The Press And Palin

Dave Weigel makes a point the Dish has been banging on about for a year and a half now:

The problem is that Palin has put the political press in a submissive position, one in which the only information it prints about her comes from prepared statements or from Q&As with friendly interviewers. This isn’t something most politicians get away with, or would be allowed to get away with. But Palin has leveraged her celebrity her ability to get ratings, the ardor of her fans and the bitterness of her critics to win a truly unique relationship with the press. She is allowed to shape the public debate without actually engaging in it.

To be fair to Palin, she had every right to try and get away with this. But she couldn't have if the press had truly resisted together. They could have all refused to do one-on-one interviews until she gave a live, long, no-holds-barred press conference, answering any question asked. But they didn't. They each wanted their ratings-winning "get" more than they wanted to expose this person's ineptitude and cluelessness for the good of the country.

They've also lost their nerve, fearing that aggressive, adult but civil questioning of Palin would get them tarred elitist or condescending or all the other class warfare memes the GOP is now so adept at deploying. And so this farce of a candidate continues to plague us.

But, yes, Dave, it probably doesn't help to cite her Facebook nonsense. I just feel a responsibility to keep tabs on the lunacy, and have done since it began.