Columnist needs lesson on what “Stalinist” tactics are
Palin-bashing columnist Kathleen Parker received some nasty e-mails. Now, she’s accusing conservatives who didn’t like her attack on Sarah of engaging in Stalinist tactics:
My mail paints an ugly picture and a bleak future if we do not soon correct ourselves. The picture is this: Anyone who dares express an opinion that runs counter to the party line will be silenced. That doesn’t sound American to me, but Stalin would approve. Readers have every right to reject my opinion. But when we decide that a person is a traitor and should die for having an opinion different than one’s own, then we cross into territory that puts all freedoms at risk. (I hear you, Dixie Chicks.)
(link)
“Silenced?” The liberal media and left-wing blogosphere have been splashing Parker’s anti-Palin column from sea to shining sea.
And let’s get something straight: Sending rough e-mails isn’t “Stalinist.”
Trying to sic the Justice Department on your political opponents is.
Trying to intimidate conservative donors through witch hunts is.
Forming Goon Squads of legal enforcers to squelch criticism is.
Suing talk show hosts to shut them up is.
Andy McCarthy has the rundown on what a real assault on the First Amendment looks like.
Let’s leave the hyperbolic attacks on conservatives to the Obama campaign, shall we?
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Categories: Sarah Palin
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always accusing of what they themselves are doing!
Liberalism 101, get in front of the criticism by accusing others of what you yourself do.
Classic old ploy!
Chickens!
Chickens are coming homeeeee to roost!
I am terrified of an Obama administration. He’s the real Stalin. Goodbye free speech. Goodbye guns. Goodbye Bill of Rights….
this is why I don’t bother with the national review very much. they’re ‘conservative’ like david brooks in the NY times…its laughable
Buckley is spinning in his grave.
I like your writing Michelle but my senses are shot today. Give this lady a pacifier and diapers.
Those who can, do. Those who can’t, write about those who do.
Oh, for goodness’ sake Ms. Parker. Grow a pair.
Who’s Kathleen Parker?
MM is going to have a very interesting 4 years. She is primed
I am with her.
Posted over in HotAir’s headlines, sent to Ms. Parker through NRO, and now posted here.
————————————-
emailed to Ms. Parker through NRO:
Re: your column today
Kathleen,
Quit whining. In your column today, you whine and lament all of the vicious email you’ve received for your condescending anti-Palin column last week. Well boo freakin’ hoo.
Since becoming the nominee, Governor Palin has had to deal, very publically, with some of the most vicious smears ever leveled on a general election ticket. She’s had to deal with the Trig Trutherism, completely unsubstantiated rumors of extramarital affairs, attacks on her family, armies of lawyers descending on her hometown digging for any piece of dirt they can find, the hacking of her personal email account and the public printing of emails contained therein, and on and on and on. Yet, through all of this, Governor Palin has kept her grace and composure.
Now, let’s contrast that with your reaction. You write a column that many conservatives find to be ill-timed and ill-conceived, and naturally, you received a ton of criticism for it. And what do you do? You, the one who surmised that Governor Palin was out of her league, *immediately* play the victim card.
I don’t doubt you’ve received some vicious, over the top emails. And if there were death threats, you should most certainly report those to the authorities. But pardon me, in light of the smears against Governor Palin, as well as the vicious attacks leveled every day against conservative women like Michelle Malkin, Laura Ingraham, Phyllis Schlafly, et al., I don’t have much sympathy for you. They don’t play the victim card. To use a couple of cliches, they don’t leave the kitchen because of the heat, and when the going gets tough, they get tougher. In this incident, you have shown us what you do – you wilt under the heat of the kitchen, you get weaker when the going gets tough, and you whip out the victim card faster than one can say “Maureen Dowd.”
So as I asked you in my email response to your previous column, who is it that is out of their league again?
I suspect that part of the whining about the more vicious, over-the-top emails is to provide cover for what really stings – tons of legitimate criticism of your column. Vicious smears only reveal the weakness of those who make them. But legitimate criticism? Now that is what really hurts.
Isn’t that the truth? I just bought a digital subscription, but now I want a refund after their ideas on the bailout.
Ha!
I gotta agree with AlohaGuy here. I think I remember her from somewhere before she went all David Brock on us.
I’m old enough to remember when they printed Solzhenitsyn’s address to Harvard. They had REAL conservatives like Burnham and Chambers there.
now they have a bunch of ‘moderate’ republicans…sickening.
and meanwhile here in missouri, democrat prosecuters and police officers are threatening to prosecute and punish free speech if it doesn’t support barrack. isn’t it strange how bipartisan means you conservatives agree with we liberals, and free speech is we liberals get to lie and distort anything we want to, but you conservatives can’t utter a word in response. funny how one way that street seems to run.
B.H.O.will distroy our great country with his B/S ideals if he ever gains the White House.Look at what he’s doing now. THINK!
Methinks someone has been slipping the Øbama KoolAid into Ms. Parker’s coffee.
At any rate, Parker never mentions the soundbite cherrypicking and special editing Palin’s comments get, nor does she remark on the amazing lack of similar questions for Øbama.
