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Bristol Palin’s Challenge to Obama

Bristol Palin has weighed in with her thoughts on Barack Obama, the GOP’s supposed “war on women,” and the president’s hypocrisy.

Ms. Palin indicates that she has yet to receive (as Sandra Fluke did) a call of encouragement after Rush Limbaugh referred to Ms. Fluke as a “slut” and a “prostitute.”


Here’s Bristol Palin:

But here’s why I’m a little surprised my phone hasn’t rung.  Your $1,000,000 donor Bill Maher has said reprehensible things about my family.  He’s made fun of my brother because of his Down’s Syndrome. He’s said I was “f–d so hard a baby fell out.”  (In a classy move, he did this while his producers put up the cover of my book, which tells about the forgiveness and redemption I’ve found in God after my past – very public – mistakes.)

If Maher talked about Malia and Sasha that way, you’d return his dirty money and the Secret Service would probably have to restrain you.  After all, I’ve always felt you understood my plight more than most because your mom was a teenager.  That’s why you stood up for me when you were campaigning against Sen. McCain and my mom – you said vicious attacks on me should be off limits.

Yet I wonder if the Presidency has changed you.  Now that you’re in office, it seems you’re only willing to defend certain women.  You’re only willing to take a moral stand when you know your liberal supporters will stand behind you.

But … What if you did something radical and wildly unpopular with your base and took a stand against the denigration of all women… even if they’re just single moms? Even if they’re Republicans?

I’m not expecting your SuperPAC to return the money.  You’re going to need every dime to hang on to your presidency.  I’m not even really expecting a call.  But would it be too much to expect a little consistency?  After all, you’re President of all Americans, not just the liberals.

This is a powerful rebuke to the president, just as this new RNC web ad, titled “Obama’s War on Women,” is. And it underscores the blinding hypocrisy of liberals when it comes to their supposed solidarity with women.

Now I’m not in favor of people loosely throwing around terms like “war on women,” especially when the United States is engaged in real wars. But since those on the left are the ones who started this campaign to portray Republicans as anti-women, I suppose that turnabout is fair play.

I also can’t help but wonder if this whole effort isn’t going quite according to script. Despite the efforts of liberals to push their “war on women” narrative, which has been aided by many members of the media, it doesn’t seem to be working that well. For example, last week’s New York Times poll showed Mr. Obama losing a dozen percentage points of support among women compared to its previous poll (which was taken before this campaign has begun). And the Times poll showed that on the question of whether “religiously affiliated employers, such as a hospital and university,” should be able to opt out of offering coverage for abortion-inducing drugs and contraception, women support this stand by 53 percent to 38 percent.

The left thought it had found a convenient political weapon to use against the GOP in the form of Rush Limbaugh’s disturbing attack of Ms. Fluke. But it’s own double standards, and Bill Maher’s million-dollar contribution to Mr. Obama’s re-election campaign; seem to be ruining all that.

Mr. Obama could have used Bill Maher’s contribution to his Super PAC as a “teachable moment” and returned the money. But the president decided to keep it, even as his top aides and allies make fools of themselves trying to justify it. I wonder what Malia and Sasha must think of all that.

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9 Responses to “Bristol Palin’s Challenge to Obama”

  1. Adam Roberts says:

    This is the leading story on your website? Really???

  2. What a joke. Bristol Palin doesn’t get it. Rush Limbaugh insulting Sandra Fluke is not the same as Bill Maher insulting Sarah Palin. It is imperative in a free society that citizens can have free unrestrained political discourse regards to the politicians that SERVE the people. What is the more important issue: the sensitivities of a single female politician or the nation at large, including the concept of "we the people?" Bristol Palin seems to think that a sole female politician's protection from having to hear negative comments about herself is more important than the concept of "we the people." What a joke! If she wants to live somewhere where negative things cannot be said about a female political leader then she should find a dictatorship country ruled by a female and move there.

    • epaddon says:

      The real joke is your post. Yeah, Limbaugh and Maher aren't the same because Maher is the one that is worse and is genuine misogyny since he chose to cross a line that before Sarah Palin was supposed to be the unwritten rule that you don't go after a politician's family members. Maher is the kind of person who under ordinary rules of decency would be marginalized to the same fringe that a KKK Grand Wizard is marginalized to every time he opens his mouth to spew his foul bile.

  3. The fact that Obama only weighs in when the arguably outside-the-pale comments are directed against his political allies shows the narrowness of his thinking and the limits of his political instincts. Bill Clinton would not have made that mistake. The "Sister Souljah moment" during Clinton's campaign was crucial, rightly or wrongly, in convincing swing voters that he could be a president of all the people and not just a party hack.

  4. Touche', Sarah & Bristol. Touche'. Spot on.

  5. Yitzhak_Shapira says:

    Double standard? What if one of his girls had a baby out of wedlock?

  6. Scrumptlous says:

    Bristol Palin's post is right on the money. I can see no reason why the same public criticism that was made of Limbaugh shouldn't be made by the same people against Maher.. Also her post was impressively incisive and eloquent. If this post typifies what she can do, then she's a very talented young woman. n nI can see an argument that Maher in these matters is the worst offender.

  7. See what you're willing to do for views.

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