CYA

Expectations were set low for Sarah Palin in last night's VP debate with Lunch Bucket Joe. But who set those expectations? Was it Sarah Palin? No. John McCain? No again. It was, in fact, your friendly, unbiased (sarc) mainstream media pundits. There pre-debate take was if Palin was able to walk out on stage without falling on her face, that was a victory.

This is classic Cover Your Ass mentality. Either way, if she underperforms or if she does OK, they don't see their prediction as incorrect or off the mark. But what do you say when she not only holds her own, but takes it to her opponent? What do you do when she knocks it out of the park? You get angry and demeaning!

The bitter trio over at MSNBC were caught flat-footed after Palin's excellent turn and, as most libs do when they can't counter with substantive arguments, tried to marginalize her through personal attacks.

Chris Matthews referred to her as a "dolt" for looking into the camera when responding to questions. Rachel Maddow said she looked "cartoonish". And Keith Olberman? Well, Keith just wears too much make-up to be taken seriously.

The MSNBC experiment has been an abject failure. Fox got the jump in the late 90's with the "Fair and Balanced" mantra. I'll freely admit that they lean right. But they offer dissenting opinions from the left. MSNBC saw the success over at Fox and tried to mimic this format. Except, they went left. Very left. And, in the process, got shreaded in the ratings.

How many times can you hear someone say Bush is a liar, a war criminal, a moron? Those on the left are bitter. No question about that. They're eager to point out what is wrong with this country. They look to cast blame. But they don't offer solutions, just vitriol. And who wants to listen to that? Obviously, not many.