David McGrath is apparently the newly appointed feminism police. In his first official duty he’s charged Governor Palin with not being feminist enough. And what does he use as his measuring stick? Her pro-life commitment, among other things. Not only does he attack the authenticity of her feminism, he finds her guilty of much worse. According to him, she’s a threat to the overall freedom of women.

So rather than trying to verify speeches, op-eds, or chapters in her book, the more reliable indicators of her integrity are her actions. And there’s no more glaring example of the Palin “sham factor” than her position on women’s rights.

That’s because Palin, in spite of implying an alliance with the likes of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, is a veritable chauvinist, whose politics imprison women in their “proper” place.

It’s a sad, sad day when one is deemed a threat to women because they have the unmitigated temerity to speak up for the unborn, to defend those who cannot defend themselves. How did we come to this place that one can only be revered a friend to women if she encourages them to annihilate the very life growing inside them, baiting them into destroying flesh of their flesh and bone of their bone? Is it that position, in today’s society, that guarantees one the praise of the women’s movement? Yes, we have become so backwards that this crazed mindset is what has come to be called progress. There was a time when women scraped and scrapped to protect their young–at any and all cost–and that was the mark of true womanhood. Animals still do it. Yet we, civilized, rational human beings have now reached a place where some have the nerve to measure our femininity by our willingness to destroy what we once would have given our lives to protect. Governor Palin has asked that America embrace a culture of life, and that perspective is somehow considered death to the success of women.

The Governor refuses to subscribe to that thinking, and, as we know, she’s not just talking the talk. Her position has been tested in her own life. That fact, however, seems to have been lost on McGrath who writes:

As usual, she talks a different game. In her vice-presidential debate with Joe Biden in the fall of 2008, she identified herself as a feminist, asserting she supports equal rights for women. She pointed to her own experience to prove women can “do it all.”

In reality, women in America have been “doing it all” long before Sarah Palin was born. As early as 1960, 40 percent of women with school-aged children were keeping a house while also working outside the home. The figure is 70 percent today.

Clearly McGrath is the one talking out of both sides of his mouth. How can he in one breath state that women are capable of “doing it all” and in the next blast Governor Palin for believing the same thing, not just for herself but for all women? She wants women to know that they can work, reach their full potential, and still cherish their unborn. If women have been doing it all for eons, why does he lack the faith that a woman who finds herself in “less than ideal circumstances” can do just that? And why his hypocrital attack on a woman who does have that faith? Add to that the fact that he doesn’t have a good grasp of the facts, stating lies in the article about the Governor’s position on contraception and her record regarding benefits to same-sex couples in the state of Alaska, and one wonders what qualifies him to speak at all.

Governor Palin is not guilty of imprisoning women. People like McGrath are. He frames her as an unfeeling, hard person who cares not for the plight and progress of women. The truth is those guilty of such are the ones who refuse to tell women the truth about abortion. I have to fight the urge to release my inner Joe Wilson and yell, “Liar!” to those who pretend to have a woman’s best interest at heart while encouraging her to do what’s been proven to cause her harm: abort her own.

Let’s look at the facts:

From Motivation: Truth

There is a proven link between abortion and breast cancer. Those who choose to ignore this and refuse to inform women of this link, in their effort to support a so-called right to choose, is no friend to women. Research these facts here and here.

Research has also shown a link between abortion and depression. This is another fact that these self-proclaimed friends of women ignore and don’t want to tell them. Read it for yourself here and here. The statistics are astounding, and if people like McGrath really have such great love for women, why is it such a sin to present the facts? Please don’t tell me you’re a friend when your silence disempowers and endangers me. As the saying goes, “With friends like these, who needs enemies?”

Governor Palin’s pro-life position is not a threat to the well-being of women. On the contrary, she’s simply putting her money where her mouth is. She’s standing up for life–for both mother and child. Governor Palin’s refusal to bend on this issue reveals the heart of a true feminist, for that she is. She was raised in a family where the girls were expected to do what the guys did, she continues to prove that a wife and mother can have a career and still love and nurture her family, she demonstrated that even when the unexpected happened, she could give birth to the gift God gave her, rather than aborting that gift. Contrast that with people who refuse to acknowledge a woman’s ability to handle such challenges and refuse to acknowledge the danger their brand of feminism poses to a woman’s overall well-being.

