Sarah Palin Steps into Santorum's Expletive Flap, Adds to Pile

By Saul Relative | Yahoo! Contributor Network2 hrs 17 mins ago

COMMENTARY | You knew it was a matter of time before Sarah Palin stepped into the "bull****" controversy. She just can't help herself. Never in short supply of verbal garbage to throw herself and never averse to steering clear of a moment to get some TV time, Palin told Fox News on Monday that she supported presidential candidate Rick Santorum's outburst against New York Times reporter Jeff Zeleny.

"It was good and it was strong and it was about time because he's saying enough is enough of the liberal media twisting conservatives' words," Palin said. "I was like, 'Welcome to my world Rick. And good on ya, don't retreat.'"

Welcome to her world? And good on ya? She probably couldn't have chosen better words to show her support for the outburst, which was likely a charade for cameras.

After making a speech in Wisconsin, Zeleny approached Santorum and asked him to elaborate on his statement that Mitt Romney was the "worst Republican in the country." The exchange was captured on video by CBS News.

Santorum took exception and began castigating the New York Times reporter. "What speech were you listening to?" he said. "Stop lying." He then explained he'd been talking about Romneycare and comparing it to Obamacare.

Z! eleny th en attempted a follow-up question, rephrasing his question. He asked if Santorum believed Romney was the "worst Republican in the country to run against Obama."

Santorum, who knew he was on camera, continued heatedly, "I didn't say that. You guys are distorting what I'm saying. Quit distorting my words. It's bull****."

Zeleny was repeating what Santorum said earlier that day, as noted by CNN. "Why would we put someone up who is uniquely -- pick any other Republican in the country -- he is the worst Republican in the country to put up against Barack Obama. Why would Wisconsin want to vote for someone like that?"

Where's the distortion?

Santorum was playing to the cameras, a politician's trick to make something out of something that does not exist. Zeleny's initial phrasing allowed Santorum to do to Zeleny's words what Santorum accused the Times reporter of doing to his own.

It allowed him to pick on a common conservative enemy, the left-wing gotcha media. He used it as a fundraiser, asking donors for $30 (the price of a New York Times monthly subscription) to further his candidacy for president.

The next day, Santorum told "Fox & Friends" that any politician who hadn't "cursed out a New York Times reporter during the course of a campaign" was not a "real Republican."

Santorum would be better served by being supported by conservatives with more credibility like respected columnist George Will, ex-President George H. W. Bush, or even his rival Mitt Romney when talking about the liberal media.

Still, Palin has been the target of quite a bit of vitriol and spin from liberal politicians and media outlets, which justifies some of the animosity she feels when she com! plains a bout her days as a politician. But she's also been the generator of much of that same media she often rails against, like referring to Katie Couric's now infamous interview as "gotcha" journalism when she couldn't think of something she read daily. And then there are the moments when Palin hasn't seemed able to backtrack on a misstatement such as her insistence during her sightseeing 2012 trial campaign run that Paul Revere warned the British on his midnight ride at the start of the Revolutionary War.

Palin also called Zeleny a "liberal leftist," apparently choosing the alliterative phrasing without regard for the redundancy, and praised Santorum for calling him out.

Fortunately for the ex-governor of Alaska, it would appear that distortion is not an exclusionary state. Palin made her remarks on Fox News, where "fair and balanced" reporting goes to die and be resurrected as something to bolster the political right's self-aggrandizing mythos or something that derogates the left. Americans who watch Fox News Channel don't seem to have a problem being tired of what the conservative media does to the "leftist media."

That particular media outlet, with its incessant attacks against outlets like MSNBC and the New York Times (noted liberal organizations), has become a nonstop distortion facilitator of all things anti-left.

And Palin, being a Fox News Channel contributor, sits in from time to time like a visiting televangelist, preaching to the choir about the varied sins of the left.

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