To Sarah Palin, who, I'm quite sure, will not read this*:
I respect your decision not to run. I'm sure that you didn't make it lightly.
With that said, I am disappointed to hear today's announcement. You, Governor Palin, were the only potential candidate (to say nothing of the declared candidates) who had truly taken on corruption in both parties in your state, and I believe you were the only one mentioned in the nomination discussion who would take it on again in the federal government. I have generally enjoyed reading your thoughts on the issues facing our government today (much more, obviously, than I've enjoyed being continually lectured by President Obama), and while I'm sure there will be more statements from you on different policy issues, I would rather have heard them from you as a declared candidate for President.
Some have said that there is more to this story than what we have heard so far. I'm sure that if there is more to tell, you will do so in your own time. In any case, I wish you and yours all the best in whatever the future holds for you.
To a few Palin-haters, who, I'm quite sure, also will not read this*:
Congratulations, you got what you want. Someone who has had more than a few insights to offer over the past three years is not going to be in this race. And how do you react? In more than one case, by acting like a child as you become perfect examples of a sore winner.
I would have preferred it, though, if that hatred had been confined to the left. I expect pettiness from a hack like Andi Sullivan; I believe that to be one of his defining characteristics at this point, which is too bad. (Sorry, readers, but there's some real nastiness on the left. Accept it. And no, I'm not going to link the rantings of Mr. Sullivan tonight. Or ever.) But I expect better from people on my side of the aisle. And maybe I shouldn't.
Erick Erickson of RedState.com, for example, gleefully posted every hour, on the hour, when Governor Palin did not announce anything on the last day of September (though I still don't recall her ever having said she would announce yea or nay by that day), and he even more gleefully "recommended" a hopelessly out-of-date RedState diary entry (posted earlier today) called "Palin's running...Here's why"...after she made her announcement. Oh, and he also posted the number of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on his Twitter account this evening in the midst of rubbing Palin supporters' noses in the announcement. Tacky, tacky, tacky.
(Mr. Erickson has, as one might expect, attempted to walk back his previous immaturity with a post tonight in which he states that he has always liked Sarah and Todd Palin. I'd hate to see what you would have done on your site, Twitter, etc., if you hadn't liked them, Mr. Erickson. I'll give you some credit for spelling out all that Governor Palin has accomplished over the past couple of years. And I'll admit to being jealous of your having met her. But your behavior in recent weeks has still left much to be desired, in my opinion. And I doubt I'll be visiting RedState.com anytime soon, thank you very much.)
But the grand champion of apoplectic rantings appears to be RedState contributor Jeff Emanuel, previously mentioned in this blog for...well, pretty much the same thing. In the aforementioned "Palin's running" diary, Mr. Emanuel appears to aim for an all-time low with the following comment (written with the subject line "You people have a serious sickness."):
If Christ returned tomorrow, I’m confident you and the rest of the Palinistas would reject Him until SARAH confirmed that He was God, and instructed you to follow Him.
For all I know, this is the level at which Mr. Emanuel has been operating for quite a while. Honestly, I've done my best to ignore his comments (and based on the downward trend that I saw today in his Twitter followers, I'd say I'm not the only one to do so), but I happened across this one, and it shows me that Mr. Emanuel seems to have become so blinded in his hatred of all things Palin that he has apparently lost the capacity for reason. As for tact, of course, he lost that some time ago; this little gem of offensiveness makes that all too plain.
And as an aside, as a very imperfect follower of our Lord Jesus Christ, there is a huge difference in how I feel about Christ and how I feel about Sarah:
If I differ with Sarah Palin about some issue, I would hope that she would change and come around to my side.
If Christ differs with me about something, then I would hope that I would change and come around to His side.
But maybe that difference in perception is beyond Mr. Emanuel, who has amused himself this evening by gloating about Governor Palin's announcement, up to and including this gem of a tweet:
You stay classy, Mr. Emanuel.
Oh, and as Mr. Emanuel has demonstrated beyond doubt that he has no respect for anyone who might support Sarah Palin, then I have no further use for his opinions. On anything. Whoever his preferred candidate is would be well advised to avoid him.
To the regular readers of this blog (now numbering well into the double digits!):
If you happen to like Sarah Palin, as I do, then you'll probably understand if I run silent for a few more days. Just writing the above section got my blood boiling. Apparently respect is a lost art in political discourse these days.
And if you don't like Sarah Palin and feel the need to respond to this post, either use some of that respect or don't bother. I'm not in the mood for further condescension. I've already, just for supporting Governor Palin, had my intelligence, my sanity, and my Christianity questioned. Rise above it or go away.
Oh, and I won't be making any signs of support for any of the Republican presidential candidates in the near future. Someone is going to have to convince me to go any further than the "anyone but Romney" stance I adopted on Twitter tonight.
And with that I wish you a good night.
* The reader is reminded that this is, at best, a seventh-rate blog.
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