Blue Crab Boulevard

A Reflection

I’ve been making my morning reading rounds and have been thinking about what is out there today. I predicted when the savage attacks on Sarah Palin began that there would be a backlash. Lo and behold, that backlash has happened. Sarah Palin is now viewed favorably by more people than is Barack Obama.

Another thought occurred to me this morning as well, the left and the media (yes, I know that’s redundant, at least for many of the media outlets) have accomplished one thing with their vitriol.

They have steadily eroded what little credibility they had prior to this.

By unleashing a steady stream of sewage, more and more people are convinced the media is anything but reliable. Let’s just take a look at what one media outlet has chosen to report today, shall we? Ben Smith at The Politico files this piece (which is pointing to another Politico article):

PALMER, Alaska — The liberal blogosphere was abuzz Friday with news that a friend of Sarah and Todd Palin had tried to seal his divorce records.

Surely, the Netroots speculated, that friend must be the unnamed business partner whom this week’s edition of the National Enquirer alleges — without proof so far — was romantically linked to Palin. The McCain campaign’s characterization of the story as a “vicious lie” seemed to only fuel more speculation.

And then the moment of truth, as the motion to seal was denied.

The filings, housed in a district courthouse in this town about eight miles east of the Palin’s hometown of Wasilla, contained a lot of hot news — presuming, that is, you’re interested in the child-custody agreement reached by Scott Richter and his ex-wife Deborah Richter, or in the former couple’s holdings, which include a recreational property that Scott owns with Sarah and Todd Palin.

That hasn’t stopped a stream of journalists and couriers from NBC, the Los Angeles Times, Court TV and other outlets (including this reporter, presently serving as Politico’s Alaska bureau) from making their way to the Palmer courthouse to photocopy, at 25 cents a page, the 75 or so pages in the Richters’ marriage dissolution file.

So, do you get that? The major media is cheerfully copying the divorce file of some poor guy - who is NOT a public figure - for no reason at all. They know it, but they flock in droves to copy it anyway. Thus the media demonstrates what? That it will do anything to damage Sarah Palin? Its lack of judgment? Its lack of ethics? Its complete absence of a sense of decency and respect for the privacy of others?

Yeah, all that. Plus a complete loss of credibility.

What about the lefty bloggers, then? The more sane elements of the left have been trying to warn their colleagues that their attacks were in serious danger of backfiring, yet all too many of them continued on regardless of the risk. One after another of their lies have been proven to be just that, yet they keep right on going. Little Energizer Bunnies of slime production.

As a result, they have presented lies, smears, stuff they made up out of the whole cloth and what looks more and more like the insane rantings of people off their medications. Many of the leftwing blogs that have indulged in this orgy of lies are the same ones who ardently support Barack Obama - and who have been ardently courted by the Obama campaign. What does that say about that campaign’s collective judgment?

It’s all so hopey-changey, isn’t it?

(Links via Memeorandum)

Politics | Gaius Saturday, 6 September , 2008

By syn, Saturday, 6 September , 2008 @ 12:14 pm

There you go, the Left is vicious.
By martian, Saturday, 6 September , 2008 @ 1:00 pm

The left is vicious. They make things up, speculate without even a clue to point to and generally trash both Palin and McCain in a never ending stream. But, let the McCain/Palin campaign make statements about a legitimate issue, the Obamessiah’s and Biden’s leadership qualifications, and the left is screaming they are unfairly attacking Obama. They are like a bunch of little kids, Obama included. They can dish it out but they can’t take it. I’m just waiting now for a reporter to ask the Obamessiah a legitimate question and hear him respond, “I know you are but what am I?”
By martian, Saturday, 6 September , 2008 @ 1:35 pm

Nonny, Nonny, boo, boo!
By elizabeth, Saturday, 6 September , 2008 @ 1:59 pm

Not that I am doubting you but could you be more specific about who are “the more sane elements of the left who have been warning that attacks would backfire.”? I seem to have missed them amid the heat and smoke of the left’s attacks against Palin.
By Gaius, Saturday, 6 September , 2008 @ 2:09 pm

I know one writer at Talk Left warned people about this. I saw a couple of others at Memeorandum.