Oh that liberal media

Looks like the Republicans have decided to stick with Sarah Palin, and network execs have made their instructions clear to their talking heads: Start treating her like a heavyweight and stop doing journalism.

With a forceful speech that served as her introduction to millions of Americans on Wednesday, Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin seduced many on television who had spent days doubting her candidacy.

It wasn't just a home run, said CNN's Wolf Blitzer; it may have been a grand slam. "A very auspicious debut," said NBC's Tom Brokaw. It was a "perfect populist pitch," said CBS' Jeff Greenfield. "Terrific," said Mort Kondracke on Fox News Channel.

"A star is born," said Chris Wallace on Fox.

"A star is born," Blitzer said.

"A star is born," said Anderson Cooper on CNN.

Wow, positive reviews from Fox news. Gee, did anyone see that coming? Seriously, if Palin had taken a giant, steamy shit in the middle of the stage and then eaten it, Fox probably would have said it shows Palin’s commitment to protecting the planet through reuse and recycling. That is, it would if talk of environmentalism and careful use of resources had any place at the Republican National Convention, which it doesn’t, except maybe as a punch line.

But why single out Fox when the so-called legitimate news networks are saying the exact same thing?

While the talking heads were embarrassing themselves, the AP identified and debunked numerous lies from Palin’s speech and the rest of the Republican convention. But the bobbleheads were having none of that. Too much journalism might interrupt the praise parade and, more importantly, the narrative that the people with wealth and positions of power in this country want to feed the American people in order to protect the aforementioned wealth and positions of power.

Here’s what the television “journalists” refer to as the birth of a star:

PALIN: "I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending ... and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. I told the Congress 'thanks but no thanks' for that Bridge to Nowhere."

THE FACTS: As mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a lobbyist and traveled to Washington annually to support earmarks for the town totaling $27 million. In her two years as governor, Alaska has requested nearly $750 million in special federal spending, by far the largest per-capita request in the nation. While Palin notes she rejected plans to build a $398 million bridge from Ketchikan to an island with 50 residents and an airport, that opposition came only after the plan was ridiculed nationally as a "bridge to nowhere."

PALIN: "The Democratic nominee for president supports plans to raise income taxes, raise payroll taxes, raise investment income taxes, raise the death tax, raise business taxes, and increase the tax burden on the American people by hundreds of billions of dollars."

THE FACTS: The Tax Policy Center, a think tank run jointly by the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute, concluded that Obama's plan would increase after-tax income for middle-income taxpayers by about 5 percent by 2012, or nearly $2,200 annually. McCain's plan, which cuts taxes across all income levels, would raise after tax-income for middle-income taxpayers by 3 percent, the center concluded.

Obama would provide $80 billion in tax breaks, mainly for poor workers and the elderly, including tripling the Earned Income Tax Credit for minimum-wage workers and higher credits for larger families.

He also would raise income taxes, capital gains and dividend taxes on the wealthiest. He would raise payroll taxes on taxpayers with incomes above $250,000, and he would raise corporate taxes. Small businesses that make more than $250,000 a year would see taxes rise.

But if you’re talking about rising to prominence in a group known for lying, I guess getting up in front of a national audience and telling one huge lie after another actually does make one a star.

So Palin gave a competent speech. What did they expect her to do? Cry? Admit she’s uninformed about world affairs and lacks the qualifications for the office for which she is being nominated? Talk about the soft bigotry of low expectations. Hooray! The lady gave a nice talk and didn’t make an ass out of herself. Finally, a moment for the McCain campaign that wasn’t a complete, embarrassing disaster. They did something right. Start hitting up Exxon for inaugural donations.