Saturday, October 17, 2009

National Review Becoming More Balanced on Palin?


Is National Review becoming more balanced on Sarah Palin?

After a spate of pieces either advising Palin on what to do to be a real winner* or slapping her hands for her actions** or phrasing***, NR has published two positive items in a row.

First was the small squib in the last issue (NR, October 19, 2009, p. 10):
"Sarah Palin gave her first paid speech after stepping down as governor of Alaska. In a long address to a conference of investors in Hong Kong, she defended 'commonsense conservatism.' It was substantive, plainspoken, and--as billed--commonsensical. A nice coming out for the next stage of her career."
Following that is a 1 page article by Palin in the current NR on the strategic necessity of developing and utilizing America's oil and gas reserves. (Sarah Palin, Drill, NR, November 2, 2009, p. 53)

Is NR's treatment of Palin as a serious conservative voice here to stay? One can only hope.
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*Ross Douthat (yes, the "Americans are totally morally superior to Europeans and would never think of anything like euthanasia" Douthat) was given four columns of space for his musings on how Palin should remake herself to be politically viable. ("Sarah Resartus: Tailoring Palin for the Future", NR, December 1, 2008, pp. 26 and 28)

**Then there was NR editor Rich Lowry's melt down when Palin resigned the governorship in July. ("Sarah Palin: Up and Out: She didn’t do it for Alaska", NR, July 7, 2009.)

***Most recently NR's editors slapped Palin's hands for use of the term "death panels" in criticizing the Obama health care plan. ("Rationing and Rationality", NR, August 17, 2009).

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