Sarah Palin

For the third time in as many weeknights, the NBC Nightly News has devoted airtime to the fuss over Sarah Palin’s recounting of Paul Revere’s ride at the onset of the Revolutionary War. This time, the newscast featured a full report by correspondent Lee Cowan showcasing how both Palin supporters and detractors have been attempting to edit the Wikipedia page about Revere.

That’s the same issue that bothered anchor Brian Williams on Monday night (Williams was off on Tuesday, with Lester Holt substituting). On the June 6 broadcast, Williams noted that “a political web site reported today Palin supporters have attempted to change the story of Revere's ride on Wikipedia to reflect her version of events.”

But with Wiki’s Paul Revere page now locked and presumably scrubbed of the unwanted submissions of the Palinites, the account seems to back pretty much everything Palin said. And, throughout all of their coverage, which began Friday night, NBC has — with minor exceptions — carefully avoided saying exactly what Palin has said that is supposedly incorrect.

Palin Derangement Syndrome was in full bloom on MSNBC's "Hardball" Tuesday.

At the conclusion of the program, host Chris Matthews went on a hate-filled rant accusing the former Alaska governor of being "out to cause trouble" and wanting "bad news about America" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Remember all that talk about toning down the violent rhetoric following the tragic shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) in January?

Such good intentions certainly don't apply when talking about former Alaska governor Sarah Palin as comedian Christopher Titus demonstrated this weekend at the Irvine Improv in Southern California (audio follows courtesy Daily Caller with partial transcript and commentary):

Bush Derangement Syndrome never really went away. Nowadays it's directed at Sarah Palin instead.

A good example of Palin's uncanny ability to unhinge liberals could be heard on a recent Randi Rhodes' radio show.

Rhodes, who infamously derided Hillary Clinton as a "big f***ing whore"  during the 2008 campaign, was angered by Palin wearing a Star of David pendant during a stopover in New York City on her bus tour. (audio clip after page break).

Barbara Walters said Monday that if Sarah Palin can be considered as a possible presidential candidate, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) can stay in Congress despite the current sex scandal he's involved in.

Significantly more shocking, "The View" co-host Joy Behar actually came to Palin's defense (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Someone at Fox News has some serious 'splaining to do.

During a Sunday segment about former Alaska governor Sarah Palin's interview with Chris Wallace earlier in the day, a picture of Tina Fey impersonating her nemesis was accidentally placed in the upper-right corner of the screen:

For approaching three years, so-called journalists have been calling former Alaska governor Sarah Palin an idiot.

In an interview with the Daily Beast's Howard Kurtz, Palin's employer at Fox News, Roger Ailes, marvelously said, "She's so smart she’s got the press corps running up the whole East Coast behind her bus”:

As no clear frontrunner emerges in the Republican presidential nomination race, the liberal media are in a full-scale panic over the thought that the former governor of Alaska might eventually enter and challenge their beloved president in November 2012.

On Sunday, "Face the Nation's" Bob Schieffer asked Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour with some incredulity, "Could you ever envision yourself supporting a ticket that had Sarah Palin at the top?" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

The gang at "Fox News Watch" had some very interesting things to say about how media members who absolutely despise former Alaska governor Sarah Palin just can't get enough of her "One Nation" bus tour.

The best line came from liberal commentator Kirsten Powers who said of the former vice presidential candidatee, "It’s actually kind of refreshing to see somebody who just says screw you to these people who treat her like garbage" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams seemed to take smug delight Friday night in pointing out how Sarah Palin’s off-the-cuff recounting of Paul Revere’s ride was at odds with the correct history, smirking that Palin’s version “already has tongues wagging.”

Williams interest was unique — neither the CBS Evening News, anchored by Harry Smith, nor ABC’s World News, with ex-Democratic spin doctor George Stephanopoulos filling in for Diane Sawyer, thought Palin’s error was worth even mentioning. And Williams himself — even though he generally works with a pre-written script, in contrast to Palin’s impromptu remarks in Boston — has had his own problems with historical accuracy over the years (details below the fold).

Williams attention to Palin’s mistake is also in contrast to how his newscast never reported the bizarre gaffe made by then-candidate Barack Obama in 2007, when on March 4 of that year Obama, in a speech saluting the 1965 civil rights march in Selma, Alabama, claimed his parents “got together” because of “what happened in Selma.”

"Conservative" PBS/NPR analyst David Brooks was typical on the NewsHour Friday night, insisting strangely that "neither party" has a "growth agenda" and insisting that spending any second of your life talking about Sarah Palin is "temporary euthanasia."

JIM LEHRER: Yes, but, then why is she doing this bus tour?

