Sarah Palin isn't getting much of a break these days from anyone on the left end of the political spectrum.
In the Dec. 9 Washington Post, an op-ed appeared by the former Alaska governor, in which she called on President Barack Obama to boycott the current Copenhagen climate summit in the wake of the "Climategate" e-mail leak.
"Without trustworthy science and with so much at stake, Americans should be wary about what comes out of this politicized conference," Palin wrote. "The president should boycott Copenhagen."
The op-ed, specifically that paragraph, drew the ire of some prominent lefties, including The Daily Beast's Editor in Chief Tina Brown and Time magazine political columnist Joe Klein. Brown said Palin's call on Obama to boycott was "grandstanding" without basis on MSNBC's Dec. 9 broadcast of "Morning Joe."
"Isn't that the difference between a book tour and being president?" Brown said. "I mean, I know - here, here is Obama sort of actually trying to wrestle with the nitty-gritty problems of the world," Brown said. "And she is on a book tour, basically grandstanding, you know - free-associating policy initiatives and so forth. She has absolutely no requirement to -"
On Time's Web site in a post dated Dec. 9, Klein took a shot at Palin's call on Obama, implicitly dismissing the potential problems with the University of East Anglia climate data:
The Washington Post devotes valuable op-ed space today to Sarah Palin, who uses it to denounce "politicized science":
I've always believed that policy should be based on sound science, not politics.
Okay. But she's not denouncing the politicized, oil-drenched policies of the Bush Administration. She's joining the right-wing hysteria chorus, which has launched a new attack on the science of climate change based on some embarrassing and disgraceful emails written by scientists at the University of East Anglia Climate Research Unit.
"Morning Joe" co-anchor Mika Brzezinski, who reiterated this notion, questioned whether Palin's stance resulted from a truly heartfelt sentiment on the hoax of anthropogenic global warming, or a way to sell her book and exploit Obama's diminishing popularity.
"One final note on Sarah Palin," Brzezinski said. "And I wonder if you agree. This happened a little bit during the election, especially when she was out at rallies, really going negative - some of the things she was saying about her opponent, but I feel what she's got is this comfortable spot with this book and book tour, where she can capitalize on the anger that's out there about the current state of our economy and jobs."
