Yeah, I know, fish in a barrel, but Palinistas should appreciate this as an especially fragrant example of the double standards she’s subjected to. Her use of ghostwriters is a minor preoccupation of Matthews’s, dating back to when she first got her book deal and he seemed to express surprise that she can read. Why this bugs him so much when virtually every other major politician uses ghostwriters on their books and speeches (Democratic royalty included) is beyond me unless he really does believe that Palin, a former governor, is semi-literate and committing some type of “extra” deception. It’s to the point where he actually seems to take exception here to the fact that her jokes — a form of writing with which literally every politician in America has help — are written by someone else.

The speechwriting bit comes in the middle but I recommend watching the beginning too, where Jonathan “Hit Piece” Martin describes how enthusiastic the crowd to see her was in Iowa — whereupon Matthews instantly asks whether they were all white. Another minor preoccupation, don’t you know.

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