Jennifer Rubin attacks Sarah Palin… again

– by Josh Painter
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For the second time in less than eight days, Jennifer Rubin, the leftist Washington Post’s idea of a conservative (i.e., one who will attack Sarah Palin on demand), has gone after Gov. Palin. In a December 1 post, we noted how Rubin, who had mostly treated the 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate fairly on the pages of Commentary Magazine and its Contentions blog, had started slamming Sarah for Rubin’s new masters, the WaPo editors.

Rubin continues with her anti-Palin pontificating Wednesday in her “Right Turn” column. Today’s attack is even more gratuitous than her first one, hyper-criticizing the governor for her tweets regarding the dealings in DC on the Bush tax cuts:

What is she talking about? It is obvious that an extension of the Bush tax cuts is wrong? Or is it obvious that Obama is adopting ideas that were once Republican positions? If the latter, it should be a good thing, one would think. This is Palin at her worst — reflexively anti-deal making, grandstanding, imprecise and unreasoned. If she has a specific policy argument — e.g. the payroll tax “costs” too much for too little job growth — then you’d think she, who has been accused of being light on policy knowledge, would want to spell . . er . . . tweet that out.

For some time, liberal pundits have been taunting conservatives that they need “adult” or “mature” leadership. Right now, Obama is short on both qualities. His shoddy performance yesterday highlights the opportunity for Republicans to field a candidate in 2012 who appears more presidential than the incumbent. But Palin certainly doesn’t give the impression she would be able to step into that role.

Rubin should be ashamed of herself. It’s obvious to anyone who can read and looks at Gov. Palin’s tweet in the context of her other Twitter messages on the subject what she means and where she stands. She obviously stands with Jim Demint, who tweeted that Republicans can do better than the current compromise they made with Obama on the cuts. Why is it so difficult for Rubin to recognize this? That’s a rhetorical question; it’s clear what the columnist is up to here.

We cut Rubin some slack, even after her shoddy treatment of Fred Thompson during the 2008 GOP presidential primaries. But Jennifer Rubin has crossed the line and is now spouting the same elitist nonsense that anti-Palin faux conservatives David Frum, Kathleen Parker, Karl Rove and Peggy Noonan have been cranking out, some of them for years. Sadly, Rubin has sold out to the WaPo leftists and is now doing their dirty work for them. The last ounce of respect we had for this writer has evaporated. She’s fitting in very well at the Democrats’ DC house organ.

– JP

Cross-posted from Texas for Sarah Palin