DAVID BROOKS: She's in the media business. She's in our business, except for she has a bus.So -- and so, you know, I see no evidence she's going to run. I think every second we spend on her is a second of our lives we will never have back. So, it's sort of temporary euthanasia.

Sarah Palin is "running against the press, mocking them," NewsBusters publisher Brent Bozell argued on the June 2 edition of "Hannity," pointing to the media's consternation over the former Alaska governor's bus tour.

"She's having a field day running against them" and "knows exactly what she's doing," the Media Research Center founder added, pointing to polls showing Americans largely distrust liberal media outlets like the broadcast networks.

CNN's Howard Kurtz took a cheap shot at former Alaska governor Sarah Palin Friday via his Twitter account.

Unfortunately, the joke's on him for his mocking of the former vice presidential candidate conveyed to his 73,000 followers his own total ignorance of insurance mandates:

According to Chris Matthews, Sarah Palin is the most divisive figure since Abraham Lincoln "caused" the Civil War. In an odd historical analogy, the Hardball host marveled at Palin's bus tour: "Leading off tonight, civil war on the right. Not since the election of Abraham Lincoln has a Republican caused such a war."

The anchor frothed, "Sarah Palin went right to New Hampshire, serving as a human grenade, blowing up his announcement by saying Romney's health care is a total violation of Tea Party beliefs."

[See video below. MP3 audio here.]

As NewsBusters reported first, MSNBC anchor Martin Bashir insisted on his May 31 program that Sarah Palin's Northeast bus tour amounted to a "breach in federal law."

After a number of sites linked to the original NewsBusters piece, Bashir responded today to the "abusive messages" he's allegedly endured in the fallout of his controversial remarks, although he avoided addressing his bizarre claim that the former Alaska governor violated federal law by flying the American flag on her tour bus. [Video embedded after the page break.]

Trying to play up the idea of chaos in the Republican 2012 field, on Thursday's NBC Today, chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd argued Sarah Palin's bus tour making a stop in New Hampshire on Thursday was "a little bit of a slap in Mitt Romney's face" on the day he was planning to announce his candidacy.

Co-host Meredith Vieira had asked Todd about Romney's upcoming announcement and claimed the former Massachusetts governor would have to "steal back the spotlight" from Palin. Todd declared that Palin was "not even giving him [Romney] one news cycle to make his case."

Good Morning America correspondent John Berman on Thursday offered a sarcastic take on Sarah Palin's tour, dismissing it as a "magical mystery bus." He also spun a possible 2012 run by Palin as making fellow Republican Mitt Romney appear "more safe, a more secure, a more reasonable candidate."

Updated with video

On Wednesday's NBC Today, fill-in co-host Ann Curry fretted over Sarah Palin not sucking up to the press, complaining "[she] seems to delight in having a bad relationship with what she calls the 'lamestream media.'" Curry added that Palin was "angering some Republicans as well, about this tour, by not notifying them ahead of time." [Audio available here]

Curry discussed Palin's bus tour with former Republican National Committee Chairman and newly named MSNBC political analyst Michael Steele. She further pushed the idea that Palin was alienating fellow Republicans: "The Republican chairman of Pennsylvania says the lack of information is irking many GOP leaders in the states Palin is expected to visit. Could not playing well with her team backfire for Sarah Palin?"

View video below

CBS's Erica Hill strongly hinted on Monday's Early Show that Sarah Palin's "extended flirtation...with running" for president and speaking only to Fox News to the detriment of the rest of the media would sour her with the voters. Hill asked former Mitt Romney aide Kevin Madden, "Does any of this risk though rubbing voters the wrong way?"

The anchor brought on Madden and former Clinton spokesman Joe Lockhart to discuss the former Alaska governor and the rest of the possible and actual 2012 presidential field for the Republican Party. After the Republican strategist agreed to a large extent with Hill in his answer to this question, she turned to Lockhart for his left-of-center view: "From a Democratic standpoint, if Sarah Palin jumped into the race, how do you think that would work out for President Obama?"

In reply, the former Clinton mouthpiece regurgitated a common liberal talking point about Palin:

MSNBC's Martin Bashir on May 31 insisted that Sarah Palin's bus tour amounts to a "breach of a federal law."

Anchoring his eponymous program, Bashir scolded, "In fact, the whole thing could be in breach of a federal law because the United States Flag Code establishes important rules for the use and display of the stars and stripes, the flag of the United States."

[Video embedded after the page break.]

