Lay Back and Enjoy It?

The media war against Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin marches on, with a new twist. This past Wednesday, the Associated Propagand . . . er, "Press," reported that Gov. Palin has recently criticized news organizations for focusing inordinate attention on the educational shortcomings of her 18-year-old daughter Bristol (who recently gave birth) and the girl's fiance, and denouncing bloggers perpetuating claims that her 9-month-old son, Trig, is actually Bristol 's child from a secret previous pregnancy. Gov. Palin is quoted as saying that "It's all about the family." . . . I'm wired in a way that I can take the criticism. I can take the shots. But any mother would want to protect their children from lies and scandalous reporting." The "story" then dishes up some of the most cynical garbage I've ever seen in print:

. . . Leonard Steinhorn, a professor of communications at American University in Washington and an expert on the presidency . . . and other experts believe the first-term governor is engaged in a campaign to keep her name in the spotlight. A newcomer to national politics when she was nominated, Palin energized the Republican base but also attracted intense criticism that she had little substance. "I think she's exploiting and cultivating the anti-intellectual and anti-elitist side of the Republican party," Steinhorn said. "She's trying to salvage her reputation, so she attacks the messenger."

. . . Palin is fueling the stories she condemns by talking about them instead of ignoring them, said Janis Edwards, an associate professor of communication studies at the University of Alabama and an expert on women candidates. One of Edwards' classes monitored Palin's role in a project called "The Palin Watch." Palin "does seem to have ambitions, and this is one way of staying in the public eye," Edwards said.

This is one of the worst examples of "blame the victim" I've ever seen. By trying to defend herself and her family against a media/Internet smear campaign that proceeds unabated although the election she did not win concluded almost three months ago, Gov. Palin is, in the media's eyes, inviting and justifying further attacks. The more she fights back, the more punishment she deserves. Thus, she's in the position of the rape victim who's cynically counseled to just lay back and "enjoy" being ravished, because resistance will only provoke more violence by the rapist.

It should be noted that this "story" appeared over the byline of Rachel D'Oro, an Anchorage, Alaska-based "news"-person who has been producing for AP, since at least the announcement of Gov. Palin's Vice-Presidential candidacy early last fall, a steady stream of articles highly critical of and clearly biased against her--including one suggesting, with no supporting evidence, that a suspicious fire at Gov. Palin's home church in December was provoked by the church's association with a conference that encouraged gays to get counseling to overcome their homosexuality. It should also be noted that the two "experts" quoted in the story are fixtures in left-wing academia, who've made a nice living in the press and on the lecture circuit grinding axes against anything right of the political center (google their names for a sampling). What kind of "expertise" enables one to see inside another's mind and divine his or her "real" motivations? How does one get such expertise? Who annointed these characters to pontificate and pass judgment on another's defense of her family's privacy and reputation?

I also wonder whether, in denouncing what they think is Gov. Palin's appeal to "anti-intellectual and anti-elitist" elements, these academicians are trying to defend the intellectual elites--of which they're members--whose prestige and influence is most directly threatened by her popularity?

The opinions of these "experts," together with Ms. D'Oro's echoing criticism of Gov. Palin as insincere, make up almost the entire article. Thus, it could not possibly be characterized as "objective" reporting--it's a scathing editorial, a hit-piece. Why can't AP just tell us that up front? Because then the Emperor could not pretend to be clothed. Because this once-respected "news" service wants you to keep accepting the swill it churns out uncritically; it wants to mold your opinions for you, in the form it chooses. For me, exposure of the Mainstream Media as a shameless prostitution ring was the most disturbing aspect of last year's Presidential election campaign. And obviously, the Media and its minions aren't interested in recovering the least shred of the dignity and respect they once had.

So, if you are ever elevated to some level of public distinction and the Media doesn't like you, be warned--you could end up, like Gov. Palin and her family, without a right of self-defense. Or, if you try to exercise one, you'll pay an infinite price. It's always open season on you, and there's never a bag limit.