The Good Ol' Fair & Balanced San Francisco Chronicle...NOT!

After watching Governor Sarah Palin far exceed expectations (lowered or otherwise) last night, I was wondering how my the hometown rag San Francisco Chronicle would handle the truth. Would it just pretend what had just happened had not happened, and say Joe Biden embarrassed her and drove the last nail in McCain's campaign? Or would they concede that the spontaneous Palin combustion they were awaiting with bated breath didn't occur?

Below is the answer (click to enlarge images).

If you're unfamiliar with the Chronicle, believe me when I tell you at first glance, this front page was surprisingly close to being balanced. However, upon further review, not so much. Note the pull quotes highlighted in red:



Here's the context in which the Palin's remark was made, in response to this question from moderator Gwen Ifill:

"Senator, you have quite a record, this is the next question here, of being an interventionist. You argued for intervention in Bosnia and Kosovo, initially in Iraq and Pakistan and now in Darfur, putting U.S. troops on the ground. Boots on the ground. Is this something the American public has the stomach for?"

The portion of Biden's answer relevant to Palin's response is below:

Senator Biden: “...With regard to Iraq, I indicated it would be a mistake to -- I gave the president the power. I voted for the power because he said he needed it not to go to war but to keep the United States, the UN in line, to keep sanctions on Iraq and not let them be lifted...”

Governor Palin: "Oh, man, it’s so obvious that I’m a Washington outsider, and someone just not used to the way you guys operate, because here you voted for the war, and now you oppose the war. You’re one who says, you know, as so many politicians do, I was for it before I was against it, or vice versa. Americans are craving that straight talk, and just want to know hey, if you voted for it, tell us why you voted for it, and it was a war resolution. And you had supported John McCain’s military strategies pretty adamantly until this race, and you had opposed very adamantly Barack Obama’s military strategy, including cutting off funding for the troops, that attempt all through the primary. And I watched those debates, and so I remember what those were all about..."

And so, from the thousands of words said in the debates, this is what the front page editor of the Chron came up with.

It may be an outrage to you, but to me, it's just another day here in Pseudo-Utopia-by-the-Bay. It's nice to know it must have killed everyone at the Chron (with the exception of Debra J. Saunders) that Palin didn't melt in a puddle of tears. Oops!

In the words of Limp Bizkit:

"Life is overwhelming,
heavy is the head that wears the crown
I'd love to be the one to disappoint you
when I don't fall down."

Yeah, Fred Durst is not Plato, Socrates, or Shakespeare, but the words fit the occasion.