Media

From Washington Post coverage of Sarah Palin’s email cache: “Palin, who since coined the phrase ‘Mama Grizzlies’ to warmly describe female conservatives, wrote an impassioned e-mail to an aide in March 2008 about criticism of female politicians: “ ‘they’ said the same thing throughout my career — ‘too young’, ‘pregnant’, ‘kids’ . . . ‘She won’t be able to do it’ . . . This coming from good ol’ boys who don’t like change . . . And so far along in my career we’ve proved them wrong at each turn.”

The good ol’ boys who don’t like change brought their women with them when they went after Palin in 2008. They also went after South Carolina’s new governor, Nikki Haley, with even more venom, reviving Old South strategies used effectively during Jim Crow.

It was the biggest non-story story in Washington since Al Gore’s global warming tirades. I’m talking about the release of thousands of emails of former Gov. Sarah Palin last Friday in Juneau, Alaska. The release of emails (printed on paper) had reporters forming lines the lengths of which made the O.J. Simpson trial look like a queue at the local Dairy Queen.

News outlets such as The Washington Post publicly heralded their “read 'em here first” status. Never mind that no reporter had actually spent any time and bothered to read them. The editors just wanted to get the “full coverage” mantra out in order to light up the Google tote board.

That was Friday. By Saturday, a shocking revelation ripped through the nation’s headlines: Palin had a third email account! Oh, the political tremors that were felt then! No lie, folks. That was the headline, if you weren’t following. Surely, there would be something more salacious to uncover, no? I have three email accounts. Does The Washington Post want to put a dozen reporters on the case?

If you ever needed a reason for why news magazines are starving for attention and consumer dollars, just stroll down the aisle of your favorite supermarket and you can judge this industry by its cover(s) alone. They’re pathetic. They continually fight against their very core to deliver cutting-edge journalism that compiles the top stories of the week, and instead look increasingly like their neighboring World Wrestling Entertainment pubs.

I couldn’t believe what I saw last night while in my area bookstore. I had heard about Newsweek’s controversial cover of Mitt Romney, and a colleague remarked how “tasteless” it was, but it didn’t hit home until I actually saw it.

There on the cover I saw some gangly body with the head of Mitt Romney photo-shopped on top. The idea was to borrow a theme from the Broadway musical “The Book of Mormon” and affix some political twist with a back-handed compliment that all those darn Mormons are just so successful these days … What gives?? As if anyone outside of Manhattan would pick up on such stupidity.

Listening to Republican leaders discuss the awful and miserable jobs report today, I am reminded why most recessions are caused by Republican policies, from Herbert Hoover to George W. Bush.

Republicans want to lay off more state workers, they want to lay off more city workers. They want to lay off more federal workers. They want to cut spending that would lead to more layoffs of private-sector workers.

When they are not calling for average Americans to pay much more for Medicare, so wealthy insurers can make more money, Republicans are calling for no programs to create jobs, proposing more policies that will destroy jobs and suggesting less help for those who have no jobs while they fight for tax cuts for millionaires, and special benefits for oil companies and oil futures speculators.

First, of course, the comments Ed Schultz recently made about Laura Ingraham were tasteless and offensive to women. There is no doubt about it. A strong and humble apology by Ed was required, and given, and accepted by Ingraham. Good.

What I want to emphasize here is that Schultz is one of the most committed fighters anywhere in the media for working women and working men. Day after day, month after month, year after year, Ed has championed jobs for Americans, better healthcare for Americans and equal justice for Americans.

Did MSM really think that Donald Trump would go away because an elderly correspondent called him a “racist”? How did it work out back in June 2009, when David Letterman called Sarah Palin a “slut”?

Donald Trump, interviewed by Neil Cavuto this week, had the same steam in his walk. He came across with ideas that are not coming up with the usual “establishment” candidates. They are powerful ideas, and they are ideas that will be heard and taken seriously.

Don't miss the Friday Washington Post profile of MSNBC's primetime host Lawrence O'Donnell, whom I would call the prime time star with substance. I told someone at MSNBC recently that I was going to write a piece similar the Post's. I'll give kudos to the Post (a rarity for me) for beating me to the punch.

What makes O'Donnell so good? Above all, when he lambastes the right, and Fox News, he does so from a position of substance based on his long high-level experience. He usually avoids the "why the left hates the right,” "why the right hates the left” and the latest gibberish from politicians and insiders that makes so much of "cable news" so similar to when one makes love to oneself with one's pitching hand.

Former Vice President Al Gore has blasted Rupert Murdoch and News Corp. for removing Current TV from Sky Italia. Gore charges that this is an abuse of power triggered by Current TV hiring Keith Olbermann for his long-awaited new show that will begin next month.

Gore's charge rings true. I do not have the smoking gun, but it is outrageous that Murdoch or News Corp. would remove Current TV for any reason. The Italian government should look into this matter.

Today The New York Times paid homage to Matt Drudge. The Times is making the point I have made repeatedly in the past, where I have suggested that (for better or worse) Matt Drudge has more influence on American media than any other single media figure.

Here's another wrinkle. According to the Times, 15 percent of the total traffic on washingtonpost.com is originally generated by Drudge. Think about it. Perhaps the Washington Post Co. should pay Drudge royalities equal to 15 percent of its advertising revenue.

My long-term focus on Drudge has been misunderstood by a number of Drudge critics, and a number of my critics. Some say I am jealous. Of course I am! Others say I fawn over Drudge. Of course I don't. I have long been a critic of Drudge.

OK, I got my blast email from Obama campaign manager Jim Messina wishing everyone a happy Mother’s Day and, by the way, don’t forget to watch President Obama on “60 Minutes." I have to confess I was going to watch anyway.

This was an exceptional interview by Steve Kroft and an exceptional tour de force performance by the president. It is hard for me to imagine that anyone watching would not come away with pride in the president and his decisionmaking style, his strength of character and his leadership as commander in chief. I can’t imagine, either, not having respect and admiration for the commandos, and the intelligence and planning that put them inside that compound.