Palin kills Matt Lauer interview over Martin Bashir slur

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MSNBC host apologizes to Palin for 'unacceptable' remarks

Howard Kurtz questions double standard following Martin Bashir's 'sad, pathetic and disgusting' attack

It's no secret that Sarah Palin is mighty steamed at MSNBC and Martin Bashir over his despicable remarks about the abusive treatment he imagines for her.

And now she's doing something about it.

The former Alaska governor and Fox News contributor was scheduled to sit down with Matt Lauer for a Christmas season interview. That's now toast.

Palin has now canceled Lauer's scheduled trip to Wasilla, a source close to her tells me. It's not because Palin is upset with Lauer or the "Today" show, but as a protest against NBC for not taking action against Bashir. In fact, Palin once sat in as a "Today"co-host.

Tim Crawford, treasurer of Palin's political action committee, had told NBC News President Deborah Turness and MSNBC President Phil Griffin that "Americans deserve to know that your network doesn't condone violent and hateful rhetoric."

Bashir apologized to Palin and to viewers Monday for his comments, which he called "totally unacceptable." In response to a speech in which she likened the national debt to slavery, the onetime "Nightline" co-anchor said Palin should be subjected to an ancient slavery punishment in which someone would defecate and urinate in her mouth.

MSNBC has not suspended Bashir, despite imposing a two-week suspension on another talk show host, actor Alec Baldwin, for hurling an anti-gay slur at a photographer outside his New York apartment. The network has had nothing to say publicly about Bashir's sliming of Palin.