Your email address is safe with us. View our Privacy policy.
Author Bio:
Kathleen Parker is one of America's most popular opinion columnists, addressing the country's mental health through her views on current national ...
Read more about Kathleen Parker.
Kathleen Parker is one of America's most popular opinion columnists, addressing the country's mental health through her views on current national ...
Read more about Kathleen Parker.
Speak Correctly -- Or Build A Big Bunker
Kathleen Parker
WASHINGTON -- Allow me to introduce myself. I am a traitor and an
idiot. Also, my mother should have aborted me and left me in a
dumpster, but since she didn't, I should "off" myself.
Those are just a few nuggets randomly selected from thousands of e-mails written in response to my column suggesting that Sarah Palin is out of her league and should step down.
Who says public discourse hasn't deteriorated?
The fierce reaction to my column has been both bracing and enlightening. After 20 years of column writing, I'm familiar with angry mail. But the past few days have produced responses of a different order. Not just angry, but vicious and threatening.
Some of my usual readers feel betrayed because I previously have written favorably of Palin. By changing my mind and saying so, I am viewed as a traitor to the Republican Party -- not a "true" conservative.
Obviously, I'm not employed by the GOP. If I were, they're seriously in arrears. But what is a true conservative? One who doesn't think or question and who marches in lockstep with The Party?
The emotional pitch of many comments suggests an overinvestment in Palin as "one of us."
Palin's fans say they like her specifically because she's an outsider, not part of the Washington club. When she flubs during interviews, they identify with that, too. "You see the lack of polish, we applaud it," one reader wrote.
Of course, there's a difference between a lack of polish and a lack of coherence. Some of Palin's interview responses can't even be critiqued on their merits because they're so nonsensical. But even that is someone else's fault, say Palin supporters. The media make her uncomfortable.
Or, it's the fault of those slick politicos who are overmanaging her. "Let Sarah be Sarah" has become the latest rallying cry among my colleagues on the right. She'll be fine if we just leave her alone, they say. Between prayers, I might add.
Not all my mail has been mean-spirited. A fair number expressed polite disappointment; others relief and gratitude. Still others offered reasonable arguments aimed at changing my mind. I may yet.
In the meantime, this assault and my decision to write about it aren't really about me -- or even Sarah Palin. The mailbag is about us, our country, and what we really believe.
That we have become a partisan nation is no secret. This week has provided a vivid example of where rabid partisanship leads with the failure of Congress to pass a bailout bill vitally needed to keep our economy from unraveling.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi gave a partisan speech, blaming the credit crisis on the Bush administration (omitting the Clinton administration's role in launching the subprime lending debacle). Republicans responded by voting against the bill.
Everyone's to blame, by the way.
Such extreme partisanship has a crippling effect on government, which may be desirable at times, but not now. More important in the long term is the less tangible effect of stifling free speech. My mail paints an ugly picture and a bleak future if we do not soon correct ourselves.
The picture is this: Anyone who dares express an opinion that runs counter to the party line will be silenced. That doesn't sound American to me, but Stalin would approve.
Readers have every right to reject my opinion. But when we decide that a person is a traitor and should die for having an opinion different than one's own, then we cross into territory that puts all freedoms at risk. (I hear you, Dixie Chicks.)
I'm sure it is coincidence that, upon the Palin column's publication, a conservative organization suddenly canceled a speech I was scheduled to deliver in a few days. If I were as paranoid as the conspiracy theorists are, I might wonder whether I was being punished for speaking incorrectly.
Unfortunately, that's the way one begins to think when party loyalty is given a higher value than loyalty to bedrock principles.
Our day of reckoning, indeed, may be upon us. Between war and economic collapse, we have enormous challenges. It will take the best of everyone to solve them. That process begins minimally with a commitment to engage in civil discourse and a cease-fire in the war against unwelcome ideas.
In that spirit, may Sarah Palin be fearless in Thursday's debate and speak her true mind.
========
Kathleen Parker's e-mail address is kparker@kparker.com
(c) 2008, Washington Post Writers Group
This news arrived on: 10/01/2008
Printer Friendly Version | Send this page to a friend | Post Comment
Rate This Story:
Great - 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 - Bad
Posted Comments:
10-05-2008 11:03
Jaime wrote:
Speak Correctly
Kathleen, for every fan you lost for your accurate column about Sarah Palin you gained a lot more. Myself included.
The supporters of Sarah Palin have become rabid attack dogs who won't see the trees through the flowers. Dare to disagree and one gets viciously attacked. Accusations abound and what should be a civil discourse quickly deteriorates into name-calling.
I too think the woman is clearly not qualified, she provides no substance. During the debate, she winked, wiggled and giggled at the camera - I expect professionalism from the people that represent me and my country. Folksy just doesn't work for me when you are applying to have the second highest job in the US government.
I have this horrible picture in my head of her winking, wiggling, giggling when she meets world leaders and she when gets stuck.
Go back to Alaska, Sarah. Come talk to us again in four years - after you've settled the Troopergate mess and a few other messes. Like that natural gas pipeline that has yet to break ground because its still in the planning stage.
The supporters of Sarah Palin have become rabid attack dogs who won't see the trees through the flowers. Dare to disagree and one gets viciously attacked. Accusations abound and what should be a civil discourse quickly deteriorates into name-calling.
I too think the woman is clearly not qualified, she provides no substance. During the debate, she winked, wiggled and giggled at the camera - I expect professionalism from the people that represent me and my country. Folksy just doesn't work for me when you are applying to have the second highest job in the US government.
I have this horrible picture in my head of her winking, wiggling, giggling when she meets world leaders and she when gets stuck.
