Obama Needs Police Protection from Palin? Couric Suggests So

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Over video simply showing Barack Obama walking down the steps from his airplane, CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric on Tuesday night juxtaposed how Obama “was given a police escort to his hotel,” as if that’s anything unusual for a presidential nominee under standard Secret Service protection, with how “in recent days, he's been under a non-stop verbal assault from Sarah Palin.” So the Governor of Alaska is a threat to Obama’s personal safety? Couric never explained why she decided to highlight the police escort when Obama and McCain, as well as Palin and Joe Biden, get them every day:

The economy will likely dominate tonight's presidential debate. John McCain arrived in Nashville last night while Barack Obama flew in earlier today and was given a police escort to his hotel. In recent days, he's been under a non-stop verbal assault from Sarah Palin. But are her criticisms accurate? Wyatt Andrews, now, with a Reality Check.

Audio: MP3 audio clip (25 seconds, 100 Kb)

In that subsequent story, Andrews recited one misstatement by Obama and three by Palin, including on William Ayers where Andrews whitewashed Obama’s ties to Ayers as he skipped over how Obama launched his local Illinois state senate campaign at Ayers’ home:

ANDREWS: Governor Palin continues to question Obama's ties to William Ayers, once a Vietnam war protestor linked to several bombings.

PALIN ON CAMPAIGN EVENT: Bill Ayers is an unrepentant domestic terrorist.

ANDREWS: Now, who knows if that comes up tonight, but the facts are this: Today William Ayers is a professor of education. Obama has served with Ayers on two education and charity-related boards, but he's condemned Ayers' violent past as detestable.