Comments Related To: Palin casts herself as a bullied Cinderella, Caroline Kennedy as a wicked stepsister

I remain a bit disgusted at the amount of flak over Michelle Obama's comments being taken out of context to imply some degree of treason, while Palin got a relatively free ride for her husband being part of a separatist organization. I guess, for a Vice Presidential candidate, it's no big deal if your spouse is part of an organization with a militant attitude against the United States of America. In other countries, people are lined up against the wall and shot for less. Here. you get a free ride and then cry that you're not getting enough isn't-she-beautiful coverage in media.

There were no "class issues"! It was pretty simple. Palin was extremely unqualified to be vice president. That's the end of the story. She should have known that the media would be all over her because at the end of the day, the media is a business, and the biggest and most entertaining story during the campaigning was Palin's inadequacy to be VP. She should have known what she was getting herself into. And there shouldn't be any comparisons with Caroline Kennedy. It's a whole different situation. Kennedy wants to be senator while Palin wanted to hold the second most important position in the country.

watch the exciting battle between the very pretty peacock and shrewd cat over a piece of bread

http://view.break.com/643483

If anything, I think an independent analysis would reveal that Palin was treated with kid gloves. Sure, there was Tina Fey hanging over her like a mirror of her shadow self, the self Palin seems unwilling or incapable of facing. But given the furor over Rev. Wright, Palin's pastor was almost entirely overlooked by the mainstream press. His religious philosophies aren't worth going into here, but let's just say they were not exactly "mainstream." Which is fine - everyone is entitled to their religious beliefs so long as those beliefs don't lead to direct harm to others -- but given the scrutiny of Rev. Wright, Black Liberation Theology and Trinity United, one would think that further exploration of Palin's pastor would have been warranted.

As far as her youngest child goes, it was mentioned early on in her national emergence that she made the decision to fly from Texas back to Alaska after her water broke so that the child could be born in Alaska. In the context of what that says about her priorities, I was disappointed to see that she wasn't asked directly about it.

But here's the thing: the supporters I wrote about in the original column *expect* attacks, and when Palin bristles at her treatment in the press or the fact that comedians mock her, something resonates deep within them. They feed on it. Here is a woman who would not take it anymore - here is one of their own, an average woman who couldn't be bothered with such things as "the Bush doctrine" because, well, people were picking on her when they asked her about it.

Some people, even successful people like Palin, get so caught up in an underlying sense of being a victim or being persecuted that they can't shake it and don't want to, much in the same way an alcoholic doesn't want to give up drinking or a gambling addict wants to make that one last bet on the big game.

Her defensiveness reveals a bitterness, anger and simmering paranoia unrivaled in any modern American politician since Nixon - with the possible exception of Bill Clinton when he is in one of his pissy moods. The difference is it that it doesn't seem to be the essence of Clinton, whereas with Palin, like Nixon, it seems to be an entrenched component of her core being.

Here's one thing that really bothers me. If she was SO worried about being "mocked" by comedians, why agree to go on Saturday Night Live?

If she's SO worried about being "misquoted" and "abused" by the media, why does she continue to put herself AND her family in harms way by taking interviews and spouting her crap?

I think the answer is directly in your article - she NEEDS the victim mentality to rally her base and hopefully spring some life into a campaign that, inevitably, is no doubt going to fail. I doubt she even gets re-elected Gov. in 2010 (though maybe that's just wishful thinking).

Punditty !
"As far as her youngest child goes, it was mentioned early on in her national emergence that she made the decision to fly from Texas back to Alaska after her water broke so that the child could be born in Alaska. In the context of what that says about her priorities, I was disappointed to see that she wasn't asked directly about it."...please don't stoop so low, in your attempt to denigrate the persona of someone you or somebody dont' like.
America is still decades away from giving dignity to its women politician!

The tone of this response by citizenjournal is precisely what I am talking about re: the victim mentality of Palin and her defenders.

And citizenjournal, my saying that is not intended as a personal attack on you, Sarah Palin or anyone else you might think I am attacking.