Maybe she can read all the warm and fuzzy emails she is no doubt getting from liberals on her “good work.”
You want Stalinist? I’ll give you Stalinist.
“Kathleen Parker, 10 years in labor camp. Next.”
I’m going to give her the benefit of the doubt, if the polls hold and The One wins, the Fairness Doctrine is coming back, Rush is gone, it’ll be applied to the Web and places like Huff/Kos/DU are going to be exempted by hiring a Chafee/Will/Buchanon/Paul-type Republican…the ones who share their views of Jews and in Paul’s case, also fulfill the sterotype of racist conservative. Parker is only looking out for her future paycheck.
No relation to Peter Parker.
When I first read her article against Palin and thinking she was a conservative columnist, my conclusion was that she was more of a feminist, cut from the more liberal mold, than she was a conservative on other issues. Her allegiances were torn asunder.
I’m not even sure what she was trying to accomplish by her article. Did she think when Palin read her wisdom from on high she’d pack her bags and head to Alaska?
Maybe she needs to get a skin as tough as Sarah.
Rich Lousy and the rest of the staff at NRO could teach democrats a thing or two about pandering. Its not about ideology, its all about traffic.
I wonder if Kathleen Parker ever picked any pecks of pickled peppers?
Who’s Kathleen Parker? Tune into one of the remaining debates. She’ll most likely be moderating the one on MSNBC or a similar affiliate after the Committee to Plan Debates (not the Debate Planning Committee) deems her “neutral.”
Good for you, Michelle!
Agreed. The Democatic Socialists believe the best defense is a good offense, so they are constantly projecting their own faults on Conservatives.
Judging from the whining and victimhood, she’s no relation to Fess Parker either.
(I hear you, Dixie Chicks.)
You mean the ones that bashed our President on foreign soil? I’d always been taught not to air your dirty laundry. You keep differences within the house.
Kathleen, no one is trying to silence you. You’re just receiving reactions to your commentary. It’s Obummer’s Truth(c) Squad goons that are the Stalinists.
Only if we let them. You want my guns? Come and get them if you can. I believe, as our founding fathers did, my rights under government are worth fighting, and yes, dying for if necessary.
Is it true that Texas has the state constitutional right to secede whenever it becomes necessary?
Yeah.. Kathleen who? Never heard of her.
And Thirteen28. Nice email. Hope she reads it and cowers.
They and every other state did, until the Civil War.
Posted a little too quick. I seem to remember that Texas’ treaty with the US when it was annexed allowed for it to divide itself into five states. Not sure if secession was part of that, but likely the war between the states made that at best highly unlikely.
Thanks, Michelle.
You bet the MSM have picked up this column just like Ms Parker hoped—she wanted the attention and thinks Obama is a “great healer” of our nation!
I was in the Atlanta airport yesterday, after a week of no news in the mountains. The lead in to the story was that “GOP leaders ask Palin to step down” or something. I thought, “what the heck?” Turns out they were quoting Parker, not GOP leaders!
The Democrats offer their thanks, Ms Parker. You are no conservative, and, yes, you are a traitor in your clear support of socialist Obama.
Oh, P.S. to Ms Parker—I will no longer read your column again.
I used to like Ms. Parker – but 6 mo. to a year ago, her slant started to change. Believe I caught her articles on JWR – along with our own MM. As far as her latest rant and the resulting e-mails she finds “threatening”, didn’t read it and find it amuzing she can get so riled over a little criticism. To toughen up her little hide she might want to join in as a commenter on someone else’s blog. You get too far off or throw out something stupid that you’re unable to prove or show reference – they will eat your lunch with good cause.
Here is a perfect example of what the drive-by media does to make Republicans look like Nazis.
Basically, it’s a picture from the GOP convention. The ONLY picture they could find of Governor Palin was one were her hand was coming down from a wave. They also photoshopped a single Nazi SS zig-zag on it to give you the Nazi impression.
The fairness doctrine photo is below the one of Governor Palin in the link.
Too true.
Sounds like she’s joined it, to me. At the very least, she’s gone into the Hillary camp. She’s more than entitled to dislike Palin. We’re also than entitled to call her on it, though threats should be left to the experts on the left.
Believe Texas joined the union as the Republic of Texas (the only one to join as a sovereign country – thus, the Lone Star can be flown at equal height as the U.S. flag). When the Cowboys lose only the Lone Star has been known to be lowered to half-staff.
Sorry, my #38 was ref. pianoman’s #31.
Need to lay off the caffeine after lunch!…
Dear Kathleen Parker,
You seem link a wimp. lgm is way tougher than you are.
Your latte’s getting cold.
Sincerly,
AlohaGuy
I read her statement, but all that was being filtered into my brain was, “Waaaaaaaa!”
Seriously. If you can’t handle criticism, don’t choose writing for your profession.
Perhaps Ms Parker is looking out for her future (interviews with Obama and elite DC cocktail parties). If memory serves, she was down on blogs and the Internet a few years ago…
The world trembled when Stalin said, “You suck.”
