Posted on 11/10/2008 1:47:10 PM PST by unspun
By now you’ve all heard the Fox News report last week that “unnamed” former McCain advisers leaked that Sarah Palin was confused about whether Africa was a continent, and which countries were in NAFTA. I was perfectly happy staying under the radar as an anonymous source for Fox News‘ Carl Cameron, but now that Palin has accused her accusers of being “unprofessional…jerks…cowards… taking things out of context, and then tried to spread something on national news” and begun to cast doubt on the Fox News report, maybe she’s right to a certain extent. For those of us on the McCain campaign who thought that she acted like a rogue diva and lost John the election, maybe we DO have a responsibility to come out in public. But Sarah… careful what you ask for: some of us may have more to reveal.
So yes, to be clear, last week I was the one who leaked those things to a producer at Fox News who works with Cameron. Carl and his producers are good guys, and I don’t want them to have to worry about protecting their sources (and going through the wringer ala Judith Miller or Matt Cooper) on something like this.
As you know, I was one of the foreign policy advisers on the McCain campaign who worked with Randy Scheunemann to help prep Sarah on her debate with Joe Biden. Did we outright give her a geography quiz when we started the prep? No, of course not. But yes, in the context of the prep, it slowly became apparent that her grasp of basic geo-political knowledge had major gaps. Could she have passed a multiple choice test about South Africa or NAFTA. Probably. But it was clear that she simply didn’t have the ease of knowledge that we come to expect from a major party political candidate. Other slights came up, too: Not knowing the difference between Hezbollah and Hamas. Or the difference between the Shiites and Suni. Or when it came to international terrorist organizations, knowing that the IRA was in Northern Ireland, and ETA in Spain.
The real thing we had to constantly remind her was to never, ever compare herself in any way to Hillary Clinton, as she had at her announcement speech. We had it on good authority that Biden was prepping to unleash the inevitable line, “I know Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton is a friend of mine. And Sarah, you’re no Hillary Clinton.” Alas, Biden would have been right.
http://www.hardinginstitute.org/2.html
The Harding Institute for Freedom and Democracy
A Washington-area think-tank in the truest sense of the words, The Harding Institute believes in American ingenuity, a special role for America in the world, the manifest destiny of the American dream, and the importance of American leadership in the cause of freedom and liberty.
February 17, 2008
Senior Fellow Martin Eisenstadt, fresh off his work on the Giuliani campaign, begins a fact-finding tour of the Middle East this month. His travels should take him to Israel, Oman, Yemen and Pakistan. The whole staff wishes him safe travels on this important mission.
Greta on the Palin smears: Carl Cameron told me, “I messed up on this one”
What Eisenstadt doesn’t tell us is how McCain ordered the hit.
Senator McCain, any comments?
...that’s what I thought.
Good!
I’ll betcha CBS runs another hatchet job on her tonight anyway. I’ll tell you tomorrow.
That sounds like blackmail to me.
Practice.
I still wanna know if Carl Cameron was punk’d by Eisenstadt!
Carl prolly is little marty-farty.
Part 1 of Greta's interview with Sarah airs tonight.
Greta on the Palin smears: Carl Cameron told me, “I messed up on this one”
Here's an example .... the site claims that Harding was known as the "Great Leader of 1921-23".... no one even slightly familiar with the Harding Admin. would write or read that phrase without laughing:
====================================================
The Harding Institute for Freedom and Democracy
A Washington-area think-tank in the truest sense of the words, The Harding Institute believes in American ingenuity, a special role for America in the world, the manifest destiny of the American dream, and the importance of American leadership in the cause of freedom and liberty.
The Institute is committed to upholding the ideals of the 29th President of the United States, Warren G. Harding. As he said in his inaugural address:
"America's present need is not heroics, but healing; not nostrums, but normalcy; not revolution, but restoration; not agitation, but adjustment; not surgery, but serenity; not the dramatic, but the dispassionate; not experiment, but equipoise; not submergence in internationality, but sustainment in triumphant nationality...."
Known as the Great Leader of 1921-23, Harding's ideals held as true in his day, as they do today. His mistrust of the League of Nations and imposition of tight limitations of immigration were a harbinger of times to come. He demonstrated rare fiscal responsibility by eliminating wartime controls and slashing taxes, establishing a Federal budget system, and restoring the high protective tariff. And his commitment to put "less government in business and more business in government" has resonance through the ages.
Oh, Carl, “messed up” doesn’t even begin to describe how badly you’ve stepped in it — and you spread these defamatory lies so far and wide.
One thing: as a matter of journalistic ethics, any “anonymous” source who deceives a reporter no longer merits the protection of anonymity.
So, aside from the obvious fraudster “Marty Eisenstadt” any real McCain/Palin aides known to Carl Cameron who provided him with any false or misleading info deserves to be “outed”..... of course reporters hate to do this b/c they worry about sources drying up in the future, but any deceitful anonymous source ought to be exposed the disinfecting sunlight of public examination and repudiation.
That is not an indication, “Eisenstadt” is a source for Cameron.
Links to Huffington Post.
No matter who, or how many, did this to Gov. Palin, Carl Cameron was the conduit. And, it’s NOT his first slash and burn on one of our guys in this election cycle (think FRed Thompson).
Fox should know better than to entrust such a weak amateur with the responsibility of a seasoned “Fair and Balanced” reporter.
"bloom, sorry again. i read your link. someone is bragging beyond their actual accomplishments. my son is carl's producer and i know for a fact nobody leaked anything to him, because he said the story was all carl. i do know who was talking to carl and that source is literally unimpeachable. hey look, i like her too, but this episode has just shown that she should do her homework and she'll be back in a couple years this whole dustup forgotten. jg"
If this is true, then the real source in the McCain campaign is still unknown.
From this, it would appear that Mr. Gibson is interested in covering for his son and co-worker.
"Unimpeachable?" Good grief. Who among the McCain staff is unimpeachable?
Anyone? Anyone?
Beuhler?
All the witnesses say it didn't happen, per Africa, NAFTA, or the big, thick hotel bathrobe.
But we have "journalists" clanishly clinging to their "unimpeachable source?"
Question for Fox News: What kind of person spreads trashy gossip like this in the first place?
I dare you to say, "unimpeachable," again. Get real.
Now, BT... that really came from John Gibson?
Sarah Palin already has my vote in 2012. If the Republicans choose somebody else they lose it.
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