David McGrath’s attack on Governor Palin is further evidence of Palin Derangement Syndrome that defies all reason and common sense. If vehemently advocating abortion and all its ills is what Feminist Officer David McGrath requires to label one a true feminist, then the Governor falls grossly short, no doubt. However, if a commitment to women’s rights, faith in women’s ability to “do it all,” including loving her offspring, and advocacy for women’s overall health and success are anywhere in the feminist definition, Governor Palin is its epitome.

Read David McGrath’s full article here, and below see the video explaining the danger of abortion on women’s health.

(H/T Sheya)

As I blogged yesterday, it appears that Sarah Palin will grace the Oprah Winfrey Show on November 16th, the day before Sarah’s already-best seller hits the stands. I wrote in a previous post that Going Rogue rose to the top of the charts without Oprah’s help. This I wrote in light of the fact that Oprah had previously suggested that Sarah would appear on her show because she would need Oprah to sell her book.

So Sarah has chosen to give Oprah an interview. Some ankle biters have emailed me to say that this is evidence that Sarah actually does need Oprah. Not the case. It will, no doubt, be an interesting interview, but let’s be real: “Nah na na na na nah” emails are outrageous given the facts.

When Sarah sits on Oprah’s couch, people will get to see the real Sarah, and she will be able to tell her own story–unfiltered–and let’s keep this in perspective. Clearly, Oprah is not Sarah’s source, she does not butter Sarah’s bread, and Sarah did not need Oprah to sell her book. Going Rogue soared to the top of the charts without the help of Ms. Winfrey. Sarah’s appearance on Oprah’s show is because she chooses to go, not because she needs to.

The Washington Post reports:

Oprah Winfrey, on a campaign to climb back from last season’s ratings slump, will attempt to kiss and make up with conservative viewers on Nov. 16 when she has Sarah Palin on her syndicated talk show.

You may have noticed that the appearance by the former Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential candidate is happening smack dab in the middle of the November ratings derby.
It’s also the day before Palin’s new book, “Going Rogue: An American Life” is scheduled to hit bookstores.

[...]

It’s not just another show booking for Oprah Winfrey. She’s going whole hog this season to try to recover from the ratings tumble she took last season when her audience slid to under 7 million viewers. And, during one awful week in July, “The Oprah Winfrey Show” suffered its smallest ratings since its debut way back in 1985.

Industry navel gazers speculated Oprah had turned off some of her conservative viewers — or, more accurately, they had turned her off — when she not only endorsed then presidential candidate Barack Obama but even campaigned for him. (Palin, of course, was the running mate of Obama’s rival, Sen. John McCain.)

[...]

We rest our case.

The New York Times reports the growing popularity of Minnesota Representative Michele Bachmann and basically coins her “the other G.O.P. Lightning Rod.” We all know who the perceived lightning rod is.

Not bad for someone less than three years on the job.

Here in Ms. Bachmann’s district, and in much of the country, that outsized celebrity has boiled down to this: They adore her or they loathe her.

As the health care overhaul moves closer to a full debate in Congress, Ms. Bachmann is under attack from the Democratic National Committee for spreading “reckless lies” about the overhaul, one of a handful of Republicans singled out as part of the committee’s “Call ’Em Out” campaign.

Sound familiar? Seems that not too long ago Governor Palin was called a liar by those who took offense at her fearless comments about “death panels,” which caused even President Obama to cast off all self-restraint as he referred to her time and time again. Talk about being all wee-weed up.

Some of Ms. Bachmann’s fellow Republicans, meanwhile, are drawing glowing comparisons between her and Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor and Republican candidate for vice president. Sean Hannity, the conservative talk show host, has introduced Ms. Bachmann as “the second-most-hated Republican woman in the country, second to Governor Palin, which is a good position.”

