palin is a refutation of everything the Left stands for. Unlike Hillary Clinton, Palin made it on her name, not her husband’s. She should be a feminist icon, and would be if she believed in higher taxes and abortion on demand. But she believes in lower taxes, and wouldn’t even abort that little retard. In fact, she even seems to think that little Trig Palin’s life actually has some value, that silly know-nothing! Doesn’t she understand that this is in direct opposition to groups like Planned Parenthood, which was founded to cut down the numbers of little retards and black babies.

Like Clarence Thomas on race, Sarah Palin has strayed off the reservation, and she must be punished for her transgressions.

Whatever plans she has, I wish her well.

Shortly after I wrote this, I found this absolutely revolting piece via a link from “Why Mommy Is A Republican.” It was taken off the Huffington Post, but preserved for the history books by Michelle Malkin.

It appears that my theory about the Left’s hatred of Palin isn’t as lonely as it appeared (to me, at least). I also found this posting on Mommy’s site.