I'm turning over my diary after the flop today to the words of Kathleen Parker. Kathleen is a very conservative Republican who agrees with me on very few things.
After initially supporting Palin and having always supported right wing Republicans, Kathleen had the audacity to speak some simple truths about Sarah Palin. Now she knows what many on her side are like.
Kathleen begins
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.
Kathleen we have something else in common. When I attended Hannity's bookstore signing events, some of Hannity's fans told me that they wish my mother would have aborted me too. (Although one old woman was dehannitized and said she couldn't believe people could say that) I know what these people are truly like. Now you do too.
She later continues:
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.
Exactly Kathleen. While there are some nuts on the left, the overwhelming majority of angry, vicious and violent peole do happen to be right wing conservatives. I've known this for a long time. Perhaps, now you do too.
After pointing out how hypocritical some of the Palin defenders point glowingly to Palin's "lack of polish" (Remember, Palin's selection destroyed McCain's last remaining potentially effective argument against Obama) Parker writes:
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. "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.
Kathleen then adds this.
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.
She then attacks Nancy Pelosi (unfairly in my view) but gets back to the gist of her excellent column.
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.
Well Kathleen it is the right wing conservatives who created this culture. And by the way, see my signature line. To me there can be no cooperation with the people who are sending you this vicious crap.
But then Kathleen hits this paragraph out of the park.
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.)
Very well said. Now you know Kathleen.