By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

Poor White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. He couldn't keep quiet about Sarah Palin and now must pay the price.

Aboard Air Force One Tuesday, Gibbs complained about Palin's recent absurd comments that President Barack Obama's health care reform could lead to creation of a "death panel" that essentially would decide who would live and die in the future.

"I think we'd all be served better if the coverage of that was less about the personality of the former governor and more about the fact that even Republicans think what she said isn't true," Gibbs said.

Fair enough, Mr. Gibbs.

But then he went too far, complaining -- as Palin often does herself -- that the media can't concentrate on the "right" story.

No offense, but you guys cover a lot of process and you cover a lot of -- you cover noise and heat and light, but I think what people in America want to know is how is this reform going to help them or how is it going to affect them.

Sorry, but when the former vice presidential candidate of the Republican Party says something that quickly enters the national debate over health care -- no matter how ridiculous it might be factually -- it's worth talking about, if only to discredit it.

In fact, on Tuesday, Obama handled a question at his town hall in Portsmouth, N.H., which he said directly centered on whether a "death panel" would be used in end-of-life decisions.

Obama used the free media time to dispel the rumor that Palin and others had started.

Gibbs can complain all he wants about the attention Palin draws. But, for good or bad, she asks questions or makes statements that a lot of other people do as well.

So she's worth paying attention to, by the media and by Americans.