After Ellis Conklin, a writer for the Puget Sound’s alternative newspaper Seattle Weekly, attacked Sarah Palin for accepting the invitation of the 27-member strong graduating class in Republic, Wash., to deliver its commencement address, the mama grizzly bared her claws and responded with a roar on her Facebook page:

Small town America is our heart; it may not be the Ivy Leagues or what Ellis and the media deem acceptable, but these students and this town represent what is good and right about America and the small towns where most of us grew our own roots and values.

It was veteran CBS News journalist Bernard Goldberg who coined the term “lamestream media,” but Palin made it into a battle cry. Some in the media just don’t understand the populist appeal of, and to, small town America, but it is rarely, if ever, a losing proposition for politicians. Or for entertainers. Just ask John Mellencamp, who took it to the bank. Palin will not be paid for her Saturday appearance, but she likely has plans to bank the political capital — at the expense of those whom she calls the “media elite.”