Time's Joe Klein: No Reporter Has Said Bristol Palin Anything But Private Matter

September 2nd, 2008 5:47 PM

Updated below.

Time's Joe Klein apparently blogs under a rock.:

I'm slightly perplexed by the various Republican efforts to express outrage over the press and Democratic reaction to Bristol Palin's pregnancy. Maybe I'm missing something, but I haven't heard or read a single journalist--or Democrat--say that this was anything other than a private matter. In fact, Barack Obama, the son of an 18-year-old mother, was vehement and eloquent on that subject yesterday. I've got to think this is a McCain smokescreen to divert attention from the real issue here: how and why McCain selected this tyro.  

Really, Joe? Nobody?

Not Kate Zernike of the New York Times questioning Gov. Palin as a parent?

Host: "But Kate, is this an act of support? I mean, is everyone going to interpret it that way? If you knew your daughter was pregnant, 17 years old, and someone came to you and said, Hey, you want to be Vice President --"

Zernike: "Yeah, that's exactly the question."

Host: "-- would you maybe think, hey, I don't want to do this, I got some issues in my family?"

Zernike: "Yeah. No, I think that's exactly the question. Then it becomes more of a question of parenting and of judgment on her part."

Surely he's heard of this familiar name, Newsweek's Jonathan Alter:

On Tuesday's "Morning Joe," Newsweek's Jonathan Alter appeared as a guest for a discussion about Governor Sarah Palin's pregnant 17 year old daughter, Bristol. Alter defended the media's actions in heavily reporting on the pregnancy, saying of the Palin's: "This, to quote the Godfather, this is the business they have chosen."  

Nice try, Joe, but no one's buying what you're selling.

Update (17:33 St. Paul, MN time): Ace has a blog post up about Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) saying Bristol Palin is fair game.