OBNOXIOUS

Posted at 4:57 p.m. ET

The Associated Press, in another example of contemptible bias, is running a story on Sarah Palin's first major interview.  Note the tone:

FORT WAINWRIGHT, Alaska (AP) -- Sarah Palin is taking cautious steps out of the bubble she's been in since becoming John McCain's running mate. But not many steps yet.

They are portraying her as a child. 

The Alaska governor was sitting down Thursday for her first extended interview after days of preparation by the McCain campaign...

All candidates have preparation.  It's standard procedure.

A figure of intense national interest, the 44-year-old Palin has been limited to stages and stump speeches, with little spontaneous interaction with voters -- a star on camera who has been sheltered from questioning to the point of appearing cosseted. Her interview with ABC's Charlie Gibson is the only one scheduled for her to date.

The story conveniently neglects to say that she'll spend two days with Gibson, with no questions off limits.  Has Obama done that? 

The governor's son is being deployed to Iraq today.  There is even sneering about that.

Pentagon officials prohibit politicians from campaigning on military bases and met Wednesday to decide how the governor's appearance should be handled, given her position on McCain's ticket. They decided she could speak as Alaska's governor but her remarks could not be political or related to the campaign.

The event was opened to news coverage. The McCain campaign said earlier it would be closed but had no authority to make the call.

The tone is appalling.  The McCain campaign "had no authority to make the call," as if they'd sinned.  They probably thought the event would be off-limits to the press because of Pentagon rules, and were wrong.  No issue there.  As far as Pentagon officials meeting "to decide how the governor's appearance should be handled," come on!  Officeholders make speeches at military bases all the time, even during campaigns.  They know the rules.  There is nothing unusual here. 

And get this one:

Palin talks often in her speeches about her son's deployment, using it as an opportunity to promote McCain as a strong commander in chief. Joe Biden, Democrat Barack Obama's running mate, also has a son going to Iraq but rarely brings that up. McCain's son Jimmy, a Marine, returned earlier this year from the war.

In fact, young Biden's deployment was brought up in a speech at the Dem convention.

In military parlance, Track Palin is a ''dismount.'' He operates armored vehicles called Strykers, eight-wheeled trucks that weigh 19 tons.

Really?  Trucks?  The Stryker is an armored combat vehicle, not a truck.  This is the Stryker.  Does it look like a pickup to you?

Apparently we have another reporter here who doesn't do "the research thing."

Finally...

Sarah Palin arrived in Alaska on Wednesday to a warm homecoming from a crowd of more than 2,000. It was her first stop without McCain.

She's expected to rejoin him next week and spend much of the fall campaign at his side, even as Biden campaigns independently of Obama. Palin has proved a powerful draw at McCain's rallies, and keeping them together limits media access to her.

Despicable.  They're being kept together because it works.  It's electric.  It has nothing to do with media access. 

Ronald Reagan also would not genuflect before reporters.  He spoke over their heads, directly to the American people.  The people seemed to like it.

This is awful reporting.  And the media honchos wonder why their industry is held in such low esteem.

September 11, 2008.