The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Fear and Loathing in Manchester: Palin Offers No Sympathy for the Media Devil

Posted on | September 5, 2011 | 35 Comments

The Right Scoop has full video of Sarah Palin’s speech today in Manchester, N.H., and if nothing else, Palin is driving political reporters nuts. At one point during the speech, she referenced the media “ignoring the fact” that the Tea Party movement was a decisive force in last year’s mid-term elections. Her remark clearly irritated Dave Weigel of Slate:

This is what the media ignoring the Tea Party looks like: Palin is speaking to a crowd of maybe 700 people. Every protester holding a reasonably witty or weird sign — or a sign with Sarah Palin’s visage on it — is being interviewed by a reporter. There are at least 50 of us looking for quotes. CNN is taking the event live, and the Tea Party Express, which put on the event, is raffling tickets to the presidential debate it’s going to co-sponsor in seven days with that network.

Translation: “Lies! All lies!”

It’s kind of hard to get regular people to feel sympathy for reporters forced to put together a story in this kind of pack-journalism environment, but I certainly feel Dave’s pain. Palin’s expertise at inflicting pain on journalists, however, is one reason she’s so popular. Note the well-aimed shots in her official statement from Sarah PAC:

Just wrapping up an awesome four day trip to the Hawkeye and Granite States. Visiting with residents there it’s easy to see why they play such an important role in vetting America’s leaders. Todd and I were able to interact directly with informed Americans and hear their concerns first hand outside the media spin. . . .
Thank you to the citizens of Iowa and New Hampshire for your hospitality, your thoughtful questions and picking up where the media left off in vetting and challenging us all on our vision for America’s future.

Love her or hate her, wherever and whenever Palin ventures out in public, she’s still headline news — even though 99% of the political press corps is certain she’s not going to be a candidate in 2012. Being assigned to cover the non-candidate who won’t say whether or not she’s running is, understandably, a frustrating experience for reporters. Nobody can get an exclusive scoop on the Palin beat, you see, and the wizards of the national media resent being reduced to trying to assemble an article under such circumstances. Congratulations, therefore, to Sarah Boxer of CBS News for this insightful headline:

Palin, not even in the race, draws
double the size crowd as Romney

Darn it, why didn’t I think of that first? I was at Mitt’s rally Sunday in Concord and the CBS reporter is exactly right: Palin drew at least twice the crowd as the supposed New Hampshire front-runner, which rather tends to contradict the “experts” quoted on the front page of Sunday’s Manchester Union Leader:

At this point, Palin’s drawn-out flirtation with a candidacy has turned excitement over “The Sarah Factor” to “Sarah Fatigue” in some quarters.
“You tend to get a sense now that the times have passed by her,” said UNH political science professor Dante Scala. “People are looking elsewhere.”
Kevin Smith, executive director of Cornerstone Action, a conservative issues group, agreed.
“Some people have become so weary of her stringing the media along and stringing voters along as to whether she is or isn’t going to run, that they’re kind of over Sarah Palin at this point,” he said.
“Her coy game of, ‘I’m not telling anyone whether I’m running but I’m going to visit the early primary states,’ I think is turning people off, quite frankly,” said Smith.

See? That’s the kind of plainly biased story that makes people hate the media. (It isn’t exactly difficult to find political science professors who will say bad things about Sarah Palin, I’ll bet.) But I’m happy to report that, despite resentment toward the journalism profession, no reporters were beaten up by angry mobs at the Tea Party rally.

Also, my buddy Da Tech Guy checked with Manchester police and confirmed that no black people were lynched or assaulted at the event, no matter what Rep. Andre Carson may try to tell you. (It’s an awful thing when irresponsible people incite political hatred, y’know.)

Conservatives4Palin has an excellent round-up of today’s news. Meanwhile, I’ve got a midnight deadline to finish my column for The American Spectator, then I’ve got to check the Amtrak schedule and try to figure out how I’m getting back home. It’s been a great trip, and I hope it’s been worthwhile for the readers. If Sarah Palin hates me, that’s not your fault, and your contributions to the Shoe Leather Fund are still greatly appreciated.

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Category: Election 2012, Fear and Loathing in New Hampshire, Sarah Palin, Shoe Leather Fund, Tea Party, Video

Comments

35 Responses to “Fear and Loathing in Manchester: Palin Offers No Sympathy for the Media Devil”

  1. Roderic Deane
    September 6th, 2011 @ 2:14 am

    Yeah, I’m sure Dave Weigel takes exception to Sarah’s  mistrust of the media’s reporting. After all, wasn’t he a major participant in the Journolist? What a frickin’ hypocrite!

