LA Times, Olbermann, Maddow''s Sexist Reaction to Palin

Keith Olbermann's first word of note in his comment tonight concerning Sarah Palin was that she was a beauty pageant queen. Rachel Maddow chimes in that "John McCain's mate - Cindy McCain - and his running mate - Sarah Palin - are beauty pageant ladies, which may tell us something that we didn't know before about what John McCain likes in women."

Would they make the same comments about a liberal who backs Obama? This is where the double-standard in today's media is so troublesome. Can you imagine the howls from MSNBC if Rush Limbaugh had said something like this about Michelle Obama?

On the other hand, in her defense, Maddow talks about how from what we know about the ethics investigation concerning Palin's firing of a state official in Alaska does not seem to be something that will be politicized because of the events surrounding the case.

Also, is there any more evidence of MSNBC's lack of professionalism when someone put up the graphic: "How many houses does Palin bring to the Republicans?" under the Breaking News banner?

The Los Angeles Times didn't do much better. Its headline on a feature story about the sitting governor read: "Palin a gun-toting former beauty queen known for ambition and grit."

The question is, would the paper run a headline about a male governor just named as a vice presidential candidate in the same way? Would the paper write a headline about a liberal office-holder running for national office in such a snide manner? I don't think so. On Aug. 24, the Joe Biden sidebar in the Los Angeles Times was headlined "In his home state, Biden is a regular Joe."