The rise and fall (and rise) of Sarah Palin (Part 2 of 2)

>> Read The rise and fall of Sarah Palin (Part 1 of 2)

I had been holding off on this follow-up as reports on the Fall (burial) and subsequent Rise (push) of Sarah Palin kept piling up. As AllahPundit of Hotair exasperatedly wondered - Exit question: Time to stop blogging this soap opera? We’re never going to get closure so we might as well stop watching. After reaching the same conclusion, below is a brief compilation of the unfolding drama:

Bill Kristol on "Palinophobia"

Rush Limbaugh on the Palin "burial"

The Palin knives come out by Jonathan Martin
...this new reporting, clearly embargoed until after Election Day, underscores, it was if anything understated.
Conservatives are deeply angry about this finger-pointing and are seizing on it to renew ancient gripes about McCain and his inner circle.
Rush Limbaugh has used much of the top of show to rail against his old nemesis
"This is our own party leaking to the drive-by media to destroy Sarah Palin," he lamented, arguing it was being done to destroy her future political prospects.

Rush Limbaugh began his Thursday show with a comprehensive recount of the McCain camp infighting and the alleged difficulties with running mate Sarah Palin. It's an odd piece as Rush rails against the disloyal McCain staffers who are undermining Palin, an affront to a figure for strong conservatism. On the other hand Rush seems unnecessarily exhaustive in detailing the charges of Palin's foibles. Talkers generally filter news that may be damaging to their party because it can be seized upon by their opponents. When it's absolutely necessary to include the news to provide a context for a rant, it's usually kept to a minimum.

Read a transcript of Limbaugh's introduction

Unconscionable: McCain Staffers Attempting to Destroy Sarah Palin
So what's going on here is two things: an effort to blame her for the loss, all this talk about she dragged the ticket down, which is an absolute laugher, it is an absolute joke and an effort to damage her for the future. It's unconscionable what is happening and what they're doing to Sarah Palin in our own party. Let me ask you this, folks. Will smearing a classy and upbeat conservative star make her more or less popular with the Republican base?

CNN's Campbell Brown defends Palin

Commentary: After Palin hard-sell fails, McCain aides attack her
to those McCain aides who say she is the reason they lost this election: Can I please remind you of one thing? You picked her.

You are the ones who supposedly vetted her, and then told the American people she was qualified for the job. You are the ones who, after meeting her a couple of times, told us she was ready to be just one heartbeat away from the presidency

Burying Sarah Palin:
- GOP governors unhappy with Palin press conference (CNN)
- McCain Campaign Retrospective (NRO)
- Hackers and Spending Sprees

Pushing Sarah Palin:
- Bushies Come to Palin's Aid (NewsWeek)
- McCain staffers starting to rally to Palin’s defense (HotAir)
- Why isn’t McCain defending Palin from the leakers? (HotAir)