Being compared to the governor, who is as admired for her common sense conservatism as she is hated by the those who fear the same, is a badge of honor. And what reaction does Representative Bachmann have to such comparisons?

Ms. Bachmann, a lawyer, former state senator and mother of five who with her husband, Marcus, a clinical therapist, has opened their home to 23 foster children, has not so far objected to the speculation, particularly the comparisons to Ms. Palin.

“Sarah Palin is a dedicated mother, committed public servant and strong political figure who has fought hard to protect life, the family budget, and freedom,” Ms. Bachmann said, noting that Ms. Palin’s book — not yet out — was already selling in enormous numbers, while “Nancy Pelosi’s book sold a paltry 2,737 copies in its first week of sales” in 2008.

Read the entire article here.

The Colorado Springs Independent published an article today about the 2012 Draft Sarah Committee and their grassroots effort to support Governor Palin and to encourage her to run for president in 2012. The Committee is made up of ordinary people–volunteers–from all over the United States who see in the governor the only leader who can drive America forward.

Pam Zubeck writes.

David Kelly’s home office in Briargate is a typical middle-aged guy’s hideout. It has a computer, two desks, books stacked floor to ceiling and maps on the walls. But at the foot of one desk sit a couple boxes filled with buttons and bumper stickers promoting Sarah Palin as a 2012 presidential candidate.

The full-time library district worker spends up to 20 hours a week collecting money and mailing political paraphernalia as part of his federal political action committee’s effort to persuade Palin to run.

[...]

“She’s not part of the Beltway,” Kelly explains. “She’s a mother who got angry one day and decided, ‘I’m going to do something.’ She’s real. She truly is telling us from her heart what she wants to do, rather than what party officials are dictating to her.”

Randy Highsmith, the committee’s chairman, saw a story on the Web about the committee and volunteered to organize from Florida. He raves about Palin in an e-mail: “Palin excited me and many other conservatives due to her proven and consistent conservative stances.” He notes she’s pro-life, pro-business and favors oil drilling in Alaska wilderness.

[...]

“The day she announces,” [Kelly] says, “our job is done.”

Governor Palin has never said for certain that she will run for the presidency, but the committee is working hard in hopes that she will.

(h/t  Josh Painter) 

Read the entire article here.

On Monday, dozens of protesters chanted outside the school, saying the children are being brainwashed.

“Educate, don’t indoctrinate; Educate don’t indoctrinate,” they chanted.

The demonstrators protested across the street from the “B” Bernice Young Elementary School in Burlington Township. They carried signs saying “No Kiddie Propaganda” and “No Politics In The Classroom.”

They are angry about a video made at the school last March.

As a public school teacher, I understand that this is a concern. This particular school in New Jersey went really far–off the charts–in their affection for President Obama. I’d like to believe it’s the exception and not the rule, that children throughout these United States are not spending their days singing songs of love to the president while being fed lies that lead them to think ill of other leaders. Read about my recent experience with this in an article I wrote called “Public School Library Propagates Falsehood That Governor Palin Banned Books.”

Parents’ complaints about the song students sang about President Obama ranged from the lyrics themselves to personal experiences with a communist culture where students were forced to reverence leaders.

Comments from some protesters:

“These words never came home. Obama. Say yes to Obama. Find your inner Obama. That’s brainwashing,” Gina Pronchick said.

“This is not America. This is a communist country.”

Added parent Gina Altokova: “I came from former Soviet Union as a kid. I was singing songs to the leader Brezhnev and all the others. They were bigger than God.

“Millions of us were singing songs to Great leaders. This is a shame. This must stop.”

Indeed it must stop. This will take place only to the extent that parents and community members stay abreast of what is taking place in our children’s schools–and then take a stand.

Read the entire article here.

Adrienne Ross maintains her blog at Motivation: Truth

Governor Palin doesn’t just talk about the need to support and protect our troops; she has lived the concerns that family members of our military face. Just two days after she released a note on her Facebook page urging President Obama to be decisive in his support of our troops in Afghanistan, she attended the welcome home ceremony of the First Stryker Brigade from Fort Wainwright–including her son, Track–from a year-long deployment in Iraq.

