This was my post over at Glamocracy today:

Hillary Clinton's Style section cleavage controversy is nothing compared to the sexist, savage attacks being waged on Sarah Palin.

On CNN, John Roberts openly wondered if Palin would neglect her child with Down's Syndrome if she took the VP job, saying "Children with Down's syndrome require an awful lot of attention," and "The role of Vice President, it seems to me, would take up an awful lot of her time, and it raises the issue of how much time will she have to dedicate to her newborn child?" His fellow anchor Campbell Brown put it to to a McCain spokesman that Palin was putting "Bristol Palin smack in the media spotlight at what's already got to be a very challenging time in her life," implying that Palin was damaging her daughter by accepting the nomination. Over on MSNBC, "Some Voters Concerned if Palin, a Mother of Five Has Time to be VP," crawled across the screen.

The underlying assumption of these statements is that Palin will be a bad mother if she became the first female vice president. She can't do both well, and maybe she should just stay barefoot in her Alaskan kitchen cooking mooseburgers till her kids are grown.

On top of that, there have been many "news" stories raising doubts about the McCain campaign's vetting process in regard to the news of Bristol's pregnancy. They want you to think that McCain didn't know about it because if he did, he would have picked Romney or Pawlenty instead. They're using Palin's unborn grandchild to pressure McCain to drop her.

There's a double standard at work and it's a blend of both gender and party politics.

Do you remember anyone questioning Joe Biden's decision to keep his job in the U.S. Senate after his wife and daughter were killed in a tragic car accident? The media thought it was distasteful to find out if John Edwards fathered an illegitimate child, but has no problem adopting National Enquirer-like tactics to go after Sarah Palin. Have you seen one glossy magazine cover yet lauding Palin's "historic" candidacy?

Let's face it. If Sarah Palin was a liberal Democrat all the media would be salivating over the "woman who has it all." Since she's not, they're using her status as a mother to disqualify her from breaking the hardest, highest  of glass ceilings.

What are the most popular stories around the web this morning?  Townhall does the surfing so you don't have to.

CNN:  Democrats Attack Lieberman, Saying he Lied to Delegates

Politico:  Obama Ad Slams McCain on Abortion Rights

Slate:  No Experience Necessary

ABC News:  Palin: Bad Parent or Conservative Feminist?

Washington Post:  Aides Say Team Interviewed Palin Late in the Process

New York Times:  What the Palin Pick Says

Wall Street Journal:  Why McCain Still Has a Chance to Win

Time Magazine:  In Wasilla, Pregnancy Was No Secret

Boston Globe:  50 Smartest High Schools

FOX News:  Shooting Spree in Washington State Kills 6

US News & World Report:  John McCain, POW, Shares His Story

From Howard Kurtz:

At a secret meeting with Barack Obama three months ago, Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes says, he tried to clear the air with the Democratic senator by saying that his organization was determined to be fair but would not be "in the tank" for Obama's campaign.
...
The meeting appears to have eased tensions between the two camps, which began when all the Democratic candidates, complaining that the network favors Republicans, refused to hold any primary-season debates on Fox. After resisting invitations for months, Obama now plans to appear on Bill O'Reilly's prime-time Fox program on Thursday, the night that John McCain delivers his acceptance speech at the Republican convention here.

Sean Hannity had to travel to the top of the Xcel Energy Center to chat with Townhall.com's Amanda Carpenter Tuesday morning.    Townhall.com has a camera location and several workstations in the press box up in the rafters.  Any higher and we'd be above the baloons.

Listen to the interview here:

Click To Play

Mad props to the good folks of the Coalition for a Conservative Majority (CCM) for hooking us up last night.  Smash Mouth was most excellent -- and the event was also a virtual who's who of the political world.  Special thanks to Tom DeLay, Ken Blackwell for hosting the event -- as well as to our good friends Shannon Flaherty and Chris Perkins for their hospitality and the vip treatment they gave Townhall...

What are the most popular stories around the web this morning?  Townhall does the surfing so you don't have to.

CNN:  Palin’s Teen Daughter is Pregnant

New York Post:  Palin Admits Her 17-Year Old Daughter is Pregnant

Politico:  New Palin Details May Help, Not Hurt

Wall Street Journal:  Palin’s Family Life Moves to Center Stage

Los Angeles Times:  With Palin Revelations, McCain’s Gamble is Clearer

Time Magazine:  In Wasilla, Pregnancy Was No Secret

Slate:  Sarah Palin, Web Invention

Washington Post:  Palin’s Small Alaska Town Secured Big Federal Funds

New York Times:  Vice in Go-Go Boots?

Philadelphia Inquirer:  We Need Obama

Boston Globe:  The Colonnade Hotel Welcomes a New Addition

ABC News:  Ragweed Central: The Worst-Ranking Fall Allergy Capitals

FOX News:  Ohio Teen Shot Dead After Egging Cars

US News & World Report:  John McCain, POW, Shares His Story

Amanda, What would we do without Reuters photographers keeping us informed of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's footwear?

"The situation at our channel is about to blow up,” a high-ranking MSNBC journalist told Politico on Wednesday. 

... On Monday evening, Olbermann interrupted Scarborough while he was talking about McCain being competitive in the polls. “Jesus, Joe, why don’t you get a shovel?” Olbermann remarked.

On “Morning Joe” the following day, a clearly agitated Scarborough went off on Shuster during a discussion of Iraq, which quickly devolved over several cringe-worthy minutes into personal attacks, such as Scarborough telling the world how his colleague missed the show three times by oversleeping. "Are you Rip Van Shuster?” Scarborough asked. “Have you been sleeping for the past couple of months?”

But Scarborough, a former Republican congressman from Florida, became enraged when Shuster made a reference to “your party.” Asked by Scarborough what his party was, Shuster said he was an “independent.”

"I feel so comforted by the fact that you're an independent,” Scarborough said, in a mocking tone. “I bet everybody at MSNBC has independent on their voting cards. Oh, we're down the middle now.” (Shuster left the set, but returned later to hug it out, "Entourage"-style.)

That night, Scarborough told NPR that he “get[s] frustrated by people who have an obvious partisan bias that don't proclaim that bias.”