Mark Finkelstein is emerging as the chief Heatherer of any conservative who commits the offense of criticizing Sarah Palin.
On Nov. 30, Finkelstein took offense to Joe Scarborough’s “astonishing” claim that “all” conservative leaders and talk radio hosts with whom he’s spoken agree with his criticism of Palin. And he’s been playing block-watcher on Scarborough over this:
This is far from the first time that Joe has taken shots at Palin. As I’ve reported, he has blamed the former Alaska governor for the GOP’s failure to win the Senate, and claimed that Palin knows she can’t win the presidency but is in it for the money.
Then, on Dec. 1, Finkelstein cast his eye on conservative strategist Nicolle Wallace:
It’s no secret that Wallace is no fan of Sarah Palin. But the former Bush communications director and McCain campaign aide perhaps took things to another level with her attack on Palin on today’s Morning Joe. Wallace was on to comment on Joe Scarborough’s astonishing claim of yesterday, noted here, that “all” conservatives and talk radio hosts with whom he’s spoken are harshly critical of Palin off the record, but are afraid to express their views publicly.
Wallace opined that if it ever looked as if Palin were close to copping the Republican presidential nomination, many GOP leaders who have to date been too timid to criticize her would step forward to expose Palin’s putative shortcomings. In the course of propounding her theory, Wallace unleashed a hail of criticism of her own:
- “Mistakes were made [by McCain in choosing Palin].”
- “Her troubling deficiencies.”
- “Her incredible cynicism, her bitterness, her aggressive attempts to claw [makes clawing hand-gesture] anyone” who criticizes her.
- “Very prickly, very cynical.”
- “Heaven forbid, the leader of the free world.”
Wallace asserted that Republicans hesitate to criticize Palin publicly for fear of angering Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, whom Nicolle claimed to admire. Watch Wallace go after Palin. She who is not bitter, cast the first claw?
At no point does Finkelstein refute any of the criticism — he’s merely attacking anyone who dares to speak out. Telling the truth is not permitted at NewsBusters, it seems.