The Lackey Press
Remember the WashPo's "Palin Billed State for Nights Spent at Home" ?
Three times as many American believe in UFOs than trust the MSM
Remember yesterday's Washington Post story with the headline, "Palin Billed State for Nights Spent at Home"? Even those familiar with the ways of the Mainstream Media paused.
The WashPo staff writers, James Grimaldi and Karl Vick, must have labored hours to compile their story. It sounds ominous enough: was Palin the reformer was bilking the state through expense reports?
Here’s the lead paragraph:
ANCHORAGE, Sept. 8 -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has billed taxpayers for 312 nights spent in her own home during her first 19 months in office, charging a "per diem" allowance intended to cover meals and incidental expenses while traveling on state business.
Barbara Sowell, Digital Journal, "How To Manufacture a Daily Palin Controversy", observes:
If anyone bothers to read the entire article, it becomes obvious that not only is the title and lead paragraph very misleading, but apparently Palin was well within her rights as governor of Alaska to claim the per diem for her daily expenses while living at home in Wasilla because her office was at the state capitol of Juneau. Additionally, she requested per diem for her daily expenses, but not for lodging.
She then cites The Volokh Conspiracy for doing "a very good job of ferreting out the facts from the Washington Post article":
You have to read the article carefully to figure this out, but what the story ultimately reveals is that Palin: (a) billed the state for most expenses allowed by law, including per diem when she stayed in her own home (her "duty station" was the state capitol of Juneau) in Wasilla; (b) didn't bill the state for other expenses, when she could have done so lawfully, such as per diems for her children; and (c) spent a lot less money on expenses than did her predecessor, especially on travel and by ridding herself of the state's personal chef. [FWIW, she apparently maintained two residences, the governor's mansion in Juneau, which by state law is her official work "base" and where assumedly she didn't get a per diem (but where her predecessor had a personal chef whom she let go), and Wasilla, from where she commuted to Anchorage for work when the legislature wasn't in session. Saintly to take the per diem she was legally entitled to when in the second residence? No. Worthy of the lead headline on Washingtonpost.com? Please! Not illegal, not unethical, and not a scandal.]
This election, more than any other before it exposes the corruption of the Mainstream Media. There are now Washington Post readers--especially those only scanning the headlines--that have it in their minds that Sarah Palin abused her office by billing the "State for Nights Spent at Home".
In fact, the only abuse practiced here is the Washington Post for running the story as the lead on its website. It's abuse we've seen before and that we'll continue to see for the next 7 weeks.
However, in 2008, shady tactics practiced by WashPo will hurt the perp and not the target. There are other voices that, while at the moment, aren't singly as loud as WashPo, collectively now exceed it.
Within hours of the WashPo story being posted, others--such as Volokh and Sowell--were already publicizing the deception. That would not have happened in previous years for days.
Too late to be of any comfort to Robert Bork, but just in time for Sarah Palin.
Is it any wonder that big newspaper stocks and circulation continues to decline?
Meanwhile the Washington Post Company (WPO) is down about 28 percent over the same period, the New York Times (NYT) down about 10 percent. News Corp. (NWS), which bought the other big newspaper giant -- Dow Jones -- for some $5 billion last year, has seen its stock fall over 25 percent in the past twelve months.
Rusmussen reported last week that Americans, by a 10-1 margin believe the Mainstream Media is 'trying to hurt Sarah Palin'.
Big Media can protest all it wants about how "equitable" it is. With alternate news sources readily available these days, Americans are able to judge their objectivity for themselves--and they have, both in axing subscriptions and selling off their MSM stocks.
MSM apologists often liken those pointing out the widespread bias to "conspiracy theorists". One such writer at the Kansas City Star, during the John Edwards scandal, tried pinning that label on DBKP.
The fact remains, almost three times as many Americans believe in flying saucers (56%), than believe that the Mainstream Press delivers the news in an objective manner (19%). [INFO Wars: Sarah Palin, John Edwards Get Very Different MSM Coverage]
Talk about conspiracy theories.
by Mondoreb
image: RidesAPaleHorse
* Three times as many Americans believe in UFOs (56%) than trust the mainstream press (19%).