In my Open Letter to Sarah Palin I tried to explain why so many people seem to hate her, and I think I did. But the extreme kind of hysterical malignity displayed by some toward Mrs. Palin is beyond explanation.

This irrational hatred is very widespread, and I'm not the only one noticing it. Lorie Byrd observes that nothing seems to "explain the Sarah Palin hatred. It is so deep as to be pathological." She includes a list of some of the lies that are being told about Sarah, and it's always lies. If Sarah is worthy of such hatred, why is it necessary to use lies to foment it?

Perhaps the best known (though I had never heard of her) of the hate mongers is someone named Shannyn Moore, whom Joanne Grimes describes as, "A peculiar and insignificant individual who apparently has developed a cottage industry around abusing Sarah Palin. Merely on the strength of her vitriol and mania against the governor she got her thoughts posted on the Huffington Post, got her own local radio show and even finds herself persona grata on MSNBC!"

It is this Moore creature that is spreading the latest lie about the Palins, that "they are under investigation by the FBI." But, the "FBI's Alaska spokesman said the bureau had no investigation into Palin for her activities as governor, as mayor or in any other capacity."

The Hatred of a Feminist

It took me less than 30 seconds to find this doing a WEB search. But those who hate Palin are not interested in the truth and continue to spread this lie—as Wendy McElroydoes.

What kind of person could wish for someone to be guilty of something, finding pleasure in the idea of them being put in jail? That's the kind of person McElroy is. "If the rumor is true, [and she obviously wishes it were] then Palin's actions were definitely illegal and should draw prison time. ... I can't remember" she jokes, "...does Palin look good in orange? You know, the color of those jumpers issued to prisoners?"

Normally the opinion of another nothing, whom you and most others have probably never heard of, would not be worth a moment's consideration, but this woman claims to be a spokesperson for individual liberty and opposed to big government. Much of her blog is dedicated to exposing police abuse as well. But hatred apparently makes people forget their principles.

Not content to repeat lies, she dredges up one of the first attempts to smear Palin, the so-called "troopergate," in which Palin, she says, "was accused of using her position to pull strings and get someone fired."

Facts just do not matter when hate is involved. Sarah did not "pull strings" to get anyone fired, she fired Walter Monegan, herself, for not doing his job, because he refused to fire a rogue cop. Walter Monegan forced the Alaska state house to investigate the firing which found, "no illegality," but being politicians added the subjective judgment that the firing was still an, "abuse of power." Remember, this was not a court of law, simply the statement of a bunch of politicians, and we all know how upstanding and trustworthy politicians are—right Wendy? And since when did Wendy Mackerelface become concerned with the fate of abusive cops?

Apparently since she developed this overwhelming hatred for Sarah Palin. But why does she hate her so? Could it be that Sarah is all Wendy knows she is not, and never could be? Whether you agree or approve of what she's done, Sarah has accomplished in her life what the likes of Wendy McElroy could only wish for. People actually know who Sarah Palin is. But who is this Wendy McElroy and what has she ever done?

She calls herself an "Individualist Feminist" which you can learn all about on her iFeminist site. As for what she has done, well, she has written and edited some books: Freedom, Feminism, and the State; Liberty for Women; XXX: A Woman's Right to Pornography; and other books on equally important subjects.

So if Sarah Palin is the kind of person Wendy Mackerelface, hates, what kind of person does she admire?

She admires people like David Carradine. She's upset that poor Mr. Carradine is "being torn to shreds in the press over the manner of his recent death." By that I assume she means the truth about his death is being told (she does seem to prefer lies). There is no way to turn a death caused by Auto-Erotic Asphyxia into a noble one; it is just sad and tragic and a terrible waste of a life.

But for Wendy, Carradine is an inspiration, because he once said, "Why is it that if a movie is not stupid, violent, dirty, silly, scary, or weird, it must be sad?....All I want is to be happy and uplifted, have something to do on a Saturday night; have a good time; have some hope on Monday....I would like to pledge my own life and my career to the corny ideal of giving joy....Please give me a happy ending."

And Wendy said, "In a sense, the ideal sought was ... expressed by David Carradine. It was the hope of a happy ending--not in a film but in the life of the individual."

So Wendy thinks Carradine is an example of a "happy ending?"

Pictures of Happiness

This is a picture of happiness, not just at the end, but throughout one's whole life. There is no one in public life today that exudes the kind of happy self-confidence and delight with life that Sarah Palin does.

But why should this almost boundless capacity to enjoy life, and enjoy all of it, especially its challenges and hard work, engender the kind of malice exhibited by the Sarah Palin haters? They may not agree with her politics, or the particular values she holds and lives by, but there are millions of people who hold similar values with the same political views that never garner the kind of vituperative Sarah Palin does.

They talk a lot about happiness, people like Wendy McElroy, but always as an "ideal," something to be sought, and if they are lucky, perhaps achieved by the end of their lives. Such hatred as they exhibit is certainly not a sign of happiness, but a symptom of some inner misery.

Perhaps that is what these Sarah Palin haters hate most. This woman, whose values and views they despise, has achieved what they can only dream of. Success is, after all, not success at any particular thing, but in achieving the purpose of life itself, to enjoy it thoroughly and happily and to achieve that by one's own independent effort. It is this success more than any other that the McElroys of the world hate, because it demonstrates what they are: failures at living life.

If you would like to see happiness in action, enjoy this interview of Sarah by Andrea Mitchell and notice when Sarah tells Mitchell, "you're not listening to me." Perhaps if the Palin haters would shut up and listen, they would at least learn some truth, even if they never learn to live with themselves.

—Reginald Firehammer