Book Review: The Persecution of Sarah Palin by Matthew Continetti

Reviewed by David Bozeman

To paint Sarah Palin a victim contradicts what makes her such a polarizing figure.  Supporters love her as an outdoorsy political maverick who can field dress a moose and turn her opponents into werewolves at the mention of her name.  To said opposition, she is a low-rent beauty queen who snagged popularity and career advancement through looks and an annoying excess of charm.  Whichever scenario fits, she is nobody’s victim.

But she is, according to Matthew Continetti in The Persecution of Sarah Palin, a target. Since her debut on the national stage, a favorite (and easy) topic for conservative writers has been to examine why she inspires such raw, sharp hatred, but Persecution offers a fresh perspective that will rank high with what promises to be numerous modern entries in the Sarah chronicles.

Continetti, an associate editor of The Weekly Standard and a Columbia University graduate covers some familiar ground, particularly early on, but his ample supply of details paints a frightening graphic of political discourse in 2008-09.  He wisely notes that the McCain campaign, and, occasionally, even the governor herself, were partly to blame for her public flogging.

But the villains of the piece are the left and, to a larger extent, the mainstream media.  Character defamation is by no means new to American politics, but the intensity of what media insider turned industry critic Bernard Goldberg termed “Palin Derangement Syndrome” bears examining, particularly how it was spread by those ‘objective’ disseminators of truth in TV and print journalism.  The outrage, one will note, is not merely that Sarah Palin was mercilessly attacked but that entire blocs of the American population were.  Far from the right-wing zealot of liberal myth, Palin is a reasoned, competent working mother who just happens to be a public figure.  Who has more in common with the average American woman, Palin or her noted critic and denizen of the left-wing cocktail circuit, Gloria Steinem?  Continetti does the math, and if you think Palin was maliciously maligned by the elite left, you are correct, and for scores of reasons you didn’t even know.

Palin was targeted by those who abhorred her religion.  She was labeled a traitor to her gender by hardcore feminists.  She is a small-town hick.  You know the drill:  baby Trig is really her grandson, etc., etc.  The left sought to discredit not the GOP’s ideas but the very person of Sarah Palin, no matter who, including her family, was hurt in the process, and members of the mainstream media were not merely complicit, they were ready and eager.  Katie Couric’s condescending interview was widely celebrated and even rewarded by fellow journalists.  This and other facts will enrage some readers, but the ultimate prize is truth — Palin supporters can rightly claim that she did indeed oppose the Bridge to Nowhere.  In a just world, Palin’s capacity for leadership would speak for itself, and, furthermore, Continetti would not need to itemize the numerous gaffes and half-truths of the ultimate victor for vice-president, the man touted — in all seriousness! — as Palin’s intellectual superior, Joe Biden.

Finally, readers will be left with a portrait of a remarkable woman who never imagined her mere existence, let alone her audacity to set foot on the national stage, would ignite such fury.  Palin’s staunchest supporters will delight in the author’s deep regard for his subject.  In fact, she would have been far better served by his explanation for her abrupt resignation as governor than by her own rambling, sketchy announcement last July 3.  Continetti’s excoriating take on the mainstream media ranks with the best works of Bernard Goldberg — clearly the next Republican superstar will do well to heed Persecution’s warnings.

5/5

David Bozeman is a Liberty Features Syndicated writer.