“Let the media do the dirty work.”

by

Mark Brown, a liberal columnist in the Sun Times, had this to say about Gov. Palin.

Leave her alone. Let it go. Don’t even think about going there. It’s a setup. It’s a trap.
 
I wanted to shout that advice to the Barack Obama campaign Friday, but somebody on the television was telling me it was already too late: Obama’s people had reacted initially to the news of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s candidacy for vice president by belittling her credentials.
 
For Pete’s sake, there’s no reason to do that. Let it happen on its own. Let the media do the dirty work.

Once in a while the mask slips and people blurt out the truth. Here we see Mr. Brown admitting what every rational person knows already. The news media is Obama’s ally, it is partisan, it is in effect an arm of the Democratic Party, engaged in this election on behalf of Sen. Obama. This goes far beyond “liberal bias”, which is also obvious to anyone paying attention. The mainstream media are Obama’s protectors and cheering section. The press area at the Denver convention was full of people with press passes, cheering and chanting along. They are on the team.

The news media is not interested in reporting news about Gov. Palin, or being fair or objective. It is interested in “…belittling her credentials”, it is interested in doing “the dirty work” on behalf of Sen. Obama, to help him win. Brown, who ought to know, since he works at the Sun Times, is telling us that his industry will run interference all the way for Sen. Obama, until he is in the White House, allowing him and his campaign to take the high road.

Thank God these people no longer have a monopoly on news.

Thank God they are part of a dying industry which will not be missed.

BTW, lets all start referring to Sarah Palin as governor. She is the only executive out of the four people at the top of the two tickets. Gov. Palin deserves to be referred to by her office.

UPDATE: Jim Bennett sent this great photo of Gov. Palin with a caribou which is headed for the stew pot. Here’s hoping Sen. Biden is in similar shape, metaphorically of course, after their debate.

UPDATE 2: Lisa Schiffren has an excellent piece about Gov. Palin, and why she has excited the GOP base. It had a nice, big impact on McCain fundraising, which is an objective demonstration of new support. The news media has been mostly wrong about the rationale for this pick. It is much more about mobilizing the party base, and getting the many, many unhappy, reluctant GOP voters excited and willing to work, contribute and vote. The idea that lots of Hillary voters would come over is not plausible. Democrats are good soldiers and will vote for their party on election day. It is much more about taking away the “look-at-the-two-boring-white-guys” theme than about, “I-am-woman-hear-me-roar.” Gov. Palin’s femaleness, in other words, checks one of Sen. Obama’s offensive plays, while her substantive positions mobilize the base.

12 thoughts on ““Let the media do the dirty work.””

  1. It’s been said before about the Palin nomination but it’s worth repeating: “The smart liberals are worried. The dumb liberals think they’ve won.”

  2. The news media has attracted many people who see their job as changing the world. It isn’t enough to limit government by reporting corruption and ignorance. They are now actively promoting the government, if it is the right government. It may take a while for the populace to understand that they are no longer dedicated to the truth.

    Around 1967 at the University of Chicago, I was talking to one of the radical guys in my dormitory, call him Brad. He argued that only a radical change in government would bring about a better society. I disagreed.

    He said that his movement would become stronger, and eventually I would agree with him. I asked, what if I didn’t agree with him, even later? He flashed anger and told me that if I didn’t agree on my own, he would make me agree. I saw that as the end of the discussion.
    (
    Continued at EasyOpinions – Leading the People    )

  3. The McCain-Palin campaign needs to address the experience question head-on, and they need to do so by working from Palin’s strengths, not by sweeping objections under the rug. This should be done by announcing several areas in which she would take the lead within the administration, areas where her existing strengths give her plausibility. Three areas suggest themselves immediately.

    1. North American energy and trade policy. The most important substantive accomplishment of her administration has been the natural-gas pipeline deal with Canada, that she was a key figure in brokering and pushing. The Financial Times gave her credit for this accomplishment weeks ago, when nobody thought she had a chance for the VP slot. Have her make a speech as soon as possible before a major energy or trade meeting in Canada, where she will give a preview of the McCain-Palin policy for energy cooperation with Canada. Cite her pipeline experience frequently. Get in digs at Obama for playing the anti-NAFTA card in the primaries, and against Biden for having voted against the pipeline when it was first an issue decades ago. Play up her experience as an Arctic governor and show sympathy for Canada’s Arctic issues, including the undersea resource claims we and Canada will soon be disputing with Putin. Maybe follow that with a trip to Iqaluit, being sure to bring her husband. Up there, talk about America and Canada’s common Arctic and Inuit/Eskimo heritage.

