Sexism versus shoddy journalism and elitism in the stream of Palin invective

I may be in a minority in this. And I'm willing to be educated, or reminded of something I forgot.

But the most blatantly, obviously sexist question I've heard in the last 35 years has been the one put to Sarah Palin or other GOP representatives, to the effect of "Can Sarah Palin really be vice president while being a mother of five, especially a new mother to a special needs child?"

That is indisputably a question that carries an implied criticism, and an implied point of view that is grossly sexist. This is so clear that I've even heard Joe Biden making this point on the morning news shows. (He's not doing that out of sympathy for Gov. Palin, but because the Obama-Biden campaign recognizes they need to completely disassociate themselves from this meme lest it rebound on them.)

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Politico.com has a story up which contains many assertions I disagree with, but it includes statements from Clintonistas expressing their agreement that there's been sexism in the media coverage of the Palin nomination. They specifically reference the "can't be mom and VP" meme.

I recall some news coverage of Hillary Clinton that was different from how male candidates are covered. It's pretty rare that news stories about male candidates comment on the color of their clothing or their fashion accessories. There were other ways in which Hillary was mocked, though — for example, her laugh — which I don't think were related to her gender. (That is, a man with a similar laugh might be mocked, too.) And there were a host of criticisms offered about her that were substantive and completely non-sexist in nature, going both to her policies and her character.

To her credit, though, by the Democratic National Convention, she was able to completely turn the tables on those who'd focused on the nonsubstantive things, sexist or otherwise. She did so, for example, by including a Tina Fey clip from Hillary's guest appearance on "Saturday Night Live" that made fun of her laugh as part of her pre-speech video introduction, and by making a joking reference in her speech about the "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pantsuit."

I actually don't recall any overtly sexist treatment of Hillary Clinton that was so witheringly critical, however, as the "can't be VP 'cause she's a mom" meme which has been directed at Gov. Palin. In other words, I can't think of any way that the sexism directed toward Hillary was either as malicious or as potentially harmful. Is there something I'm forgetting? I'm genuinely interested in my readers' comments on this.

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That said: I think it's a mistake to characterize most of what's been objectionable in the MSM's coverage of Sarah Palin as being "sexism" per se. Most of it is just awful, unprincipled, and unethical journalism, but it's of a sort that could be unleashed against a male candidate just as easily. It's also mixed with pretentiousness and elitism, but again, that's a function of Gov. Palin's rural roots and lack of "approved by the 'best' people" credentials rather than her gender.

Best example: The incredible misreporting — journalistic malpractice — in which you had such institutions as ABC News and the New York Times claiming that Sarah Palin had been a member of the Alaska Independence Movement. On the one hand, the very newsworthiness of this story depended on their characterization of the AIP being a fringe party, with a report that it had made noises about Alaska seceding from the United States, and with the strong implication that it was filled with kooks and dangerous radicals. On the other hand, journalistic ethics require that news stories have credible sources — and the sources here were the very same "kooks and dangerous radicals" that they wanted to associate with Gov. Palin. If their premise was correct, these sources were self-disqualifying!

There were videos which supposedly included AIP plans to "infiltrate" the major parties — the "Manchurian Candidate" meme — which conspiracy theorists spun into an explanation for why Sarah Palin ran for governor as a Republican. But did Jake Tapper or anyone from ABC News, or Elisabeth Bumiller or anyone from the New York Times, ever stop for one moment to think that through? If Sarah Palin were a mole, a Manchurian Candidate designed to promote Alaska's secession, what possible interest could she or the AIP have in her leaving the Alaska Governor's Mansion and her position as Commander-in-Chief of the Alaska National Guard? Why would she do that in order to move to Washington and take a job where her only voting power is in case of a tie in the Senate? It just makes no sense.

Worst of all, voter registrations are matters of public record in Alaska. The McCain campaign had no trouble at all producing a computer printout from the voter registration database which conclusively proved that Gov. Palin has been a registered Republican continuously since 1982, which under state law negates the possibility that she could have been a member of the AIP or any other party during those same years.

Jake Tapper, Elisabeth Bumiller, their editors, and everyone working with either of them or under their direction on these particular pieces of reporting (and I use that term very loosely) should immediately be fired for publishing this nonsense without checking into it. It is inexcusable. It is gross journalistic malpractice. It should end their careers as journalists.

But what they did is not "sexist."

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A distinction: I do think that the intensity of the anti-Palin reaction has Gov. Palin's gender as part of its cause, but it's not traditional sexism at work. It's desperation and fear: Obama supporters, the Hard Left, and the sympathetic left-leaning journalists recognize that part of the danger Sarah Palin presents to them is that she is so obviously not another dull white male. But that's not based on a perception that women are inferior; to the contrary, it's based on their concern that she'll be a superior, effective candidate who they have to discredit immediately.

And most of the challenges to Gov. Palin's experience aren't sexist, either. If Barack Obama had picked Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia, for example — who also has a background as a local elected official before becoming a governor, and whose tenure as governor is no longer than Gov. Palin's — he eventually would have been challenged on his record too. We and Gov. Palin should welcome those challenges, because every one of them give us a chance to talk about accomplishments. And it's in accomplishments, as a reformer and an effective executive (both as mayor and especially as governor), where Gov. Palin's record is stronger than her calender tenure would suggest. (Tim Kaine, for example, although popular, can't come remotely close to matching Gov. Palin's accomplishments.)

I do think that Gov. Palin and the McCain campaign, and their sympathizers (including bloggers like me), should continue to hold the press accountable. When they repackage, without serious thought or any even the semblance of a prudent, independent investigation, the allegations that are fed to them by sources like the Daily Kos, they need to be exposed and chastised.

But I think we should avoid using the "sexist" label when it doesn't really fit. Gov. Palin is not, by nature, a "victim." Let's not cast her as one, at least not as one that has to do with her gender when it's not her gender that's the basis for the unfair attacks. She damn sure is not asking for special consideration on account of having two X-chromosomes.

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Last point: Howard Kurtz, media critic for the Washington Post: You have earned a reputation, despite occasional lapses, for integrity. You stand on the brink of forfeiting that entire reputation. Let me say this clearly, Mr. Kurtz: When a campaign denies a scandalous, outrageous, unsourced rumor, that does not grant you a license to throw your journalistic ethics in the trash and immediately put the rumor into your newspaper. If that were the standard, then no campaign could ever deny the most outrageous, unproven, harmful statements without thereby guaranteeing that you'd print them. You might as well just take bribes, if that's the way you're going to practice journalism. Repent, Mr. Kurtz, and make amends, while you have a shred of your reputation left to you.