Monday, February 07, 2011

On the merits of stepping aside

Having just read that Bristol Palin is releasing a memoir in the not too distant future, I can no longer bite my tongue on the matter. Sarah, Bristol and the gang: Please exit stage right, and the sooner the better.

Palin served a purpose at a specific point in time. She helped rally the conservative base when morale was at an all time low, and she deserves credit for that. But one also needs to know when his/her time has passed, and hand off the torch to the next runner and then gracefully step aside. Indeed, there is a fine line between serving a purpose and being perceived as an opportunist. Bristol, with her book, television appearances, speaking tours, etc., has certainly crossed that line. She should simply return to Alaska, and try to live a normal life, far away from the cameras.

To be sure, there are many blue-blooded, liberal Republicans who are almost as anti-Palin as Michael Moore and Arianna Huffington, and they certainly come across as snobbish and dismissive in their discussions about Palin. But, as much as I find their East Coast condescension distasteful, I cannot totally disavow some of their reservations about the former governor. It's not easy to arrive at this conclusion. I think Palin is a good person who has been treated horrendously by the media and the far left, but, simply put, she's not doing serious conservatism any favors by Facebooking away about everything under the sun. (Maybe on this count, I'm being a little mossy, but should serious statesmen and policy wonks be running to Facebook to share their latest epiphany? Aren't there other venues that are a little more, well, adult?) That said, I am not the only rock-ribbed conservative I know who just cringes when Palin is being interviewed, or offering her views on X, Y and Z. We've all gotten used to hearing the same hackneyed, and rather clunky, talking points over and over and over... and some of them just really stick in our craw. "Lamestream media..." "Mama grizzly" this and that...It's just irritating. Committed conservatives within the tea party should not be timid in voicing serious reservations about the caliber of Sarah Palin. I truly hope she realizes that a presidential run is not a tenable option for her.

And to learn today that Bristol is putting out a memoir? Seriously? That just ices it for me.

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