Palin's responses on radio talk show very unbecoming
DAN FAGAN | COMMENT | 1/27/08 The governor's appearance on KWHL's "The Bob and Mark Show" last week is plain and simple one of the most unprofessional, childish and inexcusable performances I've ever seen from a politician. Anchorage DJ Bob Lester unleashed a vicious, mean-spirited, poisonous attack on Senate President Lyda Green last week while our governor was live on the air with him. When we played the tape on my show the day after it happened, we received 130 calls. Even some Palinbots were disgusted. The Daily News posted the recording on its Web site and it fired up bloggers. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner editorial writers demanded the governor apologize. The Juneau and Ketchikan papers also ran the editorial. The Daily News opinion page addressed the governor's gaffe. They wrote "She came off looking immature herself, almost high-schoolish. It was conduct unbecoming a governor." It was conduct unbecoming a human being, never mind a governor. The governor's office eventually tried to spin the public relations disaster, releasing a statement reading, "Governor Palin was caught off guard by Bob Lester's reference to Senate President Lyda Green." I don't buy it. Early on in the conversation before Palin started to crack up, Lester referred to Sen. Green as a jealous woman and a cancer. Palin, who knows full well Lyda Green is a cancer survivor, didn't do what any decent person would do, say, "Bob, that's going too far." But as the conversation moved on, Lester intensified his attack on Green. Lester questioned Green's motherhood, asking Palin if the senator cares about her own kids. Palin laughs. Then Lester clearly sets the stage for what he is about to say by warning his large audience and Palin. He says, "Governor you can't say this but I will, Lyda Green is a cancer and a b----." Palin laughs for the second time. What were teenage boys thinking when they heard the governor laugh at someone being called a b----? How about the teenage girls who look up to Palin. What did they think when they heard her laugh? But there is more. Lester then describes Green's chair as big and cushy. A clear reference to the senator's weight. Palin laughs a third time. She's just having a grand old time. Palin was clearly enjoying every second of Lester's vicious attack on her political rival. But it gets worse. Lester asks Palin point blank: "Do you have any idea of what you did, to make Lyda Green dislike you, hate you?" How does Palin respond? Does she do the right thing? What you would expect from a mature leader, a governor and say, "Bob, Lyda doesn't hate me." No, she responds like a 13-year-old and says, "Um, you know once and a while I try to figure that out but I can't figure that out." The Palin camp says the governor did call Green and apologize. That was the right thing to do. But the governor's statement shows the apology a half-hearted one. The statement in part reads: "The Governor called Senator Green to explain that she does not condone name-calling in any way and apologized if there was a perception that the comment was attributed to the Governor." But there's strong evidence Palin did condone Lester's name-calling. At the end of Lester making fun of Green as a mother, calling her a cancer, twice, and saying she has to go; after calling the senator a b----, making fun of her weight, and accusing Green of being jealous and hateful; after all of that, Lester ends the conversation offering to visit Palin. How does Palin respond? "I'd be honored to have you." The statement released by the governor's office also called Palin's action bad judgment. But bad judgment is when you stay up late the night before a big test, order steak at a Chinese restaurant or wear blue jeans to a black tie affair. What the governor did was wrong. Not only did she sit by and watch a decent public servant get thrashed in front of tens of thousands of people, she actually enjoyed it. This is our governor, for goodness sake. Our leader. I wonder. Dan Fagan is a radio talk show host on KFQD 750 AM
Have a listen for yourself...
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