KTUU reported:

Former Gov. Sarah Palin attended Thursday afternoon’s welcome home ceremony for the 1st Stryker Brigade from Fort Wainwright at the Carlson Center.

The public appearance is Palin’s first in the United States since resigning her office in July. Palin’s oldest son, Track, is a member of the brigade that recently returned from a yearlong deployment in Iraq.

“To Sarah Palin, who for the last year was the senior mom of the brigade and along with her husband Todd, is a distinguished member of the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team,” Col. Burt Thompson, the brigade’s commander, said.

“Ma’am, thanks for being here today and allowing your son to serve in our brigade. Thank you both for what you have done for your extended Army family and thanks for your unwavering support.”

[...]

“Today we celebrate a job well done and your safe return to Alaska and the Fairbanks community,” Maj. Gen. William Troy, commander of U.S. Army Alaska, said. “The teamwork between military and community here in Alaska is like nowhere else.

“By every account the Arctic Wolves acquitted themselves brilliantly.”

Said Thompson: “Gentlemen, I report to you mission accomplished.”

Perhaps this is why Oprah, in her arrogance, assumed Governor Palin would need her, as well. She does not. Oprah is not used to that. What she is used to are people rising to great heights because she made room on her couch for them, promoted their books, and gave them the official Oprah-nod.

In fact, in an old article called Oprah Winfrey Presents: Barack Obama, Nitya Venkataraman wrote:

In the world of retail, there’s star power, there’s celebrity endorsement and then there’s Oprah Winfrey. Her Midas touch saves names from anonymity, best sellers from dusty storerooms and favorite things from Internet obscurity.

Crowns of glory are bestowed upon Queen Oprah–so much so that she begins to think she holds that kind of power over everyone. She does not. Governor Palin did not rise from the PTA to the first female Republican vice presidential nominee by relying on someone else’s “go ahead” before she would go ahead.

Oprah hadn’t gotten the memo, however, and after the election, she whined that Governor Palin would not appear on her show.

“[I] went and tried to talk to Sarah Palin and instead she talked to Greta [Van Susteren]. She talked to Matt [Lauer]. She talked to Larry [King]. But she didn’t talk to me. But maybe she’ll talk to me now that she has a [multi-million dollar] book deal,” Winfrey told Extra earlier this week.

Were Oprah Winfrey’s feelings hurt? Did she expect Governor Palin to drop everything for a date with her talk show couch as soon as she decided to call because…well… simply because it was she who had called? Obviously, the answer to both questions is yes. So when Palin didn’t come running, she consoled herself with the belief that, as Master of the Universe, she would hold the success of Palin’s book in her hands. Looking to the future, Oprah was quite confident that Governor Palin would soon find time for her because she would need Oprah’s Book Club to catapult her book to the top of the charts.

Well, the last time I checked, Going Rogue: An American Life was already number one on both Barnes and Noble and Amazon. And the last time I checked, Governor Palin didn’t need an endorsement from Oprah Winfrey to make that happen. Not only didn’t Governor Palin need to travel to Chicago to push her book, but as Oprah Winfrey traveled to Denmark to push Chicago, Governor Palin’s book became a bestseller shortly after it became available for pre-order.

In a world when people speak the name Oprah in the same breath as the word power, it’s no surprise that Oprah would fancy herself the decider of Governor Palin’s fate, but it’s safe to say that the governor isn’t relying on Oprah Winfrey for anything–and certainly not for the sale of her book.

No doubt, Oprah has now gotten the memo.

Originally posted at Adrienne’s blog Motivation: Truth

Photo of a "Banned Book" display in a public school library, falsely claiming Sarah Palin tried to ban books.

How ironic it is that when news emerges of Governor Palin’s book becoming available prior to its expected date, she shows up in my school’s library. No, she didn’t show up in person and no, there was no announcement to inform interested students about her book, which reportedly is already number one on the Barnes and Noble list.

She showed up in the center of a display highlighting Banned Books Week.

