When those in the MSM interview supporters of conservatives they get extra special treatment. Just watch as MSNBC’s Norah O’Donnell grills, I mean interviews, a Palin supporter.
Here is O’Donnell’s defense, via Newsbusters:
O’DONNELL: Well, her name was Jackie Seal and she voted in the last election, not 13 years old as some have suggested. And it is important to point out that when I walk and talk to a bunch of people up and down the line, I say “Who wants to talk on camera?” Some people say, “I don’t want to talk.” They’re not ready to talk. Some people say, “I want to talk, So, I walked down and met that man who had the shirt that said Palin for president on it. And I said, “Is there a woman who will come and talk about Sarah Palin?” And he grabbed that woman and pulled her over. So, I did not choose that woman, it just so happens she had a shirt on and was confused about Palin’s position on the issues. I think that is important to point that out. We do it with both sides of the aisle, sometimes people are connected to a politician or someone but know very little about them on the issues. This book wouldn’t tell you about the issues, it requires reading. It requires examination. And so I think that that was a reflective moment in terms of finding out just how much people are either confused about the issues or didn’t know about the issues. But, it is important to point out everybody we interviewed volunteered and that case, a previous voter and not 13 years old.
Jackie, the girl O’Donnell grilled has weighed in with the back story of the interview. She is 17 years old so those who identified her as 13 or 14 were wrong, but O’Donnell, who twice claimed she had voted in the last election, was wrong as well. Read her full detailed account. She definitely learned a valuable lesson.
In one day I met a role model, and met the liberal media and their crafty schemes. I fell prey to liberal bias, but I’d like to think I did an okay job. We always want do-overs, and I can assure you if I had a do-over with Miss O’Donnell you’d see a much more prepared (well rested) and ready to go at it side of this 17 year old. But unlike Norah I didnt have my note cards with me. I was forced to think on the spot and answer a gotcha question. Her goal was clear, make this teenager look like an uneducated Palin supporting buffoon. To liberals, and the 5 people who watch MSNBC she succeeded. To conservatives, she was the only buffoon during that interview.
I have no problem with a reporter asking the kind of question O’Donnell asked, as long as it is in context and is done equally on both sides of the aisle. I challenge O’Donnell to produce an example of her similarly questioning an Obama supporter. When I said “context” I was referring to the question fitting the type of interview. This was a reporter questioning a person in line to get a book signed. O’Donnell grilled this 17-year-old girl more vigorously than she does most of the liberal politicians she interviews. She regularly lets Democrats repeat their talking points on air without challenging or fact checking them. There are many instances when their talking points are demonstrably false, yet fail to even elicit a question from the “journalists” on MSNBC. Here’s a bit of advice for those on MSNBC, start treating all your guests (including the liberal and Democrat ones) like Norah O’Donnell treated 17-year-old Jackie Seal and maybe the public will start taking you seriously. Who knows, if you did that maybe your ratings would even improve.
