The Persecution of Sarah Palin: How will it end?

Michelangelo’s Pietà in the Basilica of Saint Peter, Vatican City

Here is a paragraph taken from remarks made by Sarah Palin in a Facebook post on August 7, 2009:

The Democrats promise that a government health care system will reduce the cost of health care, but as the economist Thomas Sowell has pointed out, government health care will not reduce the cost; it will simply refuse to pay the cost. And who will suffer the most when they ration care? The sick, the elderly, and the disabled, of course. The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s “death panel” so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their “level of productivity in society,” whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil.

This is the post that brought into our national discussion the idea of rationing health care services. It created a cultural sense of outrage toward Mrs. Palin. Her transgression: Advancing an idea.

Well, really, it’s more than that. She is a person who has obtained political power by giving voice to our founding principles. Furthermore, she is a person “of The People” and not “of The Establishment.”

This circumstance is confounding to our culture. People in West Hollywood hang her in effigy. A rock band stages her disembowelment. A theater director in Montana modifies the lyrics to “The Mikado” and calls for her beheading.

And in case you’ve missed it, there is a sexist tone to the aspersions cast on the former governor and mother of five. Tracy Morgan sees her as great “masturbation material.” Wikipedia uses her as an example to describe the acronym “MILF.”

You would think that there would be institutional elements within our culture that would rise to her defense. Maybe our clergy would use her treatment as a lead-in to a sermon on the Golden Rule?

No, that is too polarizing and might be “uncivil.”

Maybe those in academic circles would take note of this unusual cultural “feeding frenzy” and begin research studies?

Not so. Our post-secondary academics see the treatment of Sarah Palin as “right and natural.” One senses their imposition of the classic rape defense: She asked for it.

I am astonished that we are seeing this kind of cultural persecution in America. It is truly something that has not occurred in nearly 2,000 years. A long time ago, a person of the people acquired political power by advancing ideas. This was seen (accurately) as a threat to the establishment, and a cultural event conveniently solved the issue.

Sarah Palin has acquired political power, and our culture is hell-bent to destroy that power. It is being done with extreme imagery and false accusations. A recent example is the Arizona shooting incident where our culture claimed that Mrs. Palin’s prior actions instigated the deaths of six individuals.

Although the accusation was false, our culture sees the accusation as “just.” That distinction between what is true and what “needs to be done” should cause concern.

Of the individuals arrayed against Mrs. Palin, most would say they simply have an intense dislike of her. That characterization can be examined in the context of the anonymous comments and death threats Mrs. Palin receives. Those messages don’t convey “dislike.” They convey raw hatred.

What to make of all of this?

Our culture partakes in savage indecency directed at one human being in America.

And that’s ok. She’s a Republican.

UPDATE 2/4/2001:
Linked by Texas for Sarah Palin!  Thanks, Josh.

UPDATE 3/9/2011:
The toll on the family of the targeted individual should not be ignored.  Here's a story on Chuck and Sally Heath.

UPDATE 5/10/2011:
Our justice system seems weirdly emasculated as it attempts to afford protection to public figures.

UPDATE 5/25/2011:
Real Clear Politics has a scoop on "The Undefeated!"

UPDATE 9/19/2011:
Left Coast Rebel has a roundup of reaction associated with recent comments by boxing legend Mike Tyson on Sarah Palin.  The fact that American journalistic ethics fosters this conduct in our culture is difficult to comprehend.  At long last, where is our sense of decency?

UPDATE 11/20/2013:
With apologies for the MSNBC advertisement you will have to watch if you wish to view this video, please watch Martin Bashir condemn Sarah Palin as a "world class idiot."

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