The Parker Problem

By John Kubicek

I don't know if you happened to see the Kathleen Parker column, "The Palin Problem". I was surfing while searching for more info about John McCain's stance on the $700 Billion bailout, which I was going to write about yesterday, when I happened to come across PatriotPost.us and Parker's column. My attention immediately shifted from the idiocy of the bailout legislation, which thankfully was defeated, over to the scurrilous attacks on Sarah Palin by Kathleen Parker.

Now, there is this problem that I needed to think about today. There has been much said from a handful of Republicans regarding Sarah Palin's abilities to handle the job of VP, let alone being put in the position where she would have to assume the duties of being Commander in Chief. It is bad enough when Sarah Palin has to endure the viscious attacks from the far left. And now, there is this hit piece by Kathleen Parker to deal with.

First of all, I have to admit, I hadn't yet seen the Katie Couric interview of Sarah Palin, but I had heard that it didn't go so well. So, I went to my source, youtube.com, to find out exactly what happened in that interview. What I saw was appalling. No, I don't mean Sarah's performance, but how the interview was perceived by the Palin haters out there. Want to see an example of what I found? I thought so. Here is one:

Now that you've seen that one, this next one will make more sense (oxymoron unintentional):

Now, besides the fact that those two videos kind of tickled my funny bone, it did bring an epiphany to my attention. First, there is the fact that I had seen Sarah's interview with Sean Hannity, and I was totally impressed with her performance. Here is the first part of that interview:

(See the second part of the interview here)
(See the third part of the interview here)

So, can I ask, did you also notice a huge difference between the Hannity interview and the Couric interview? I sure did, and I suspect you are also thinking so. Doesn't that leave some questions in your mind? It's called video editing. In case you were unaware, the interview segments on the news are NOT done in real time. This means that you take a whole bunch of raw video, and then you get into the production room and put it together so that it fits a time slot that has been allocated. And guess what can happen? Can you see a "slight" possibility that certain biases could possibly infect the final result?

And then there is the Parker Problem. Kathleen Parker is apparently a Republican, but I'm thinking that she is "progressive".... somewhere a little left of even John McCain and Rudy Guilliani. I had to go to her archives at NationalReview.com (NRO) to see about where she stands. What I found confirmed some suspicions. You see, it turns out that Kathleen Parker wrote another hit piece on Gov. Palin way back on September 19, long before the Couric interview was aired. In "A Time to Worry", Parker finished the piece by stating:

Whatever happens, we may deserve what we get. On the other hand, maybe there’s still time to wise up: Obama boots Biden and taps Clinton; McCain dumps Palin and picks Romney. It’s a concept.

Is it just me, or does Parker seem to be just a little on the elitist side?

Now, with that being said, I rest my case. Parker IS one of the problems for the McCain/Palin campaign.

Well, we'll see, won't we. There is that debate between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden coming on Thursday, October 2, 2008. It will be broadcast live, in real time. No editing. Let's just see how well she performs in that situation. My guess is that she will verify that John McCain made the right choice. She won't be heading back to Alaska any time soon.... Maybe in a little more than 12 years from now, if things go right.

References and related stories:
The Palin Problem
A Time to Worry