McClatchy Finds a Fruit Fly in its Olive: But Takes a Swipe at Palin Instead

Yesterday, McClatchy ran a story with the headline Fruit flies earn no respect, except among scientists

To protect his state's olive growers, Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., inserted a $742,764 ``earmark'' in the last congressional appropriations bill to research ways to control the pests. Some of the money is to be spent in France, where the U.S. Department of Agriculture has a research station.

Palin, then the Republican vice-presidential candidate, snatched at this item. She scoffed at ``dollars that have little or nothing to do with the public good, things like fruit fly research in Paris, France. . . . I kid you not.''

In the Senate last month, McCain again singled out fruit fly research in his condemnation of budget earmarks.

Despite such jibes, modern science is deeply indebted to the fruit fly.

McClatchy did a nice hatchet job on Palin's quote because the quote had other earmarks in there along with the money spent overseas for the research on olive fruit flies which has nothing to do with research on autism. It's about olives.

Moreover, since the money wasn't going to the research of autism, why bring the subject of autism into the story? To discredit Palin. Take notice, McCain was briefly talked about but no mention of what he said last month.

The McClatchy writer can join the ranks of Olbermann on being a dumbass.