The Obama Machine’s Unscrupulous Attacks on Sarah Palin

At a news conference today, Barack Obama responded to questions pertaining to the announcement of 17-year-old Bristol Palin’s pregnancy. Bonnie Kapp at Fox News reports:

‘“I have heard some of the news on this and so let me be a clear as possible: I have said before and I will repeat again, I think people’s families are off limits, and people’s children are especially off limits. This shouldn’t be part of our politics,’ the Democrat said forcefully. ‘It has no relevance to Governor Palin’s performance as governor, or her potential performance as a VP. And so I would strongly urge people to back off these kinds of stories,’ he continued.

‘“The candidate who himself was born to a teenage mom, reminded reporters, ‘You know my mother had me when she was 18, and how a family deals with issues and you know teenage children, that shouldn’t be the topic of our politics and I hope that anybody who is supporting me understands that’s off limits.’

‘“When asked about an ‘unnamed McCain advisor’ accusing the Obama campaign of spreading despicable rumors surrounding Bristol Palin online, Obama interrupted the reporter mid-question. ‘I am offended by that statement. There is no evidence at all that any of this involved us,’ he said directly. ‘Our people were not involved in any way in this, and they will not be. And if I ever thought that it was somebody in my campaign that was involved in something like that - they’d be fired,’ he added.

“With that, Obama boarded his airport-bound bus to head to Milwaukee for a rally.”

As I’ve noted many times before, Barack Obama claims he's a new kind of politician and that his campaign is above the usual mudslinging tactics. At the same time, he has consistently failed to take any responsibility for the behavior of his left-wing netroots supporters that I call – with good reason - his online shock troops. As Naomi Klein points out, the Daily Kos, the Huffington Post, and the like are all integral parts of the Obama machine.

Obama’s netroots supporters display no moral scruples whatsoever in their attempts to destroy anyone they perceive as their idol's adversary (click here to see what I mean). They did their utmost to destroy Hillary Clinton and ever since Sarah Palin was introduced, they’ve gone all out to take her down, including spreading the malicious rumor questioning the four-month-old Trig Palin’s parentage.

But here’s the deal: Barack Obama has posted on the Huffington Post. He’s well aware that he has long been the candidate of choice on this far left Web site. With the Obama campaign’s Internet savvy, he’s got to know what the blogs are saying. On several occasions, including his acceptance speech, Obama has called out the Republicans for running a dirty campaign. Never once have I ever witnessed the One lecturing his own supporters for resorting to hate-mongering tactics that arguably exceed anything right-wing extremists are capable of producing.

It’s time for Barack Obama to step forward and rebuke his online shock troops for their barbaric behavior. Until then, Obama’s claim to transcend the old politics will ring completely false.

Palins Announce 17-year-old Bristol's Pregnancy

The Obama online shock troops had already become indistinguishable from Rush Limbaugh’s followers. There they were – a few hours after she stepped on the national stage –blanketing the Internet with hate-mongering rumors accusing Gov. Sarah Palin of lying about giving birth to her fifth child last April and suggesting that her son Trig was actually her 17-year-old daughter’s child. Even Andrew Sullivan joined the stampede to ruthlessly destroy Palin’s credibility before her candidacy could get off the ground.

Today, in an attempt to squelch the above rumors, Gov. Palin announced that her unmarried 17-year-old daughter is pregnant. As reported by ABC’s Jake Tapper, the statement from Gov. Palin and her husband Todd reads:

“We have been blessed with five wonderful children who we love with all our heart and mean everything to us.”

“Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned," they continued, referring to their 17-year-old daughter. "As Bristol faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows she has our unconditional love and support."

The Palins said that "Bristol and the young man she will marry are going to realize very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family. We ask the media, respect our daughter and Levi's privacy as has always been the tradition of children of candidates."

Tapper added,

“The campaign of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who announced Palin as his running mate just three days ago, said the Palins would have no further comment.”

As to be expected, hundreds, if not thousands, of Obama supporters are piling on in readers’ comments responding to news of Bristol Palin’s pregnancy at leading left-wing Web sites. Needless to say, the barbed remarks from the lefties continue to be indistinguishable from those you might expect from the extreme right if the situation were reversed.