Posted on 09/09/2008 1:20:36 PM PDT by yoe
Five days after Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was picked as the Republican vice presidential nominee, NBC's David Gregory falsely disputed the idea that the media had crossed a line by suggesting Palin's family life conflicted with her candidacy. Referring to an earlier interview, Gregory argued on Today: "Rudy Giuliani said questions have been asked about whether she can balance this with her kids. That question has not been brought up by the media.”
Gregory was wrong — that precise question was posed repeatedly on ABC, CBS and NBC as the networks invaded every nook and cranny of Palin's family life. From August 29 through September 4, the Big Three network morning and evening shows ran a total of 59 stories mentioning Palin's family, or about eight per day. Nearly two-thirds of those (37) brought up the pregnancy of Palin's teenaged daughter; another ten questioned whether she could balance her family obligations with a campaign — the exact suggestion Gregory claimed was never "brought up by the media."
On Wednesday's Today, NBC's Amy Robach wondered of Palin: "Will she be shortchanging her kids, or will she be shortchanging the country?" During a roundtable discussion on CBS, the Washington Post's Sally Quinn scolded that "a woman with five children, including one with special needs, and a daughter who is a 17-year-old child who is pregnant and about to have a baby, probably has got to rethink her priorities.
"The previous Saturday, ABC weekend Good Morning America co-host Bill Weir referenced the "brutality of a national campaign" as he indignantly challenged a McCain spokesman: "She has an infant with special needs. Will that affect her campaigning?" [Audio/video (1:53): Windows Media (6.98 MB) and MP3 audio (531 kB)]
There was no holding back when it came to exploiting Palin's 17-year-old pregnant daughter; ABC's Diane Sawyer suggested the pregnancy should cast doubt on Palin's stance favoring "abstinence-only education." But after days of such coverage, journalists such as Time's Joe Klein pompously suggested that complaints from Republicans were nothing but an "insidious" attempt "to bully us into not reporting" unflattering facts about Palin's public life.
That shows an utter blindness to the real problem: a press corps so overtaken by partisanship that they will stoop to using a candidate's young family as ammo against her. Pollster Scott Rasmussen documented the backlash: "Over half of U.S. voters (51%) think reporters are trying to hurt Sarah Palin...and 24% say those stories make them more likely to vote" for the GOP.
For more, see the September 2, 3 and 4 CyberAlerts.
It is inconceivable that the children of any liberal candidate would have been treated this way, or that the candidate would have been barraged with questions and assertions about whether she could handle the office due to her children. Certainly Bobby Kennedy was never treated this way with his large family which grew to 11 children. That was a very different era of course, and it was assumed that Ethel was in charge of the children of course, but the point remains that the bias, partisanship, and double-standards displayed in this matter are way beyond the pale.
Brilliant mind picture....I for one pray you're right.
Governor Sarah Palin and her husband and family are very strong people. Lots of character, integrity and strength and see the attackers for what they are. When The family is all settled into the Observatory....they can look out on those long, cold, snowy winter nights while enjoying a nice warm fire and wonder what the media pukes of the past are doing now. :)
It is horrible what I’ve been seeing. I was doing some research on Trig and ran onto this disgusting website.
Liberals are disgusting creatures.
>>Gregory was wrong — that precise question was posed repeatedly on ABC, CBS and NBC<<
And CNN
>>ABC’s Diane Sawyer suggested the pregnancy should cast doubt on Palin’s stance favoring “abstinence-only education.”<<
Alaska has a lower teen pregnancy rate than either of the Dem ticket’s home states.
NBC’s David Gregory falsely disputed the idea that the media had crossed a line
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Gregory is every bit as biased as Olbermann and Matthews.
NBC would have us believe they left a moderate in place of Olbermann. Deceit and lies continue.
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