Why do they hate her? "Sarah Palin is apparently all that they are not"

"You have become a lighting rod less for your clarity of vision, but more for your ability to turn any criticism of you of into persecution of you," Jon Stewart for the Persecution addressed Sarah Palin without irony on his "Daily Show" the other night.

“She challenges me a little bit. She keeps me a little more honest,” says The Alaska Dispatch's Amanda Coyne, who gave Howard Kurtz one of a series of punchy and twitterable quotes for his crisp and crunchy column on "Sarah Palin's Enforcer," Rebecca Mansour, "an ex-Hollywood screenwriter with sharp teeth who felt so strongly about Palin —  whom she'd never met — that she founded the website Conservatives4Palin. Originally hired to help with Palin's famous Facebook page," SarahPAC staffer Mansour is a one-woman response team who uses Twitter to "whack Palin’s detractors with such thumb-in-the-eye passion as to make her boss seem downright diplomatic": 

Matthew Continetti, a Weekly Standard reporter and the author of The Persecution of Sarah Palin, calls Mansour “a new model of spokesperson — very new-media-oriented and much more combative than any typical spokesperson. That world has become something of a black box — every so often it releases a particle of information.”

"My piece asks: Why doesn't Palin have anyone who deals with reporters & can defend her? Most pundits puzzled," author Kurtz twittered this morning. She "often acts like she is under siege," he wrote. As we replied in a series of tweets:

You nailed it, sir, with your "MOST PUNDITS PUZZLED" when it comes to Sarah. All have opinions but few have a clue.

Sarah Palin "often acts like she is under siege"? She IS under siege by narrative-spinning PDS sufferers in the chattersphere.

IRONY ALERT: Cillizza says Palin's approach means she can dictate the terms of conversation "BUT SHE CAN BE MISINTERPRETED."

"Not only do people want you to show up and talk, they're begging you to show up and talk. You're the one who refuses to go on all these outlets that keep asking you to join them for a conversation. And by the way, I'm one of them." Eat your heart out, Jon.

"A couple of Palin advisers are sympathetic to the complaints and try to help, even as they are overwhelmed by the volume of requests," notes Kurtz:

But they also dismiss some of the journalists as whiners who seem to think they have a constitutional right to have Palin cooperate with their hit piece.

Exactly. As Michelle Malkin told Fox and Friends this morning, "It is not a persecution complex for the right to be wary." As for "Why Sarah Palin Drives Them Wild," Jedediah Bila, who did an exclusive telephone interview with Sarah a couple of months back, has their number:

Palin’s work ethic, record of achievement, and commitment to principle inspire many ambitious Americans. Because they get that she’s not a superhero, but a hard worker. And if she can do it, so can they.

But to the insecure, to those who feel the need to tear you down in order to lift themselves up, Palin is an absolute nightmare. Because she’s “not going to sit down…not going to shut up.” Because in the face of vicious attacks and death threats, she continues to prove that she’s bigger and better than those who play dirty. She continues to prove that her family and her faith are her anchors. And she continues to prove that her commitment to principle is impervious to their constant digs.

Victor Davis Hanson comes to very much the same conclusion in a richly textured, must-read column of his own:

So why the war against Palin, when Palinisms are not demonstrably different from Bidenisms, Obamaisms, or Goreisms? Uppity-ness I suppose is the short answer. In the binary world of a Sullivan, Letterman, or Griffin, or in the larger culture of network news, NPR, PBS, the New York Times and Washington Post and their columnists, and the weekly newspapers like Time and Newsweek, Sarah Palin is apparently all that they are not.

Update: Conservatives4Palin links.

Crossposted at Riehl World View and Liberty Pundits.

Comments

[Pasadena Phil]

So we finally have a politician who steps right out and answers questions clearly, boldly and directly and she is being criticized for not having a staff to handle the press for her? So the MSM can't outwit Palin so they want her to pick someone they can defeat?

Do we want honest politicians who talk to us directly or don't we?

[goomp]

Honest politicians are hard to come by and therefore not readily understood by the MSM. Their confusion over Sarah is readily understandable.

[Pasadena Phil]

One of the many reasons Sarah scares the establishment is that she has mastered the new media that allows her to speak directly to us, thus denying the MSM its main tool of being the filter through which meaning of what someone said is communicated. It takes a lot of wiggle room out of the process for politicians and media alike. Sarah says what she means and means what she says.

[DEO]

Palin’s work ethic,
_________________________________
$arah took a vow an oath to THE PEOPLE and then QUIT her post 1/2 way through....a couple days after a million dollar book deal check cleared...what are you loons talking about? What WORK ETHIC....she is a talking head, an empty vessel being USED and bought, there is no work involved.
More power to her, but PA-LEEEZ, we ALL know what she is.

[Sissy Willis]

Pretty lame, DEO. Try looking at the woman's record without the PDS filter for a change. You might be surprised.

[Tom Seeman]

Not only is Palin "everything they are not," she is perpetually happy. She won't go away, and she's always got a smile on her face.

They vilify her up one side and down the other and it bothers her not a bit.

That alone drives them nuts.

[jameshigham]

There's no doubt that she's a force to be reckoned with, despite all that's been written and said.

[Teresa]

My dear husband (who has had more time to keep up with things than I have lately) pointed out Neo-neocon's blog post about Sarah and why she is so despised by the left. Having listened to a few people in person with exactly this attitude... I have to say I think neo has hit it on the head.

http://neoneocon.com/2011/01/21/my-summing-up-of-palin-hatred-for-today/

There is no logic involved, no facts, it's all very visceral, like most bigotry in this world.

[Terry]

Are you people high? She doesn't say anything when she talks. She is profoundly ignorant, her knowledge is stunningly superficial. There is no logic, no facts, just made up bumper sticker talking points.

[Ritchie The Riveter]

Terry, what she does is give a public voice to what MILLIONS have already figured out for themselves ... fundamental principles that have stood the test of time, yet are pooh-poohed as "bumper sticker talking points" or worse by those who believe that things just CAN'T be that "simple".

Well guess what ... when it comes to what makes human society work, often it IS that "simple". The critics' refusal to recognize that speaks volumes about their qualifications to lead us, regardless of their credentials and erudition.

Get off your high horse, and pay attention to what the says. Refute her with FACTS, not mere invective ... if you have the facts to do so.