Misgiving #8 - Slime 101 / How to Smear a Politician

The media has not even attempted to hide their blatant disregard for common sense and general goodwill in their biased attacks on Sarah Palin since her selection was announced last Thursday as John McCain's Vice Presidential nominee. Armed with only a few days of investigative journalism, many news outlets have hit the stands and their internet pages with charges usually reserved for the National Inquirer for washed up celebrities that no one cares about.

A few examples:

The London Daily Telegraph: "How Good a 'Mom' Could Sarah Palin Be?"

The New York Times: "Vice in Go-Go Boots"

And the best of all...

US Weekly: "Babies, Lies and Scandal"

This story was found on FoxNews.com and written by Jana Winter:

On its most recent cover, due out on newsstands Friday, the magazine shows a picture of Palin with the headline, “Babies, Lies & Scandal” — a marked contrast from its gushing review of Barack and Michelle Obama that ran two months ago.

Critics say this cover, which was released a day ahead of Palin’s acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, is a sucker punch aimed at the GOP ticket, and is a blatant attempt to influence the votes of the magazine’s 12 million mostly female readers.

Us Weekly publisher Jann Wenner is an outspoken supporter of Barack Obama and the Democratic Party.

“When you look at this Palin cover and contrast it with the super-friendly story on Obama, it’s hard not to see that they’re clearly biased,” said Jane Hall, associate professor at the American University School of Communication. “It’s not fair and it’s also offensive. I think that they are going to be offensive to many people regardless of whether you’re for Sarah Palin or not.”

Us Weekly’s June 19 cover featured a photo of the Obamas with the headline, “Michelle Obama: Why Barack Loves Her.” In smaller print: “She shops at Target, Loved Sex and the City, and never misses the girls’ recitals. The untold romance between the down-to-earth mom and the man who calls her ‘my rock.’”

In contrast, this week’s Palin cover shows the Alaskan governor cradling her baby Trig in her arms. The captions: “Under attack, admits her daughter, 17, is pregnant. Investigated for firing of sister’s ex-husband. Mom of five: New embarrassing surprises.”

An article inside the magazine focuses on a January 15 incident in which Palin laughed along with an Alaskan shock-jock DJ who called her political rival, a cancer survivor name Lyda Green, a “cancer” and a “bitch” and ridiculed her weight.

Wenner, the magazine’s publisher, has given $130,308 to Democratic causes and candidates since 1993 — and only $3,500 to Republicans, according to records. Wenner also runs Men’s Health Magazine and Rolling Stone Magazine. In March, Rolling Stone featured a glowing endorsement of Obama, “Barack Obama: A New Hope,” on its cover.

Hall said she found the Wenner-owned magazine’s coverage transparent and troubling. “I mean look at the Obama cover and look at this new one,” she said. “New embarrassing surprises? Really? You couldn’t have a stronger contrast, at least between these two covers,” Hall said.

Rumors about Palin’s personal life and public record have been swirling since John McCain named her to be his running mate last week.

On Monday, Palin released a statement confirming that her 17-year old daughter, Bristol, is five months pregnant, prompting the media spotlight. Despite calls from both Democrats and Republicans to leave Palin’s family out of the media, many political watchers say that it is contradictory for a public official who has a staunch stance against sex education and promotes abstinence-only programs to have a teenage daughter who is pregnant.

While Hall said McCain’s camp should have done more to vet Palin, she said this level of media depiction is unfair.

“Publications like this one are taking it too far. Calling it ‘Babies, Lies and Scandal’ looks out of bounds,” she said

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In addition to the above smears, US Weekly also felt it necessary to make the Presidential election about Sarah's husband Todd's DUI charge from 21 years ago, adulterating on CBN's gracious report when he was 22, and even daughter Bristol's boyfriend Levi Johnston, publishing a story, libelously titled: "Father of Bristol Palin’s Baby: 'I Don’t Want Kids'" as if any of these details have anything to do with the election of a qualified woman as Vice President. These are the politics of personal destruction invented by Lee Atwater and perfected by the Clintons.

This is pathetic, disgusting, revolting and absolutely infuriating!

Barack Obama is, in the least, facilitating these digusting politics by not intervening (outside the spotlight) with the media that is VERY OBVIOUSLY at his beck and call.