On Sarah Palin and the Left's Climate of Hate

Caleb Howe, one of my RedState.com colleagues, has authored an outstanding diary which explores the "climate of hate" and exposes the real haters. Here are some excerpts in which he uses the treatment of Sarah Palin by the Left and its media allies to make his point:

When Sarah Palin was on the campaign trail the mainstream press were deeply concerned (one could tell by empathetic brow-furrows and "this is my serious voice" tonality) that her campaigning against Barack Obama was fostering a climate of hate; that she was stirring up rabid righty anger and an urge to kill in her audience. They were certain of it, you see, because some dude in one of her audiences may have yelled something unintelligible about Obama that one time.

What does it take to create a climate of hate? If you are talking about Obama, you need only Palin stating actual facts about his life and career, or radio DJs using his actual middle name. That’s enough to be thought architects of assassination. If you are talking about Palin, however, there doesn’t seem to be a line the left considers too far. Time magazine can go as far as explaining “Why Some Women Hate Sarah Palin”, with a bit of a light-hearted twist, and yet no accusations fly. Search for "hate Sarah Palin" at Google for a few more eye-openers. There is a “Hate Palin” cottage industry of t-shirts, hats, coffee mugs and more, not to mention the articles and blog posts which indulge. When hate directed at a person is so common as to be a marketing tool, is that not a climate of hate?

Sarah’s problem, of course, is being a smart, successful, conservative woman. On the left this is just about the worst thing a person can be, running just slightly behind black Republican.

The rest of the diary is just as good as these excerpts. You can read it in its entirety here.

- JP