How Gwen Ifill Helped McCain-Palin Further Stifle the Press
04 October 2008 2:23 pm by Taylor Marsh
BY TAYLOR MARSH
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| –graphic compliments of a friend– |
For a politician whose relationship with the press helped make him, the continual stonewalling and disrespect of the press has an irony all its own. From McCain’s war with The New York Times to his insulting grandfatherly presence to protect Palin with Couric, it’s clear John McCain would muzzle the media if he could.
It’s the Maria Shriver incident revisited, when McCain said “Please get out of here.”
This time it was Politico who got the cold shoulder from Grumpy McCain:
We just followed McCain down the steps following the vote to ask him about the reaction of House Republicans to the vote.
He didn’t appreciate the company.
McCain: “Excuse me, you’re bothering me.”
Politico: “I’m bothering you?”
McCain: “Excuse me, I have to go.”
Thomas Jefferson would not be amused.
“The only security of all is in a free press. The force of public opinion cannot be resisted when permitted freely to be expressed. The agitation it produces must be submitted to. It is necessary, to keep the waters pure.” –Thomas Jefferson to Lafayette, 1823. ME 15:491
Jefferson excoriated the press, but he never denied its importance.
Unlike McCain and Palin, who think they can go around the press, Thomas Jefferson believed people like me and others who hold politicians to account, were the watch guards of democracy.
Which brings me to Gwen Ifill and something my big brother and I were talking about just today. One moment that struck us both was when Palin had the arrogance to say she wouldn’t respond to Ifill:
PALIN: I’m still on the tax thing because I want to correct you on that again. And I want to let you know what I did as a mayor and as a governor. And I may not answer the questions that either the moderator or you want to hear, but I’m going to talk straight to the American people and let them know my track record also. …
Ifill’s response? To remain mute and not challenge Palin to answer her questions. It’s just one reason I believe Ifill should have recused herself. Was it her book kerfuffle that kept her from telling Palin that, as my brother noted, This is a vice presidential debate and you will answer the questions (as agreed to by the McCain campaign)? Whatever it was, Ifill let Palin orchestrate her own debate, which is not in the rules and does not benefit We the People.
If the press, traditional and new media, stop challenging politicians, standing up to them and demanding answers and transparency, not just talking points on which they choose to pontificate, our democratic republic becomes weaker. But the struggle to keep it strong is in your hands as well. People must keep demanding oversight from the press. Keep demanding that our politicians answer questions. Those of us who do what I do cannot do it without your voice. In the absence of your furor for transparency, we the media, no matter the form or outlet, are powerless.
