Please excuse the rapid top posts. I've been very angry since I read about Obama's "still a pig" statement, and so have several men and women I've spoken with tonight.
Why? Because she's a woman? No. Although I admit to wanting to leap to her defense, I've felt the same kind of anger when other people have been unfairly attacked, whether men or women.
So, why then? Politics is rough and tumble right?
Look. She can take it. In fact, I think it's going to turn out to be a signature blunder by Obama. A pitch thrown in panic right in Sarah's wheelhouse.
The thing that angers me is that Obama has gotten offended at every attack thrown at him, and so have his surrogates in the MSM. Anything even bordering slightly on the so-called "out of bounds" has been taboo.
Yet, it seemed any attack on Hillary was fair. I can't believe anything on this earth could have possibly made me have some grudging respect for Hillary, but before I ever heard of Sarah Palin, this year, I was saying, "I'd never vote for Hillary, but damn, she's taking one hell of a lot right on the chin and still swinging." For me, this had both to do with the fact that the MSM decided to choose Obama as their savior, and because the particular nature of the attacks on Hillary seemed to me to be unbelievably sexist at times. It was a Democrat primary for God's sake! I was by no means the only one to notice this with some degree of shock, but, being a conservative, and anti-Clinton for years and years, my opinion was obviously, and rightly discounted.
Obama was untouchable. He was the messiah. College girls were fainting regularly at his speeches. He was so wonderful.
McCain would run a tough advertisement that was nevertheless legitimate, and people whined about "negative campaigning."
So, Governor Palin gets picked and instantly flips the dynamics of this election. The energy and buzz went straight from the Democrats to the Republicans.
Obama's campaign reacted in a ridiculous fashion, and it took him a full day to blame a staffer, yet again, and come out with something resembling a classy response. Then he, with quite a bit of class, specifically and vehemently reiterated how family, and especially children were out of bounds. So, I thought, okay, this is going to be one hell of a tough fight, but there will be certain lines not crossed.
And today we hear from Barrack Obama that the polls have made him truly panic. That his classy behavior was just a veneer. A soapy patina that can be washed away by the polls.
As Peggy Noonan said, when Sarah Palin made that crack about the pitbull and lipstick it instantly became a part of the American vernacular. Obama and everyone in his campaign knew this. And they saw how many people were talking about how attractive Sarah Palin was.
They tried attacking her experience. But whether you agree with the Republican talking points or not, the facts are the facts, and her experience stacks up with Obama's himself. They spent the last week attacking the Republican Vice President nominee far more than the top of the ticket, which is stupid in its own right, and their bullets just kept falling flattened on the floor.
So, today Obama decided -- and I've seen the video -- to very carefully make his "it's still a pig" comment.
It reminds me of Al Gore's handler's telling him to bare his teeth and wear earth tones, and sigh loudly and wear cheeck blush during the debates.
"Senator Obama, you have to take her down. This is a popularity contest, and they are flocking to her in droves. Beauty is a matter of perception and you have to do something to change that perception, to get them really talking about it, and over-analyzing it to the point that we can convince people she's not all that pretty. Because convincing them she's not all that experienced isn't working."
Yeah, I'm just guessing. That's pure speculation on my part. But the alternative is worse. The alternative is that he can't stand it. That the legitimate attacks on his experience got to him, and that he can't stand not being on the pedestal. To cite Noonan again, with whom I often disagree, Palin was perhaps the first person in his life to actually hit him.
But she didn't attack his looks, or his intelligence, or even his character. She simply pointed out a fair argument about what he himself has put on his resume, and about the policies which he himself constantly advocates. Yes, it was a red meat attack at him, which is what Vice Presidential candidates do at conventions, but it was fair.
Yet he decided today to call her a pig.
Now, all of this rests on the one utterly obvious fact that he did call her a pig. So, of course, his supporters will have to deny this, and so will those who just like to be devil's advocates.
Let me just ask those of you who would argue the point this: so soon after such an instantly famous line regarding the pitbull and the hockey mom, is there any doubt whatsoever that Obama's quote today would not be instantly and directly associated with Sarah Palin?
If you have any doubt about this, that is forgivable, you are not a professional politician, nor a professional campaign strategist, but now that I've pointed it out to you, you can see how any professional politician or campaign strategist would instantly see the glaring connection. Hell, you can even see how every last person with a brain on the planet who has been paying attention, sees the obvious and instant connection. Right?
Look. We're not stupid here. There are hardly any undecided voters who ever, ever stop by this little corner of the internet we call home. So, please, please, do yourself a favor and don't forever brand yourself a braindead koolaid partisan. Just admit this obvious point. The connection between Obama's comment and Palin is impossible to miss.
Therefore there are only three possible conclusions you can reach: Obama is making a cruel personal attack out of panic; Obama is stupid beyond our comprehension; both.
