Reload, Sarah, Reload; Then Reload Some More

Laura Schlessinger had it right.

No, not in her recent racially-saturated rant directed against Nita Hanson, the black woman who called the physiologist for marital advice and was advised she might be too sensitive to have married a man of another race.

And not because soon after Governor Sarah Palin was selected as the GOP vice-presidential nominee in 2008, Dr. Schlessinger blogged

But really, what kind of role model is a woman whose fifth child was recently born with a serious issue, Down syndrome, and then goes back to the job of governor within days of the birth?

There is some merit in that criticism, given Schlessinger's argument

Certainly, if a child becomes ill and is rushed to the hospital, and you’re on the hotline with both Israel and Iran as nuclear tempers are flaring, where’s your attention going to be? Where should your attention be? Well, once you put your hand on the Bible and make that oath, your attention has to be with the government of the United States of America.

No, Dr. Schlessinger, a committed conservative, acknowledged

I’m stunned - couldn’t the Republican Party find one competent female with adult children to run for Vice President with McCain? I realize his advisors probably didn’t want a “mature” woman, as the Democrats keep harping on his age.

A mature woman. It's only appropriate, then, that on Thursday Palin tweeted

Dr.Laura:don't retreat...reload!(Steps aside bc her 1st Amend.rights ceased 2 Exist thx 2activists trying 2silence"isn't American, not fair")

Others have pointed out that critics exercising their right of free expression by criticizing a talk radio host's words are not abridging that host's "1st Amend.rights." There is no Constitutional right to a radio program with 250 affiliates. But the former governor seems to have a particular affection for a firearms metaphor.

"Don't retreat.... reload! Palin tweeted. Does she ever actually write anything enabling more than 140 characters? Oh, yea, Facebook. And here she is on her very own Facebook page yesterday arguing that both she and Dr. Schlessinger are, oh, so persecuted by political opponents: "I reloaded in order to fight for what is right on a fairer battlefield."

Speaking at a Tea Party rally in March in Searchlight, Nevada, Palin exclaimed

Now when I talk about "It's not a time to retreat. It's a time to reload. Now, media, try to get this right, okay? That's not inciting violence. What I'm talking about (is political involvement).

I'm so glad she cleared that up. She was not advocating assassination of political figures- just rallying the troops. Try to get this right, okay, you media morons?

It probably is less incendiary, though, than plain immature, illustrating Laura Schlessinger's point back in September, 2008. If, however, McCain's advisers didn't want a mature woman, I think they were reflecting the sentiment of the candidate himself. Fortunately, that immature sentiment of theirs helped bring us President Obama.

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