Signs depicting an American politician with an Adolph Hitler mustache are prominently displayed at a political protest and the organizers and participants continue with their demonstration making no attempt to remove the signs or disavow the message.

This exact scenario was the dominant news story for weeks in the main stream media and was a prominent part of the NAACP’s infamous condemnation of the Tea Party movement and the launch of TeaPartyTracker.org designed to stalk individuals at Tea Party rallies trying to catch them in embarrassing or offensive positions.

However, the latest incident described above has not made headlines anywhere but in the under media blogosphere. And, the fact that the target of the Hitler sign was Sarah Palin can’t just be a coincidence.

It has been four days since the first reports of this political rally in Joliet, Ill., that included the offensive signs that also showed talk show host Glenn Beck with the same moustache. Blogs were buzzing all weekend with the story but no traditional media outlets have touched it. As Newsbusters points out, even the local Joliet paper has yet to mention the story.

There is something in this story that is more surprising than the obvious double-standard in play which allows a the “correct” party to not be implicated by offensive signs at one of their rallies while the Tea Party has had to spend months under fire for the same manufactured offense. What is truly scandalous about the traditional media’s apparent obliviousness is the fact that unlike the Tea Parties — which are often spontaneous, unorganized events with no direct affiliation to a politician or a political party — this protest has been directly liked to Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Halvorson, and her campaign has been caught in a series of misleading statements regarding that involvement.

A video of the protest has been linked all over the internet. The video shows the protesters chanting and participating side-by-side with the offensive signs. The video then shows protesters walking back to the Halvorson campaign headquarters. Individuals in the protest have been identified by name and tracked back to the Halvorson campaign, Obama’s Organizing for America, and the Democratic National Committee.

Given the opportunity to disavow the signs, a spokesman Friday morning said the campaign had nothing to do with the protest, but they condemned the sign anyway. When confronted with the video showing protesters hanging out in the campaign office, the next statement claimed that protesters were just stopping by for some water.

Then on Sunday, Media Matters attempted to spin the story as a lone nut with a sign (the same argument the Tea Party is never allowed to use) and Julie Merz, the Halvorson campaign manager admitted that the protest had, in fact, been organized by the Illinois Democratic Party Coordinated Campaign Committee, a committee that Rep. Halvorson is a part of.

Now, this morning, the Halvorson campaign has come out with their fourth statement on their website’s blog:

Upon word that these signs were used, the Halvorson for Congress campaign condemned the actions of Mr. Preston and stated that the Congresswoman’s campaign was not affiliated with Mr. Preston’s individual and inexcusable protest.

Upon word that the signs were used? Halvorson campaign operatives were standing right there next to the guy with the signs! Why did they have to wait for the video to hit the internet before they condemned the signs? And now they are asking for kudos for issuing a press release once they were in trouble? And they still have not taken ownership of the rally or the individuals from their staff who were participating in the rally.

Isn’t it time for the traditional media to start asking some real questions here?

It’s no longer just a story about the obvious double-standard the media have for Tea Party signs vs. these signs at a left-wing rally. Now it’s about a cover-up and very real connection between this rally, the Halvorson campaign and the Democratic National Committee. And it’s getting bigger every day.

Will the traditional media continue to allow themselves to be scooped solely for the sake of carrying water for another losing campaign?

Silly question.