[cLaY]

[B](CNN) — Sarah Palin fired a new salvo in her war on the media, unloading in a new interview on her home state paper and “bored, anonymous, pathetic bloggers who lie.”
The Alaska governor, who has granted a steady stream of interviews since Election Day, also told an Esquire reporter that she wishes she had told McCain campaign advisors she’d be “callin’ some of the shots.”
"Bored, anonymous, pathetic bloggers who lie annoy me….I'll tell you, yesterday the Anchorage Daily News, they called again to ask — double-, triple-, quadruple-check — who is Trig's real mom,” she said, in an interview to be published in the magazine’s March issue.
“And I said, Come on, are you kidding me? We're gonna answer this? Do you not believe me or my doctor? And they said, No, it's been quite cryptic the way that my son's birth has been discussed. And I thought, Okay, more indication of continued problems in the world of journalism."

But Palin said she had adopted a philosophical attitude on the downside of the spotlight. "You have to let it go,” she said. “Even hard news sources, credible news sources — the comment about, you can see Russia from Alaska. You can! You can see Russia from Alaska. Something like that — a factual statement that was taken out of context and mocked — what you have to do is let that go."
The former Republican vice presidential candidate said again she regretted not taking a greater leadership role during the campaign season. "If I were giving advice to myself back on the day my candidacy was announced, I'd say, Tell the campaign that you'll be callin' some of the shots,” she said. “Don't just assume that they know you well enough to make all your decisions for ya. Let them know that you're the CEO of a state, you're forty-four years old, you've got a lot of great life experience that can be put to good use as a candidate."
Despite a season of barbs aimed at the coastal elites, Palin seemed to offer an olive branch to the Big Apple: "I would think we all tear up during the national anthem at the beginning of a baseball game, don't we? That's an alikeness between Alaskans and New Yorkers," she said.
Update: In an Anchorage Daily News column published last week, the paper's editor said the only questions reporters there had asked about Trig's birth came when the paper undertook a project to debunk conspiracy theories surrounding the event, but that they had abandoned the effort because of a lack of cooperation from the Palin family.
"I don't believe we have ever published in the newspaper a story, a letter, a column or anything alleging a coverup surrounding your maternity," wrote the editor in an e-mail sent to Palin and reprinted on the paper's blog. "In fact, my integrity and the integrity of the newspaper have been repeatedly attacked in national forums for our complicity in the 'coverup.'
Later, he added: "…So I don’t understand the behavior of the governor’s press office. Did the governor not share my email with the press staff? Did the press staff deliberately ignore what I said in order to have a longer list of press 'outrages'? Or are they just sloppy with details? I don’t know."

Why won't she go away?[/B]

[BIRD33]

I hope she never goes away for the simple fact that the GOP will always be crippled if she is a important figure for the party.60% of the population of the US has already decided she's a unqualified idiot but I'm all for her party trying to change peoples minds because it just makes them seem more out of touch with reality.

This is what I hate about her.

But Palin said she had adopted a philosophical attitude on the downside of the spotlight. "You have to let it go,” she said. “Even hard news sources, credible news sources — the comment about, you can see Russia from Alaska. You can! You can see Russia from Alaska. Something like that — a factual statement that was taken out of context and mocked — what you have to do is let that go."

She's so intellectually dishonest.It was never taken out of context.She raised the issue that she was qualified to deal with foreign policy issues because her state was so close to Russia.Thats totally ridiculous and she was called on it.To pretend like she just brought that up out of no where and didnt have to do with her foreign policy credentials is a total falsehood and she knows it.She also knows her sheep like followers will look past it and pretend she's right.

Good for them.They deserve each other.Palin in 2012 I say!

[Banana]

Who's handing out these awards?

[BIRD33]

What award?

[Banana]

What award?

Oh, off topic, but Clay got a posting award?

On topic, I wonder how many people just imagine she is an idiot because of how she talks? If I had to pay attention to her and her stances, I would have trouble because they way she talks and the tone of her voice irritates me. She just sounds idiotic.

[Jimmy]

She's dreamy.

[Banana]

Oh dear. Flump and my husband like the same woman. What's next? Jimmy turns Buddhist?

[BIRD33]

I don't find her attractive in the slightest.Is it the snowmobiling every woman aspect or what?I just don't get it.

[Jimmy]

Moms with glasses are hot.

[BIRD33]

Oh, off topic, but Clay got a posting award?

On topic, I wonder how many people just imagine she is an idiot because of how she talks? If I had to pay attention to her and her stances, I would have trouble because they way she talks and the tone of her voice irritates me. She just sounds idiotic.

