Gov. Palin Cooks Up New Image

She is everywhere, she is everywhere. We're talking about Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who cooked for NBC's Matt Lauer on "Today" this week during a media tour that also included interviews with Fox's Greta Van Susteren, CNN's Wolf Blitzer and Larry King and just about any other media member who wanted to talk with her.

Whether it was Lauer eating a salmon dish or Van Susteren taking a snowmobile ride with Gov. Palin's husband, Todd, the media looked very silly being part of this rehabiliation ride.

How silly? About as silly as some of Gov. Palin's answers in interviews while she was Sen. John McCain's running mate. She tried to explain those answers away in the interviews without much success but her new media buddies rarely called her on her unusual, illogical spin.

Naturally, the Palin interviews became fodder for "The Daily Show" with Jon Stewart Wednesday night, which showed clips of the media members eating Gov. Palin's spin up like it was salmon casserole.

In an interview this week, Stewart said of the Palin tour: "I think that in general the news media is weak-kneed. It is that passive aggression. They feel as though 'wait a minute, if we reported on her lack of knowledge, don't we have to go back now and pretend that she was unbelievably qualified.' It is their typical self-flagellation cycle."

I'm with Stewart. What is your take on the Palin media tour? Do you think the media looks silly or is being used? Or have you found the interviews important and valuable?

-- Alan Pergament   

 

Comments

[hukalaka]

I just saw the Governor on TV. All of a sudden she's not dropping her "g's," making complete sentences, not flashing pageant-smiles or winking. Dark clothing. What? Did she have a new chip installed?

[Don H]

If Pergament thinks the media took it easy on Palin during the campaign, he must also think they were not entranced by Obama's celebrity.

[BobbyCat]

The national media is being run by gutless executives, not by journalists. Little wonder the news media has lost the confidence of the nation. They are chasing personality cults, not news. It doesn't matter if it's Sarah Palin or Molly Cyrus or whatever hot body is making the rounds - they're on it.

Even journalists are cowed by this celebrity cult. Very few journalists have the guts to say the 'king has no clothes' - that Sarah Palin is a know-nothing. Katie Couric did us all a favor.

Meanwhile the GOP is at a cross-roads. You could read it between the lines at the Governors confab in Miami. They have suffered through eight years of ridicule with a know-nothing in the white house. Do they want another know-nothing leading the party to another disaster or do they want to choose a knowledgeable leader for a change?
Will they continu to kater to the 40% of Amerikins who kan't spel, or shuld they wiedn there baze?

Does the GOP go with a hot-bod personality or smarts?

Sad to say, comedian Jon Steward had more credibility then our national news media.

[DNC TV]

"How silly? About as silly as some of Gov. Palin's answers in interviews while she was Sen. John McCain's running mate."

How silly? About as silly as much of the writing from the local TV critic (wanna-be left wing political pundit).