Cathy Areu

MSNBC's Alex Witt on Friday featured a rabidly anti-Sarah Palin journalist to explain why the former governor spoke at a National Rifle Association conference. Asked to comment, Cathy Areu, a Washington Post magazine editor, derided, "Oh, my God! She is such a fear-monger and really just appeals to this group of people who likes to hear all of these crazy comments."

Areu first drew fawning attention from fellow reporters when she appeared on CNN Headline News on April 14 and smeared, "Sarah Palin could do no wrong for so many people. I mean, she is a female Larry the Cable Guy minus the class and intelligence."

Witt made no mention of Areu's venomous attitude towards the former Republican vice presidential candidate. Instead she tossed softballs that allowed the Post editor to sully the motives of Palin: "I don't think she'll ever run for anything. She will just say she is going to run for something and will keep putting out books, which is what she's doing. She left the office in Alaska to sell books."

MSNBC's Peter Alexander claimed this afternoon that magazine publisher Cathy Areu declined an interview with Bill O'Reilly: "Areu said thanks but no thanks to Fox. Saying she wanted to appear right here on MSNBC. We don't blame her."

But there she was, in the first interview segment on Friday night's Factor: Cathy Areu, responding to O'Reilly's questions on her claim on the Headline News show Showbiz Tonight that Palin was "Larry the Cable Guy minus the class and intelligence." O'Reilly pressed her to explain herself:

O'REILLY: What's your primary beef? I mean, the Larry the Cable Guy without the class, that's pretty harsh.

AREU: She can take it.

MSNBC's Peter Alexander on Friday eagerly agreed with a journalist who attacked Sarah Palin as "Larry the Cable Guy, minus the class and intelligence." Talking to Cathy Areu, contributing editor of the Washington Post magazine, Alexander gushed, "It's a good line." [Audio available here.]

As first reported on NewsBusters, Areu slammed the former Alaskan governor on CNN, Wednesday. Playing to MSNBC's left-wing audience, an onscreen graphic playfully asked, "Palin the Cable Gal?"

After explaining that Bill O'Reilly asked Areu to come on his show and defend her remarks, Alexander sympathized, "Areu said thanks but no thanks to Fox. Saying she wanted to appear right here on MSNBC. We don't blame her."

On Wednesday night's edition of Showbiz Tonight on CNN Headline News, anchor A. J. Hammer churned up the hype about Sarah Palin making an estimated $12 million. To analyze this haul, Hammer brought on Cathy Areu, creator of Catalina magazine (for Latina women) and a contributor to The Washington Post Magazine, and Rachel Zalis of Life and Style Weekly. But it was Areu who suggested Palin was a dumb and classless redneck:

HAMMER: Hey, ladies, my jaw dropped when I found out that Sarah Palin made an estimated $12 million since she left her job as Alaska`s governor because that was less than a year ago. And at that time, a lot of people thought she was making a huge mistake by leaving that post. Cathy, do you think that she`s in danger of losing that down-home image, that relatable image that really endeared her to a lot of people?

CATHY AREU: Sarah Palin could do no wrong for so many people. I mean, she is a female Larry the Cable Guy minus the class and intelligence.

In today's "She Really Didn't Say That, Did She?" segment, a contributing editor to Washington Post magazine claimed that if Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor were being really honest with America, "[S]he probably would want to say, 'Not only do I mean a wise Latina, I meant any Latina could make a better decision than a white man could.'" 

Wow!

For those unfamiliar, besides being contributing editor of the Post mag, Cathy Areu publishes Catalina which she created to portray a positive image of Hispanic women in the media and entertainment industry.

With that in mind, appearing on CNN's "Campbell Brown" Wednesday, Areu made statements that if made by a white person would certainly be deemed racist (video embedded below the fold with partial transcript, h/t NBer dronetek):