Blood Libel

Quin Hilyer writes at The American Spectator:

... The truth is, there is almost nothing this lady has ever done or said that merits the sorts of venomous vitriol to which she has been subjected. Her rhetoric is sharp but not hateful. Her views -- and even more, her actual record -- are mainstream conservative, not extremist. And her story of a plucky, self-made rise from unlikely (for a politician) origins, on the basis of hard work and gumption, is remarkably admirable. And, frankly, whom has she hurt along the way? The feelings of those who are appalled that she wouldn't abort her Downs Syndrome baby? The ideology of those who thought she should force her daughter to get an abortion? The corrupt old-boy network who plagued (and effectively robbed) Alaska, whom she defeated in fair-and-square elections? The self-important worldview of those who believe that women who aren't liberal are illegitimate political actors? Go ahead: Show where Sarah Palin has been mean-spirited, abusive, or hateful? Can't do it. She hasn't been.

Sarah Palin has been libeled for the past nine days, and indeed libeled ever since John McCain announced he was choosing her as his running mate. Amidst all the slings and arrows, she has retained remarkable composure. She's not my choice for president, but I would be happy for her to continue, at any time she wants, to put leftist folly in her verbal gunsights.

"Were it not for double standards, the left would have no standards."
~ Sarah Palin