Threatening the first ever lawsuit of its kind, two major media outlets, MSNBC and CNBC are kicking around the idea of asking a Federal Judge to decide if Palin is required under the 1st Amendment to issue free press passes to her upcoming March 12 speech at the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort in Orlando, FL.
Palin, through her booking agency, Washington Speakers Bureau, has stated that although media is not banned from the event, they will have to buy a ticket to attend just like everyone else, and no video or audio recordings will be allowed.
Attorneys for MSNBC are claiming that “Palin’s demands not only place an undue hardship on those seeking direct information as to her readiness to lead a country, but also deny the American public to vicariously, through the media outlets, become a ‘fly on the wall’ and listen in on someone who has her eye on a possible run for the Presidency in 2012. Without the same transparency she expects from President Obama, the American public in general does not really know a whole lot about this folksy beauty queen from Alaska, other than she’s not really keen on hope or change.”
A spokesperson for Washington Speakers Bureau claims that is common for someone of Ms. Palin’s prominence to deny the media entry into her speeches because she may give the same speech over and over, and if word were to leak out about the content of her speeches, there would be no need for her adoring fans to shell out the $250 a pop to see her in the next town over. In addition, WSB claims that MSM reporters don’t like the idea of no audio or video recordings allowed simply because it puts additional onus on them to practice taking notes in shorthand, which they’ve not done since the invention of the micro-mini-recorder.
Political watchdog group, Media Matters in America, says that if the suit is filed, they are ready to file an amicus brief (friend-of-the-Court brief) to state their claim that there is a more simple reason for Palin not allowing the media to attend her speeches. Said attorneys for MMA, “Palin simply is not ready for prime time, and instead of going about the task of learning all she can about foreign relations, the economy, health care reform, and other such pressing issues that a potential presidential candidate should be studying in order to give informed and more intelligent answers, Ms. Palin is trying to get by on what limited information she has as long as she can and as long as the ignorant are buying. One or two more ‘crib notes’ incidents, however, and she may just be finished forever.”
Many MSM news anchors agree that if given the same opportunity today that Katie Couric and Charles Gibson were given to interview Sarah Palin leading up to the 2008 presidential election, they too would have no problem “outing” the depth of her ignorance.
Keith Olbermann said it best “to deny us the opportunity to sit down and discuss current affairs with Ms. Palin is only prolonging the pain. Sure, as long as most Americans of average intelligence are shielded from her ignorance, they can go on letting her give her speeches and telling us to leave her alone, but if the more intelligent faction of Americans honestly saw just how inept the woman is, it would be over before it started, and the money she commands for her speeches would dry up like the Mojave Desert. Sure, Sarah Palin is dumb, dumb like a fox.”
Meanwhile, if the attorneys for MSNBC and CNBC do decide to file the lawsuit, it must be done within the next few days in order to allow enough time for a ruling before the event on March 12.