This week the Daily Caller has been releasing email exchanges from the now defunct liberal listsev JournoList. We first learned about how lefty reporters, pundits and academics all conspired to play down the Reverend Wright story to help Obama get elected. Yesterday, the Daily Callers treated us to JournoListers conversations about the joy of watching Rush Limbaugh die, government regulating Fox News and the rapture they all had over Obama’s victory.
Today the Daily Caller shows us how the JournoListers conspired to create a coordinated attack on Sarah Palin after getting picked by John McCain.
The Daily Caller: In the hours after Sen. John McCain announced his choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his running mate in the last presidential race, members of an online forum called Journolist struggled to make sense of the pick. Many of them were liberal reporters, and in some cases their comments reflected a journalist’s instinct to figure out the meaning of a story.
But in many other exchanges, the Journolisters clearly had another, more partisan goal in mind: to formulate the most effective talking points in order to defeat Palin and McCain and help elect Barack Obama president. The tone was more campaign headquarters than newsroom. […]
Daniel Levy of the Century Foundation noted that Obama’s “non-official campaign” would need to work hard to discredit Palin. “This seems to me like an occasion when the non-official campaign has a big role to play in defining Palin, shaping the terms of the conversation and saying things that the official [Obama] campaign shouldn’t say – very hard-hitting stuff, including some of the things that people have been noting here – scare people about having this woefully inexperienced, no foreign policy/national security/right-wing christia wing-nut a heartbeat away …… bang away at McCain’s age making this unusually significant …. I think people should be replicating some of the not-so-pleasant viral email campaigns that were used against [Obama].”
Ryan Donmoyer, a reporter for Bloomberg News who was covering the campaign, sent a quick thought that Palin’s choice not to have an abortion when she unexpectedly became pregnant at age 44 would likely boost her image because it was a heartwarming story.
“Her decision to keep the Down’s baby is going to be a hugely emotional story that appeals to a vast swath of America, I think,” Donmoyer wrote.
Politico reporter Ben Adler, now an editor at Newsweek, replied, “but doesn’t leaving sad baby without its mother while she campaigns weaken that family values argument? Or will everyone be too afraid to make that point?” [MORE]
It goes on from there. Now some people are defending the JournoListers by saying these are mostly opionators not true reporters. Thus sharing opinions is no biggie. Wrong. As lefty partisan hack Joe Klein shows these “shared opinions” become the talking points of the day.
Time’s Joe Klein then linked to his own piece, parts of which he acknowledged came from strategy sessions on Journolist. “Here’s my attempt to incorporate the accumulated wisdom of this august list-serve community,” he wrote. And indeed Klein’s article contained arguments developed by his fellow Journolisters. Klein praised Palin personally, calling her “fresh” and “delightful,” but questioned her “militant” ideology. He noted Palin had endorsed parts of Obama’s energy proposal.
This is how all these anti Palin themes get out into the public. Out of all the JournoList pieces, this story about trying to stop Palin will be the biggie. How do I know? Bbecause you had better believe Sarah Palin will be putting out a devastating Facebook note within the next 24 hours and the Palin Hating JournoLister won’t be able to ignore it.
It should be noted that a new JournoList 2.0 has sprung up albeit smaller than the original but nonetheless sinister. I have often said that, after the Tea Parties have successfully swept Democrats from power in 2010, they must turn their attention to the media before 2012. A good place to start is by memorizing the known list of JournoList members.
UPDATE: Palin responds
Do I know my Sarah Palin or do I know my Sarah Palin? Before I could even finish posting this post, Sarah Palin has responded.
The Daily Caller: “The lamestream media is no longer a cornerstone of democracy in America. They need help. They need to regain their credibility and some respect. There are some pretty sick puppies in the industry today. They really need help,” Palin said.
Palin said that behavior of the media, in betraying the tenets of journalism – also betrays her son’s decision to serve his country overseas and protect the rights of Americans.
“I have lost all respect for the ‘mainstream’ media because they lied; and still lie. And they abuse America’s freedom of the press — because with freedom comes responsibility. My son chose to put his life on the line to defend that freedom, and I feel like his, and every good soldier’s, efforts are thrown in their faces when the press takes advantage of their sacrifices instead of respecting the freedoms they’re willing to die for,” Palin said. [MORE]
The media jackals will pounce in 5, 4, 3, 2,1 …..
Via: Memeorandum
Via: The Daily Caller
Via: The Atlantic
Via: American Thinker
Via: The Daily Caller