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Go Home Ap: Sorry, Sarah Palin, That's Just Wack

SEPTEMBER 23, 2008

Ap: Sorry, Sarah Palin, That's Just Wack

BY EVE FAIRBANKS

The Associated Press took the prize today for the most dryly contemptuous lead sentence I've read in a political news story in a while:

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Less than a week after balking at the Alaska Legislature's investigation into her alleged abuse of power, Gov. Sarah Palin on Monday indicated she will cooperate with a separate probe run by people she can fire.

In the Poynter Institute's online media forum, Jay Rosen asked, "At what point does an extreme attempt to de-legitimate the press actually de-legitimate the candidate ... in the eyes of the press?" Perhaps this is that point.

--Eve Fairbanks

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21 comments

ROFL!

- emigdio

September 23, 2008 at 3:13pm

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Ouch. That sentence stings.

- mkayser0

September 23, 2008 at 3:46pm

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Joseph Heller couldn't have done better.  The line deserves a Pulitzer.  No, better.  It desreves the a whole Pulitzer category.

- icarusr

September 23, 2008 at 4:02pm

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Is this the tipping point?

- BHLnyc

September 23, 2008 at 4:05pm

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Citing the hysterical opening graf in the AP's dispatch about Sarah Palin's efforts to escape

- Anonymous

September 23, 2008 at 4:17pm

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I know this is a tired refrain, but the double standard is officially obscene.  Republicans can get away with ANYthing.

- Wandreycer1

September 23, 2008 at 4:20pm

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She's Nixon before she's even in office. Although I guess Palin hunts moose and Nixon hunted Archibald Cox.

- rozenson

September 23, 2008 at 4:31pm

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What makes it even more funny is that last week she was telling this same body that they could dismiss the claim against her (which she filed herself), because her investigation of herself had shown no wrongdoing.

- JEFF FREY

September 23, 2008 at 4:42pm

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"The final part of the debate will be our, ahem, Lightning Round. First question:

Governor Palin, despite having met with 7 world leaders this week, you did not appear comfortable letting journalists observe your interactions with foreign leaders, allowing precisely 29 seconds of coverage.

So, since we have nothing else to go on, we ask you: what, if you recall, is the name of Afghan President Hamid Karzai's son?"

"Hrmmph! WHICH of his sons, Gwen?"

"Um, his only son, Governor Palin"

"Well, Gwen, no, actually, I don't recall his name, and frankly I resent the fact that you would use this very important national forum for these kind of *gotcha* questions that don't address the fact that John McCain and I are true mavericks who are going to Washington to shake up the old boys network that has for too long kept ordinary Americans from gettin' in there and shakin' things up!"

"Thank you, Governor Palin. Senator Biden, as a follow up, could you detail your plan for strengthening both our military posture along the Afghan-Pakistani border and our diplomatic relations with the incoming Pakistani government in order to better respond to al Qaeda activities in the rural tribal areas?"

- thetraytiger

September 23, 2008 at 4:43pm

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The headline's pretty great.

They're playing this whole troopergate thing entirely wrong.  Regardless of whether or not the allegations are true, she would have been better off doing what she said at the beginning and fully cooperating with the investigation.  All they're doing is drawing attention to what would normally be a non-issue and making it look like she has something to hide (regardless of whether you in fact have something to hide, this is entirely the wrong impression to give).  Plus, if she loses, she has to go back and work with the legislators that she's been accusing of being crazy lefties out to get her.

- AlanSP

September 23, 2008 at 4:53pm

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Alan

I have a feeling she thinks she is going to win.  She believes, I think, not just that God wants her in the Whit- I mean, in the Naval Observatory, but that ... well, the American people, um, like her; they really, really, like her!  It is true of course that both the people and the US media have always had a weakness for the fecund rate, but perhaps this presumptuousness will, in the end, be her unravelling.

But I agree that keeping the story in the media all this time is really not a good thing.  Todd should just have gone down to the legislation, down on the Speaker of the Senate, and offered to do penance for having made the calls.  "Not appropriate but given that this guy is a menace with the taser, understandable under the circumstances", blah blah.  I mean, WTF?

- icarusr

September 23, 2008 at 5:13pm

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Seriously, though, what's the campaign strategy here?? Is Schmidt et al. hoping that they can bait the "drive-by media" into overreaching with inevitable deluge of negative stories, thus proving that the media is indeed "in the tank" for Obama? And that this will somehow translate into votes? Argh, head is spinning.

