Remember back in July when John McCain was crying that the media–the “liberal” media–was ignoring him? He even took out an ad attempting to spotlight the media’s love for Barack Obama, calling him a “celebrity” and equating the attention he was getting with the media’s (and middle America’s) fascination with Britney Spears and Paris Hilton.

Now that McCain has a Rove-generated celeb of his own, one that the supposed “liberal media” is now treating as an icon for women despite her disturbing record of being anti-women on issues, McCain has pulled ahead in the horse race that has become American Idol to lead with 85 percent of news mentions to Obama’s 73 percent, according to perspectv.com.

The real irony, of course, lies in the whole “celebritydom” complaint McCain first lobbed at Obama. After weeks of Palintology stories it appears major news outlets really are more interested in covering, and throwing soft balls at, someone who paints herself as just like Britney Spears’ mom than they are covering the real, corrosive issues–like a failing economy, a failed war and failed foreign policies, a failed system that favors the private sector over the public–and how we got there. Stupid liberal media? Stupid, yes. Liberal, hardly.