John Schwenkler comes out swinging:
[T]he reason the media “still won’t touch” this story is that there is no story; all there is is a bunch of loony conspiracy theories cooked up by people with too much time on their hands and consequently spun into a master narrative of intrigue and political cunning. Mainstream media outlets are not tabloids or snopes.com; journalists report on news, not rumors, and do not exist to satisfy the curiosity or settle the political scores of the denizens of the internet. And as to the supposedly damning observation that the Palins refused to answer questions about this issue when approached, that hardly seems remarkable given that the questions were about something that was, well, ABSOLUTELY FREAKING RIDICULOUS. In other news, we still haven’t seen a proper copy of Barack Obama’s birth certificate.
Please. The Anchorage Daily News, Palin's home paper, did not believe it was beneath investigating, especially since evidence completely obliterating all doubts about Palin's pregnancy is instantly available to Palin - and yet she continued to refuse to provide it.
It is, moreover, not the press's responsibility to protect public figures from questions that relate to their character, veracity and judgment. It is the public official's responsibility to clear any questions up, especially if they have the evidence to do so readily at hand. She cannot claim privacy when she has brandished her infant as a political tool and used him as her building bloc for appealing to the Christianist base. Palin is also, as we can see, pathological in her deceit and delusions. Under these circumstances, what might seem inappropriate for other politicians is highly relevant here. As I said, until we get any actual evidence Palin should be given the benefit of the doubt. But doubt remains. That is Palin's responsibility - not the press's.
I might add that simply calling questions "absolutely freaking ridiculous" is not an argument. In fact, the only actual arguments I have seen against this line of inquiry have been published on this blog.