CNN Distorts Palin Comments From Its OWN Interview With Her

November 14, 2008 | Filed Under Democrats/Leftists, Elections, GOP, Media Bias, News, President, Publius Contributor, Society/Culture, Warner Todd Huston |

-By Warner Todd Huston

What is it about CNN that they have to distort things that Governor Sarah Palin has said in interviews? This time, CNN even distorted what she said in an interview one of its own correspondents conducted. On CNN’s Political Ticker Blog on November 11, CNN had this absurd headline:Palin in Obama’s administration? And followed that up with a paragraph that materially misstated what she told their own commentator, Wolf Blitzer.

Former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin said Wednesday she would be honored to help out President-elect Barack Obama in his new administration, even if he did hang around with an “unrepentant domestic terrorist.”

Yet, the several paragraphs that follow shows that the header and the into paragraph twist what it is she really said. If one were to read just the headline and that first paragraph of the Political Ticker entry, one would get a very distorted view of what the governor said.

First to address the misleading and snarky headline. Governor Palin did NOT say she wanted to become a member of Barack Obama’s administration. All she said was that she’d be happy to “assist and support” the new president. This is the same thing that any governor would and should say about a newly elected president.

“It would be my honor,” Palin told Blitzer, “to assist and support our new president and the new administration.”

“And I speak for other Republicans and Republican governors, also,” said Palin, whom Sen. John McCain tapped as his running mate in August. “They would be willing also to seize this opportunity that we have to progress this nation together, in a united front.”

Notice she did not say she wanted to become, expected to become, or even could become someone “in Obama’s administration.”

See CNN video clip.

Next the second snarky distortion. When CNN writes that Palin would be “in Obama’s administration,” and then they follow that with “even if he did hang around with an ‘unrepentant domestic terrorist,’” they make it seem as if Palin is agreeing to join Obama’s administration even though she thinks his associates are terrorists. This makes Palin out to be one of two things. One, a liar during the campaign that the terrorist thing was a real issue, or two, an opportunist that will do anything now to get power despite what she said during the campaign. Unfortunately for CNN, neither is the case.

The Political Ticker report cynically tries to cast Palin as both at the same time, though.

But asked moments later about some of the tough rhetoric she hurled from the stump, she said she was “still concerned” about Obama’s ties to former Weather Underground member-turned-Chicago college professor William Ayers.

Notice the “but moments later” spin as if they have caught Palin in something contradictory? Palin explains that it still bothers her because, despite Obama’s election, Ayers is still “an unrepentant domestic terrorist who had campaigned to blow up, to destroy our Pentagon and our U.S. Capitol.” These are facts, not conjecture.

Still, Palin is sensible enough to know that Obama was elected despite his many, many unsavory close associates.

“That’s an association that still bothers me, and I think it’s fair to still talk about it,” she continued. “However the campaign is over. That chapter is closed. Now is the time to move on and make sure all of us are doing all that we can to progress this nation.”

There is nothing contradictory with an American Governor saying they will work with a new president despite that they didn’t support that president during the campaign. It IS our system, after all. Is CNN suggesting that governors shouldn’t?

No, this is just another example of CNN distorting what Sarah Palin said in order to make her look as bad as they possibly can… even if they have to lie to do it.

(Photo credit: FoxNews.com)

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Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer, has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and is featured on many websites such as newsbusters.org, townhall.com, New Media Journal, Men’s News Daily and the New Media Alliance among many, many others. Additionally, he has been a frequent guest on talk-radio programs to discuss his opinion editorials and current events. He has also written for several history magazines and appears in the new book “Americans on Politics, Policy and Pop Culture” which can be purchased on amazon.com. He is also the owner and operator of publiusforum.com. Feel free to contact him with any comments or questions : EMAIL Warner Todd Huston

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