The American Spectator

Reader Mail

(Page 6 of 21)

p>Up to now, Obama has always won by fighting dirty. But this time, he may have met his match in Sarah Palin, a smiling bull dog in lipstick. Truly she is "The Right Lady." br> -- Jim Bailey /p>

Sarah Palin delivered a powerful speech. No doubt Democrats are less confident now than they were 24 hours ago.

In spite of all the MSM hoopla over the impending "culture war" during the remainder of this campaign, what struck me watching the convention last night is the large degree to which the GOP has been co-opted by left wing 60's values. To wit, you have Sarah Palin. Governor of Alaska. GOP vice presidential candidate. Hockey mother of five children. When introduced by Senator McCain she praised Geraldine Ferraro and Hillary Clinton and the 18 million sisters who have put as many cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling in America. Sure there are differences of opinion concerning reproductive rights and other issues, but women are intelligent individuals of good will who can have honest policy differences. Last night was a 60's feminist's wildest dream come true.

Marginalized, silenced and possibly nearly extinct are the types who think Sara should be home in the kitchen marinating the moose and raising her five children. And, if she had just been doing her job, Bristol would still be a virgin. Gone are the days when illegitimacy brought embarrassment, humiliation and shame to the family. Okay, maybe this doesn't constitute the GOP's full embrace of sex, drugs and rock and roll, but the airport meeting wasn't a scene out of Leave It to Beaver either. Perhaps the greatest service Bristol Palin has done for this country is to remind us of the fact that it was the intolerant, judgmental right that made what was once considered "private issues" into political wedge issues. I don't recall seeing the milk of human kindness flowing from the pens of the pious in defense of Jamie Lynn Spears or her family. Perhaps one has to be Republican to merit that grace. Nevertheless, to see GOP back away from this is a good thing.

p>Boys and girls: this is not your granddad or your dad's GOP and last night was not their nominating convention either. As W dirt bikes off into the sunset, I wonder if Ike, Barry, Richard and Ronald are spinning in their graves. br> -- Mike Roush /p>

Enough already. Yes, the Right has to offset the vitriolic attacks of the Looney Left, but the hyperbole from the Right is equally disquieting. Governor Palin is a fantastic choice from and for McCain. She is articulate, strong, pugnacious, tenacious, and, not to ignore the elephant in the room, a beautiful and vivacious woman. Palin is an accomplished fighter of the corrupt, a righter of wrongs. Governor Palin drives the Left to distraction because she is all they idealize -- in theory. Palin is all they could ask for -- except that she is a staunch Republican. Palin has the potential to be the heir to the Reagan revolution, but she is not the Second Coming (of Ronald Reagan).

When McCain first announced his choice for VP, a collective "Who!?!" could be heard around the country. Many, both Left and Right, spoke of Palin's advantage of low expectations. Once the Left saw the true woman, they understood she was a real threat to them and launched an unprecedented attack campaign against her. (That the attacks are highly hypercritical and without basis in truth do not completely negate their effects.) The Right has since gone beyond damage control and into an insane frenzy of their own. Palin may very well prove to be all that people say she is, but only in time. If Palin falls short of the mark, it will largely be due to how high the bar has been raised by the very people who wish to see her succeed. (The gods invented irony for their own amusement.)

p>Remember well the words of Fredrick Nietzsche, "Undeserved praise causes more pangs of conscience later than undeserved blame, but probably only for this reason, that our power of judgment are more completely exposed by being over praised than by being unjustly underestimated." br> --

topics:
Taxes, Foreign Policy, John McCain, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Sarah Palin, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Mainstream Media, Television, Business, Abortion, Law, Military, Iraq, Iran, Israel, NATO, Alaska, Oil