Criticizing Obama has been made off limits

Joe Scarborough

Before the vice presidential debate, we learned that the moderator was writing a fawning book about the transform- ative effects of the "age of Obama."

The media gave Gwen Ifill a free pass for her ethical breach, despite the fact she misled the debate commission about her book.

While I was concerned about Ifill's lapse of judgment, I was a bit curious about what the PBS star thought the "age of Obama" might look like.

I don't have to wonder anymore.

Let me give you a few helpful survival tips for the next four years.

The most important rule in this coming age is to remember that one must take great caution when criticizing Barack Obama.

Remember, even Democratic hero Bill Clinton was accused of being a bigot for calling Obama's political biography a "fairy tale."

Former Democratic vice presidential nominee Geraldine Ferraro was compared to David Duke for suggesting that Barack Obama gained some advantages from being black.

Sarah Palin and John McCain joined the "Bigot's Club" this week when they dared to criticize The One Who Shall Not Be Criticized.

Palin was slandered for pointing out that Barack Obama launched his political career at the home of an unrepentant domestic terrorist.

The Associated Press grimly warned that any criticism of that former terrorist, William Ayers, was tinged with bigotry — despite the fact that the last time anyone checked, Ayers was white.

The New York Times' Frank Rich did what most hyperventilating leftists do when on defense, by comparing McCain and Palin's campaign to the rise of Nazi Germany.

The major networks all jumped into the fray and breathlessly read Democratic talking points, charging that McCain was encouraging angry mobs and racist rallies.

Interestingly enough, NBC's Kelly O'Donnell told me McCain's crowds were no more intense than those found at Democratic rallies. But let's not get bogged down with the facts. After all, this is a bright new age.

To understand just how much political correctness will chill free speech in this sunny era, look no further than John Lewis' statements this past weekend.

The Obama supporter and civil rights hero compared McCain and Palin to George Wallace and the bombers who killed four little girls in a Birmingham church in the early '60s.

How ironic that Obama's allies are trying to link Sarah Palin to domestic terrorists who were jailed before she was even born, while Obama's connections with William Ayers is off limits.

The double standard is as frightening as it is unfair. But fairness and open-minded debate may not be welcomed in this new age we are about to enter.

Last month, St. Louis circuit attorneys warned citizens that they would be subject to criminal prosecution if they made statements that these Obama-supporting attorneys considered "false."

Wow.

How interesting that the same merchants of hate who spent the last eight years spitting out the most vile charges against George W. Bush are suddenly champions of polite political discourse.

The left is in hysterics, free speech is on ice, and somewhere Gwen Ifill is smiling.

The Age of Obama is already here.

Joe Scarborough is the host of "Morning Joe" on MSNBC. E-mail him at joe.nbc@gmail.com.

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