Ann,
I am surprised that someone who in this same thread expressed such disgust at smear campaigns, could read this hatchet-job, with it's continual smears, lies, and insults, and offer "I thought it was interesting" as your only comment.
Words Cohen uses to describe Palin and her actions, include rabble-rousing, nonsense, unbalanced attacks, vile, cloying, with-us-or-against us, imposter, fear-mongering, ideological confusion, trash talk."
The interesting thing about this hit piece is that the Cohen acknowledges that he was surprised at what he found in the Republican town of Branson. He found a mayor who is practical, has common-sense, and is interested in balancing the books of her town. People come to the town in search of "religion, family, and patriotic entertainment." In fact, Cohen is totally disarmed by Reanne Presley's values - little tolerance for debt, delinquency, dumbness, or dereliction of duty. Perhaps most surprising of all, this liberal author was surprised to see a woman who expressed pride in America that a black man was running for President and a woman for Vice President. (Stop the Presses! This goes directly against the most prevalent, persistent, and vicious of all liberal smears against the right - that those on the right are racist, sexist bigots.)
All of what he found in Branson, contrary to his expectations, actually appealed to this liberal author. What a surprise! The values of the Republicans are actually... good! Well, yes, they are good. And they are the values of Sarah Palin.
The author gives no evidence that Sarah Palin's values differ from Reanne Presley's. In fact, Palin's years as mayor and then governor show that she holds exactly the same values as Presley. Get on with it. Do the job. No tolerance for corruption. No tolerance for dereliction of duty. Balance the books. Practicality and common sense. All of this describes Sarah Palin.
I would say that every word highlighted in bold above is applicable to Roger Cohen's vicious, dishonest, and unwarrented attack on Sarah Palin.
