NASCAR Boos Vs Lyin’ Ass Bitch: How Have The Media Treated Michelle And Michele?

While NASCAR has not responded to the matter– and, given that what an anonymous crowd does is unpredictable, who can blame them?– Fallon has. The host tweeted today: “I’m honored that @michelebachmann was on our show yesterday and I’m so sorry about the intro mess. I really hope she comes back.” Given that Fallon had also jokingly tweeted that Roots leaders Questlove was “grounded,” that he has full control of his program and what goes on during it, and that he neither mentioned the incident on last’s night’s show nor seems to have taken any disciplinary action against his band, the apology rings particularly disingenuous.

But Fallon’s– a host who, after the January 2010 Late Night Wars managed to become the only host with his “nice guy” reputation left intact– reaction to a classless move he had complete control over pales in significance to the treatment of this incident by the media. It pales in significance to the relative apathy towards the NASCAR incident in the media, as well. Had either of these instances happened to figures that singularly attract viewers, that function as media catnip the way some other women who are routinely targeted do, one paragraph for each incident taking a look at watchdog groups would not have sufficed to cover the reaction. And while there are clear partisan divisions in the way both were covered– many on the right defended the NASCAR incident while condemning the late night one, while the left condemned the former and ignored the latter– the lack of major indignation, particularly on television, is as troubling as it is explicable.

Rep. Bachmann doesn’t have the poll numbers to justify the wall-to-wall coverage that other media powerhouses would have received in the same position. She doesn’t have the inexplicable media power of a Sarah Palin or the rabid fanbase of a Rep. Ron Paul. She doesn’t do much for ratings on her own and putting her name in your SEO title won’t do much to snag a Drudge link. Ideology aside, the media has no compelling reason to defend Rep. Bachmann the same way they would other women in politics– and Michelle Obama, while clearly enjoying the benefits of a title such as First Lady given the bipartisan defense she has received in the aftermath of this weekend, is not particularly different in that regard. Obama has gone out of her way to be an apolitical figure and, in doing so, does not spark reader- and viewership the way others that have put themselves in more vulnerable positions have. And so Rep. Bachmann and Obama, women of high education and remarkable acumen by any objective standards, can be on the receiving end of an uncalled-for attack based not on her ideas, but merely her existence as a conservative and outspoken woman. Unfortunately, in a media machine where the gears of the news cycle are fueled by star power and marketability– factors that only marginally relate to merit– women who suffer abhorrent attacks, some more personal than others, and hope to catch a glimmer of the spotlight in between stories of Newt Gingrich‘s crusade against bad hygiene and Herman Cain’s questionable tactics of choosing doctors.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.