- thetraytiger

September 23, 2008 at 5:16pm

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thetraytiger, actually that Biden question is very well put.

- blackton

September 23, 2008 at 5:39pm

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AlanSp writes:

-- Regardless of whether or not the allegations are true, she would have been better off doing what she said at the beginning and fully cooperating with the investigation.

She would be better off cooperating with the investigation if the allegations are false and she literally has nothing to hide. However, her current strategy of punting the investigation until the election makes it moot is probably the only feasible strategy if the allegations are true. If the Republicans lose the election, the investigation sinks back to a local issue with no real impact on Palin other than Todd getting a knuckle rap for dissing the subpoena. If the Republicans win the election, the McCain team will move heaven and earth to shut down the investigation.

- ndmackenzie

September 23, 2008 at 5:49pm

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I think she (and the McCain campagin) have done her enormous political damage in the way they have handled this case. Either they have done things that we don't know about that would be career-enders, or they just went so far along the stonewalling path that they felt they could not turn back, but she's made herself look guilty as hell. I know that her fervid supporters don't care, but to anyone who was not already a supporter, this has been a huge black eye. News stories like this won't help her -- the people who think the media is against her were already on her side in the first place.

But maybe there were serious violations of law, since evidence is slowly trickling in about how far Sarah and Todd (and her loyal staff) took their vendetta (probably looking at Wooten's worker's comp file in violation of law, certainly following Wooten like a PI to collect evidence against his worker's comp claim,  possibly applying pressure on the state's worker's comp processing contractor to deny the claim). If that is the case, though, I doubt they would have come out if they had just admitted that they went overboard and made a mistake -- they could have avoided any investigation if they had, I think.

- JEFF FREY

September 23, 2008 at 6:00pm

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This will help with the Times-hating base, but I can't believe it does anything positive for them with independents.

- BHLnyc

September 23, 2008 at 6:01pm

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"V. S. Naipaul called Pakistan a Kleptocracy, not a State.  Discuss."

SP: "Well, of course it isn't a state.  I mean, Alaska was the last state to join the Union, and I know that because my husband wants a vote to make it the firs- what, OK don't mention that.  Yeah, so, Alaska, the 49th state, was the last state to join the Union and so- what? - Sorry, Charles, my earring keeps buzzing - oh, there are 50 states.  Right.  You know, by the way, why they were called the 49ers?  Because Alaska was the 49th state.  So - oh.  Could you repeat the question?  There is a problem with my earphone."

"V. S. Naipaul called Pakistan a Kleptocracy, not a State.  Discuss."

"Yeah, so I was saying, Pakistan is a great US ally and a great Democracy.  And -"

"Kleptocracy."

"Yes, Democracy."

"Kleptocracy."

"In what sense?"

"Good grief."

- icarusr

September 23, 2008 at 6:05pm

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      While the quoted line is a smartly-written gem,  the "tipping point" has not been, and never will be, reached.  Above all, the media crave access, which McCain/Palin have denied.  Fearing criticism for writing negative stories without access, the media will take a relatively neutral position, and merely whine that "the candidate won't talk to us."

       If I recall, it was H.L. Mencken who said that the job of a journalist is "to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable."  Gov. Palin is quite comfortable within the media-free cocoon arranged by the McCain campaign, and it is long past time for the media to draw rational conclusions, based on fact and Gov. Palin's failure to respond to press inquiries, that Gov. Palin has been less than honest, is unwilling to be forthcoming with the American people, and might well be concealing information critical to a pending ethics investigation.

       But I won't hold my breath.

- RRB52

September 23, 2008 at 6:18pm

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HK: Liebchen, let me tell you something about the Kremlin.

SP: Oh I love Gremlins! Gizmo is so cute!

- kkeown

September 23, 2008 at 8:49pm

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John McCain made the list of richest members of Congress, as did Hillary Clinton. Barack Obama did not

- Anonymous

September 23, 2008 at 9:56pm

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Many interesting comments, but from a purely comedic viewpoint, this  I enjoyed the most:

icarusr said:

"V. S. Naipaul called Pakistan a Kleptocracy, not a State.  Discuss."

--------

Oh boy.

Perhaps the McCain campaign should just get it over with an issue a statement that all future questions posed to Palin be accompanied by a list of multiple choice answers.

- Lyn39

September 24, 2008 at 3:49am

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