Video: Palin responds to “Family Guy” on the Factor

Bitterness kills creativity. No creativity = no humor.
Grace_is_sufficient on February 17, 2010 at 6:19 AM

Agree, and attempted parody becomes actual self-parody. “Lil’ Bush” is the textbook example.

You know, George W. Bush was attacked relentlessly and brutally by the msm and he never spoke up. Not a word of protest. And where did that get him?

atheling on February 17, 2010 at 12:34 AM

Yep. In extraordinary circumstances like these, good advice (i.e., “let it go”) becomes bad advice.

Normally letting things go leads to them eventually petering out. But in extraordinary circumstances where this won’t happen, effective response is essential.

In Palin’s case, they are trying these opening attacks hoping they go unchallenged, on the idea that if they do this long enough without being challenged, they will succeed in “mainstreaming” them to the point that they can then be done any time, any place, without consequence. Their near-term goal is not to level any specific accusation but rather to change the vernacular of “open” discourse to the point that it perpetrates the most savage insults imaginable with the most casual ease imaginable, to the point that even criticizing it appears extreme (at least on the surface).

The ultimate goal — an aspirational goal, so its success is not assured thank goodness — is to devalue Sarah Palin not through the piecemeal insults themselves, but by plying them so often, and so casually, without a response that the pattern is established that Sarah Palin is someone who CAN be mocked this way, when no ordinary citizen could be without protest; and is therefore someone who deserves it, or who has so little personal dignity left that she isn’t worth defending from even the very worst, off-color attacks on her family.

In effect, the jokes themselves become the weapon used to make Sarah Palin, literally, “a joke”, something they were unable to achieve on the merits themselves.

Now, even the most gung-ho smear merchant may not think this will succeed all the way, but they may be hoping that if they can get this out in the public domain, the law of averages will kick in and the evidence of her presidential suitability will be “averaged” with the pathetic joke meme in the public mind, and the average will be something less than needed to merit the presidency.

By speaking up early and loudly we resist this idea. And by resisting the idea we thwart their ability to succeed at it. With luck all candidates in 2012 and beyond will be judged on their actual merits and not on the result of a well-orchestrated dehumanization campaign.

Of course, cries of “What’s the matter, you can’t take a joke?” will emanate from the peanut gallery, as well as “If you don’t let it go they win” from well-intended fools, but in the long run those are sucker’s bets. The key always is to resist but be selective in picking targets so that the strategic goals are denied to the perpetrators.

RD on February 17, 2010 at 7:18 AM