Crawford: Palin decision to pass on debate says nothing about 2012

It doesn't mean that she's not running
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NRO's Katrina Trinko reports at The Corner that Gov. Palin’s decision to keynote a charity event benefitting military families in Colorado rather than take part in the first GOP presidential primary debate does not mean that she will not run for president in 2012, according to one of the governor's top aides:

“It has nothing to do with a decision [about running for president in 2012]. The Governor said the other day that she will make a decision about that in the coming months,” Tim Crawford, the treasurer of Palin’s PAC, told National Review Online.

Palin will be the keynote speaker at the Colorado Christian University’s “Tribute to the Troops” event, which the university describes as “a military and veterans appreciation rally and charity benefit.” The benefit will be held in Lakewood, Colo. on May 2, the same day Politico and NBC News have scheduled the first GOP debate at the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, Calif.

Hmmm. Help raise funds for the families of our fallen troops, or be a party to a rigged debate with questions from two slobbering Obama enablers from the leftist media? That was an easy choice for for any Reagan conservative, Reagan Library not withstanding. Honor the troops, not the Democrat/Media Complex.

- JP

Ignorant Democrats don't know Sarah Palin from Tina Fey

We're shocked...
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From NRO's Katrina Trinko on The Corner:

In a snide press release [Tuesday] (via David Weigel), Democrats use professional photos of those who agree with them and an unflattering photo of Palin to argue that the only serious position on New START is approval.

“The individuals in the first group have over a century of foreign policy experience between them,” the statement continues, “and have worked closely on U.S.-Russia relations for decades. On the other hand, Palin can see Russia from her house. Apparently, that’s good enough for many Senate Republicans.”

As Ms. Trinko points out, Gov. Palin never said she could see Russia from her house. That was a Tina Fey line from "Saturday Night Live."

We can't decide which is more troubling. That Democrats cannot tell the difference between the real world and a television comedy program, or the only other possible explanation - that they are lying. Either way, to paraphrase Capt. Louis Renault (note to Democrats: he's just a cinematic character, not a real person), "We're shocked, shocked to find that Democrats are either woefully misinformed or being disingenuous!"

- JP

NRO's The Corner: Another progressive denounces VF's hit piece on Palin

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Katrina Trinko at NRO's The Corner blog reports that yet another prominent progressive has denounced the Vanity Fair smear job:

What this piece has generated — well, besides incredulity that a magazine of Vanity Fair’s caliber would run a character assassination piece almost entirely based on anonymous sources — is a bipartisan backlash. Not against Palin, but against Vanity Fair.

[...]

And, via Ben Smith, former John Edwards aide and feminist/progressive blogger Melissa McEwan wrote:

Gross’ article, however, amounts to very little but “Sarah Palin is the worst because she’s in politics…and is A WOMAN.”

Sure, it’s covert sexism.

[...]

What makes this article the worst thing I’ve read all day is the fact that most of what’s in it is the sort of s*** that is considered (rightly or wrongly) the mundane business of doing politics, and yet is somehow OMG SHOCKING when done by Sarah Palin. …

I will continue to defend Sarah Palin against misogynist smears not because I endorse her or her politics, but because that’s how feminism works.

But I’d prefer not to be obliged in the first place.

For those who weren’t satisfied by 10,000-plus word screed against Palin, VF also published an online-only bonus article going over (again!) how much the McCain campaign spent on clothes for the Palin family. But when you’ve got even Meghan McCain — who’s admitted to being “conflicted” over what she thinks about Palin — taking Palin’s side on the wardrobe malfunction, that says something about how way overblown the hysteria is. From Jay Newton-Small, blogging for Time about McCain’s new book:

But McCain also sympathizes with the wardrobe debacle. “That’s what it costs to outfit seven or eight people in designer clothes,” McCain wrote. “Other candidates had spent just as much, or more, but kept those kinds of expenses under wraps – sunk into promotion and advertising costs. What surprised me was that our campaign couldn’t do the same.”

The debate over Palin’s policies and role in the Republican party will no doubt continue. But when you’ve got liberal feminists defending her, it’s clear that the level of vitriol toward her is long past acceptable boundaries.

But some in the leftist lamestream media don't seem to have the intellectual honesty or journalistic integrity that McEwan has demonstrated. NewsBuster Kyle Drennen reports how the CBS Early Show is promoting Vanity Fair's lies, just as they have promoted the many lies of Levi Johnston.

- JP