Having It Both Ways

This Radley Balko post is being used to defend Ross:

It is possible that Sarah Palin was both unfairly mistreated and personally attacked by the media and many on the left, and that her family was rather ruthlessly and mercilessly run through the ringer wringer . . . and that she’s a not particularly bright, not particularly curious, once libertarian-leaning governor who sadly devolved into a predictable, buzzword spouting culture warrior when she was prematurely picked for national office by John McCain.

My own view is that the mainstream media was absurdly soft on her inconsistencies and lack of qualifications. I find the notion that class snobbery is behind it to be silly. It's hard not to note the Judge Judy atmosphere that permeates Palinland, but some of us weren't born into privilege at all and simply expect minimal standards of effort, intelligence and integrity in public officials who come from nowhere. Palin failed on every count. Her candidacy was absurd on it face and indicts all those who found ways to defend it.