Banned in Canada

The liberal perspective on Sarah Palin was articulated for them, before they realized how, and why, they hated her so much, by Canadian writer Heather Mallick. Her column at CBC.com describes Palin has been vigorously criticized for saying Palin offers

the "toned-down version of the porn actress look," and attacking people in small towns as she charged that Palin "added nothing to the ticket that the Republicans didn't already have sewn up, the white trash vote, the demographic that sullies America's name inside and outside its borders yet has such a curious appeal for the right."

Based on her small town Canadian upbringing, Mallick claimed familiarity with all the ugliness of the Palin mindset.

Canada has lots of hockey moms. They're called Fran and Nancy. They have cruel haircuts and their voices shake the rafters of the rink as their rink-rats play. How can I translate the hearty, jollying-along Palin for British audiences? ...It's those volleyball shoulders and field-hockey thighs, the energy, the bullying, and the utter self-confidence in every lie she tells.

Salt-of-the-earthers don't lie! But Palins do. I watched Palin last night, my mouth open, my eyeballs drying out, my hand making shaky notes. I read them aghast.

Mallick doesn't small towns, or the people they create.

She also lied when she slobbered over small-town folks (an American version of British farm life, except British farmers have a point). The granite honesty of hicks is a cliche, a fantasy, a meme of American life, as much as the working-class solidarity of Tony Blair was in 1997, and where did that get anyone?

Malik wrote this insightful bit of liberal bigotry on September 5. On Sunday, more than three weeks later, the CBC website apologized for having printed it, and took it down. The version offered on Mallick's own website has the most controversial parts removed.

Mallick's column is a classic piece of political invective. It is viciously personal, grossly hyperbolic and intensely partisan.

And because it is all those things, this column should not have appeared on the CBCNews.ca site.

I'm not sure what benefit is derived from blocking the publication of opinion pieces like this. Don't we all benefit from knowing exactly what liberals think?