FrontPageMag: New Lows in Palin Derangement Syndrome

This madness seems to make sense to the left
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The left's Palin Derangement Syndrome is so chronic writes Rich Trzupek at FrontPageMagazine.com, that they have tried -- and failed -- to make the tragedy in Tucson somehow all about Gov. Palin:

Pundits on the left like Keith Olbermann, Chris Matthews and David Brock stepped beyond unintentional self-parody in the realm of lunacy in their desperate attempts to find something – anything – to pin on Palin and thus make political hay out a completely apolitical tragedy. The seven minute video that Palin posted on her Facebook page to talk about the events in Arizona sparked the left’s outrage, but then “outrage” seems to ensue on the left whenever Palin dares to open her mouth. The words that she utters don’t actually matter, because guys like Olbermann will attach a sinister shade of meaning to anything that Palin says. As a matter of fact, Olbermann will find sinister shades of meaning even if Palin says nothing at all. Here’s KO blustering away, while discussing the Arizona shootings on Tuesday night:

"[W]hen does the normally, supremely efficient, self- publicizing machine that is Sarah Palin come out from behind the proverbial skirts of her mouthpieces in the media and forswear the rhetoric of violence?"

The “rhetoric of violence” – whatever that is – had absolutely nothing to do with what happened in Tucson on Saturday, but no matter, Keith still demanded some kind of response from Palin. And, on Wednesday morning he and the rest of America got it: an entirely reasonable, empathetic response showing a woman who was clearly distressed by the killings and who used her bully pulpit to appeal for unity. And while his reaction shouldn’t surprise anyone, Olbermann listened to what Palin had to say and he decided that he was terribly offended that she had the effrontery to actually do what he had demanded the day before: say something. Here’s KO ranting on Wednesday night:

"Earlier, as Richard suggested, it may have easily been the worst timed political statement ever, the morning of the memorial ceremony. Was it also the worst, most self-damaging statement ever?"

Flip flops like Olbermann’s give the phrase “damned if you do and damned if you don’t” a whole new meaning. For others, like Matthews, Brock and mainstream media outlets, Palin’s biggest sin was the use of the term “blood libel” to describe the way that the left tried to pin the Arizona attacks on her, Rush, Beck and other voices on the right. The left claimed that using the term “blood libel” was insensitive to the Jewish community, generally offensive and needlessly inflammatory. This Polish Catholic correspondent is not qualified to say whether using “blood libel” is offensive to Jewish people or not, but – as the National Review’s Jim Geraghty points out – it is a term that is used by politicians and pundits on the left and right all of the time. Yet, because it was Palin using the phrase, the left went nuts, leading directly to what her staff described as “an unprecedented level” of death threats against Palin. How’s that for toning down the rhetoric?

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- JP