On The Media Attacks of Sarah Palin

While watching the news over the last couple days, I have to say I am quite shocked at the media’s rather unfair and cruel coverage of Sarah Palin, especially concerning her daughter. I thought when I quit watching MSNBC I could expect to get better coverage of events happening in our world, however this was not the case. Media is so bad that even investigative reporting seems to be taking a back seat to the queries of the average individual. You would think, since journalists are “professional” that they would want to give their audience a full understanding of events and facts. Sadly, I believe I am going to have to quit watching the news and find other sources other than televised news coverage.

The media has been abuzz with the investigation of Sarah Palin in Alaska for supposedly using her power to have Commissioner Walt Monegan fired; seemingly, because he wouldn't fire Mike Wooten, the ex-husband of her sister. Sounds kind of bad, granted, but I felt there was a vital part to the story that was missing concerning the character of this person who was fired. Things like this person’s name, or what issues he was cited for were not readily available from cable news. These details were even hinted on over at CNN by Wolf Blitzer, but he instead actually said, “I won’t get into specifics.” That is your job Wolf, to give people specifics of the events you are covering and if your not going to do that then you should cease to “cover” them at all.

I could reach the conclusion that this was just politically bias on their part, and maybe in their case it was, but Fox News was no better. A channel that leans to the right, you would think, would offer up this information, but I haven’t heard a thing about it. To find out about this person, I actually had to go to the Huffington Post and The Anchorage Daily News. A regional paper and one of the most blinding biased news sources available that frequently omits information and that too often, to support its own political ideals, trespasses over things like common decency and professionalism, had more information than that of CNN and FOX.

Truth be told I would want this guy fired from the State Troopers as well. This officer of the law, one Mike Wooten, has been accused of using a taser on his 11 year old stepson, Sarah Palin’s nephew, in addition to illegally killing a moose, drinking beer in his patrol car, and telling friends his father-in-law would, “eat a f’ing bullet” if he helped his daughter get an attorney. He also threatened Governor Palin and he is lucky he just got fired and isn’t under investigation for child abuse, poaching, drunk driving and uttering a death threat.

Come on! A tasering of an 11 year old? If this was on Jackass, ok I wouldn't see such a problem, but this shows a lack of judgment, compassion and logic that should be required for an officer of the law to demonstrate. There are rules of conduct for cops and I believe tasering an 11 year old boy breaches several. However this isn’t all he has been accused of. In addition to allegations of domestic violence, he, after joining the force, had been reprimanded for damaging a state vehicle, speeding, unsafe lane changes, following too closely, not using a turn signal, personal cell phone calls, a speeding ticket, which he was suspened for, and received a memo highlighting his tardiness and conducting personal business while he was on duty.

It doesn’t excuse any illegal activity on Sarah Palin’s part, but what I want to know is to what degree a Governor can influence the firing of someone working within a State ran agency before it becomes illegal. I thought one of the duties of a Governor was to govern over the state and its various agencies; including the State Troopers. It is a cops duty to be a representative of the law, and this guy was obviously the complete antithesis of what a cop should be and I would want him fired too. It would be nice if details like these were provided in media reports, not to mention that these charges were only brought against Palin by former Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan after she had him fired, which makes the charges suspect because he didn’t feel the need to bring up these charges while under the States payroll.

These concerns are legit and should be investigated, which Palin is welcoming as well. However, what isn’t is the pregnancy of Palin’s 17 year old daughter Bristol. This is absolutely disgusting how the media is treating this. Obama showed his civility and needs to be commended when he took the moral high road above the media saying, “People's families are off limits. People's children are especially off limits. They have no relevancy and I strongly urge people to back off these kinds of stories. You know my mother had me when she was 18."

I agree with Obama and find it deplorable when someone’s political bias overrides ones human compassion. Bristol has to live with her own decisions and the consequences for them, and those decisions that were made were personal in nature. The responsibility falls on her alone and the media should stay away, or as Obama says, “back off,” because it isn’t like this girl has jumped in the public eye of her own accord and to drag her through the mud of media scrutiny is completely unwarranted and unfair. She is going to have enough challenges and hardship raising her child, now she has to worry about damaging her mother’s career. That is sick and twisted and people should turn their backs on any news organization that fails to think as real human beings and tries to twist this into something political. It appears that journalistic integrity is getting impossible to find nowadays.

There are those who are Democrats and supposed supporters of Obama that are continuing in this debate, despite Obama coming out strongly against it. It goes to show that such people don’t really support Obama nor the Democratic party, who have both come out against attacks on Palin based on this, but really only serve to bash anything that is Republican. I have heard such people attack the Republican party and Palin, saying that it is hypocritical since the Republican party takes the moral high ground. As opposed to what? Isn’t that what every party tries, or should try to do, emphasize morality? If you don’t you should not be in office. People may differ on the definition of morality between the parties in some aspects, but to discredit a party as a whole, Democrat or Republican, or group of people and ideal because someone in relation to a politician makes a mistake, is to me so stupid that I have no patience for it. Nor do I have patience for these “journalists” who seem more like ambulance chasers, rejoicing in the misfortune and hardship of others. I loath such people and at the risk of sounding cliché, they should all be ashamed. I for one would find it difficult to sleep at night if I acted in such a way.

What I also find offensive is this idea out there amongst some of the media that because her daughter is pregnant, that she is a horrible mother and if she can’t control even her family, how could she be expected to control the government? One of my hero’s Theodore Roosevelt put it best concerning his unruly daughter Alice, who was 100 fold worse than this situation with Bristol, when he said, “"I can either run the country or I can control Alice. I cannot possibly do both." Parents nowadays are unfairly ridiculed for the actions of their offspring. This is ridiculous and it must be remembered that what it really comes down to is personal responsibility and I wonder if any of these people attacking Palin concerning her daughter have any teenagers of their own. I doubt it.

In conclusion, another factor we don’t add in is the sons/daughters of cops/politicians/judges/religious leaders factor. It is normal for every kid to rebel, but more so when a parent has a position of authority amongst the civilian population. This is just how it goes and if you doubt me, watch Footloose sometime. Thank you for reading.