She's obviously not a total idiot since she was elected governor.Her folksy way of talking does not help in making her seem smart.She takes that to another level though to the point of being disingenuous.Almost like an attitude of hey I'm just like you so why would I lie to you?Thankfully she's now an iconic figure representing the minority redneck view and will never have a chance on a national level.

[Paddy]

If I was stuck in Alaska I'd be looking for a way out too.

[BIRD33]

Fascinating clash of reality vs. Palin reality in this email exchange.She can't even bring herself to admit her grandsons father is a high school drop out.

Subject: More "mistakes"?

Hello Mr. Doyle and Mr. Dougherty!

Please, say it aint so: did you really allow a story to run in your paper today claiming Levi Johnston is a high school drop out? Did I read that right?

And did you really print a story last week suggesting I had any connection with Sherry Johnston's activities in the past six months or so and you won't correct the story? Did I read that right?

And is your paper really still pursuing the sensational lie that I am not Trig's mother? Is it true you have a reporter still bothering my state office, my very busy doctor (who's already set the record straight for you), and the school district, in pursuit of your ridiculous conspiracy?

And, oh, I could go on...

Come on Mr. Doyle and Mr. Dougherty, I so desperately want to have even a tiny bit of faith in the ADN. You're stripping me of even a shred of faith in your reporting if any of the recent aforementioned strange and untrue reports were taken seriously by the ADN. Would you shed some light on what you're thinking regarding these false reports you've pursued and/or printed?

This was my complete response:

Gov. Palin:

Since you raise a number of different questions and issues, let me address them one by one.

Did you really allow a story to run in your paper today claiming Levi Johnston is a high school drop out?

We did publish a story this morning by Associated Press reporter Rachel D'Oro that said, "The father is Levi Johnston, a high school dropout who is now an apprentice electrician." As you know, the AP operates completely separately from our newspaper, so I have no special knowledge about the reporting behind Rachel's story. But based on our archives, it appears that Rachel's description of Levi follows from earlier stories by the AP. The first of those, also by Rachel, we published on Sept. 3, 2008. The relevant passage is:

"Levi Johnston, a high school hockey player for Wasilla High School, is not listed on the team roster for 2008-2009, and his mother wouldn't say if he graduated. She said simply he's no longer a student and any further information would have to come from him."

Five weeks later, a different AP reporter did talk to Levi and the story based on that interview briefly addressed the question of his schooling. That story was written by Adam Goldman and distributed on Oct. 13. We published it the next day. That story contained this paragraph:

"Not surprisingly, Johnston was a little shocked when he learned about Bristol's pregnancy, but he says he quickly embraced the prospects of fatherhood. The baby is due Dec. 18. Johnston has dropped out of high school to take a job on the North Slope oil fields as an apprentice electrician."

The Daily News has not independently pursued the question of Levi's educational status; we have relied on the AP to describe it accurately. I can tell you that no question has been raised with the Daily News about the initial story, in September, or the second story, in October, nor has the AP issued a correction. Your question today is the first suggestion I've heard that this fact might be in error.

Should I infer from your question that Levi did not drop out of school and will graduate with his class? If so, we will be happy to publish our own correction of the AP story. I think you would also want to contact the AP and ask them to issue a correction as well. Their story was distributed nationally and internationally.

(Paragraph written after this message was otherwise finished.) Literally just this minute I see an AP story, quoting you, saying that Levi has enrolled in correspondence classes. There's not much detail in the story about what he's doing and when he started his correspondence work. Does that mean today's story should have said something like: Johnston dropped out of school last fall but has since started taking correspondence classes?

Did you really print a story last week suggesting I had any connection with Sherry Johnston's activities in the past six months or so and you won't correct the story?

On Dec. 25, we published a story about the arrest of Sherry Johnston. It was written by Megan Holland, one of our staff writers. The only section of the story that appears relevant to your question is the following:

"The (trooper) affidavit refers to Johnston being under Secret Service protection while dealing drugs, but that appears to be incorrect.

"Special Agent Darrin Blackford, spokesman for the Secret Service in Washington, D.C., said that only the governor and her immediate family were protected. Johnston was not under the agency's protection or surveillance, he said.

"Troopers later agreed that part of the affidavit was wrong.

" 'Whenever she was in contact with Palin, that was probably the only time it came into play,' said trooper spokeswoman Beth Ipsen."

I do not see in this passage a suggestion that you were connected to Sherry Johnston's activities. It does say that the only time Sherry Johnston would have been under Secret Service protection was "whenever she was in contact with Palin." I don't think that suggests that you were involved in her activities, although I suppose it's possible that someone might misread "it" in that sentence as referring to drug dealing even though it obviously refers to Secret Service protection.

