Saturday, September 06, 2008

Quinn Pulls Foot Halfway Out of Mouth   [Jonah Goldberg]

Quinn, you may recall, wrote a breathless attack on Palin as a bad mother the other day, because that's how the establishment press defined its duty back then. She's now recanting. From Jennifer Rubin:

I thought that she was amazing. in her speech. She was funny and smart and poised and confident. She gave a great speech, beautifully delivered. I think she is going to be a formidable opponent. all of that I think is — I was wrong about her. and I didn’t know anything about her. I probably didn’t know any more than John McCain did a few days before he picked her.

O'Reilly followed up: "your column and other columns like yours rallied the folks to her side and actually helped the McCain-Palin ticket dramatically.” Quinn answered “I  think you’re absolutely right.”

Rubin offers kudos to Quinn for her mea culpa, and I think she's right to (Rubin also suggests that Palin should offer her first print interview to Quinn, which I think is a great idea). But I would offer slightly fewer kudos. Absolutely, it's always hard for writers to admit they were wrong and Quinn should be praised for it. 

But the line that she didn't know any more than John McCain did a few days before he picked her is just absurd and is more of a sign that Quinn is sticking to the "she wasn't vetted" storyline. Had Quinn met Palin before? Yes, this was a political Hail Mary (as even McCain aides will concede), but it was not a shot in the dark. Proof can be found in the meltdown of anti-Palin talking points that had become the official agenda of the press corps last week.  

Second, it's worth pointing out that Quinn is tacitly conceding that she and much of the press did run with their reflex instinct to attack Palin. As I wrote yesterday, when the MSM acts on instinct it behaves terribly and reveals its biases. If I may:

But another part of the answer is that the press was simply surprised. Cockroaches scatter when shocked by a flipped light switch. Grizzly bears attack when startled. And when caught napping by big news, the press corps floods the zone. Editors scream at underlings who missed the story. Networks fret they’ll be scooped. And all of a sudden, the norms and standards become a blur in the race to be first. In the case of Palin, the press vaulted over every principle and standard they’d established about what is and isn’t fair game, like O.J. Simpson leaping over luggage in the old Hertz commercials. It required the Jaws of Life to pry news of John Edwards’ affair out the mainstream press. But when it came to the personal drama of Palin’s 17-year old daughter, the press clawed for morsels like they were golden tickets from Wonka Bars.

They wouldn’t have done the same thing if Palin were an unknown Democrat, because the press’ reflex is to assume the worst of Republicans.

Quinn was part of the herd and only now is she realizing it. Mainstream journalists always roll their eyes when conservatives complain about media bias. But it's incidents like this or the Rather memogate story that rip away the veneer of dispassion from the press, making it that much harder for them to be trusted.  

09/06 11:18 AMShare