  2. Anonymous
    September 6th, 2011 @ 2:20 am

    I appreciate your efforts and your writings very much, Stacy!

  3. Anonymous
    September 6th, 2011 @ 2:27 am

    I can handle the hate toward the media. Having my wife mad at me? That’s tough. 

    Time for the unofficial “Stacy McCain Theme Song.”

  4. Datechguy's Blog » Blog Archive » First thoughts from manchester Tea Party Express Palin event
    September 5th, 2011 @ 10:48 pm

    […] again: Stacy McCain: Congratulations, therefore, to Sarah Boxer of CBS News for this insightful […]

  5. Anonymous
    September 6th, 2011 @ 2:49 am

    I have no idea why you are in the doghouse. It’s probably the Cain thing.

  6. JeffS
    September 6th, 2011 @ 2:52 am

    I was going to rag on the MSM, with the central theme of “You can’t drive ’em nuts if they’re already insane”, and sign off with “Present company excepted, of course.”

    But you beat me to, Stacy.  Dang it.

    Keep up the good work, dude!

  7. Doug
    September 6th, 2011 @ 2:55 am

    Mr. Dave has many copy editors.

  8. Anonymous
    September 6th, 2011 @ 3:12 am

    I call it revenge for the filthy attacks on her family especially Trig. The MFM has proven itself just nasty, propagandist slowly descending into irreventcy. Just love the way she stomps all over them

    Nice work Robert

  9. David R. Graham
    September 6th, 2011 @ 3:24 am

    The goal is to break the back of the
    ecclesial/academic/media/bureaucratic monopoly that killed John F.
    Kennedy and has been sucking power into the federal system ever since.
    Sarah Palin is the only religious/moral/political personality of
    national and international prominence who embodies that goal.

  10. Anonymous
    September 6th, 2011 @ 3:27 am

    She is doing a good job tormenting the “Winston Smith Media”, now that there is my idea of leadership. I wish all the candidates would do this though I suspect using Wrist Rockets presents practical difficulties.

  11. Bob Belvedere
    September 6th, 2011 @ 3:33 am

    Great job, Stacy and Pete.

    Better than anything the MSM cooked-up.

    A hearty ‘Huzzah!’, Stacy.

  12. ThePaganTemple
    September 6th, 2011 @ 3:35 am

    I just had a thought. Does anybody know when her contract with Fox is up? For that matter, does she even have a binding contract with them, or is she considered a free agent? That might have a little bit to do with why she hasn’t announced yet. It might be a contractual obligation. She might have agreed not to run until the contract is up in order to avoid so-called “conflict of interest”, this being defined in reality as Rupert Murdoch’s support for Mitt Romney. This would explain why certain blowhards like to get on there and “opine” (ahem) as to how in their “expert” opinion she’s not going to run.

  13. Dianna Deeley
    September 6th, 2011 @ 3:35 am

    I’ve been enjoying the posts from the road. I hope you have a good trip home; you’re lucky you’re not flying. I’ve been getting updates of stuck-in-airports all day.

  14. McGehee
    September 6th, 2011 @ 3:55 am

    That would be a very odd thing for Fox News to do. They let Gingrich out to run for president, why not someone who’s actually popular?

  15. Adjoran
    September 6th, 2011 @ 4:45 am

    Anything that inconveniences Dave Weigel or any of the other legacy media types is fine by me.

    However, I cannot help but note that both CBS and Stacy engage in the same misrepresentation of “relative” crowd size comparing Palin’s rally to Romney’s (yeah, I know both were actually Tea Party events).

    Palin’s rally was Labor Day, the traditional day for holiday gatherings and parades, while Romney’s was on Sunday, traditional day for church and family among most Republican constituencies (I assume Democrats have their own traditions, such as baby butcherings and Satanic masses).

    Romney’s rally was in Concord, population under 45,000.  Palin’s was in Manchester, 110,000 in the city limits and probably a quarter million in the metro area.

    So which rally would you expect to be better attended, even if the same headliner were at both?

    A lot more attention was paid to the two dozen Freedom Works “protestors” before Mitt’s speech than to those actually in attendance for the rally.  One report estimated it was “half Romney supporters and half Tea Party people” as if it were assumed those were mutually exclusive groups (everyone knew who was speaking before they came, didn’t they?) and only a few actually protested Romney.

    Boy, Sarah Palin has some magic if she can so shamefully abuse the media and still get them to cover her like a rock star.  So Weigel went on the record complaining – he’s well known as a whiny little jerk, isn’t he?

  16. Rose
    September 6th, 2011 @ 5:02 am

    I suspect she loves you – YOU’RE NOT THE LAME STREAM MEDIA, you are the antidote. She just isn’t going to tell you, yet.

