Piling On Palin

You know, there is so much talk today about Sarah Palin and what a monster she is. She's stupid! She doesn't know Africa is a continent! She spent even more money on clothes! She's a hillybilly who raided Saks! She talked to reporters wearing nothing but a towel! She's a diva!

The shark attacks are coming from both sides, and every single anchor on TV is taking a piranha bite out of her, too. Enough is enough. These attacks are repulsive. Look, I could not disagree more with Palin's views on pretty much everything, but she has been a trouper. Was she in over her head? Of course. Did she make a lot of mistakes? She sure did. Is she ambitious? As much as any politician is. Is she just plain wrong? Yes. But you know what? She jumped into the deep end of the pool without floaties, and she just about sank. And what does everyone do? Try to push her head back underwater at the moment she is about to take her first breath of air.

She must be exhausted. She must be overwhelmed. Still. And she must be sad. And she is still battling the sexist and classist media? (This Newsweek article is suspect. And everyone knows it. Everyone.) Imagine if the entire world were to call you stupid and backward and evil and monstrous. Every day, all day, for months. And just when you think it's over, the attacks instead double. Palin is not a monster. She is not evil. No one doubts that her intentions come from a place that she believes is good. But she is wrong. On so many things. But being wrong is not the same thing as being evil. Where is our compassion for this person?

Obama just won because he demonstrated that there is a better way to do politics. There is a better way to live and interact with each other. These attacks on Palin are part of the old world, the world before Obama was elected President. And it's our responsibility to make the promise of the world he unveiled a reality.