Bristol Palin Might Wait a Long Time for Obama's Call

By Mark Whittington | Yahoo! Contributor Network1 hr 28 mins ago

COMMENTARY | Bristol Palin, the oldest daughter of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, has written an open letter to President Barack Obama in her blog wondering when she is going to receive her phone call about the slimy attacks she has gotten in the media.

Palin asks whether Obama is against the denigration of all women or only certain women. The question hangs in the air, unanswered, like a pall over the president as he struggles to find some sort of consistency in the issue he raised about the maltreatment of women by public figures. Does the principle only apply to political allies like Sandra Fluke or does it apply to everyone, even members of the Palin family?

Palin notes Bill Maher has made sport of the unfortunate choice she made of having premarital sex with Levi Johnson. Maher also made fun of Bristol's Down syndrome brother.

Maher has tried to make a distinction between his insults against Sarah Palin and what Rush Limbaugh called Fluke. According to the New York Daily News, Maher suggested former Gov. Palin was fair game, as she is a public figure and that, besides, it got a laugh from his studio audience.

The principle that a woman can be insulted because she is a public figure is a dubious one at best. Maher should try it with first lady Michelle Obama or Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and see what he gets.

In any case, Bristol Palin raises an uncomfortable problem for Maher and his apologists. Does the public figure is fair game for sliming principle also apply to children of public figures? Palin suggests if that's the case, Mala and Sasha Obama would be vulnerable.

ShePac, a conservative women's group, has published a video of some of Maher's very offensive and obscene remarks about women, especially Sarah and Bristol Palin. In that context, one would be forgiven for wondering if Obama and his people would want to be associated with such a person.

It will be very hard to accuse one's opponents of waging a "war against women" when one of one's major campaign contributors and most enthusiastic supporters is a serial misogynist. It is an issue that will not go away until Obama makes it go away by urging his super PAC to return Maher's money and publicly repudiate him and his insults.

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