Cal Thomas on the "prematurity" of Sarah Palin

For the record – and for the third or fourth time – I am neither a supporter nor critic of Sarah Palin. What I care about is how people think. How they speak. Accuracy and fairness. Reason and evidence. And the current state of public discourse.

My own interest in the whole Sarah Palin Saga(tm) has only to do with how dreadfully she has been treated. And how the people and interests who set out to destroy her – thereby exposing in many ways their own seething hypocrisy – have pretty much gotten away with it. This is what happens when a conservative Christian woman who did not abort her Down’s Syndrome child dares enter the public arena and speak out.

(Caveat – I am not criticizing anyone who did not care for Governor Palin. Only those who set out to denigrate and destroy her publicly.)

Cal Thomas nailed it in his most recent piece. It begins:

The soon to be former governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, is like one of those souffles my mother sometimes made. The recipe warned against premature removal from the oven because the dish would collapse.

That is the saga of Gov. Palin. Prematurely plucked from relative obscurity by John McCain and touted as a rising star by many Republican conservatives, Palin collapsed. Though she was treated unfairly and in ways that no liberal woman would have been — not even Hillary Clinton — she clearly was not prepared to discuss the issues, the command of which — or least familiarity of which — are essential to anyone seeking national office.

Read the whole thing here at Townhall. You do not have to register.

Yes she was treated unfairly. And the efforts by many to demonize her tell us a great deal about the demonizers. But Thomas also invites us to recognize how perhaps she should never have been put in that position – and she should not have allowed herself to be put in that position – in the first place.

I found Governor Palin to be “a bit much”. Her speech patterns drive me crazy. I try to be tolerant of regional dialects but if you want to speak to the whole nation you need to tone it down a couple notches ya know? geez! Thomas offers a few specific suggestions about how she can truly be prepared for the national public stage – because to be honest she was not. Hence her unfortunate departure – which does not make her look good.

This is what conservatives and Republicans need to remember. It is not enough to be “right”. And it is not enough to cry “unfair!” even when in fact you are being treated unfairly. You need to be well prepared (Governor Palin), not make stupid mistakes (Governor Sanford), and outplay your opponents (Senator McCain). So the referee keeps calling against you. Stop whining and go out there and win!