More reaction to my last email

A good summary from a friend, in response to my last email (see many more responses, below):

I think you covered most of it, but if you want another take...  It’s so clear that the GOP engineered their classic bait-and-switch technique: announcing an unknown they knew was seriously underqualified, and then, an hour later, going out with the claim that they were being brutually attacked by “the Democrats and their friends in the liberal media” for being sexist, anti-Christian, and anti-small town. It’s utter nonsense, like Bill O’Reilly accusing The Daily Kos and MoveOn.org of being “the worst haters out there, you don’t get any worse than them,” when FoxNews has broken all records for inaccurate reporting and daily partisan vitriol (under the guise of “news”). The GOP put out the most inaccurate version of Palin’s record — like Guiliani and Mitt Romney on the campaign trail, they say whatever they want about their record, assuming no one will check up on it, and then when people do, claim it’s “elitism.”

 

The GOP basically decided to attack by claiming to be under attack, and purposely collapsed the distinction between the very legitimate questions about her record, qualifications, and performance on the job, with questions about her personal life. They have never hesitated to use personal charges against the Democrats. [Can you even imagine if Barack Obama had a teenage daughter who was knocked up? The election would be over!  In 2004, they openly mocked John Kerry’s war wounds with “purple heart tears” drawn on band-aids, ON THE CONVENTION FLOOR. They mocked Barack Obama’s being a community organizer a DAY AFTER claiming this election was about “service.”]

 

Well, it’s not going to fly with Palin. The media should not be cowed by this tired old attack, and if the Republicans are hiding things, the bloggers will find them. But Obama has taken the high road, he went immediately on the record saying personal attacks on Palin were off-limits, and his campaign has said nothing except legitimate points about her record.  McCain cancelled an interview with CNN when asked to name ONE decision Palin had made as head of the Alaska National Guard. This after they touted it as her foreign policy experience! Just like they did for Bush, since he governed a state bordering Mexico. See how well that worked out — Bush is our least internationalist president, who has frayed all our alliances, and tellingly has no personal relationships with any world leaders other than Saudis. And if McCain can’t handle a basic question like that without blowing up, how’s he supposed to handle the Russians, etc.?