Palinization and the Republican Party

There's a new concept in the of pantheon of American politics. Palinization - the unrelenting campaign of bigotry, ridicule and falsehood unleashed by the Leftist/Democrat, state-run media, and Republican establishments against Sarah Palin and others not like themselves.

I think the treatment Sarah Palin has received at the hands of the aforementioned cabal is beyond shameful. I would expect to find palinizers among the rank and file Leftist/Democrats and the state-run media, but not the Republican Party, yet the list of Republican palinizers is too long for this post. There are two, however, whom I believe to be poster persons for the malaise afflicting the Republican establishment.

American Conservative Union chair David Keene recently told Newsmax Magazine's Ronald Kessler that Mrs. Palin isn't ready to run for president. That was nearly the kindest thing he was quoted as saying. He went on with a lengthy list of her so-called mistakes and additional reasons she isn't qualified, but did stop to breathe and take note of the fact that she is "well liked... an attractive political personality... obviously bright...." That faint praise really took the edge off his otherwise delightful and refreshing candor.

Anybody know what David Keene has ever run for? Nothing. In addition to the chairmanship of the ACU, he's currently a lobbyist (on behalf of liberal pressure groups, in some instances), a newspaper columnist, and a blogger, and he sits as a member on several boards. Since 1976 Keene has served in four losing Republican presidential campaigns, endorsed the erstwhile Democrat-Republican-Democrat Arlen Specter over conservative Pat Toomey in the 2004 Pennsylvania Senate election, back in the days when Specter was still a member of the Republican party. In 2007 Keene endorsed Mitt Romney and founded a coalition to oppose to the alleged expansion of powers of the Executive Branch, opposing Republican president George W. Bush. Keene is billed in the Newsmax article as "one of the country's most astute political observers." Really?

Authoress, Wall Street Journal columnist, and MSNBC commentator-palinizer Peggy Noonan has had it in for Mrs. Palin since the 2008 presidential campaign. Noonan's recent column, available at Wall Street Journal online, Farewell to Harms, is as much a hit-piece as you'd ever see at the Huffington Post. It's a bitter screed, by turns aggrieved and baleful. The gist is that Sarah Palin is not a serious political contender, thank God and Barack Obama that Sarah Palin and George W. Bush are gone; she even implies that Joe Biden is smart! Noonan is so out of touch that she thinks the Republican establishment made Palin and Bush, then turns around and blames them for the Republican establishment's troubles. Noonan throws rocks at President George W. Bush, and he's gone! No mention of their accomplishments, character and convictions, just a breathless rush to move past them and get the Grand Old Party started (restarted?). Noonan's never run for anything either.

Two examples of a Republican establishment with its tin ear, out of touch with its base. Furthermore, recent accomplishments of the Republican establishment include losing the House, the Senate, a presidential election and racking up an impressive tally of assorted scandals among their most prominent members. After all this it's no surprise to me that McCain/Palin lost. The Republican establishment's mistreatment of Sarah Palin is nothing but a futile attempt at aggrandizement, to compensate for their own shocking inadequacies and glittering failures. Nor does it bode well for political outsiders or average Joes who want to make a difference for the country by running for public office on a Republican ticket. If successful politicians can't satisfy them, who can?

Over 48 million people voted the McCain/Palin ticket in the 2008 election. How many of those have been alienated by the palinization of Sarah Palin and others? No way to really know? The 2010 midterms and the 2012 presidential election will surely answer that question for us.

Let the Republican establishment worry about brands and big tents and natter away about inclusiveness and unity. It would appear that "We the People" are going to have to look after American ideals and values ourselves. I'm not sure the Republican establishment can be trusted with any part of our future, anymore than I would trust the Leftist/Democrat/state-run media establishment. I'm not at all sure I even recognize what passes for the Republican party nowadays - Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan wouldn't either.

48 million voters in 2008 weren't wrong. We don't need to stay home in 2010. We don't need to sit by quietly and let the Republican establishment do the Democrat dirty work. We don't need RINOs playing at healthcare reform or banking reform. We don't need patronage that perpetuates perfidy. We don't need RINOs - there are too many Democrats already!

We need a conservative surge among the American electorate. We need a conservative reformation in the Republican party. We need to find and elect Republicans to all levels of government who will defend the values and principles this nation was founded on, and uphold their oaths of office. We need Republican leaders with the courage to stop the Obama administration and the radical left. We have a few now, but America needs an unashamed and unapologetic conservative Republican majority in the US House and Senate.

If he were alive today, Thomas Paine would tell the Republican establishment to "lead, follow, or get out of the way". And I would have to wholeheartedly agree with him.


Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty, but I never dreamed we'd have to watch out for the Republicans, too!