Stop Whining

Abe Greenwald agrees with Jack Shafer:

The Left-wing attack dogs have indeed gone after Sarah Palin with a despicable indifference to truth or decency. But this, frankly, is part of the great gamble that John McCain took in choosing a 44-year-old female governor with little-to-no experience on the world stage as his vice presidential pick. The “vetting” issue is relevant, but not in the way most media outlets are suggesting. It’s not that the McCain’s campaign failed to vet Palin; it’s that she’s now being vetted for the first time by the media–with a mere two months to go before election night.

If you think all this stuff wasn't going to come out at some point in the age of Google, you have to be ... unaware of the Internet? More here:

In this dimension alone, she represents the most problematic choice McCain could have made. Other contenders have already weathered unflattering characterizations or mischaracterizations due to their geographical importance, their long records, or their own previous campaigns. Mitt Romney has already taken his hits as passionless technocrat, Mike Huckabee’s been tagged as an unserious populist, etc. Sarah Palin not only missed the season of GOP scrutiny, but has lived such a geographically obscure and personally unique political life that those looking for dirt have a ready-made framework on which to hang their findings. With its Pacific Northwest small-town setting, its guns-and-ammo, and its dark pregnancy fables, the Palin narrative is taking on a tabloidesque Twin Peaks feel. This is not only bad for John McCain and for Republicans, but it’s a rotten state of affairs for the country on the verge of a critical election. However, complaining about it will do McCain no good and in fact probably backfire.

Whining about media mistreatment, however brazenly unjust, hasn’t helped anyone in the course of this election.