DISGRACEFUL

Posted at 6:38 p.m. ET

You'd think the MSM would know by now to show a little restraint in writing about Sarah Palin.  No such luck.  The AP today is out with an obnoxious hit piece that wins today's award for snideness: 

LEBANON, Ohio (AP) -- John McCain took a risk in picking little-known Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as a running mate, but now the campaign's playing it safer. She's sticking to a greatest hits version of her convention speech on the campaign trail and steering clear of questions until she's comfortable enough for a hand-picked interviewer later this week.

Hand-picked?  No.  Just about everyone in journalism asked to interview her, and she agreed to a two-day visit from Charlie Gibson of ABC, a thorough professional.  She didn't "hand-pick" him, which implies that she called and asked for him to come.  Gibson is tough, but fair.

Also, Governor Palin has been interviewed many times.  The press coverage is available.  It's understandable that she wants to get up to speed on the national circuit before doing many interviews.

So far, Palin has barely spoken with voters either. Since the convention, she and McCain have breezed through a Wisconsin ice cream shop, a New Mexico restaurant and a Missouri barbecue place, shaking hands with diners but not taking any questions. Photographers and television cameras have been allowed full view while reporters are typically ushered too far away to ask questions or hear most of the conversations.

Say what?  No, she hasn't chatted with voters, but she's appeared before tens of thousands of them, with full TV coverage.  As far as reporters being ushered away, sounds like a page out of the Reagan playbook:  Speak over the heads of the media, and directly to the people.  Good strategy, considering the behavior of the press.

To be sure, all candidates running for office give the same remarks over and over -- Barack Obama's stump speech has hardly changed throughout the campaign, and McCain has been telling familiar stories and jokes for months.

But none of the candidates in this race has been so shielded from the media, so protected from any spontaneous situation...

Is that a serious statement?  Does the reporter remember back more than two weeks?  I recall months and months when Barack Obama didn't answer questions from the press.  The word "spontaneous" has never been used to describe his campaign.

Another favorite is that story about how she got rid of luxuries in the state Capitol, like a personal driver, chef and luxury jet.

''I put it on eBay,'' she says.

Audiences love this part, but what Palin never adds is that the jet didn't sell on eBay despite numerous attempts. The state eventually hired an aircraft broker to unload it.

She did put it on eBay.  Eventually the state sold it.  The people of Alaska saved millions, and that's the point.

Yuch.

September 9, 2008.