Because we checked the trooper's statement in the affidavit with the Secret Service, we didn't make the mistake of treating it as fact. I don't see that anything we reported was incorrect.

Do you read this differently, or am I missing something?

I would also remind you that we called the governor's office for comment about the Johnston arrest. Your spokesman declined to make any comment on the matter. He could have clarified your relationship and/or interactions with Ms. Johnston, but elected not to. (Curiously, he asserted that it was not a state matter, although the troopers are a clearly state agency, under the direction of the governor's office, dealing with a quasi-member of the governor's extended family.)

And is your paper really still pursuing the sensational lie that I am not Trig's mother? Is it true you have a reporter still bothering my state office, my very busy doctor (who's already set the record straight for you), and the school district, in pursuit of your ridiculous conspiracy?

Yes, it's true.

You may have been too busy with the campaign to notice, but the Daily News has, from the beginning, dismissed the conspiracy theories about Trig's birth as nonsense. I don't believe we have ever published in the newspaper a story, a letter, a column or anything alleging a coverup about your maternity. In fact, my integrity and the integrity of the newspaper have been repeatedly attacked in national forums for our complicity in the "coverup." I have personally received more than a 100 emails accusing me and the paper of conspiring to hide the truth.

(I should note, however, that many people who commented on adn.com have alleged a coverup. Many of those were deleted as soon as we saw them, but many were not.)

I want to be very clear on this: I have from the beginning and do now consider the conspiracy theories about Trig's birth to be nutty nonsense.

If that's true, then why has Lisa Demer been asking questions about Trig's birth?

Because we have been amazed by the widespread and enduring quality of these rumors. I finally decided, after watching this go on unabated for months, to let a reporter try to do a story about the "conspiracy theory that would not die" and, possibly, report the facts of Trig's birth thoroughly enough to kill the nonsense once and for all.

Lisa Demer started reporting. I don't believe she received any cooperation in her efforts from the parties who, in my judgment, stood to benefit most from the story, namely you and your family. Even so, we reported the matter as thoroughly as we could. Several weeks ago, when we considered the information Lisa had gathered, we decided we didn't have enough of a story to accomplish what we had hoped. Lisa moved on to other topics and we haven't decided whether the idea is worth any further effort.

Even the birth of your grandson may not dissuade the Trig conspiracy theorists from their beliefs. It strikes me that if there is never a clear, contemporaneous public record of what transpired with Trig's birth that may actually ensure that the conspiracy theory never dies. Time will tell.

And, oh, I could go on . . .

Governor, I would encourage you to go on. I cannot address your concerns if I do not hear them. Perhaps after reading this you will conclude that the facts are not exactly as you thought, or that there was more to these issues than you knew. I hope you see that we have tried hard to practice sound journalism. We may have trusted the accuracy of the AP too much, but I won't know that for sure until you confirm that Levi will graduate from high school.

When we heard that you were upset about Lisa's inquiries, we immediately extended an invitation to your office for you to meet with me and other editors so we could explain our interest in the Trig matter, and answer any other questions you might have. As far as I know, that invitation was never acknowledged.

We remain willing and available to meet with you to discuss these or any other issues. I would be happy to meet with you one on one, as would Pat Doyle, or as part of any group of editors and publisher you would like. Based on our experience, I do not think it would be constructive to include Bill McAllister, but that's up to you.

If I have not addressed your concerns fully enough, please let me know.

Sincerely,

Pat Dougherty



http://community.adn.com/adn/node/136523

[marvin]

Doesn''t she want to be on the ticket again in 2012?

[BIRD33]

She's doing all she can to be on it, Marvin.I heard she put out feelers on a senate run as a stepping stone against the woman senator they have in Alaska and polls showed she was a 30 point underdog against the sitting senator.

I'm not sure when her governor gig runs out.She needs some type of office to stay in the limelight.

[marvin]

I don't swear myself to one party. Originally Iwanted Hilary to win the election. Palin would do good if the Republican party worked with her more and advised her how to deal with all of the issues. I think that the only reason that Macain put her on the ticket was to try and lure the female votes.

[BIRD33]

It was.I think the GOP can do better than someone they need to educate on the issues before they run.

[Paddy]

The best thing to do with crazies like her is to give her media time. She'll eventually talk herself out of the running.

[bam]

Just vote Libertarian.

[BIRD33]

The best thing to do with crazies like her is to give her media time. She'll eventually talk herself out of the running.

We all know she can't win but she doesnt.It's a gift from god we get to watch a self absorbed moron try to convince us she's presidential material.

[BIRD33]

Just vote Libertarian.

Or you could write in your dog.Same thing.