Sarah Palin’s Flame-War With the World

Over the holiday weekend, soon-to-be-former Alaska Governor Palin’s story just got weirder. That’s saying a lot, as her surprise resignation Friday had the surreal quality of a Rod Blagojevich presser being filmed by Fellini. She even buried the lede in her announcement, calling it her “decision to not seek re-election.” That’s a little bit like the Hindenburg’s decision not to accept coach passengers anymore.

Since then, she has engaged in a flame war with critics via Facebook and her Twitter feed. In the process, she’s proving how new media can be a blessing (for political junkies) and a curse (for her own image). Complicating matters is the fact that she kinda has a point.

While she evinced thin skin via her Twitter feed, more noteworthy was her Facebook-launched warning shot to journalists everywhere, and her bizarre reference to a “higher calling.”

Palin, through her attorney, zeroed in on HuffPo’s Shannyn Moore for reporting the existence of widely circulated rumors of a soon-to-emerge scandal. For good measure, she threw in warnings to the New York Times and the Washington Post for even thinking about reporting on this:

To the extent several websites, most notably liberal Alaska blogger Shannyn Moore, are now
claiming as “fact” that Governor Palin resigned because she is “under federal investigation” for
embezzlement or other criminal wrongdoing, we will be exploring legal options this week to
address such defamation. This is to provide notice to Ms. Moore, and those who re-publish the
defamation, such as Huffington Post, MSNBC, the New York Times and The Washington Post,
that the Palins will not allow them to propagate defamatory material without answering to this in
a court of law.

I’m no lawyer, but it doesn’t appear, to me, that the threat carries any weight. As far as I know, Moore has not stated as fact that there’s a federal investigation underway. Worth noting is that is that the LA Times now reports that the FBI denies there is an investigation.

As a journalist, though, I have to say that AKMuckraker’s defense of Moore highlights the kernel of a point that Palin should be focusing on:

Despite the fact that she specifically refers twice to the report as a “rumor,” Van Flein says she portrayed the story as fact. The only fact is that there are rumors. I know because I’ve been hearing them since last October. They even have a name — “Housegate.”

While it might not be actionable to report the existence of rumors, neither is it right to do so. There are plenty of legitimate questions about the building of the Palin’s house, ones that the attorney’s letter do not mitigate, without resorting to a sourceless rumor about an investigation.

As is her habit, though, Palin overreaches and makes her reaction the story. For example, she recently excoriated a local Alaska blog for defacing a picture of Trig. The picture was unquestionably offensive, but Palin, in her denunciation, not only granted the photo much wider exposure, but also dishonestly conflated the blogger with the Democratic National Committee.

Moore, for her part, fired back with a statement and a press conference on Sunday evening, calling Palin a “bully and a coward.”

Even with all of this, there are still people cluelessly wondering if Palin still has a shot at the Presidency. Even the least of her offenses, like her contention that a lame duck executive has only the choice to carouse like a drunken sailor on the public dime, or resign, is enough to answer that puzzler.

We’ve all had to resist the urge to fly off the handle online, sometimes unsuccessfully, but when you’re Sarah Palin, flame wars can have long, loud echoes.

Tommy Christopher is a freelance writer, blogger, and online journalist based out of New Jersey and Washington, DC. He has covered the progressive political scene and the historic 2008 elections, including live coverage from the Democratic National Convention in Denver, and becoming a freelance White House reporter in early 2009. This move follows a year in which he was able to break a number of big stories and was quoted in print and online by everyone from the LA Times and the New York Times to the Huffington Post and Hot Air.

Tommy brings a lifetime of varied experiences — he’s been a stand-up comic and a health insurance consultant, so lots of comedy — and a sometimes acerbic style to his writing, earn him the enmity of Fox News and DailyKos alike. Tommy can also be found at his own blog: DailyDose.us. Follow him on Twitter here.

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