Monday, August 24, 2009

Another reason to love Sarah Palin

See updates below.


She makes Howard Kurtz feel small and sad:


For once, mainstream journalists did not retreat to the studied neutrality of quoting dueling antagonists.

They tried to perform last rites on the ludicrous claim about President Obama's death panels, telling Sarah Palin, in effect, you've got to quit making things up.

But it didn't matter. The story refused to die.

The crackling, often angry debate over health-care reform has severely tested the media's ability to untangle a story of immense complexity. In many ways, news organizations have risen to the occasion; in others they have become agents of distortion. But even when they report the facts, they have had trouble influencing public opinion. …


Perhaps journalists are no more trusted than politicians these days, or many folks never saw the knockdown stories. But this was a stunning illustration of the traditional media's impotence
.

Palin and the health care debate should shame the Obamacons. On one hand, we have pundits of the ilk of Frum, Parker, and Brooks who counsel compromise and surrender. They insist that conservatives must be careful when opposing Obama. He is so brilliant, so successful, and so popular that too much opposition will lead only to more defeats.

Then there is the former governor of Alaskaa political figure derided by the MSM (most especially the Obamacons.) Palin, takes on the health care “plan” as the Democrats try to rush it through congress. She posts on Facebook.

Can’t you just hear Kathleen Parker when she heard that?


Facebook! Not the New York Times. Not the Washington Post (like me!) Facebook! She’s a rube just like David said. This will fix her. Obama will make short work of that little piece of white trash.


Just a little post on the Internet.

But what a post. No op-ed weasel words here. No desire to be exquisitely nuanced like a good little Republican that the MSM likes. A conservative critique of a liberal proposal.

A design for disaster if you believe the resercons.

Yeah. Disaster, but not for the former governor of Alaska. That little post on Facebook derailed the finely tuned message machine of Obama the Magnificent. David Frum’s political wet dream lost control of the message.

He has not recovered yet.

No wonder he needs a vacation.

Like I said, the Obamacons should be ashamed, but we know they are a shameless bunch.

As Kurtz recognizes, Palin shows that the MSM has lost the power to impose their narrative on the news. The corollary to that is that conservatives no longer need to kowtow and curry favor with the journalists who despise them.

As for the particulars of Palin’s critique, I cannot take Kurtz seriously. I have a long memory. I remember the Kennedy speech against Robert Bork and the media reaction.

Be sure to check out Ace's take on Kurtz.

UPDATE:

Kurtz set off quite the firesorm.


He provides a nice laugh for anyone who is familiar with his MO:

There's plenty to criticize in the media's performance -- hey, I make a living at it. But some -- I emphasize some -- of the commenters seem heavily influenced by their own ideology and view the press through that prism.


Kurtz also wants us to understand that Sarah Palin (and 45% of the public) are completely, totally wrong and the MSM is doing a great service in saying so:

My point was basic: When something is clearly and factually inaccurate, journalists should say so.


Politics, you see, had nothing to do with the rapid and vehement response.

I'm not buying it. Kurtz could prove me wrong by showing examples of the MSM debunking fact-challenged screeds by pundits and politicians on the left.

I'll even help him out with the headline:

Leo Strauss and the Federalsts Society's fundamentalist, neo-confederate neocons.


If that is too much to ask, maybe Kurtz could list the MSM stories that pointed out that Dan Quayle never actually ordered the slaughter of infants.

Jay Nordlinger:

Remember when Jesse Jackson likened Vice President Quayle to Herod, before a roaring Democratic convention? America can stoop pretty low, as we all know.




Chris Stirewalt definitely gets it:

When the leader of the free world is complaining about a posting on the former governor of Alaska’s Facebook page, he’s got problems.


So does Fred Barnes:

consider Sarah Palin's controversial statement that Mr. Obama's health-care plan would establish "death panels" capable of denying care to seniors. Like Mr. Cheney, she was denounced as a know-nothing. But Mrs. Palin accomplished what no one else had. She put a national spotlight on the dubious end-of-life policies in the ObamaCare legislation. Columnists disputed her claim, then realized she had a point. The death panels are dead, for now.

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