I was walking on my way to the weight room this evening when I stopped dead in my tracks after taking a few steps past the library. I backed up and took in the display in the window, which includes various books, quotes, and poetry about reading and book banning. Only one person’s picture is a part of the display–and that person is Governor Palin. It was included in an old article called “Sarah Palin, aspiring book banner?” which was published in the LA Times a year ago. That article makes up a homemade poster that says, “Sarah Palin + Banned Books = Censorship.”

Listen, I’m not talking about a local area library. I’m talking about a public school library, where they use this week to demonize Palin as the enemy of free thought, reading, and exploration. Nevermind the plethora of information out there that she never sought to ban books but had asked a general question of a librarian to discover how she would deal with censorship. Nevermind the numerous times Governor Palin has herself stated she never sought to ban books. And nevermind the fact that some of the books on the list, like Harry Potter, hadn’t even been published yet! No, facts aren’t important.

What’s important is the growing determination to further a Left-wing agenda to destroy Governor Palin. What’s important is the attempt to indoctrinate our children. I say indoctrinate because that is exactly what this is. As if it weren’t bad enough that some schools are singing the “Mmm Mmm Mmm” praises of President Obama, chanting “Change Has Come,” and changing the “Jesus” in the song “Jesus Loves the Little Children” to include Obama, now I walk past the high school library in the district where I teach, and there are falsehoods about the former vice presidential candidate. There is a clear attempt to lead our children down a particular road, and somebody has to be the road block. That somebody will be me…tomorrow when I walk back in that building and address this issue.

That article in the school library window states in part:

Librarian Jessamyn West, who blogs at librarian.net, writes, “Usually I’m just happy to see libraries even mentioned in national level politics, but not like this.”

This seems like a good time to mention Banned Books Week, beginning Sept. 27, which celebrates the freedom to read. 2007′s most challenged book was “And Tango Makes Three,” a children’s book about a penguin with two dads; books by Mark Twain and Alice Walker appear, again, on the list. Exactly what books Palin might have wanted to ban have not been identified (other than some unsupported rumors), but it’s safe to assume that she won’t be joining in to celebrate the idea that no books should be banned at all.

I find it interesting that this particular article states that those books weren’t identified. Another falsehood. Perhaps they left that out because the truth was embarrassing. Yes, it’s embarrassing to list books that didn’t exist when she supposedly tried to rid the world of them.

On the left and right of the display in the library window is the poem “Manifesto” by author, Ellen Hopkins. In the poem, Hopkins blasts “zealots, biggots, and false patriots,” for their desire to censor. This poem is the official poem of this year’s Banned Books Week–and Governor Palin’s picture is the centerpiece!

What gives them the right to place this attack in the library window? Who approved the display–or who overlooked it? Am I the only person who walked by and saw it? What impression does it give our children? What impact will this have on their vote in a few years? I am livid, as I should be. This is absolutely unacceptable behavior.

Anyone who hasn’t been hiding under a rock in the past year ought to know the truth about the book banning issue, but in case someone has just slithered out, here are some facts about Palin and the so-called book banning issue.

In an article called “Palin did not ban books in Wasilla as mayor,” the USA Today reported

Taylor Griffin, a McCain spokesman, said Palin raised the issue of the library’s policy because there had been widespread discussion in Wasilla at that time about banning books. She was trying to understand the city’s policy, he said.

“Sarah Palin has never asked anyone to ban a book,” Griffin said. “It shouldn’t be surprising that the new mayor of a city that had seen recent protests over books and was in the process of re-evaluating the book-challenge policies at its library would ask the librarian what those policies were.”

Michelle Malkin submitted in “The bogus Sarah Palin Banned Books List” this P.D.S. Alert:

Palin Derangement Syndrome strikes again. This time it’s hysterical librarians and their readers on the Internet disseminating a bogus list of books Gov. Sarah Palin supposedly banned in 1996. Looks like some of these library people failed reading comprehension. Take a look at the list below and you’ll find books Gov. Palin supposedly tried to ban…that hadn’t even been published yet. Example: The Harry Potter books, the first of which wasn’t published until 1998.

