List members debated over the best way to destroy her reputation.
The conversation began with a debate over how best to attack Sarah Palin. “Honestly, this pick reeks of desperation,” wrote Michael Cohen of the New America Foundation in the minutes after the news became public. “How can anyone logically argue that Sarah Pallin [sic], a one-term governor of Alaska, is qualified to be President of the United States? Train wreck, thy name is Sarah Pallin.”
Not a wise argument, responded Jonathan Stein, a reporter for Mother Jones. If McCain were asked about Palin’s inexperience, he could simply point to then candidate Barack Obama’s similarly thin resume. “Q: Sen. McCain, given Gov. Palin’s paltry experience, how is she qualified to be commander in chief?,” Stein asked hypothetically. “A: Well, she has much experience as the Democratic nominee.”
“What a joke,” added Jeffrey Toobin of the New Yorker. “I always thought that some part of McCain doesn’t want to be president, and this choice proves my point. Welcome back, Admiral Stockdale.”
Even going so far as to call themselves Obama’s “non-official campaign”:
Daniel Levy of the Century Foundation noted that Obama’s “non-official campaign” would need to work hard to discredit Palin. “This seems to me like an occasion when the non-official campaign has a big role to play in defining Palin, shaping the terms of the conversation and saying things that the official [Obama] campaign shouldn’t say – very hard-hitting stuff, including some of the things that people have been noting here – scare people about having this woefully inexperienced, no foreign policy/national security/right-wing christia wing-nut a heartbeat away …… bang away at McCain’s age making this unusually significant …. I think people should be replicating some of the not-so-pleasant viral email campaigns that were used against [Obama].”
There is also evidence that emails on the Journolist were used as source material for some published articles:
Time’s Joe Klein then linked to his own piece, parts of which he acknowledged came from strategy sessions on Journolist. “Here’s my attempt to incorporate the accumulated wisdom of this august list-serve community,” he wrote. And indeed Klein’s article contained arguments developed by his fellow Journolisters.
Do the ongoing revelations from the Journolist merely confirm what we already knew or indicate some deeper conspiracy? Liberal media figures actively and blatantly conspired to affect the outcome of a presidential election. They didn’t just report the news, they created it. If the “main stream media” is this blatantly in the tank for the Democrats, do they still deserve First Amendment protections? Are there campaign finance law violations?
I think it’s time for an investigation.
The full archive of the Journolist needs to be made public and the list members need to be investigated for their involvement in the conspiracy.
This is my shocked face.
(…and really, when you think about it, how messed up is it that this was the kind of stuff we more or less expected to find once that rock got overturned?)
Time for an investigation? By whom? The FedGov? Really?
This kerfuffle will fizzle like so many other things that are embarassing to the left. The MSM will resume doing what they do. J-schools will keep churning out activists instead of reporters.
The fact that a huge chunk of the MSM is made up of progressive activists masquerading as impartial reporters is no surprise to any conservative or libertarian that gave up on giving them the benefit of the doubt decades ago.
xyankeeworkshop
The only ray of hope is that many mainstream outlets will eventually bankrupt. But that will surely beget a government bailout.
Investigation?
This will all be whitewashed. Never happened.
Hell, they won’t even prosecute Black Panthers for obvious Civil Rights violations….
Are you saying I shouldn’t hope for a change?
Alan … the prob is you bought the big Hearst lie … that a media outlet CAN be non-partisan.
Bull.
All media outlets have bias. The only question is whether or not they are honest about it.
Before the Hearst papers, newspapers were up front about their bias, often incorporating the political party of choice in their name.
I never bought the lie but enough people did.
That’s why collusion and conspiracy like this is such a big deal.
RACIST!!
(Yes, Spence Ackerman told me to say that.)