Media Involves Itself Again, Creates Santorum - Palin Feud

Rick Santorum was not trying to diss Sarah Palin. But, some of his own guard was down and his words came back to bite him. This is all because Andy Barr at Politico decided to make a mountain out of a mole hill. Santorum called the story garbage and tried to set the record straight today. Meanwhile, Sarah Palin was too busy researching economic policy and Egypt policy so that she could answer Sean Hannity's questions tonight. One thing she did not research was soap opera journalism. And because she wasn't aware of the controversy (she told Hannity this was the first she heard of it after he played the Santorum clip with SE Cupp), she addressed Santorum's actual remarks unfiltered.

After being nickeled and dimed by the media the way she has been for over two years, it's understandable that the sword would come out quickly. Palin has almost become trained to the quick draw given the number of crazy stories that the media drums up about her. The media has created its own monster and it continues to feed it with "garbage" stories like that on Politico.

Palin landed some serious questions on the economy and Egypt tonight. The media found a way to dupe Rick Santorum and to some extent Sarah Palin into a pissing contest so that Palin's serious answers to serious policy questions will be overshadowed.

One can only guess that this will end up being a blow over. I can't see Palin and Santorum not patching it up and getting past it once they both get to take time away from important research required of potential presidential candidates and look at the soap opera to see how they both ended up being unwilling participants in a game played by the media which would rather include themselves and drive a story instead of simply reporting. This is another case where the media creates the story and then gets the characters to play into it.

Santorum's lesson from this is to tread lightly on the Palin issue. Palin's lesson from this is, unfortunately, that she may have to take some time from researching really important issues to keep one side of an eye open for what the media is trying to do. Sarah took Santorum to task tonight based on a straight up replay of his words. Santorum genuinely isn't trying to pick a fight. Once they both get another look at this, they'll realize that the media duped them by playing on their blind spots.

This is about a media that doesn't like Republicans. If they can get two big ones to go at it, it helps their liberal agenda. Beware of the anti-Palin spin. You know it's coming. Santorum will also take heat for this. Those on Palin's side will take him to task for the poor words that made him appear sexist, and that's fine. But the real culprit here is the media.

ABC actually has a good take on the whole thing. (h/t @HeyTammyBruce)