  17. Charles
    September 6th, 2011 @ 5:31 am

    I notice you’ve got 49 comments for “Mitt-Mania in New Hampshire” and 53 comments for “Sarah Palin in New Hampshire.”

  18. ThePaganTemple
    September 6th, 2011 @ 5:31 am

    Yeah but they might have been glad to get rid of him.

  19. ThePaganTemple
    September 6th, 2011 @ 5:32 am

    RSM I don’t think its Sara that’s mad at you, its Todd, over all those nights he spent on the sofa thanks to you.

  20. “The Other McCain” Chides Journalists At Palin’s N.Hampshire Visit « Sarah Palin Information Blog
    September 6th, 2011 @ 3:56 am

    […] LINK IS HERE […]

  21. Rose
    September 6th, 2011 @ 8:57 am

    I’m up late working on a project – and it struck me just now – the media is linking TRANSCRIPTS of her speeches. http://tinyurl.com/42q9tlo  Now, either they like her, and think there’s something there, OR – they’re providing fodder for Media Matters/HuffPo/KOS to dissect…. I’m going with the former.

  22. JD777
    September 6th, 2011 @ 9:54 am

    Dave Weigel is a JourNoLister, one of a group of400 people who maliciously plotted together to utterly destroy Sarah Palin and her family. He will forever be her enemy and the enemy of the people who want to restore the free market, liberty and constitutionalism amid the wreckage of our broken and declining nation.

  23. Lady Liberty 1885
    September 6th, 2011 @ 10:58 am

    I had noticed regarding the media setting little fires with stories
    about ‘Palin Fatigue’. While the media keeps claiming it, the crowds she
    is drawing aren’t supporting that theory.

  24. Tuesday Round Up | Students4Palin
    September 6th, 2011 @ 7:03 am

    […] The Other McCain: “Fear and Loathing in Manchester: Palin Offers No Sympathy for the Media Devil.” Love her or hate her, wherever and whenever Palin ventures out in public, she’s still headline […]

  25. Tuesday Round Up | Students4Palin
    September 6th, 2011 @ 7:03 am

    […] The Other McCain: “Fear and Loathing in Manchester: Palin Offers No Sympathy for the Media Devil.” Love her or hate her, wherever and whenever Palin ventures out in public, she’s still headline […]

  26. Tuesday Round Up | Students4Palin
    September 6th, 2011 @ 7:03 am

    […] The Other McCain: “Fear and Loathing in Manchester: Palin Offers No Sympathy for the Media Devil.” Love her or hate her, wherever and whenever Palin ventures out in public, she’s still headline […]

  27. rosalie
    September 6th, 2011 @ 12:07 pm

    Maybe the media is the one with “fatigue” just thinking about the half marathon she just ran.

  28. rosalie
    September 6th, 2011 @ 12:09 pm

    As always, Stacy, your posts and pix have been above par.  Thanks!

  29. Bob Belvedere
    September 6th, 2011 @ 12:26 pm

    I assume Democrats have their own traditions, such as baby butcherings and Satanic masses.

    Reformed Bolshe, eh?

  30. Bob Belvedere
    September 6th, 2011 @ 12:27 pm

    We know Todd respects him.

  31. Jewish Americans for Sarah Palin » Blog Archive » In NH, Sarah Palin offers no sympathy for the media devil
    September 6th, 2011 @ 9:01 am

    […] Read more> […]

  32. Spinning Sarah « The Crawdad Hole
    September 6th, 2011 @ 10:01 am

    […] The Other McCain: As Palin returns to NH, questions abound At this point, Palin’s drawn-out flirtation with a […]

  33. Fear And Loathing 2011: But What’s Puzzling You Is The Nature Of My Game « The Camp Of The Saints
    September 6th, 2011 @ 5:58 pm

    […] I posted Part Two yesterday evening, Stacy filed another report entitled: Fear and Loathing in Manchester: Palin Offers No Sympathy for the Media Devil.  It contains a link to a video of Mrs. Palin’s remarks in Manchester and remarks on the […]

  34. Anonymous
    September 6th, 2011 @ 10:32 pm

    She has been running all along . I can hardly wait to hear the words  Madam President Palin . Believe it ,its going to happen  .

  35. Wow! Amazon Sells a 250-Gigabyte Compact Desktop Computer for $309.99? : The Other McCain
    September 10th, 2011 @ 4:06 pm

    […] the occasional check in the mail — is the difference between me flying off to Iowa and taking a train to New Hampshire to cover the presidential campaign and me going down to the temporary agency to apply for a job as […]