Week 4, Item 1

by Jared Behrend
Sarah Palin and the Media

Sarah Palin has routinely made it a habit to claim the biased "filter" which the media represents. In a recent campaign speech she spoke of her desire to explain herself "without the filter of the media." Palin's repeated claims of the "unfairness" of the media, and its supposed bias hearkens back to President Bush's statements that the history will regard this period of time as successful, no matter what the current approval ratings and general state of dissaray show. If Palin is to become Vice President and have the possibility of being President with an aging McCain, do we as a country want another prominent politician that sees others, including well-educated members of the media, as merely biased, crass, misinformed, unfaithful traitors. Imagine a scenario with Iran that involves scores of members of the media reporting national as well as international thoughts on how best to handle a country like Iran and their nuclear proliferation, and Gov. Palin shunning those thoughts for her own inner circle of ideologues. This is dangerous, and Iran is in a delicate situation right now that requires diplomacy and exploration of many avenues, as is the case with many aspects of national and foreign policy. For Palin to turn her back on the media now reveals a fear of those who present a differing view of what is best for country and each citizen, and it is the necessity of these different views which keeps a democracy running.

here is a video of her recent reaction to the media's "outing" of her wardrobe costs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xoKfee4MpQ