'Bring Her Down'
How the American Media
Tried to Destroy Sarah Palin
by Gina Dalfonzo
  

Dalfonzo: 2011
234 pages

Nothing is quite so damaging to the mainstream media as publishing their own words in context. In her new book, 'Bring Her Down': How the American Media Tried to Destroy Sarah Palin, conservative author and Conservatives4Palin contributor Gina Dalfonzo does just that — in chilling fashion.
  

Ever wanted to compare ABC News anchor Charles Gibson's fawning interview with Obama to his condescending inquisition of Palin? (Conducted respectively in June and September 2008.) Dalfonzo has it for you. Here's a fair representation of the questions which Dalfonzo has in longer form ... I can't think of a better way to illustrate liberal media bias than this.

Gibson to Obama:

What are your feelings about winning the nomination? Has it sunk in yet?

What did your grandmother say?

Do you ever say to yourself: 'Son of a gun, I've done this?'

Did you truly, in your gut, think that a black man could win the nomination of a major party to be president of the United States?

[...]

Gibson to Palin:

You in favor of putting Georgia and Ukraine into NATO?

And under the NATO treaty, wouldn't we then have to go to war if Russian went into Georgia?

Let me turn to Iran. Do you consider a nuclear Iran to be a threat to Israel?

Do you agree with the Bush Doctrine?

Aside from the strikingly different tone, notice all the open-ended questions to Obama, giving him a chance to speak in a relaxed, reflective manner. Nobody has a problem per se with the questions Gibson posed to Palin, aside from the false insinuation that there is actually one definitive Bush Doctrine, or when he took Palin's prayer for the troops out of context to suggest she was a holy warrior. What was troubling is that Gibson showed far less concern about the worldview that had shaped the man running for president, than he did in quizzing Palin. Not once did Gibson ask Palin what her relatives thought of her historic nomination to the vice presidency. ABC also deliberately edited out key parts of Palin's interview, where she elaborated on her foreign policy worldview. Dalfonzo has the edited vs. unedited transcript.

The beauty of what Dalfonzo has done is that she has taken the time to research all the hideous examples of media malpractice that we have encountered over the last three years, including the JournoList scandal, and the ridiculously unhinged coverage of Palin's resignation as Governor of Alaska. And she has put it into chronological order and context, attempting to explain why it happened. She has written the book I wish I had the patience to produce. I would have given up in despair after poring through the unedited version of the six-hour Katie Couric interview. I probably would have broken out into a satiric fit.
  

'Bring Her Down': How the American Media Tried to Destroy Sarah Palin should be required reading for any Palin supporter. It should be in your home or Kindle library as a reference and reminder of what the media is capable of doing. It's a who's who list of repeat offenders. While some of the stories will be familiar to anyone who has followed Governor Palin, the level of detail offered in the book is priceless. Even I was surprised by some of the background Dalfonzo digs up on the various Palin rumors such as Troopergate, Trig Trutherism, the "Kill Him" urban legend, the book-banning myth, the wardrobe malfunction, and the creationism and abstinence-only lies.

I was especially touched by the chapter in which Dalfonzo documents the hateful comments by liberal women, and her effort to explain why Sarah Palin is such a threat to the liberal feminist establishment. She reminds us that liberals have always been about symbolism, and they rely on clueless Republicans to ignore symbolism. Dalfonzo adroitly points out how George W. Bush signed the partial-birth abortion ban surrounded by eight white men, the legislators who worked on the legislation. Unfortunately, the left was able to spin this until the cows came home — ignoring the substance and inherent decency of what Bush did, and focusing on the bad optics.

So when Sarah Palin came along with symbolism AND substance, the Left was apoplectic. They had no choice but to BRING HER DOWN. Of course, the left was aided and abetted by backstabbers within the Republican Party. Dalfonzo documents the "friendly fire" quite well also, as well as the despicable tactics of the Alaska Mafia, the bloggers who have been at the heart of nearly every false accusation against Governor Palin.
  

Gina Dalfonzo has added to the conservative canon with a well-researched history of media bias, illustrating how the growing confluence between news and entertainment served to create a caricature of a dynamic, young female leader. Fortunately, Dalfonzo also points the way to victory in 2012. ... She reminds us that Sarah Palin has chosen to go around the corrupt media and take her message directly to the people.

Wouldn't it be great if Sarah Palin could interview Charles Gibson right about now?

What are your feelings about becoming irrelevant?

Has it sunk in yet?

© 2011 Nicole O. Coulter