How we're helping Palin

Matt Latimer argues that, particularly in the case of Joe McGinniss' new book, making Palin the victim only increases her influence. "Beating up Palin might have been fun for you for a while, but I gotta tell you. It’s starting to get a little ugly." Hate to say it, but I've got to agree. He writes:

Is anything in this book true? Who knows? And in this book’s view, who cares? It is so lazy that it doesn’t even bother with an index. But it will fit well on the bookshelves of those unthinking idiots who buy tomes saying that Barack Obama is a closet Muslim who invites terrorist attacks or that Dick Cheney is the root of all evil in the modern world.

I’m sure this book will be fodder for late-night comedians and anti-Palin pundits on MSNBC, but I hope maybe a few of them might for a moment stop and wonder if even someone as horrible as Palin might deserve a little bit of temperance and discretion. That maybe when we talk about changing the tone of our politics, we could start by changing the way we talk about our opponents. And even if you don’t buy that, you might at least consider that you are only making your enemy even stronger and richer.

He's right: there's criticism, and then there's profound ugliness. This book fits in the latter category rather comfortably. Palin may be an intolerable buffoon, but that doesn't compel me to the point where I feel the urge to take up residence next to her, only to write about her every exploit. It's absolutely disgusting, what he has done. No one deserves this – not even Palin.