Republican establishment elites, such as Mona Charen at National Review Online, are working overtime to put down any uprising from from the unwashed masses.

Ms. Charen has published a hit piece on Sarah Palin that is almost worthy of inclusion at the HuffyPo. Almost, since Ms. Charen actually said “Palin has many strengths. I admire her fortitude and her principles.”

That being said, the rest of her column is a veritable Smörgåsbord (the umlauts add a little flair) of spin and condescension.

After the 2008 campaign revealed her substantive weaknesses, Palin was advised by those who admired her natural gifts to bone up on policy and devote herself to governing Alaska successfully. Instead, she quit her job as governor after two and a half years, published a book (another is due next week), and seemed to chase money and empty celebrity.

The 2008 campaign? The 2008 campaign is all on McCain. He was a awful candidate from the word “go.”

Resign the governorship? She was being financially ruined by politically motivated (and frivolous) lawsuits.

Published a book and chased empty celebrity? This is Mona acting like a jealous high school girl rather than substantive thought. And, Ms. Charen wasn’t finished displaying her inner sixteen year old.

Speaking of television, have you watched “Dancing with the Stars”? Calling the show cheesy would be too generous. Perhaps the former governor should not be blamed for the decisions of her adult daughter. Yet there in the audience we see Sarah and Todd Palin, mugging for the camera and cheering on their unwed-mother daughter as she bumps and grinds to the tune of “Mamma Told Me Not To Come.”

After Mona finally stops reliving her high school traumas, she becomes a ‘green’ Republican establishment hack as she recycles the same party ‘wisdom’ that gave us John McCain, Presidential candidate.

She is wildly popular with a swath of the Republican electorate. And, as a conservative woman politician told me, political consultants (who get paid the big bucks, win or lose) will doubtless descend upon her with game plans showing how she can win in Iowa and then cruise to the nomination. Maybe. But the general election would be a problem, since 53 percent of independent voters view Palin unfavorably along with 81 percent of Democrats, according to a recent Gallup poll.

It is painfully obvious that the Republican establishment is first and foremost concerned about preserving their power and their influence. Returning our nation to its Constitutional roots and advancing conservative principles … Not so important for the GOP establishment.