    Obama has done nothing as important or complex, or as international, as the pipeline deal. Not to mention Biden.

    2. Middle-class/blue-collar issues. The Republicans need to hone their “Sam’s Club” agenda. She’s the person to do it. Adopt the Romney proposal for a realistic (at least 10K per kid) child credit, and be sure it’s deductible against parroll tax. And pledge to revisit and reform Joe Biden’s (D-MNBA) bankruptcy bill, making sure to repeat ten zillion times that it was Biden’s baby. She can take credit for convincing McCain to revisit his previous position and decide it needs reforming.

    3. Native community issues. Not only are her husband (and kids) part-Eskimo, Palin had to deal costantly with the powerful “native corporations” as governor. The Bureau of Indian Affairs and its programs are an ongoing national disgrace. Let Palin head up a task force to entirely revamp [programs for native communities. This might sway enough votes in New Mexico to swing the state their way, and would count in several other Western states that are leaners.

    So here are three “mules” for Sister Sarah to ride – – to office.

  4. Joseph Biden was the fifth youngest American ever elected to the U.S. Senate, 29 years old in 1972. Besides being a talking head for the past 36 tears, what has he adminstered other than his senate office. By the way, as of the mid-90’s he had over 40 press secretaries. Biden proved to be almost impossible to work for. If the Democrats can spew about McCain’s ill-temper then Republicans can talk about Biden self-promoted Primadonna status.

    90% percent of all occupations in the US can be learned in 90 days are less and this is no different for the top two executive position in government. Politics, after all, isn’t rocket science. The key to understanding political life is making something complicated simple, and something simple complicated.

    Sarah Palin at least has executive experience, which is more than the community organizer-in-chief and the lifelong Senator have combined.

    Danny L. McDaniel
    Lafayette, Indiana

  6. I dunno, Lex, why run as stuffy ‘ol “Governor Palin” when you’ve got the irresistible meme “SARAH BARRACUDA!”?

  9. A friend of mind says that capital staffers he knows regard Biden as a man who combines unusual stupidity with nastiness.The answer is on tapes of hearings he has conducted.Let’s see them replayed to see what a putz this man is. A real, stupid bully and no Neil Kinnock.

  10. Renminbi…Biden is indeed a bully: see his arrogant “questioning” of Scott Ritter. He is also a fool: immediately after 9/11, he proposed sending Iran a $200MM check with no strings attached. And his thought processes are extremely bizarre.

  12. My late night insomnia had me surfing the web and I came across this interview of an Alaskan Democrat about Palin:
    http://www.reason.com/convention2008/show/128519.html

    What stuck out in particular is this passage:
    “She came in saying that the entire system was corrupt, and that Republicans were evil, and she was going to just mix everything up and get us a gas pipeline and end of story. And she got to power, she was elected overwhelmingly by independents, beat Tony Knowles, who had been governor before.”

    I still think Obama will be elected and his record indicates that that alone may be his big achievement.
    and this:
    “She gave a two-finger salute to Conoco Phllips and Exxon Mobile, raised their taxes on their oil, put in place a transparent way to bid for the seed money and the licenses to finally, finally, put in a natural gas pipeline in Alaska. And it was won by a Canadian company. And she went to the mat and made it happen. She has been systematically pulling the drilling licenses of Conoco Phillips and Exxon Mobile for areas that they haven’t touched. I mean, they’ve been hoarding reserves, and she says, you know, use it or lose it, and she has been sending the attorney general time after time to revoke these things. It’s absolutely fascinating.”

    Taking that into account, along with her short history in the other state positions she held and Palin comes across as someone who says she is going to do something and then does it.

    In contrast, Obama, as every position he has held, has consistently shied away from anything like such leadership. Instead, he has chosen the easiest most politically expedient path every time. In his longer history of elected office he does not have anything close to the record for achievement of Palin. In the last twenty years his only achievement has been his own advancement.

    So, when my friends and colleagues tell me that they think Obama will achieve [insert fervent hope here], I have to wonder upon what, in his past, they are basing this faith.

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