The lefty drive-by lynch mob claims a GOP scalp

The holiday season is typically a slow news period.  (Believe us, we KNOW.) The left’s howling jackals — still licking their wounds from a November thumping — have turned their attentions to the personal Facebook account of a press secretary for a GOP House member.   What was the offense committed by one Elizabeth Lauten?  The folks at Hotair have all the *scandalous details*:

The familiar circumstance in which members of the press clutch at their pearls, seek out the fainting couch, and demand satisfaction for perceived insults to the Obama family’s honor has grown lamentably predictable.

Another opportunity for the media to freely and unapologetically identify with the Obamas emerged over the weekend when President Barack Obama performed the annual tradition of pardoning a Thanksgiving turkey. It was then that an obscure congressman’s even more obscure communications staffer took to her Facebook page, which no one but her blood relatives had read prior to this manufactured fracas, and criticized the way in which the president’s daughters had comported themselves.

“Dear Sasha and Malia, I get you’re both in those awful teen years, but you’re a part of the First Family, try showing a little class,” Rep. Stephen Fincher’s (R-TN) communications director, Elizabeth Lauten, wrote. “Dress like you deserve respect, not a spot at a bar.”

“At least respect the part you play,” she added. “Then again your mother and father don’t respect their positions very much or the nation foe [sic] that matter, so I’m guessing you’re coming up a little short in the ‘good role model’ department.”

Someone spotted the post, and the media decided to play a familiar game of “#HasJustineLandedLet” – a favored pastime over slow holiday news cycles in which the press resolves to ruin the reputation of a relatively anonymous public relations figure over a previously unseen statement subjectively determined to be offensive.

A casual Google search for Lauten’s remarks reveals hundreds of articles, some examining familiar avenues of the controversy while others plumb more abstruse elements of this hullabaloo. The backlash was so fierce that Lauten was forced to apologize, but that is simply not good enough for the sadly recognizable online mob. On the popular African-American commentary site The Grio, readers are offered the chance to vote on whether Lauten should lose her job over her decision to express her opinion. By a 9-to-1 margin, readers agree that Lauten should soon be forced to join the unemployment lines.[…] 

On one hand, when you are employed as someone’s spokesperson, you have to recognize that you are ALWAYS on duty.  What comes out of your mouth is a reflection on your employer / client. On the other hand, it’s pretty weak to be outraged over this.  How many of us have said something similar to teenagers being teenagers — rolling their eyes, muttering under their breath, dressed inappropriately?

Being president of the United States is a tough job.  You have NO privacy. Every aspect of your life is under scrutiny.  Even your family gets put under the spotlight.  That’s one reason you don’t see every Tom, Dick or Harry scrambling to file for a presidential run.

It’s fair to  ask that criticism of a politician be limited to the elected official in question.  Politicians can’t control the actions of their grown, adult children living outside of their home.  The media treated Amy Carter with kid gloves.  We saw Chelsea Clinton ONLY when Bill and Hillary wanted us to.

Yet, George W, Bush’s college-age daughters were raked over the coals for — *gasp* — possessing alcohol while underage.  (*An offense almost unheard of on college campuses.*) Yet, we heard NOTHING about Chelsea’s college escapades.  Are we expected to believe that this girl — with Bill Clinton’s DNA — spent her four years hiding in the dorm room, avoiding frat parties, and hunkered down in the library?  But back to my earlier point.  Why are the actions of a president’s grown child newsworthy? Unless they’ve committed murder or some other serious felony, they’re NOT. 

CNN’s Carol Costello yukked it up on the air over audio of Bristol Palin — daughter of Sarah — tearfully describing an assault against her.  There was public outrage.  Costello was forced to apologize.  The uproar settled down. Costello is still there at that already-unwatchable network.

The Palins also got hit with some nastiness about Sarah’s grandchildren.  During the 2008 campaign, rumors that Sarah’s handicapped infant child was really Bristol’s got lip service from the drivebys.  The drive-by lynch mob has also been busy comparing the age of the grandchildren to the wedding dates of their parents.    Yet, all of Bill Clinton’s extramarital activity — -and the fact that Chelsea looks nothing like Hillary — got a wink-and-a-nod. Privacy for Democrats’ kids — YES.  For GOPers’ kids — Hell, NO. 

Yet, to the lefties, Lauten had to go.  The uproar in the media and on the social networks has been so intense that I am sure her boss — or people close to him — strongly suggested she go away for good.  After all, it’s not so good for your press flack to be getting more attention than you. 

Once again, the free speech crowd manages to browbeat someone into professional ruin for exercising free speech. You can’t criticize Obama without being labeled a racist.  You can’t discuss his family without losing your job.  Wow.  If only Richard and Pat Nixon, Gerald and Betty Ford, Ronald and Nancy Reagan, George and Barbara Bush, and George and Laura Bush had that kind of consideration shown to them.