"Lame-stream" No More? Palin Says She's Over Media Criticism

Impotent. Limp. Gutless. Whack. Lame-stream. Those are just a few words Sarah Palin has used to describe the mainstream media, but the former Alaska governor had a new phrase for critical reporting Wednesday night: "So what?"

"My point is going to be, ‘so what?' Let's just work harder, produce better, and...get over it," Palin, a FOX News contributor, told "On the Record" Wednesday when asked if women in the public eye are treated differently than men. "I'm through whining about a liberal press that holds conservative women to a different standard, because it doesn't do any good to whine about it."

The ‘let it go' approach is a departure for the former vice presidential candidate, who in the past has eviscerated the press with accusations of inaccuracy and bias. Palin's relationship with the media reentered the spotlight Friday when HBO host Bill Maher called her a sexually derogatory term on air.

The National Organization for Women chastised Maher in a blog post Tuesday after the group was approached for comment by FOXNews.com. Communications director Lisa Bennett wrote that NOW couldn't combat "every sexist comment," but added, "Listen, supposedly progressive men (ok, and women, too): Cut the crap! Stop degrading women with whom you disagree and/or don't like by using female body terms and other gender-associated slurs."

But Palin on Wednesday dismissed the rebuke. "I need NOW's defense like a fish needs a bicycle," she said. "I don't want them to defend me. What my point is, when a shot is taken at me...it is water off a duck's back, because I know the important things in life that we need to concentrate on - especially the national and international issues that are so important to our country."

The prolific public speaker isn't ruling out a bid to address those issues at a national level from the campaign trail. "You don't need a title. You don't need an office to make a difference. I'm proof of that," she said of a possible 2012 presidential run before adding, "I'm still not going to close the door at this time...I'm tempted, because I'm still wondering who the heck is going to be out there willing to serve the American people for the right reason."