Patterico's Pontifications

9/29/2008

Say It Ain’t So: L.A. Times Runs Story Slanted Against Palin

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 9:50 pm



The word of a liberal blogger is good enough for a lead in the Los Angeles Times. From an article yesterday:

ANCHORAGE — Soon after Sarah Palin was elected mayor of the foothill town of Wasilla, Alaska, she startled a local music teacher by insisting in casual conversation that men and dinosaurs coexisted on an Earth created 6,000 years ago — about 65 million years after scientists say most dinosaurs became extinct — the teacher said.

After conducting a college band and watching Palin deliver a commencement address to a small group of home-schooled students in June 1997, Wasilla resident Philip Munger said, he asked the young mayor about her religious beliefs.

Palin told him that “dinosaurs and humans walked the Earth at the same time,” Munger said. When he asked her about prehistoric fossils and tracks dating back millions of years, Palin said “she had seen pictures of human footprints inside the tracks,” recalled Munger, who teaches music at the University of Alaska in Anchorage and has regularly criticized Palin in recent years on his liberal political blog, called Progressive Alaska.

It’s on the Internet, so I guess it must be true!

Hey, didja know there’s a guy who says he gave Obama a blow job after a cocaine party in Gurnee, Illinois?

It’s on the Internet, so I guess it must be true!

(For the humor and irony impaired: no, I am not saying that what this clearly insane person says about Barack Obama is true. It’s an “analogy.”)

If this nutjob were making this allegation about Sarah Palin, Andrew Sullivan would be furiously writing e-mails to Michael Goldfarb demanding that he deny it, because of how popular Sullivan is and all. Would it be enough to put at the head of an L.A. Times article? Who’s to say?

The article also says:

During an October 2006 debate in the Alaska governor’s race, Palin urged that evolution and creationist ideas be taught together in state schools. “Don’t be afraid of information and let kids debate both sides,” she said.

But the L.A. Times doesn’t mention that, after the debate, Palin clarified that — contrary to what the L.A. Times says — she did not intend for creationism to be taught in the schools:

In an interview Thursday, Palin said she meant only to say that discussion of alternative views should be allowed to arise in Alaska classrooms:

“I don’t think there should be a prohibition against debate if it comes up in class. It doesn’t have to be part of the curriculum.”

She added that, if elected, she would not push the state Board of Education to add such creation-based alternatives to the state’s required curriculum.

In summary: liberal blogger’s assertions: gold. Claiming Palin supported something that she explicitly disclaimed: responsible journalism.

The fix is in, and it’s working.

27 Responses to “Say It Ain’t So: L.A. Times Runs Story Slanted Against Palin”

  1. From an interview which aired on Friday, September 19, 2008:

    HANNITY: Did you only want to teach creationism in school and not evolution?

    PALIN: No. In fact, growing up in a school teacher’s house with a science teacher as a dad, you know, I have great respect for science being taught in our science classes and evolution to be taught in our science classes.

    Beldar (732de3)

  2. “Some say…..”

    This is the get out of j-school phrase. That’s all they need anymore to make page 1.

    Ed (385e88)

  3. That’s for sure. They expected this election to be a cakewalk, and now that it’s not, they will do anything to get the White House. Anything!

    Patricia (ee5c9d)

  4. Obama’s a cocksucker!

    joe (6e1d93)

  5. I doubt Rick Moran’s thoughts about Palin will be popular here but they are interesting.
    Is the media unfair and slanted? Undoubtedly. Do outright false stories get started on blogs and ultimately printed? You betcha.
    The better question is what is the solution to change it?

    voiceofreason2 (9ee102)

  6. the LA times is more relevent than a nutjob on youtube

    paul s (c313be)

  7. You know what would settle this? When Palin goes on talk radio, for a friendly host to ask her if she is a young earth creationist or not. It’s great she doesn’t want to force it on schools…but I’m also interested in the rational ability of my executive leaders.

    Shodo (dbfcb4)

  8. That said, the LA times article is pretty specious. I wouldn’t have run that article, but the question still needs to be asked by any interviewer of her.

    Shodo (dbfcb4)

  9. If this were 2004 I might actually care about this. After eight years of Bush, however, I hope this story is true. I hope the powers that be in this country are doing everything in their power to stop the Republicans from winning the WH.

    Blue Neponset (d3296d)

  10. #4 Joe, he ain’t no cocksucker, he’s a cocksuckee! Wouldn’t it be neat if this guy could identify a distinguishing mark on the great one’s pole? This election has been the most entertaining election ever! I say, give ’em the lie detector test? ROTFLMAO As far as the MSM, they have to be worth at least 6-10 points for Obama. They should be paid by his campaign for all the water of his they are carrying.

    J. Raymond Wright (0440ef)

  11. “In an interview Thursday, Palin said she meant only to say that discussion of alternative views should be allowed to arise in Alaska classrooms:”

    Such a cop-out. We’ve seen in the Dover, PA case the dishonesty of the creationists when challenged on their views. They retreat to some attempt to rationalize their views in ways that still attempt to equate mythology and science.

    There’s one way to treat religious mythology in science class: a discussion about it not being science, and then moving on with the lesson. Calling it “alternative views” loses that.

    imdw (23c2b4)

  12. The evidence is clear, “dinosaurs and humans walked the Earth at the same time…”

    There is incontrovertible evidence, from the fossil record, that during the second period of the Mesozoic era dinosaurs and primitive mammals, birds too, coexisted. These are the facts and they are not in dispute in serious scientific circles.

    Anyone who thinks dinosaurs and human brings can’t have lived togerher has never seen “Jurassic Park” or watched Barney Frank on TV.

    Now, as for Barrak’s BJs, shame on him. As bad as he was, at least ol’ Slick had standards, sure he went for fat chicks, but that was it. Nothing funny about the ol’ Slickster.

