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Will the press question the "Palin-Farah ticket"?

January 08, 2010 9:10 am ET by Eric Boehlert

As you can read below, Sarah Palin has signed on to speak at the first ever Tea Party convention next month in Nashville. Also speaking to the Tea Party activists will be Joseph Farah from the discredited wingnut outpost WND, and who considers it to be a "personal privilege" to be " to be on the same bill with Gov. Sarah Palin."  Indeed, WND is promoting the event as the "Palin-Farah ticket."

Farah, as Media Matters has tirelessly documented, is, among other things, an avowed gay and Muslim-hating conspiracy theorist who still clings to the whackadoo notion that Obama wasn't born in America. That's who Palin has agreed to share the spotlight with in Nashville next month. To date however, there's been no press reaction that I've seen or heard raising any questions about Palin's decision to hob knob so publicly with the likes of Farah.  (CNN remains silent in this dispatch. As does Politico.)

With that in mind, I'm curious what the chattering class reaction would be if the tables were turned. What would the press response be, for instance, if Al Gore, just one year after leaving office, agreed to speak before a group of fringe activists and if he agreed to share the spotlight with a proudly anti-semitic, 9/11 conspiracy theorist? Do you think that might become a thing in the press? Do you think journalists would press Gore about the association and demand that he clearly articulate his thoughts about the anti-semitic, 9/11 nut who was being welcomed as a feature speaker alongside Gore at the frothing, partisan convention?

I don't think there's any doubt Gore would come under extraordinary media pressure if he ever agreed to be seen among fringe radicals. But will Palin? We'll see if the press holds her to the same standard, or creates a second one just for her.

UPDATED: David Weigel at the Washington Independent explains why the "Palin-Farah" ticket ought to be news [emphasis added]:

Two months ago Farah appeared on the same stage as Bachmann and other conservative House Republicans to promote WND’s “pink slip” campaign against Congress, and political reporters pretty much ignored it. And WND has sponsored CPAC in the past. But CPAC has explicitly ruled out a “birther” forum at this year’s event, and some Republican activists have called for conservatives to cut ties with the birth certificate and conspiracy-obsessed WND. And here you’ll have Sarah Palin, giving her first political speech in months, on the same stage as Joseph Farah.

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    • Author by Mr. Katanga (January 08, 2010 9:35 am ET)
         
      But if it is Obama and Ayers or Wright...watch out! next month Fox'll probably cut live to the speaches
      Report Abuse
    • Author by epkklk851 (January 08, 2010 10:26 am ET)
      2  
      I say "You Go, Girl!" Do I think that Conservatives would wet themselves if a Liberal did something this extreme? Yes, of course they would, they would run through a whole case of Depends, but that isn't the the point. If Sister Sarah wants to go hang out with the fringies, let her. It will only scare away the moderate independents and may even bring new seats to the Democrats. Will all of this hurt some of the Teabaggers? Yes, they may finally wake up and smell the coffee and realize how far down the darkside they have been pulled. Please make sure you get good coverage of the Teabagger Convention, I want to see how seditious they are willing to be.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by wesley (January 08, 2010 10:26 am ET)
        5
      mmfa complains tirelessly about Hannity and Beck style reporting...and this example from mmfa is a mirror image from the left.

      Here's some advice. Step back...take a deep breath...and straighten your watchdog tiara...it has certainly slipped.
      Report Abuse
      • Author by New Frontier (January 08, 2010 11:34 am ET)
        1  
        mmfa complains tirelessly about Hannity and Beck style reporting...
        Wingnuts complain tirelessly about MMFA, which they are forced at gunpoint to read. Here's some advice: take a deep breath and clean up your own house first--it's a pig sty of misinformation and fearmongering.
        Report Abuse
    • Author by MickD (January 08, 2010 10:33 am ET)
      3  
      She's pallin' around with known whack jobs.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by temphandle marbling79reversals (January 08, 2010 12:04 pm ET)
         
      Yes, but who would that person be from the Left that Gore would speak with? The nuts on the left are not nearly as mainstream as the nuts on the right.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by wesley (January 08, 2010 12:30 pm ET)
        1
      -- if he ever agreed to be seen among fringe radicals. -- Boehlert

      If you're going to make the claim that the Tea Party convention is a group of fringe radicals...fine and dandy by me.

      Just as the claim that Gore was seen with and supported the far left fringe group at the Netroots convention is certainly just as valid.
      Report Abuse
      • Author by epkklk851 (January 08, 2010 12:56 pm ET)
           
        I don't think you will find people from the left, even the far left, coming to these meetings with guns, or advocating for a revolution. And I don't think you would have found it, under the Bush Presidency, or even the Reagan Presidency. I went to the Teabag 9/12 Rally and I can tell you that I saw some pretty disgusting and threatening signs. Many of them were aimed at the President, personally. I don't think I have ever seen such vitriol aimed at a Republican President.
        Report Abuse

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