Irreconcilable Differences

I'm with Dreher and Douthat on this one:

Don't misunderstand me: there are plenty of good reasons not to vote for Sarah Palin, and to think she was a poor choice of running mates. I understand that. I honor it, truly. But that's not what this tempest these past few days has been about. It's been about putting Palin and women like her, and people like her, in their place. For every action there is an equal and positive reaction. Remember that.

. . . My language [about culture war] was too harsh above, and I apologize to you who felt personally affronted by my tone. I don't want to have a culture war over Palin. It seems clear to me, though, that this is exactly what many on the left, and in the mainstream media, are determined to push. I agree that Palin is a problematic candidate in many ways, and I wouldn't blame someone for deciding not to vote for a ticket with her on it. What I'm trying to get across here is that events of the past few days have revealed that the left -- not everyone on the left, but some on the left -- is bound and determined to destroy Sarah Palin for the crime of being a pro-life woman. I've found the level of spite to be so jarring that it's moving me from being anti-McCain, to cautiously optimistic about McCain-Palin, to approaching a point where I feel almost obligated to vote for McCain-Palin to spite those trying to destroy her.

This is coming from a position of emotion, and I know I'll think more clearly about this once these heated first days of her candidacy subside. Still, I had thought we were beyond this, and that the people spreading the garbage about Palin would be marginalized in the same way the "Obama is a Muslim" haters have been by the respectable right. Maybe we'll yet see that. Or maybe we really are a country with irreconcilable differences.