    Ropelight (1be620)

  13. If Joe Biden was around in 1929 he’d tell FDR to stand up before he made his TV address about the Stock Market crash.

    Frank Drackman (af2a6b)

  14. There’s one way to treat religious mythology in science class: a discussion about it not being science, and then moving on with the lesson. Calling it “alternative views” loses that.

    And that would fit Palin’s comment. Why are you insistent that she didn’t mean it that way?

    Rob Crawford (6c262f)

  15. The fix is in, and it’s working.

    Well, I guess that it’s a good thing that all of the former Pravda writers have found new homes here in the US.

    physics geek (6669a4)

  16. Ropelight – You are correct. As far as we know, Billy Jeff Bentpecker only got his ham glazed by members of the opposite sex. Obama, he’s scary, just not American ifyouknowwhatI’msayin’andIthinkthatyoudo

    daleyrocks (d9ec17)

  17. Doing coke, crack and getting a blow job in a caddy! Could Barry GET any more cool and classy?
    Seriously, my beef with this story is why Barry didn’t do it with a good-looking guy!
    Oh! and a word in your shell-like, Michelle! I believe it was Nora Ephron (and who would know better!) who once said, “show me a woman who doesn’t blow her man, and I’ll show you a woman whose man can be stolen!”

    elixelx (bfcb6e)

  18. They expected this election to be a cakewalk, and now that it’s not, they will do anything to get the White House.

    It would have been a cakewalk, especially against someone who excites his base the way John Kerry did four years ago, if they had nominated someone else.

    Michael Ejercito (a757fd)

  19. Claiming that men and dinosaurs coexisted on Earth 6,000 years ago requires the same level of intellectual honesty that claiming that a total handgun ban reduces murder requires.

    Michael Ejercito (a757fd)

  20. Here’s a newsflash for y’all: NOBODY knows how “the world” was created.

    Obviously, there are plenty of theories, ranging from a “Supreme Being” to “big bangs”, but NOBODY really knows FOR CERTAIN. THAT is a FACT.

    Except for a handful of weddings and funerals, I haven’t set foot in a church in 25 years, but I still find the blatant anti-religious bigotry on this and other message boards disgusting.

    Evidently, many/most of you are not personally acquainted with any “creationists”, so you seem to believe the “hype” that many/most of these folks are “anti-science”.

    In fact, based on my conversations with quite a few of them, nothing could be further from the truth. They just happen to the believe that “the world” was created in a certain manner – a belief, by the way, that has absolutely NOTHING to do with the discussion of how we should proceed from where we are TODAY.

    The bottom line is that this whole “creationism” discussion is nothing more than an attempt to paint a conservative as a backwards cretin from the hills.

    One more thing: I’d like to see someone turn this “debate” around on Obama and Biden. Somebody should ask them, point-blank, “do you believe in God?”

    If Obama and Biden answer yes, then they should be subjected to the same criticism as Palin because, quite obviously, if you believe in a “Supreme Being”, then you must believe that He/She/It created “the world”. (And, as any lib will tell you, only the truly ignorant believe in such fairy tales.)

    Of course, if they answer no, Obama and Biden will offend a significant percentage of “true” moderates whose votes are needed to win this election.

    Thus, we know what their answer would be.

    Bubba Maximus (456175)

  21. Can we really criticize the Russian media anymore when our media has nothing on Pravda?

    Bel Aire (2fd7f7)

  22. #15, daleyrocks, yes, I do. I can tell a hawk from a handsaw.

    Ropelight (1be620)

  23. does the Times ever run a story that isn’t slanted?

    they are no longer a “newspaper” but rather an “opinionpaper”

    redc1c4 (27fd3e)

  24. Isn’t the full Palin quote:

    Teach both. You know, don’t be afraid of information. Healthy debate is so important, and it’s so valuable in our schools. I am a proponent of teaching both

    jpe (08c1dd)

  25. “..they are no longer a “newspaper” but rather an “opinionpaper”..” Comment by redc1c4 — 9/30/2008 @ 9:51 am

    When the Soviet Union folded up, I once made the comment to a friend that two things would soon happen. The Irish terrorist group, the Provo-IRA, would begin peace talks with the British because the IRA’s Soviet support would dry up, and the Los Angeles Times would raise its newsstand price from 25¢ to 50¢ because of the same reason. Both came to pass.

    C. Norris (cbb201)

  26. I’m tired of all the complaining about the MSM’s bias. What are we going to do to fix it? I don’t subscribed to newspapers anymore. But that’s hardly enough. Far more action is needed from conservatives if we’re ever going to get fair coverage in newspapers and on TV.

    Some possible ideas:

    1. Undermine newspapers through all legal means. The enviros are working to ban plastic grocery bags or to impose a fee of 24 cents per bag. Why not do the same with the plastic bags that newspapers come in. This would aAdd another cost to the product to help drive it out of business. We can also complain to local city councils about the noise made early in the morning from home deliveries. Force the papers to be delivered later, after people go to work. That will make the product less desirable.

    2. Lots of newspapers push “newspapers in education” programs where subscribers and others donate papers to schools. Papers are so one-sided that they don’t belong in schools anymore. Complain to your schools and libraries. Alternatively, demand balance in newspapers. If the school or library has the NT Times, why not the Washington Times for some balance?

    3. There’s a great, un-met demand for local TV news that at least gives voice to conservative views and news, much as Fox does on a national level. A venture capital fund might do quite well by buying a TV station in each major market and covering the news from a conservative angle.

    The point is that nothing is going to change unless conservatives take action and demand action. It starts with you.

    3.

    littletim (dbe341)

  27. Obama’s a crack smoking fagot!

    Bitter American (86a167)


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