Right-wing media jump to defend Palin after "crib note" criticism.

I didn't comment on Sarah Palin reading from her hand during the question and answer session following her speech to the tea party convention because I really didn't think it a big deal.

I did point out the irony of her attacking Obama for reading off a teleprompter whilst wondering whether or not "around the world, people who are seeking freedom from oppressive regimes wonder if Alaska is still that beacon of hope for their cause." I thought that a valid thing to highlight. It's a boob that she would, perhaps, not have made had she availed herself of a teleprompter.

However, it really is amusing to watch the people of Fox News rush to defend their heroine for using crib notes so shortly after attacking Obama for using a teleprompter.

Gretchen Carlson replied, "I think she did it on purpose. Yeah, because I think it's an exact opposite of reading off the teleprompter. Reading off a complete script written for you with every word in a sentence, and here she's just taking crib notes on her hand. It makes it look as if she can just talk off the cuff and that she just jotted down a few couple notes before she went off to give a big, long speech." Later, co-host Brian Kilmeade called it "folksy," and "down to earth."

Very few politicians give speeches without a script, whether it be written in front of them or on a teleprompter, which is what makes the Republican attack on Obama so very, very lame.

But to watch the way they defend one of their own for doing the very thing which they have attacked Obama for is simply hysterical. They leap through hoops of hypocrisy rather than simply state the obvious: ALL politicians use prompters. We should limit our argument to the points which they are making, not the method by which they remember those points.

Tags: Fox News, Palin, Obama, teleprompters