Wednesday morning, NBC News correspondent Andrea Mitchell reported that Governor Palin’s clothing is very expensive, and Ms. Mitchell is apparently upset about that. It’s the usual from NBC News, trying to diminish the McCain-Palin ticket any way they can.
But far more troubling — far more troubling — was an interview Tuesday on CNN. Stay with me here because this is very important.
Writing in the National Review this week, Byron York said: “Watching press coverage of the Republican candidate for vice president, it’s sometimes hard to decide whether Sarah Palin is incompetent, stupid, unqualified, corrupt, backward, or all of the above. Palin, the governor of Alaska, has faced more criticism than any vice presidential candidate since 1988.”
Now Mr. York was clearly criticizing press bias in that paragraph, no question about that. Well, shortly after the article appeared, Sarah Palin was interviewed by CNN reporter Drew Griffin, and here’s what happened:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Governor, you’ve been mocked in the press. The press has been pretty hard on you. The Democrats have been pretty hard on you. But also some conservatives have been pretty hard on you as well. The National Review had a story saying that, you know, I can’t tell if Sarah Palin is incompetent, stupid, unqualified, corrupt, or all of the above.
SARAH PALIN: Who wrote that one?
GRIFFIN: That was in the National Review. I don’t have the author.
PALIN: I’d like to talk to that person.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
She doesn’t have to talk to that person. Isn’t that incredible?
Now Griffin, the guy, totally distorted what York wrote in the article, and then he ambushes Palin with the distortion. She has no idea what he’s talking about.
Now I haven’t been critical of CNN during the campaign. They’ve been pretty honest in their coverage, I believe. But that was off the chart dishonest.
So we called CNN for comment very early in the morning. We said look, you know, are you going to apologize? What are you going to do? They wouldn’t comment. Apparently, there’s no apology in the works, no retraction. It’s unbelievable. It’s hard to believe. In fact, the whole campaign has been hard to believe.
“Talking Points” is amazed at how dishonest the American press reportage has been. Yes, there’s been nasty stuff from both sides, no doubt. But with the mainstream media solidly behind Barack Obama, I think that’s worth about five percentage points for him in the popular vote. I could be wrong.
But CNN was definitely wrong in what they did to Sarah Palin. It’s outrageous.
And that’s “The Memo.”
Pinheads & Patriots
As you may have heard, I signed up for another contract cycle here at FOX News. My boss, Roger Ailes, is a patriot for allowing me to continue. At least to me he is.
Now I gave two interviews Tuesday on the subject: one to Richard Huff at the New York Daily News and the other to our pal Howard Kurtz at The Washington Post.
Now, I’m like Charlie Brown trying to kick the football with Lucy holding it. I’m never going to learn.
Huff did a fair story, but he listed my salary, which he got drastically wrong. But it doesn’t matter. All the Web sites picked it up and, once again, falsehood becomes fact.
Kurtz wrote mostly about some negative aspects of “The Factor,” which is what The Post likes to do. Howard didn’t do anything unprofessional. He simply gave his bosses what they want: negative stuff.
For example, Kurtz wrote that “The Radio Factor” is less successful than the TV “Factor.” Well, most media, Howard, is less successful than the TV “Factor,” including The Washington Post and CNN, where you work.
The fact is, “The Radio Factor” is one of the most profitable radio franchises in the history of the medium, but Howard wanted to find a negative, and he did. By the way, as I said, Howard also works for CNN.
I’m not calling Mr. Huff and Mr. Kurtz pinheads. They don’t deserve that designation off what they wrote, but both men could have done a little bit better on this one.
— You can catch Bill O’Reilly’s “Talking Points Memo” and “Pinheads & Patriots” weeknights at 8 and 11 p.m. ET on the FOX News Channel and any time on foxnews.com/oreilly. Send your comments to: oreilly@foxnews.com
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