A tale of media malpractice

A friend passed this tale along via e-mail.

A tale of media malpractice:

John McCain declares that lemons are purple. Barack Obama says, “Actually, they’re yellow.” McCain criticizes Obama for implying that lemons are cowardly.

Sarah Palin announces that she saved Alaska taxpayers $33 million by planting purple lemons. The crowd cheers wildly. Obama says “Lemons don’t grow in Alaska.” An Associated Press story is headlined “Candidates clash over color of lemons.” The story is considered “balanced” because it gives both sides equal coverage. The fact that lemons are actually yellow is mentioned in the fourteenth paragraph.

Rush Limbaugh asks, “How can somebody from Kenya presume to know what grows in Alaska?” The McCain campaign produces an ad accusing Obama of anti-citrus bias. It airs nonstop in Florida.

CNN commentators debate Obama’s denunciation of lemons for two days. An MSNBC poll asks “Does Barack Obama hate fruit?” The multiple-choice answers are “Yes”; “No, just lemons”; and “No, it’s politics as usual.”

McCain says that Palin saved taxpayers $43 million and Obama evidently doesn’t appreciate it. In a Gallup poll, 41 percent of voters say they trust Obama less following his gaffe about lemons.

McCain wins the election with 52 percent of the vote.