Trashing Governor Palin; The Fiscal Times Edition

Proving that the media lives in an echo chamber, The Fiscal Times published an article last week that was a virtual repeat of every article written about the speculation surrounding Mitt Romney's vice presidential pick. It began by mentioning some current Republican women who these authors think might be considered for the ticket. Then predictably, it descends into the typical Palin bashing that the media is so well-known for. The authors collected quotes from some left-wing academics, and Republican talking-heads, who seem to think that Governor Palin cost John McCain the election, even though poll numbers from the time prove otherwise.

We all know that the McCain campaign had serious management issues, combined with a horrible economy leftover from the Bush years. The authors ignored all of that, and instead, proceeded to interview a man who refuses to take any responsibility for the 2008 election outcome:

Steve Schmidt, a senior strategist with the McCain presidential campaign who was instrumental in recruiting Palin, has been widely quoted as saying that the McCain-Palin ticket was a testament to an inadequate, hasty review of Palin. “The vetting process did not disclose what would become obvious afterward,” Schmidt told The Los Angeles Times earlier this year. “We had a person who fundamentally lacked the knowledge and basis – at a very, very deep level – to be a plausible commander in chief.”

And I'm a millionaire...

Writers from Breitbart News, C4P, members of Governor Palin's staff who where there, and others, have already taken Schmidt down a few notches in the credibility department, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. Any "journalist" who uses Steve Schmidt as a source, with this much information at their disposal, is a fraud. End of story.

Now that we've established that the writers of this Fiscal Times article can't be trusted to report facts or context, the article continues with a jab at Governor Palin from Larry Sabato:

"Romney wants people to look at his VP and say, ‘This person is qualified to be president if called upon. Palin never passed that test. Some women and men being mentioned today may not qualify either.”

Perhaps Sabato believes "Palin never passed that test" because the media, McCain staffers, and people who still work for Mitt Romney, did everything in their power to distract people from Governor Palin's actual record. It was, after all, Steve Schmidt's job to educate America about Governor Palin's record, and lo and behold, Steve managed to mess that up too.

If you read Governor Palin's record, you can see that she was more than qualified to serve, if need be. She also had more executive experience than anyone on either ticket. So, the notion that she was "unqualified" is just another false narrative being perpetuated by the elites. They obviously judge qualifications differently than do most Americans. It's not about actual governing experience, it's how long you've been in D.C. and you're friends with in that swamp.

Another thing that stood out about this article; just as Steve and Mary Beth pointed out in their post about the recent U.S. News hit-piece on Governor Palin - The Fiscal Times also used failed left-wing politician, Jennifer Lawless as a source. In case you didn't know, Lawless ran for office as a Democrat in 2006, for U.S. Congress in the 2nd District in Rhode Island. Steve and Mary Beth wrote:

Jennifer Lawless is portrayed in the article as an author who writes books on women in politics. Further, she’s lauded as a Director of American University’s Women and Politics Institute.

Nowhere in the article does it mention that Jennifer Lawless actually ran a failed Congressional campaign back in 2006 against a sitting Rhode Island incumbent. In fact, running against the popular Democrat incumbent in the primary, Lawless was ultra-pro-choice which awarded her the endorsements of NARAL Pro-Choice America PAC and Planned Parenthood Action Fund.

Needless to say, the authors of the Fiscal Times article failed to disclose Lawless' political history and associations with left-wing organizations to their readers, and instead, present her as simply the "director of American University’s Women and Politics Institute."

It's no wonder why nobody trusts the media anymore. Governor Palin has been lied about repeatedly, by the same people over and over again, who possess no discernible credibility. And it certainly doesn't help when people like Larry Sabato, who should know better, repeats the garbage as though he forgot how to do his own research. It just smacks of lazy, beltway group-think.