Case In Point
McCain camp, following Palin’s remark that she likes being in the “pro-American” parts of the country, notes that she specifically refered those parts which are not Washington D.C. We’ll veer left for the reporting and commentary. Huffington Post:
The McCain campaign is seeking to clarify a remark reported from a Sarah Palin fundraiser in North Carolina yesterday in which the Alaska Governor declared that she loved to visit the “pro-America” areas of the country — implying, implicitly, that there were some parts of the United States she viewed as not pro-America.
The reporter who broke the story, the Washington Post’s Juliet Eilperin, sends over the following, extended quote from a more detailed version of the pool report.
“We believe that the best of America is not all in Washington, D.C. We believe” — here the audience interrupted Palin with applause and cheers — “We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard working very patriotic, um, very, um, pro-America areas of this great nation. This is where we find the kindness and the goodness and the courage of everyday Americans. Those who are running our factories and teaching our kids and growing our food and are fighting our wars for us. Those who are protecting us in uniform. Those who are protecting the virtues of freedom.”
Not sure how much this helps Palin out. Is the VP candidate saying that small towns are more authentically American than, say, suburbia or cities?
I don’t recall the lefties being so interested in geography last time, when another candidate very specifically disparaged vast swaths of America.
Here’s Left Field, feeling defensive:
Damn it! You know, I feel like such a broken record; we do this over and over again, and yet this is the game that Republicans like to play. For Republicans, only certain people in this country get to be patriotic, and I’m frankly sick and tired of this crap.
Palin caused a minor flap when she called North Carolina one of the “Pro-America” portions of America, leaving some to question which parts of America are Anti-American.
I wasn’t aware anyone was addressing this left-leaning veteran and DoD employee, especially since he doesn’t list D.C. in all the places he’s lived. While there may be concentrations of particular bents in various geographic locales, and it is possible to generalize for purposes of discussion and satire, seeing as I live in one of them and know how complex the reality is, I’m more inclined to rate lack of patriotism by other measures. How ready people are to excuse or ignore the criminal actions and promote the interests of people who murder Americans. How quick they are to condemn the United States military and government for their actions in a difficult, complex war, often grossly distorting or lacking the facts of given cases. How willing they are to subjugate vital American interests to their own political ends. That kind of thing. Also, if they feel our primary foreign policy interest is being liked elsewhere. But it isn’t even so much the lack of patriotism. I’m sure those people love what their country … parts of it, anyway. It’s really the lack of common sense and decency.
Hey, I think I just described the Democratic congressional leadership and the party’s presidential nominee, though I see the GOP veep candidate is politely disagreeing with me on that. And that’s before we get to his unproud wife, his America-damning pastor and his flag-stomping unrepentant ex-terrorist pal. Anyway, Lefty, if that shoe fits, wear it.
Had the relevant parts of the quote been included in the first place, in any case, the McCain comp would not have had to seek to clarify. Here’s how it ran at the Washington Post’s The Trail:
Palin also made a point of mentioning that she loved to visit the “pro-America” areas of the country, of which North Carolina is one. No word on which states she views as unpatriotic.
Yeah, well, the District of Columbia isn’t a state. It is a place where a lot of fine, patriotic Americans no doubt live and work. It’s special status as the seat of government, however, regretably has made it a symbol for much that is anathema to the rest of America.
The extent of Juliet Eilperin’s cluelessness is demonstrated by the top of the item, by the way:
GREENSBORO, N.C. — No wonder GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin harbors such hostility toward the mainstream media: her staff imposes limits on her access to it.
During a fundraiser here that raised $800,000 last night, Palin admitted that her aides often dissuade her from tuning into televised coverage of the presidential campaign.
“So North Carolina, I appreciate you all so much, who are here who already get it. You know, maybe I’m preaching to the choir a little bit here, but being here encourages me because I know that I’m not alone and I’ll send this message back to John McCain also. At those times on the campaign trail when sometimes it’s easy to get a little bit discouraged, when, you know, when you happen to turn on the news when your campaign staffers will let you turn on the news,” she said, prompting laughter from the group. “Usually they’re like ‘Oh my gosh, don’t watch. You’re going to, you know, you’re going to get depressed.’
It’s like this. The woman has been subjected to more scrutiny and called on to explain and defend herself more than the other party’s presidential nominee, even though she’s been on the scene two and a half months, compared to the four-year hagiography Obama has enjoyed. That might be behind some of the hostility, and why her staff suggests the sorry, biased state of major news organization might depress her.
It probably has done nothing to boost her spirits that the campaign now has to explain the context of remarks cherrypicked by the Trail scribbler. Where do they write that thing, anyway?
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 8:28 pm Comments (1) on Friday, October 17, 2008
One Response to “Case In Point”
Leave a Reply
Trackback URLYou must be logged in to post a comment.
October 17th, 2008 at 8:48 pm
Not only has Governor Palin been dragged through the mud, the major news organizations have even attacked her family, including her newborn Downs baby. Who could blame her for hostility? Rather, it’s too her credit that she doesn’t punch out the first reporter she runs into.