In a certain mentality, there is an almost reflexive leap to concluding that someone who questions or criticizes Palin (or Bush, or Cheney, or Condi Rice, etc.) is denigrating or being unfair toward the target of their criticism. Bush is quite good, actually, at letting criticisms just roll off (at least that's the impression he gives publicly), but Palin, on the other hand, clearly takes things personally and holds a grudge. It's a pity Richard Nixon didn't long live enough to come to her defense.

The question of her flying back to Alaska to give birth is a valid question, far more valid than whether or not Britney Spears let her kid get behind the wheel of a car and pretend to be driving. Yet we sure saw a lot of discussion about that a couple years back, didn't we?

Most physicians would not advise a pregnant woman to fly when she is that close to delivery. Questions about Palin's decision to do so are at least as valid as the questions about JFK Jr.'s decision to fly back to Martha's Vineyard in iffy conditions, questions about Dick Cheney's gun safety training or wondering aloud about Barack Obama's tobacco habit and past drug use. All these topics have been discussed in the larger context of what it says about the person in question. Why should Palin get special treatment - because she whines so much about being mistreated in the press?

And yet Palin's defenders see asking this very reasonable question as some sort of an attack. It is not. It speaks directly to her judgment and her priorities.

Finally, the idea that raising valid questions about Palin's judgment somehow equates with America not giving dignity to its women politicians would be laughable if so many Palinistas didn't take it seriously. Off the top of my head I can think of several examples of women of both parties who are treated with respect and dignity, Palin included.

To make such an assertion shows either intellectual laziness or an inability to understand what words like "dignity" mean. Just because Palin doesn't get her way, that doesn't mean we all have to treat her with kid gloves so her feathers don't get ruffled. Many of us have worked with people like Palin. She comes across as the middle manager no one wants to have as their superviser - except she doesn't want to be a middle manager, she wants to be president of the United States.

But as I said in the original report, Palin's little outrages and mini-tantrums (I laughed out loud at her snide little line about Katie Couric not being the center of the universe) might resonate with a larger cross-section of the country in 2012 if things continue to go south. Those of us who can see what a disaster she would be as president underestimate her at our own peril. They wrote off Nixon after his 1962 gubernatorial loss to Pat Brown, but six years later he was elected president of the United States.

Don''t count her out, but don't treat her like a child just because she acts like one.

punditty!
I dont' know what provoked you so much to devote time and space to make your points clearer to me. I can only laugh...haha
The fact that the election is over, Gov. Pallin is back in Alaska and the world has moved on...there are more pressing issues to discuss and debate rather than tear apart the personal life of individuals.
And by the way would advise you to get in the habit of digesting different shades of opinion!

Citizenjournal:

All the world may have moved on, but part of that moving on involves Palin positioning herself for a presidential bid. That is what she is doing, and as I wrote, she's doing exactly what she has to do keep her base fired up even if she seems to have been written off by the mainstream press.

Re: your dietary recommendations, sometimes the process of digesting certain "different shades of opinion" requires a self-administered written laxative (see comments above) to help kickstart the peristalsic process. Perhaps I should also get in the habit of avoiding red meat intended for some other demographic group.

This makes me so sick. This women just won't give up will she!!! She's like the nightmare that NEVER ends *sigh* Unfortunately we haven't heard the last of her I'm afraid, but what a sad day it is for American politics to have this women still bantering on, and we sit around and listen to it!

The comparison to Nixon is unfair. Nixon signed the EPA into existence. Palin is part of an extraction industry cabal that has set back environmental regulations 100 years.

America prides itself on freedom of speech, and in this case, I think it best to let Palin have her say.

I believe that the majority of average citizens have enough brains to see through the negative campaigning, as well as the eternal-victim retoric that she loves. Some may need more time an others, but she will turn many stomaches over the next years. And with Internet jouralism on the rise, she will always find a forum willing to let her vent her stupidity to anyone willing to listen.

I personally know several people who only got active in the Obama campaign after Palin was named. They were just scared at the consequences of having Palin so close to the Oval Office. And while I ackowledge the votes Palin surely brought to the McCain camp, believe me, she cost them votes as well.

Let her keep on talking. Hopefully Republicans will also listen, and not give her the chance to cost them another election!