The smear merchants who continue to circulate the list also failed to do a simple Google search, which would have showed them that the bogus Sarah Palin Banned Book List is almost an exact copy-and-paste reproduction of a generic list of “Books Banned at One Time or Another in the United States” that has been floating around the Internet for years. STACLU notes that the official Obama campaign website is also perpetuating the fraud. And it’s spread to craigslist, where some unhinged user is posting images likening Palin to Hitler. Here it is again.

[...]

It’s a fake. Not true. Total B.S. A lie.

If it gets sent to you by a moonbat friend or family member, set ‘em all straight. Fight the smears. They’ve only just begun.

Malkin hit the nail on the head. They had only just begun last year, and they still exist–in our public school libraries, of all places. Read her entire article here, which includes the bogus list of books.

FactCheck.org reported:

She did not demand that books be banned from the Wasilla library. Some of the books on a widely circulated list were not even in print at the time. The librarian has said Palin asked a “What if?” question, but the librarian continued in her job through most of Palin’s first term.

[...]

One accusation claims then-Mayor Palin threatened to fire Wasilla’s librarian for refusing to ban books from the town library. Some versions of the rumor come complete with a list of the books that Palin allegedly attempted to ban. Actually, Palin never asked that books be banned; no books were actually banned; and many of the books on the list that Palin supposedly wanted to censor weren’t even in print at the time, proving that the list is a fabrication.

I could go on and on, but it’s not necessary. As stated, anyone who cared to know, who actually did a little fact checking of their own, already got the 411 on the deal. However, I am addressing it again because obviously some who are supposed to be in the business of educating, have not been informed or are ignoring the information, and their ignorance is impacting–shall I say infecting–our children. This cannot go unchallenged–and it won’t.

My approach tomorrow? I will go into the library with the facts and present them respectfully. I will ask that Governor Palin’s picture and the article be removed. If that is denied, I will request they hang another article next to it–which I will graciously provide–that refutes the falsehoods. If I do not get anywhere with the librarian, well, I’ll go to the next level. It is my hope that my talk with the librarian will suffice, but we’ll see what happens.

No doubt as Governor Palin’s book continues to sell, even before it hits the shelves, those with an agenda will beef up their attacks to misrepresent her as uninformed, anti-intellectual, and unworthy of paying attention to. I have some serious problems with that, but as a teacher, my main problem is that their misrepresentation hurts our children. So let the truth be told.

See post in its entirety here.

Related stories:

The bogus Sarah Palin Banned Books List

Snopes.com on Sarah Palin Banned Books List

Air America takes jab at “Going Rogue”

Huffington Post Sarah Palin Memoir “Going Rogue”

Preorder Sarah Palin’s Book Now:  Going Rogue

Sarah Palin, granting an interview to "the opposition", unlike Barack Obama's total avoidance of Fox News since the election.

President Obama could learn a thing or two from Governor Palin.

The president is in my state, the state of New York. In fact, tomorrow he will be a mere 35 miles from where I live as he speaks at Hudson Valley Community College.

Today he made media round after media round, causing some to wonder if these plethora of appearances are too much of a “good” thing.

The New York Daily news reported:

Obama will push his health care reforms on five morning news shows today, an unprecedented presidential feat that has stirred debate over whether Obama has hit the point of overexposure.

[...]

Obama’s decision to hit five network shows today – ABC’s “This Week With George Stephanopoulos,” CNN’s “State of the Nation,” CBS’ “Face the Nation,” NBC’s “Meet the Press” and Univision’s “Al Punto with Jorge Ramos” – is known in media circles as “the Full Ginsburg.”

It is so named after William Ginsburg, who in 1998 became the first person to hit five shows in one Sunday as the attorney for White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Hillary Clinton later did it when she launched her presidential bid in 2007.

Obama is the first President to even try, which just underscores his comfort level with the medium, experts said.

