Double standard for Palin

To the editor:

In the two months since the election, Governor Palin has been hounded by the media for interviews. Whenever she grants an occasional, selected interview, the same media proclaims she’s an attention hog, only trying to keep her name in the headlines.

When Governor Palin makes non-committal remarks about potential future national election runs, the media insists she is “positioning herself for 2012.” Yet Hillary Clinton had stated outright that she would not run for president in 2008, and when she openly flip-flopped, the fawning media gave her a big, wide pass.

The media has been relentless in making issues out of the Palin children.  Yet when the governor responds to false allegations, the media sneers that the kids are fair game, since the governor “dragged them around” during the campaign. One can only imagine that the same media would have accused her of “abandoning her family” had she left the kids at home. President Obama (who also traveled with his daughters) told the sycophantic media to leave his kids alone, and they eagerly complied, but Governor Palin was not extended the same courtesy. The media continues to rehash the same old, weary diatribes from the campaign, remarking that Governor Palin should stay at home and run her own state. Yet when the governor announces a bold, new energy independence strategy for Alaska, the same national media quietly lets it pass without a murmur.

When Governor Palin’s church is burned in an arson attack, there is nary a peep from the media in the Lower 48. One could only imagine the hysterical outcry in the press had Jeremiah Wright’s church in Chicago been similarly torched.

The hypocrisy of the media double standard with respect to Governor Palin and her family is glaring. As media market shares fall, viewership and readership decline, and staff are laid off, the mainstream media still refuses to connect the dots. Meanwhile, Governor Palin’s status as a heroine of the common people continues to grow with street-level Americans that see right through the media smokescreen.

God bless,

Jay Ryan

Cleveland, Ohio