NYT's Charles Blow Defends Sarah Palin from Democrat Death Wishes

August 14th, 2010 1:18 PM

New York Times columnist Charles Blow on Saturday actually defended former governor Sarah Palin from death wish attacks by two Democrat officials in New Hampshire.

In case you missed it, on Tuesday Keith Halloran, a Democrat candidate for the New Hampshire House, posted in a Facebook thread about the plane crash that killed former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, "Just wish Sarah and Levy [sic] were on board." 

New Hampshire State Representative Timothy Horrigan replied Wednesday, "Well a dead Palin wd [sic] be even more dangerous than a live one ... she is all about her myth & if she was dead she cldn' t [sic] commit any more gaffes."

Rather surprisingly, Blow took issue with this Saturday:

Then there's the Democratic state representative, Timothy Horrigan, from New Hampshire. After Ted Stevens, the former Alaska senator, was killed in a plane crash this week, Keith David Halloran, a New Hampshire Democrat, posted this message on his Facebook page: "Just wish Sarah and Levy were on board," clearly referring to Sarah Palin and Levi Johnston.

To that, Horrigan responded: "Well a dead Palin wd be even more dangerous than a live one ... she is all about her myth & if she was dead she cldn't commit any more gaffes."

Seriously guys? I'm the first to say that I want to keep Palin as close to Russia and as far away from Washington as humanly possible, but debating the merits of her demise in a plane crash is heinous. Horrigan has since resigned.

In reality, Blow was being surprisingly bipartisan in this column mocking the behavior of both Republicans and Democrats:

Representative Charles Rangel of New York took to the House floor this week and delivered such a melodramatic diatribe that I thought any moment he would start belting "And I Am Telling You I Am Not Going" from "Dreamgirls." [...]

Another is John McCain, who seems to be flirting with the über-tan "Jersey Shore" star Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi (after having bonded with each other over tanning salon taxes in June). Snooki was arrested for disorderly conduct last month. This week, McCain told a Phoenix radio station that "I kind of think she might be too good-looking to go to jail." A wink, wink from the dashing 73-year-old with the wispy locks. One bit of advice to Snooki: Don't go to McCain's home base in Arizona. The state is hostile to people of your current complexion.

Blow continued his bipartisan excoriation right into his humorous conclusion:

I say Justin Bieber for president. I know he was born in Canada, but since Republicans want to tinker with the Constitution anyway, why not? Besides, I'm not sure many would notice the difference. Bieber knows how to draw a crowd, get them all excited and then break their hearts. For vice president, maybe they could find a booster seat for Zahara Jolie-Pitt. She probably has about as much message discipline as Joe Biden.

Besides, we need some African-birth-certificate drama for continuity.

Nice piece, Charles. As you know, I rarely say that.

Does Blow's sudden bipartisanship indicate that even he is realizing what a joke Obama and the Democrats are?

Don't count it. This is likely a brief moment of sanity while most are on summer vacation.

You can bet your bottom dollar Blow will be back to exclusively bashing Republicans as the midterm elections near.

Stay tuned.