September 07, 2008

toward the coming revolution

No news is bad news.

Just remember the next time a politician tells you he's not talking to the press, it's not for your benefit. It's for his. So when McCain and Palin expect you to cheer that they're sticking it to the media, they're really asking you to celebrate that they're sticking it to you.

And here's a roundup of some intriguing stories on Palin in light of my posts this week:

The Politico's Roger Simon writes the best column on the role of the political press I have ever read. "It is not our job to ask questions. Or it shouldn't be. To hear from the pols at the Republican National Convention this week, our job is to endorse and support the decisions of the pols."

Conservative Detroit News columnist Nolan Finley apologizes for not drinking the Palin Kool-Aid.

Time's Joe Klein looks at McCain's slime the press strategy and if it will cause the media to be gentler on the Republican.

The Freep's Stephen Henderson ponders the new morality that teen pregnancy can be celebrated and asks how it would be viewed if Bristol Palin were black.

A McCain aide can't answer what Palin's foreign policy credentials are, leading Republicans to criticize CNN for biased reporting.

Gone are the days of the Straight Talk Express, when McCain is hostile to innocuous questions in a Time interview, such as asking him to define honor in political campaigns.

A Wasilla evangelical Christian mom disagrees with Palin's choices.

Hanna Rosin explores how the Religious Rights' views on morality have changed as their behavior hasn't met their ideals.

Jacob Weisberg points out how shotgun weddings equal sky-high divorce rates and looks at how the right's anti-abortion absolutism has meant more acceptance of teen pregnancy.