Comfort level? Hmmm…Well, apparently he’s not too comfortable with one particular media outlet, and that would be Fox News. It appears he’s still pouting that they are not cheering, fainting, and getting tingly leg sensations at the mere sound of his voice. Therefore, he won’t give them the time of day. For a president many tout as a brilliant politician, why has he thumbed his nose at the cable news show that leads all others? An L.A. Times article called “Top of the Ticket” stated:

Latest ratings out for the second quarter of 2009 show the top-rated FNC having one of the best quarters in its entire history with prime-time ratings jumping an astounding 34%, not all of them Obama fans. That 8-11 p.m. slot is crucial for viewers — and ad dollars — which includes Fox’s showcase “The O’Reilly Factor.”

Throughout the viewing day, Fox News did even better with its 1.2 million viewers, on average, more than doubling CNN’s 598,000 and more than tripling third-place trailer MSNBC’s average audience of 392,000.

With the resistence of the American people to accept President Obama’s Health Care Bill, one would think it a “brilliant” political move for him to have swallowed his intense dislike for the cable news channel he’s always dissing and to have capitalized on the advantages of granting them an interview. Instead, didn’t he dodge an opportunity to reach across the aisle, show he is not the ultra-partisan president he has been accused of being, and stand up to the hardball questions he would get from Fox that he would likely not get from other media outlets? GOP lawmakers said yes.

A handful of Republican lawmakers, including Rep. Joe Wilson (S.C.), say that President Barack Obama is ignoring a large segment of the public by refusing to appear on Fox News.

Obama is scheduled this weekend to appear on every major Sunday talk show except for “Fox News Sunday.”

Fox News, which is considered more conservative-leaning than ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN, confirmed Obama will not be interviewed on its network on Sunday.

Wilson, who was reprimanded this week by the House for his outburst at Obama last week, said that by excluding Fox, the president was not being fair.

“If people are going to be on the Sunday talk shows, they should be on all of them,” Wilson said.

[...]

Freshman Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) said that the White House’s media strategy is an example of the president not living up to his promise to change the tone in Washington.

“The only thing this shows is that the president is ignoring a very large segment of this country. He said he was going to reach across party lines and be a different kind of president, but so far he hasn’t followed through with real action,” Scalise said.

Some House Democrats saw nothing wrong with Obama’s decision to forgo Fox.

Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) said that it has become clear “which networks are really fair” while predicting that the president will eventually appear on “Fox News Sunday” in the future.

So President Obama chose to appear on “really fair” networks while ignoring the likes of Fox News? Well, how interesting is that. I say the president has a lot to learn.

Rewind to the 2008 campaign. People can say what they want about the McCain camp throwing Governor Palin to the wolves when they allowed the likes of Katie Couric and Charlie Gibson to have at her. Both Couric and Gibson had an agenda. Katie couldn’t get past the abortion question and Charlie played a gotcha game with the Bush Doctrine question. Prior to both interviews, the McCain camp clearly knew that the interviewers were in the tank for Obama. We can go round and round about that decision, but there’s one thing that stands out about the McCain camp as I consider that the President of the United States refused to appear on Fox News even as he seeks to win over the American people on health care: At least they didn’t hide. I don’t know why they refused to sit her down with Bill O’Reilly but instead sat her with Katie Couric and Charlie Gibson. But I do know she went on.

I also know that when she returned to Alaska after the election, she invited Matt Lauer into her home and let him interview her. She didn’t hide.

I know, too, that upon her resignation announcement in July, Governor Palin didn’t shy away from Andrea Mitchell but while fishing granted her an interview. Again, no hiding.

The bottom line is that Governor Palin, demonstrating true leadership, has neither run away nor been shielded from those who have not exactly been in her corner. President Obama, on the other hand, has almost every media outlet in his back pocket, and he wouldn’t even rise to the challenge of the one “fair and balanced” one that was sure to ask him the toughest questions–questions to which Americans want honest answers. He’s not even campaigning anymore(or is he?); he’s already got the job. And he’s not lying about health care, right? So what’s the problem?

Maybe he’ll answer that question while he visits with David Letterman tomorrow night. Surely that’ll be a tough interview.

Originally posted on Motivation:  Truth

Please follow the author, Adrienne Ross, at her blog.