Go back to Alaska, Sarah. Come talk to us again in four years - after you've settled the Troopergate mess and a few other messes. Like that natural gas pipeline that has yet to break ground because its still in the planning stage.
10-03-2008 22:42
Robert Tinsley wrote:
Parker column re Palin
Hi Kathleen:
We have exchanged emails before, when I wrote that you had replaced the late Mike Royko as my favorite columnist.
I was disappointed with your suggestion that Palin drop out for the good of the country,as she was not ready for prime time. You certainly are entitled to your opinion. I,too, thought she had shown a tendency to respond to some questions in meaningless gibberish.
Perhaps she is learning some necessary political skills: if you don't have an immediate intelligent response on tap, lay on some boilerplate--you GOTTA say something!
I hope you have changed your opinion since the VP debate, or, at least have softened it. You must admit Palin is a fast learner.
And consider the alternative to the McCain/Palin ticket! I'll watch for your next column.
A long-time fan,
Bob
We have exchanged emails before, when I wrote that you had replaced the late Mike Royko as my favorite columnist.
I was disappointed with your suggestion that Palin drop out for the good of the country,as she was not ready for prime time. You certainly are entitled to your opinion. I,too, thought she had shown a tendency to respond to some questions in meaningless gibberish.
Perhaps she is learning some necessary political skills: if you don't have an immediate intelligent response on tap, lay on some boilerplate--you GOTTA say something!
I hope you have changed your opinion since the VP debate, or, at least have softened it. You must admit Palin is a fast learner.
And consider the alternative to the McCain/Palin ticket! I'll watch for your next column.
A long-time fan,
Bob
10-03-2008 07:52
david wrote:
truth
the gas prices were low when bush was elected.as soon as the congress became a democratic majority the prices went way up.bush wants to open offshore drilling and drilling in alaska,what do the democrats do??go on vacation.god help us if obama gets elected,he wants to raise taxes on everything possible.i would expect to see gas prices around $20 a gallon or higher.two statements of facts on who caused this financial meltdown. One fact that is left out is that in 1998, Clinton also abolished some banking regulations that had been in effect since the first Depression. Those regulations were there so that something like the first Depression wouldn't happen again. Credit should also go to the unconstitutional Federal Reserve for their manipulation of the interest rates, which helped cause the first Depression and will also help cause the second Depression. If you really studied history, you would find that Democrat policies since the 1940s have totally taken this country in the wrong direction -- away from the Constitution. This country is borrowing $4 billion a day to pay for all the giveaway programs started by Johnson in the 1960s. These are facts. Obama only wants "more of the same" failed policies that have bankrupted this country and turned us away from being a "Republic" -- they want a democracy under Democrat "RULE".
10-03-2008 02:33
Sunshine49 wrote:
Speak Correctly
What is true is that the media helps to form public opinion. If Palin has been dropping in popularity polls, it's because the public has been systematically brainwashed against her.
It's an ugly truth that malicious rumors can destroy a person's life. That's why one of the Ten Commandments said: Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
Another saying is: Idle gossip is the Devil's workshop.
What I have heard and read against Palin has been unproven and malicious gossip. Things like her last child was really her daughter's child. I guess the people writing this stuff have to make up this garbage as a defense against the truth about Obama. The idea is to make Obama somehow look good in comparison. It seems to be working with some people. It is not working with me.
Sarah Palin has never been connected to people like Rev. Wright (God D**n America) or Bill Ayers (bomber) or Rezko (crook now in prison) or ACORN (they are now being investigated for fraudulent voter registration for the Democrat party -- 500,000 in Florida alone) Then there is Obama's cosponsoring the Global Poverty Act that would give $845 billion of our tax money to the U.N. to be distributed to third world countries. There are so many truthful reasons not to vote for Obama that I don't need to listen to rumors about him as a reason not to vote for him.
Palin has proved that she puts the country and the American people first and so has John McCain. The same can't be said about Obama. That's all I need to know!
It's an ugly truth that malicious rumors can destroy a person's life. That's why one of the Ten Commandments said: Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
Another saying is: Idle gossip is the Devil's workshop.
What I have heard and read against Palin has been unproven and malicious gossip. Things like her last child was really her daughter's child. I guess the people writing this stuff have to make up this garbage as a defense against the truth about Obama. The idea is to make Obama somehow look good in comparison. It seems to be working with some people. It is not working with me.
Sarah Palin has never been connected to people like Rev. Wright (God D**n America) or Bill Ayers (bomber) or Rezko (crook now in prison) or ACORN (they are now being investigated for fraudulent voter registration for the Democrat party -- 500,000 in Florida alone) Then there is Obama's cosponsoring the Global Poverty Act that would give $845 billion of our tax money to the U.N. to be distributed to third world countries. There are so many truthful reasons not to vote for Obama that I don't need to listen to rumors about him as a reason not to vote for him.
Palin has proved that she puts the country and the American people first and so has John McCain. The same can't be said about Obama. That's all I need to know!
10-02-2008 21:03
Syl wrote:
Partisanship
Reading through the comments makes it clear that people are not willing to address the real issue noted by this courageous writer: "Anyone who dares express an opinion that runs counter to the party line will be silenced. That doesn't sound American to me, but Stalin would approve." This country has become very frightening. I have lost good friends because I shared with them some truths about Sarah Palin and the way she is viewed by many in Alaska. The woman has some major dirty linen that people who support her choose to ignore, while choosing to believe the most outrageous untruths about Sen. Obama. I would say I don't understand it. Unfortunately, I understand it all too well and it ain't pretty, just pretty scary.
Comment archive | Comment FAQ's
 |
 |
|
View Kathleen Parker ezine stories by date or visit the complete archive |
The ArcaMax Politics channel is one of 70 content categories offered by ArcaMax Publishing on this ... |
Body Mass
