Glenn Greenwald Weighs in on Sarah Palin’s Creepy Isolation from the Media, and Declares That It Is “Conclusively, Disturbingly Clear” That McCain is Shielding Palin from Scrutiny by Voters

At the end of her debate with Joe Biden, Sarah Palin signalled that she would be speaking to the American people without the filter of the mainstream media.

Translation: She won’t be taking questions from the press, and she’ll be sticking to her cue cards, as she did in the debate.

Let’s hope the electorate does not reward the McCain campaign for its gross subverting of the basic information that we all need, in a democracy, to evaluate a candidate.

Sarah Palin needs to hold a press conference, and she needs to do so now.

She needs to sit down with serious journalists and answer questions.

She is the VP candidate for a major American political party. She cannot simply slip, unvetted, into office on McCain’s coattails.

The world is too dangerous for that. 

Salon’s Glenn Greenwald today:

Between that bizarre episode at the U.N. yesterday where they basically physically blocked her from answering even innocuous questions to their desire to “postpone” the Vice Presidential debate, it’s now conclusively, disturbingly clear that the McCain campaign really does intend essentially to shield her from any and all media scrutiny until the election. I no longer think this is careful media strategizing by the McCain campaign but instead is motivated by what Greg Sargent said last night:

 

“The lengths the McCain campaign is going to in order to shield Sarah Palin from questioning are reaching truly comic dimensions . . . What’s really sobering is that the McCain campaign continues to block Palin from answering questions even though it’s now resulting in reams and reams of bad press for the McCain-Palin ticket. That suggests McCain advisers know that letting her answer even the most elementary questions in an uncontrolled environment is so dangerous that it’s worth weathering the current media drubbing they’re taking in order to prevent it from happening at all costs.”

Vice Presidents matter much more than they did before. So much unfettered power is now vested in the Executive that it’s inevitable that the Vice President will wield significant authority. McCain evinces little interest in domestic policy, and the fact that he will be beholden to her and her Dobson-ite base if she wins makes it highly likely that she will exert substantial influence over numerous important areas. All of that, combined with McCain’s age — and what really do appear to be legitimate and growing questions about his health (those are mere suspicions, but appropriate ones that should be answered by McCain) — makes Sarah Palin’s candidacy a very real hazard, something that, by the day, I’m convinced is as important as any other issue in the campaign.