I think the attacks on Kathleen Parker are uncalled for. She has consistently been a voice of conservative reason and the concerns she’s expressing are shared by many of us. I have defended Sarah Palin to the hilt, but I have been disappointed in her stumbling and inarticulate performances during interviews. I hope that she regains her footing during the upcoming debate and no one will be rooting for her to do that harder than I. But come on, Kathleen Parker is NOT the enemy.
I wonder if Parker decided to play the victim card to deflect some attention away from the Obama Truth Squad. Kind of a ‘look at the nasty conservatives, pay no attention to the man behind the curtain’ type of thing.
What a surprise. Playing the “pity, me, I’m the victim here” card. Typical liberal spineless MO.
Oh, puh-leeze.
Parker criticizing Palin? Good
Conservatives responding by criticizing Parker? Bad
If she’s going to dish it out as condescendingly as she did, then she’d better be prepare to take some fire in return. If she can’t take the criticism, she shouldn’t be writing columns that elicit it.
My Letter to Ms. Parker-
The media is loathed because they are so self-righteous. To criticize a member of the media is to attack freedom itself. N’est pas? Non! No one has silenced you. You are not being persecuted. You ARE being argued against. Even hate mail isn’t persecution. Stalin didn’t write hate mail. Stalin would approve of the Obama’s speech-chilling tactics. Ask the state authorities in Missouri’s truth/goon squad.
Is wrong. She goes psychiatric ward until “fully recovered” from “psychotic breakdown” because in labor camp may incite trouble. Maybe we reevaluate her in five, ten years. Maybe not. Maybe she lives. Maybe not.
In old country, is what capitalists call “standard KGB operating procedure” for “journalist.”
Now, where squirrel and moose?
/bad Russian movie accent
ECS
there is nothing stopping Parker from voting for obama since Gov. Palin disgusts her so…don’t waste your e-mail, the ranks of the dark side are swollen to bursting
Wait, she’s complaining about being silenced… from her major newspaper column.
This word “silenced.” I do not think it means what she thinks it means.
Kathleen Parker is one nasty piece of work. She said of Andrea Yates that the reason for her drowning her five children was “a bad marriage day.” If this is a “conservative,” we can really do without her. Her Palin column was so viscious (BTW, a previous column by Parker repeated the lie about Palin the Censorer), so nasty that I can only assume jealousy was a factor, that and just seeking attention. Well, she got it, and now she doesn’t like that either. Too flippin’ bad.
Kathleen, if you are reading this and I hope you are — please leave conservativism. Go away and never, ever come back. David Brock may be hiring. I know George Soros always is. Leave now, with the usual comment about doors and rear-ends.
And thank you MM for calling this out.
Ms. Parker is a Benedict Arnold. She can take her mau-mauing about those meeeean conservatives and stick it where the sun don’t shine. I’m sick of these D.C.-N.Y. corridor media types looking down on regular folks. As far as I’m concerned people like her are on the same coin as the Katie Courics and Sally Quinns. Parker would rather be ruled by The One because he’s at least an Ivy Leaguer, not like that state school grad from nowheresville Sarah Palin.
The way Parker and her fellow snobs talk, you’d think the only qualification for vice president that matters is the ability to be slick in an interview. Bosh! It’s that kind of thinking that has led to the disturbing worship of Obama. This is Palin’s first exposure to national media and with time she will get better at it.
I hate that so many on the right are willing to eat their own while liberals always circle the wagons. I want an effective counterpoint to the creeping socialism of the Democratic party and its power. I want a conservative movement that respects me, not just those who went to Yale. Give me a truckload of Ted Nugents over the CINOs like this Parker poseur.
/Rant.
Ditto. My high school English lit. teacher, who was a huge fan of Solzhenitsyn, first introduced me to his writings.
It may be time for another reading…
Final thought: maybe Parker would benefit from reading him too – help put things in the proper perspective.
You can dish it out but you can’t take it. You’re happy to call lawyers filing a lawsuit against a conservative a “goon squad”. You’re not shy about calling this or that person a Stalinist or a Nazi. But heaven forbid someone should use that language about a conservative. Just grow up.
LGM we take it everyday 24/7 by the mainstream media and it looks like the libs who can’t take any critisism. I believe the MSM is so deluded that they are not even aware of their biases and they think they are mainstream. Conservatives all over the nation have to take the dishing out by the lib media daily and the libs should have nothing to complain about. They control ABC,CBS,NBC,CNN,MSNBC and countless newspapers. LGM, wake up and be thankful that your beliefs are supported the MSM and the opponents for the most part are buried.
Dear Kathleen -
Why don’t you call up Susan Reimer of the Baltimore Sun and invite her over to your “whine and cheese” party? She got many negative e-mails also for her rant against Sarah Palin. But everyone in Baltimore knows the Sun is a liberal rag. What’s your excuse?
I just now read her column. Damn that women whines. Perhaps she need a nap.
death threats = “rough”?
I like Kathleen Parker. I usually agree with her.
Just because we disagree here, I’m not dismissing her yet.
Been there, done that.
Why is it that people in glass houses can dish it out but can’t take it?