"The Kansas City Star, and similar publications throughout the country continue to search for answers on why subscriptions are plummeting. The editorial women of the Star are clear cut examples of why subscribers such as myself have severed ties with the Star. "I can read my KC Star sports coverage online, and will choose to get my news and politics from more reputable sources. Political writers that alienate nearly 50% of your possible subscription base is not a good business model."
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09-24-2008 "Eliza Doolittle, Maybelline Pit Bull..Unfit...I Pity her...Condescending Choice...Not What We Wanted" ALL FEMALE STAR EDITORIAL COLUMNISTS HATE PALIN By John Landsberg Female reporters at the Kansas City Star, who for years have been begging for a woman "to break the glass ceiling" in politics, are making it very clear they don't feel that Republican VP choice Sarah Palin is the type of woman they wanted to break it. In fact, it is unanimous among the Star's leading female columnists Barb Shelly, Laura Scott, Mary Sanchez and Rhonda Chriss Lokeman, who have all written a series of editorial columns lambasting Palin. It should be noted that these four women have a major say over the editorial positions at Kansas City's largest newspaper. It also should be noted the Star does not seem to make any effort to provide any editorial balance. Without a doubt, Mary Sanchez has the title of "most vicious" in her criticism of Palin followed closely by Rhonda Chriss Lokeman. Barb Shelly and Laura Scott initially got the ball rolling with their dislike of Palin. This was very significant because Shelly holds the title of "Editorial Writer" while Scott is the newspaper's "Assistant Editorial Page Editor." On (9/4) Shelly wrote a column titled "The Working Mom: A Weakened Cultural Icon," where she said "Palin represents much else the conservative movement holds dear. She opposes abortion under all circumstances. She favors abstinence-only sex education. She�s a lifelong member of the National Rifle Association. "In other words, Palin is a dream standard-bearer for the conservative movement, but she needs the job to carry the banner. The ideal of the stay-at-home mother is easily sacrificed for the good of the other causes." In another column (9/11) Shelly criticized Palin for "draping herself in the Truman mantle. But by claiming the similarities, she also risks highlighting the differences... Palin bounced around among several schools before earning a degree from the University of Idaho, and Truman never attended college." Scott, who is a member of the Star's editorial board and helps set editorial positions at the newspaper, lashed out at Palin in a column (9/7) saying "Be careful what you wish for. That�s the lesson to women from the Republican National Convention. "No, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska is not what we wanted. Despite her stature as an elected state executive, her positions are all wrong for a woman who is supposed to attract women voters who liked Hillary Clinton � and to represent their views about life�s issues on a major-party ticket. "GOP presidential nominee John McCain doesn�t get it, I guess." Leading the list of Palin haters is Star Editorial Columnist Mary Sanchez, who has written three major, above-the-fold hit pieces in slightly more than a week against the VP candidate. In her most recent vitriolic effort (9/23) Sanchez actually infers she is more qualified than Palin. "...But what is more glaring about our derailment by identity politics is the unabashed rush to value the ordinary over the more qualified, simply because it seems more authentic, " Sanchez writes. "Palin, or any candidate who is of the masses, is preferable because she is so plain, so down home, so much more likely to be stuck in the line with everyone else at the local box store. "So now we�re seeking common folk status as a requirement for one of the most significant and powerful positions in the world? I gain no comfort sending to the White House a person who equals my level of international travel, time with heads of state and educational status." That column followed an even more vicious attack on Palin (9/15) where Sanchez wrote a nasty column titled "Palin is gloriously, fabulously unfit for duty": "Anybody who cares about the future of this country had better take a long, hard look at her qualifications... "A lot of us anticipate what�s around the bend for Palin, our own Eliza Doolittle awaiting her grand remaking...I don�t envy Sarah Palin � I pity her. "The most humiliating experience a working person can have is to be plucked from the herd and placed into a job she is not able to fulfill...The rest of us face the prospect of having to pick up the pieces when Palin inevitably fails. And we can�t afford four more years of that," Sanchez added. Just a week earlier (9/8) Sanchez had blasted Palin in a major column titled "Palin's Gender Alone Won't Make the Sale" saying she was unqualified to be VP and said, "Women voters do not need a vice president they can lunch with. They need someone who could step in and be the commander in chief." Sanchez even questioned Palin's family issues, including her decision to give birth to a Down Syndrome child and the fact her 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, is pregnant: "Bristol obviously could have used what her mother adamantly opposes: access to contraception rather than just the "'stay a virgin'" message that, while perhaps ideal, is not realistic." Sanchez concluded her column calling Palin simply a token: "Respecting Palin as a savvy woman is one thing. Believing she is the right choice for the job of vice president is condescending to women voters." The Star's other leading local female columnist, Rhonda Chriss Lokeman, has also unloaded on Palin. Lokeman is technically part of the Creators Syndicate, which enables her to skirt an obvious conflict of interest with her husband Mark Zieman, who is president and publisher of the Kansas City Star. Lokeman unloaded on Palin (9/13), calling McCain's VP choice an "impetuous pick to be his vice president" and declared that a man probably had written her speech...and that she was really a "Stepford Wife." "Palin�s �pit bull with lipstick� line surely will go down in history � if not the Feminism Hall of Shame � as one of the dumbest things a trailblazing smart woman ever said in public on this side of Stepford," writes Lokeman. "...As sure as I am that Palin was not vetted properly for this historic opportunity, I am equally confident that the pit bull reference, like most of that remarkable speech, neither was written by a woman nor approved by a woman of any merit." Lokeman also added her own personal dose of sexism to her views of Palin, referring to her as the "Maybelline pit bull." "Truthfully, the voters really do have a dog in this fight to stop the loyal Bushies from continuing to wreck the country and wage war without provocation," says Lokeman. "It�s just that it�s not that old hunting dog howling at the Sedona moon. "And it ain�t the Maybelline pit bull from Wasilla, either."
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