In March 2007, then-Alaska governor Sarah Palin participated in a Newsweek Women & Leadership Event in Los Angeles and was asked to comment on the media coverage of then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Palin used the opportunity to take a jab at Clinton for her “perceived whine about that excess criticism or a sharper microscope put on her,” explaining: “That doesn't do us any good. Women in politics, women in general wanting to progress this country, I don't think it bodes well for her, a statement like that.”
Of course, pretty much every moment since then Palin has spent whining about the supposedly poor treatment she gets from the press. Complaints about the “lamestream media” have become the background music to her life and the running theme of her Facebook page.
But no more! Last night on Fox News' On the Record, the former Alaska governor and putative presidential candidate declared an end to media hostilities:
PALIN: Of course. Women are held to a different standard in all areas. My point is going to be, so what. Let's work harder, produce more and better, and get over it. I'm through whining about a liberal press that holds conservative women to a different standard because it doesn't do any good to whine about it.
I'll believe it when I see it. Playing the perpetually aggrieved victim is Palin's raison d'etre. But for the moment let's give her the benefit of the doubt and celebrate! Exactly four years after the fact, Sarah Palin is finally heeding her own advice to Hillary Clinton to stop “whining” about the media. Let's enjoy it while it lasts.
UPDATE: Palin tweets this afternoon: