“I think we Americans tend to put too high a price on unanimity, as if there were something dangerous and illegitimate about honest differences of opinion honestly expressed by honest men.” – J. William Fulbright
Quick, grab your pitchforks and broomsticks – the witch hunt is back in full swing. Sarah Palin’s widely-publicized new book, “Going Rogue,” was just released this week and will be #1 on the New York Times best-seller list when it’s next published. In the meantime, though, her critics are back at it, attacking anything and anyone they view as a threat to the “Washington Way.” Tragically, the attacks on Sarah Palin from both the left and right reinforce the idea that America still has a problem with xenophobia. That’s a tough pill to swallow considering how long we’ve been fighting and dying for equality. Americans should be ashamed by the treatment Ms. Palin has received.
The former Alaska governor never ran a malicious campaign, remarkably remaining above the fray despite the unending avalanche of mudslinging aimed in her direction. And outside of the over-edited, over-analyzed interviews with Katie Couric and Charles Gibson, she’s shown that she’s a moderately intelligent person with more guts and gusto than most politicians could ever hope to squander. But because she holds fast to beliefs which don’t align with those of the pundits, including at times even Republicans, she’s somehow portrayed as stupid and unfit to lead. The proof is in the pudding – the Associated Press dedicated 11 people to fact-checking Palin’s book but didn’t bother to check any facts in recent books by Vice President Biden, President Obama, or Bill or Hillary Clinton [1].
Even more despicable, though, are those who wish to repeatedly attack her character out of a seeming lack of decency or absence of facts with which to develop a substantive argument. We should know by now that the character of a person doesn’t make his or her opinion or actions any more or less relevant. Former President Carter may be a terrorist and a Marxist but that doesn’t keep me from being active with Habitat for Humanity. Even more fundamentally, someone who has so graciously dealt with an overly-aggressive media, the birth and care of a special needs child, and other over-publicized family issues should be the last person to have his or her character questioned.
Unfortunately for the politicians and pundits and fortunately for Sarah Palin, her opponent’s plan has backfired. The more baseless attacks are thrown at her, the more upset and polarized her supporters and sympathizers become. One could apply the analogy that the hotter the fire, the more refined the product. Ms. Palin has remained in the limelight in great part due to continued criticism from the media.
In all honestly, I don’t love Sarah Palin, but I do respect her attitude and opinions. What I do love is that the attempts of her critics to demean her and take her out of the spotlight have failed. I suggest that they take the hint and focus on the issues – lobbing baseless, off-topic attacks at people is immature and have been proven ineffective.
Today’s call to action: Let’s make it really simple today – don’t let someone else tell you what opinion to have. Watch an interview or two in which Sarah Palin has participated over the last two weeks and judge for yourself.
1. “AP Turns Heads for Devoting 11 Reporters to Palin Book ‘Fact Check’,” foxnews.com, November 18, 2009. DGCYPUH4YTC5
