Media reporter Jacques Steinberg surveyed reaction to ABC anchor Charles Gibson's much-anticipated interview sessions with McCain's running mate Sarah Palin in Saturday's"Palin Reviews Are In, And [1]Gibson Got An... [1]"
Steinberg earned points for relaying accurate conservative criticism of Gibson for his misquoting of Palin:
The questions some respondents took issue with included Mr. Gibson's reference to a recent church speech, in which he quoted Ms. Palin as saying, "Our national leaders are sending U.S. soldiers on a task that is from God." In an excerpt of the speech on YouTube - which ABC spliced into the interview when it was shown - Ms. Palin had prefaced that comment by appearing to say she was praying that America's mission in Iraq represented God's will.
"How come no one questions Gibson's qualifications to be a journalist when he misquotes and takes out of context Palin's comments about the war and God," someone identified as "I Love Hillary" wrote on the ABC site.
But Steinberg stuck to liberal conventional wisdom here:
In April, Mr. Gibson and Mr. Stephanopoulos were roundly panned for bypassing the most pressing issues of the day (at least early on in their Democratic debate) in favor of queries about the absence of a flag pin in Mr. Obama's lapel and the veracity of Mrs. Clinton's assertion she had come under fire while landing in Bosnia as first lady more than a decade ago.
Funny how issuesthat might hurt Democrats, likeObama's flag pin [2]controversy, conveniently fail to qualify as "pressing issues of the day." Never mind that it was Obama himself who made it a political issue by explaining he had stopped wearing one because it had become a "substitute...for true patriotism [3]."
Steinberg was glad to see Gibson's tough and substantive attacks on the Republican Palin:
Mr. Gibson and his producers appeared to have taken that criticism to heart this time. In a series of conversations recorded in Alaska beginning Thursday, Mr. Gibson was persistent (asking as many as four follow-up questions) as he pressed Ms. Palin about her experience, as well as her views about American policy regarding Iraq, Georgia, Iran and Israel, and global warming.