Everything I wrote has been backed up with research. I didn’t say that people are misinformed. I said that they adopt the frames and attitudes of media outlets that they watch, which have been shown to be bias. It’s also documented that the vast majority of people only watch news that confirms their own worldview on both the right and the left. How is that disrespectful? It’s factual.

If someone is a liberal, statistically, they are far more likely to get their news from MSNBC and HuffPo, which do have track records for inaccuracy and bias. Hence, my reasons for the comment you find offensive.

I do allow people to disagree with me. What else would you call this? I was trying to be polite and explain. Honestly, if you don’t like what I write, stop reading. I could easily delete your comments or block you. Because I invite discussion, I won’t ever do that.

I would in fact argue that you are being rude. Apparently, I’ve struck a nerve here. But since you’ve been blogging six months longer than me, I’ll defer to your aged experience.

And actually your argument doesn’t stand up. Technically, if you go to someone’s home and they make a statement that you disagree with, you should be polite and not debate them. Since you are a guest, it is your responsibility to be gracious.

As someone who has blogged since 2002: If you write a politically-oriented, or any other sort of blog that has strong opinions, and you allow comments, then you need to anticipate that people will disagree with you and that vigorous debates will occur. If they disagree with you respectfully, then you need to offer respect in return.

The housekeeping analogy doesn’t really compute – I wouldn’t come into your home and tell you your floor is dirty. However, if you invited a group of people over, then made fun of one of your guests, you’d be called out on it. See the difference?

When have I not shown people respect? HuffPo does view Palin from a very specific frame. I’ve found very few people who have actually listened to Palin or other conservatives and honestly view what they say. Brando’s comments differed directly with what was in Palin’s book compared to what has been written about her in the media.

Perhaps you don’t read sarcasm very well, but I genuinely don’t mean to be rude. I might also add, that you’re coming to MY blog. That’s like walking into someone’s house and telling him or her that they could do a better job at housecleaning.

Also, I discuss media bias frequently because of my profession and education. When you work with the media and feed them news and then see the that the final product is completely inaccurate, it doesn’t cause you to respect them. I’ve seen that on the local level and on the national level. Study after study has confirmed media bias, particularly regarding conservatives. I’d direct you to the documentary Media Malpractice or the recent Media Research Center study on the tea parties.

Do we whine about this? Absolutely. It is a crutch on the right and is one that I fall into far too easily. However, all too often it is the honest truth. Most Americans are busy and don’t have time to read through entire interviews, transcripts or other sources. They get the news and attitudes through the source of their media. If that media has a bias or agenda, why is it wrong to point that out?

I do apologize if you think me rude. I don’t intend that. If something comes across as rude, please remember that I probably wrote it with a heavy dose of sarcasm.

*forehead, meet palm* Sometimes, thinking people will not agree with your views, and deriding them as pawns of some media or another is quite condescending. I’ve noticed you do this quite often. Note that when I’ve disagreed with you, I haven’t told you to “stop drinking the Fox News Kool-Aid.” I’d appreciate it if you would show your commenters the same respect.

Sarah did use her family a lot during that campaign–I remember her convention speech was peppered with a lot of references to her family, and she was constantly trotting out her youngest (among the other kids) at stump speeches. This was not unlike how John Edwards used his wife as a campaign “plus”, which also backfired. Sarah even trotted out Levi Johnston when it looked convenient (the whole “hey, he got my daughter pregnant but is now doing the responsible thing and marrying her” bit–of course that backfired when Levi turned out to be the sort of guy anyone could tell was bad news).

Granted, her opponents in the media did run with the family story, pushing the line that her youngest son was actually Bristol’s kid (which was as absurd as the “Obama isn’t American/is a secret Muslim” meme), and of course many did make hay out of her family life once it proved to not be the Norman Rockwell painting she’d framed it as. But as Nixon said, if you give your opponents a sword…

And blaming the McCain camp? That implies that Sarah was some helpless pawn of the campaign who just sat back and complied with what the handlers wanted her to do. Considering she has a media background and is running for a position a heartbeat away from commander in chief, that’s not reassuring!

P.S.–not a Huffpo fan either! I’m pretty balanced as to where I get my Sarah Palin info, most of it directly from her own statements. I know opponents in the media can skew things, but that woman has given her opponents PLENTY to work with.

I think the Candies PSA could have been better, but how has Bristol been self-righteous. She’s made comments several times that differ from her mother’s policy views, especially with abstinence-only education. Bristol is now an adult and should be viewed as a separate entity from her mother. Just because someone doesn’t like Sarah, they should give Bristol a chance. She’s just starting out and trying to use her situation to help others.

Did Palin herself actually use her family? If you look back at the timeline, it was the media that did most of it. In her book, she discusses the announcement about Bristol’s pregnancy. The McCain campaign completely screwed it up and used the “perfect family” narrative. The release that Palin wrote was much more forthcoming on the issue of teen pregnancy.

Those who view Palin as self-righteous are merely viewing her as how the media wants you too. Try actually listening to Palin instead of accepting the HuffPo view. There’s a drastic difference.

But what rankles many liberals (as well as many conservatives, even my most conservative friends are anti-Palinites) is the self-righteous preachiness of Sarah Palin who held up her own home life as some ideal that should guide others. No one’s family life should be scrutinized when they run for public office until they decide to use that family as a tool (see, Edwards, John). Sarah did that, and so Bristol has become the unfortunate pawn in the argument of “hey, you’re opposing birth control aids for students in schools by arguing that abstinence is the only way to go, but your own daughter is proof that that’s not enough and a teen pregnancy can be far more of a burden when you’re not wealthy”. Not fair to Bristol, but if you want to lash out at anyone look right at her mom.

As for Feministing, the excerpt you posted is typical of their sputtering vitriol and merits no comment. They’re too busy seething with hatred to let a rational thought enter their heads.