It’s Almost Getting Too Easy

It’s almost getting too easy to predict the media’s reaction to events.

After spending several days blaming Sarah Palin for the AZ shooting with no evidence whatsoever (in fact, evidence pointing away from her), the media started their second phase in the last 24 hours or so.

This phase was “Where is Sarah Palin?” Chris Matthew claimed she was on the lam. The left wing media wanted desperately to know why she hadn’t responded to the charges against her.

Please.

First of all, let’s get some perspective. Sarah Palin is not the story. No matter how much liberals want her to be, she isn’t. The story is Loughner and the shooting and Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ (D-AZ-08) fight for survival.

Had Sarah Palin interjected herself into this fray sooner, she would have made herself the story. She has too much class for this. She sent an e-mail to Glenn Beck, and let her spokesman speak for her and that was it.

However, the media wouldn’t let it go. Determined to force her “out of hiding”, they hammered upon the issue of her map and her silence.

So, Mrs. Palin finally responded. And what a response.

Sarah Palin: "America's Enduring Strength" from Sarah Palin on Vimeo.

As soon as I saw it, two things came to mind.

The first: this is a very Presidential statement. The tone and message are spot on perfect. In fact, this is the statement that President Barack Obama (D-USA) should give later today. His speechwriters must be scrambling now, because she has set the bar very high, and past history gives no indication that he can clear it.

The second: the left wing media will go berserk. And right on cue, there they are.

Palin's best move would have been to remain silent, as Dave Weigel wrote yesterday, especially since Giffords had expressed concern about Palin's map at the time it had been released.

[…]

Now, mere days after the incident, with six people dead and Giffords still recovering, Palin is making herself the center of attention.

Expect more of this from Chris Matthews this evening.

Palin is making herself the center of attention? What planet do you live on, seriously? The left has done nothing but make Palin the center of attention from almost the moment of the shooting (ahem, Krugman), and Palin has done everything possible to stay out of it. Finally, when she does issue a statement, it’s polite, even tempered, calm and not even the tiniest bit defensive or even antagonistic.

In short, the statement is designed to deflect attention away from Sarah Palin.

This shows the hypocrisy of the left. After screaming for her to “come out of hiding”, now they say that her “best move would have been to remain silent”.

My current tag line on my IM client says “Liberals love standards so much that they try to have two on every issue.” I put it up yesterday, not realizing that liberals would set out to prove my point less than 24 hours later.

UPDATE: This, from Kathryn Jean Lopez, supporting my view:

Yesterday, it was an outrage that Sarah Palin hadn’t responded to some of this week’s ridiculous commentary. The deafening silence! Someone (was it Chris Matthews?) had her hiding in a cave in Alaska. And now that she has responded, that’s an outrage, too.

My favorite accusation is that Sarah Palin is such a dim bulb that she doesn’t know what “blood libel” most prominently, poisonously, and disgracefully refers to. If you’re making that accusation, you ought to take a look at who some of her advisers are. They’re not new to the world of actual wars and history.

Where was the outrage when the Wall Street Journal published the phrase earlier in the week? This seems to be a whole lot more about reacting to Sarah Palin, and being annoyed at Sarah Palin, than anything else. And it continues to miss the point that Tucson is not about Sarah Palin. 

UPDATE: And right on cue, here’s ABC:

Sarah Palin, once again, has found a way to become part of the story. And she may well face further criticism for the timing and scope of her remarks.

And CBS claims that Palin is playing the victim card:

Blood libel is the false accusation, perhaps originating in the 12th century, that Jews murder children to use their blood for religious rituals and holidays. Palin appears to be appropriating the term to indicate that she is a victim, as a result of some groups and individuals claiming that her political rhetoric contributed to the actions of the deranged, lone gunman.

The simple truth is no matter what Sarah Palin did or did not do, the press was going to damn her. So, she chose the route of addressing the issue, defending herself, and expressing her sympathies for those involved. And, unlike her attackers, her words were delivered with style and class. Likely this will be the last she will say on this issue.