Isn't Jessica Yellin mocking her own network for incessantly reporting on Sarah Palin's bus tour? The CNN correspondent called the coverage of the tour "a media low-point" on CNN Tuesday, although her own network made mention of tour almost every hour Monday from 6 a.m. EDT through 11 p.m. EDT – and then again Tuesday from 6 a.m. EDT through 1 p.m. EDT.

The continuous coverage included nine live reports from Gettysburg, one of the tour stops, by correspondent Jim Acosta – and a live appearance there by anchor John King Monday afternoon. John King, USA – King's 7 p.m. EDT show – was broadcast from Gettysburg, and then the anchor returned later to guest-host Anderson Cooper 360 from the same site, for two hours.

[Click here for audio. Video below the break.]

The press is pouting because potential GOP presidential contender Sarah Palin is apparently having a bit of fun with them, by refusing to let them know in advance where she is headed on her bus tour. One of them, CBS News producer Ryan Corsaro, even suggested the former Alaska governor is a
"dangerous" traffic hazard because she is forcing reporters to chase her around like they were paparazzi.

This bit of griping led Rush Limbaugh, on his Tuesday radio show, to amusingly point out Palin, "has rendered" the liberal media "totally irrational," adding:  "She's making utter fools of these people, as they are plunging to new depths to come up with anything they think is legitimate criticism of her. This biggest stretch yet."

In a May 31 CBS News.com article headlined "Sarah Palin's bus tour treats reporters like paparazzi" Corsaro complained:

Joe Scarborough, MSNBC's favorite Republican, on Tuesday continued his habit of slamming conservatives. He knocked former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's One Nation bus tour as "a big, old, fat weekend of nothing, politically.”

The former vice presidential candidate spent this Memorial Day weekend in Washington D.C., where she visited important historical sites, including backdrops that many political candidates have used before.

New York Times chief political blogger Michael Shear is a bit annoyed that Sarah Palin is successfully attracting media attention while ignoring reporter’s inquiries and playing hide-and-seek with the press on her "One Nation" bus tour. (Photo by the Times's David Winter.) Shear, who has filed multiple blog posts on the Palin family's historical trail through the Northeast, made Tuesday’s print edition with his gripes: "Palin Family Hits Road, if Not 2012 Trail."

Ms. Palin announced her bus tour with great fanfare last week and is using it on her Web site to raise money for her political action committee. Despite that, she is acting as though her family is just like any other on vacation.

Never mind the charter bus plastered with images of the Constitution. Or the fact that her family vacation has a name: the One Nation Tour. Or that she is documenting her family’s movements on a Web site that invites Americans along. Or that she might just run for president.

Perhaps he resented following Palin over the Memorial Day holiday?

On her Friday 1 p.m. ET MSNBC show, NBC correspondent Andrea Mitchell characterized Sarah Palin participating in the annual Rolling Thunder motorcycle rally in Washington as a "distraction," with the headline on-screen wondering if the former Alaska Governor was "stealing their thunder."

After declaring that Palin was "once again showing that she sure knows how to seize the political spotlight," Mitchell spoke with Rolling Thunder spokesman Ted Shpak, and asked: "When did you first hear that Sarah Palin was coming? Did you invite her?" Shpak incorrectly claimed: "No, she wasn't invited. We heard yesterday she came out with a press release that she was coming to Rolling Thunder."

ABC's Good Morning America on Tuesday offered a dismissive take on two conservative females, Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann. Reporter Jon Karl brushed aside Palin's bus tour as "another reality TV show" and wondered if the former governor is "just playing tourist."

George Stephanopoulos, meanwhile, played up conflict between the two. He prefaced a question to Bachmann by admitting it may be "sexist." He then asked it anyway, wondering of the two Republican women: "And I know you might resist the comparison. Some might even think that it's sexist. But is there enough room in this race for both of you, both Tea Party favorites?"

[See video below. MP3 audio here.]

 As broadcast news programs over the weekend gave attention to Sarah Palin’s bus tour which was viewed as a possible prelude to a presidential run, NBC correspondent John Harwood had one of the most negative views of the former Alaska governor’s chances of being elected President as he appeared on Sunday’s NBC Nightly News and predicted that she "has next to zero chance of being elected President."

He went on to declare that most Republicans want her out of the race: "I think what Republicans hope most is that Sarah Palin clarifies before too long that she's not going to get into this race."

Below is a transcript of the relevant exchange from the Sunday, May 29, NBC Nightly News:

With rumors flying around this Memorial Day weekend that former Alaska governor Sarah Palin is about to toss her hat in the ring of Republican presidential candidates, it was not surprising the Roundtable segment of Sunday's "This Week" began with this issue.

Even less surprising was that George Will kicked off the segment with something clever to say about it (video follows with transcript and commentary):