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PrintSeptember 7, 2008
Backlash against media for Palin smears
The GOP base, tired of the smears and outright falsehoods against Sarah Palin being advanced by the press, have taken to razzing the media at campaign events:
Hundreds of angry people in this small town outside Milwaukee taunted reporters and TV crews traveling with Sen. John McCain on Friday, chanting "Be fair!" and pointing fingers at a pack of journalists as they booed loudly.
On the first leg of the "McCain Street USA" tour -- which will take the Republican presidential nominee and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, to small towns across the heartland -- the 30 or so reporters and crew were walking back to their buses to join the McCain motorcade when hundreds of townspeople started yelling.
"Stop lying! You are all liars! Tell the truth!" one woman yelled from the front of the pack.
The crowd was not menacing or threatening, but was clearly angry.
I am of two minds regarding this kind of behavior. First, we should recognize that most of the press have not engaged in this mud slinging and smearing of Palin but rather a few significant columnists and bloggers. The "working press" simply reports what is going on and have actually shown some restraint when reporting various rumors.
Most of the responsible press is concentrating on ferreting out the story of Palin's trooper brother in law or her position on the "Bridge to Nowhere" rather than the very personal smears and lies surrounding her family. These may be uncomfortable for Palin (and in some cases, the press has gotten the facts wrong) but a non-biased observer could say that these are legitimate avenues of inquiry when vetting a vice presidential candidate.
Of course, one wishes they would pay as much attention to Tony Rezko as Troopergate. And for that reason, the booing of the press at the McCain-Palin event in Cedarburg is certainly justified. There is an imbalance in vetting Palin compared to Obama and even putting aside the vicious smears advanced by some in the press, the fact that there is so much in Obama's background that remains unreported should shame reporters who are eagerly delving into Troopergate.
The press has a job to do and, as mentioned many times by many columnists, bloggers, and commenters on this site, they have simply failed in their responsbility to properly and completely report on Obama's past associations and activities with far left, radical groups like the New Party and ACORN. It is little wonder then that when they put Palin under the microscope - as they should - that Republicans wonder why they can't do the same to the other side.
Hat Tip: Ed Lasky
