Palin Resigns, Goes On Offense
The big political news from the weekend is the resignation of Sarah Palin as the Governor of Alaska. In her statement, she gives the reason as…
Political operatives descended on Alaska last August, digging for dirt. The ethics law I championed became their weapon of choice. Over the past nine months I’ve been accused of all sorts of frivolous ethics violations – such as holding a fish in a photograph, wearing a jacket with a logo on it, and answering reporters’ questions.
Every one – all 15 of the ethics complaints have been dismissed. We’ve won! But it hasn’t been cheap – the State has wasted thousands of hours of your time and shelled out some two million of your dollars to respond to “opposition research” – that’s money not going to fund teachers or troopers – or safer roads. And this political absurdity, the “politics of personal destruction” … Todd and I are looking at more than half a million dollars in legal bills in order to set the record straight. And what about the people who offer up these silly accusations? It doesn’t cost them a dime so they’re not going to stop draining public resources – spending other peoples’ money in their game.
It’s pretty insane – my staff and I spend most of our day dealing with this instead of progressing our state now. I know I promised no more “politics as usual,” but this isn’t what anyone had in mind for Alaska.
If I have learned one thing: life is about choices!
And one chooses how to react to circumstances. You can choose to engage in things that tear down, or build up. I choose to work very hard on a path for fruitfulness and productivity. I choose not to tear down and waste precious time; but to build up this state and our country, and her industrious, generous, patriotic, free people!
Life is too short to compromise time and resources… it may be tempting and more comfortable to just keep your head down, plod along, and appease those who demand: “Sit down and shut up”, but that’s the worthless, easy path; that’s a quitter’s way out. And a problem in our country today is apathy. It would be apathetic to just hunker down and “go with the flow”.
Nah, only dead fish “go with the flow”.
No. Productive, fulfilled people determine where to put their efforts, choosing to wisely utilize precious time… to build up.
And there is such a need to build up and fight for our state and our country. I choose to fight for it! And I’ll work hard for others who still believe in free enterprise and smaller government; strong national security for our country and support for our troops; energy independence; and for those who will protect freedom and equality and life… I’ll work for and campaign for those proud to be American, and those who are inspired by our ideals and won’t deride them.
I have mixed feelings on this one. One way to look at it is that she is giving in to the attacks on her and her family giving a victory to those behind the maliciousness. If that turns out to be the case, then that only encourages the “politics of personal destruction” as a viable weapon in future campaigns. The other is that now she can concentrate on fighting back and move forward with a national campaign that has to some degree been forced upon her by the same attacks. Whether she likes it or not, to win the fight she must run for President in 2012. Anything less gives victory to her opponents and their methods.
The signs are that the latter is the case. On the heels of this announcement was a press release from her attorneys.
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.
Some have criticized this as an attack on free speech. I strongly disagree with this view. No one has the right to spread destructive lies which they know to be lies. This is not the same as suppressionof political opinion. When a blogger or news source reports something as fact, not opinion, then they are responsible to correct the record once the matter of fact is proven false. A recent controversy over the tea party events here in Memphis is a case in point. I erroneously reported that the SCRP had not sent out a follow-up email to include the Mid-South event. In fact, that email went to my junk folder the day before I reported that. Of course my report was that I had not received the email, which was true to the best of my knowledge at the time. Once pointed out by a commenter that the email did go out, I searched my junk folder and found it, noting it in comment section.
So, errors can be made in reporting, but once they are corrected by the subject of the report, then continued reporting of the false information as ‘fact’ is simply lying. That is unethical and I should hope illegal. So I strongly support her efforts in this regard.
I understand her decision although I am not sure if I agree that it is the correct course of action. The weeks and months ahead will tell the story, but from the looks of things on her Twitter account, she has only just begun to fight.
Palin Quits
Some “straight talk” about Sarah Palin
DEMOCRAT DESTROYERS: FBI “ABSOLUTELY NO TRUTH” to Leftwing Lily Livered Lies, Libels Against Palin
Rush Limbaugh Breaks Silence, Mark Levin Speaks on Sarah Palin’s Resignation
Rove and Huckabee Puzzled by Palin
GOP Palin-Basher Liz Trotta: Palin Is Inarticulate and Undereducate… Used Her Looks to Get Ahead– Maureen Dowd is Smart & Funny
FBI Investigation Rumor Bites the Dust
Video: Matalin thinks Palin is “brilliant” for resigning
Palin Resigns
Palin resignation knocks Michael Jackson off the news, and thank the Almighty for that!
[...] Why did Sarah quit?, Palin, Quitting, and Stability, Wow, That’s… Surprisingly Accurate…, Palin Resigns, Goes On Offense, and Pondering Palin Derangement [...]
Where did her picture go?
“When a blogger or news source reports something as fact, not opinion, then they are responsible to correct the record once the matter of fact is proven false.”
You go on to give an example of where you mistakenly printed something that wasn’t true and then you corrected it.
Then I assume that if you read the original Shannyn Moore piece and see that she clearly says it was a ‘rumor’ that you would correct this piece too.
Here’s what the offending Huffington Post piece said:
“For weeks the rumors of a criminal investigation against the governor have been brewing. They are rumors, but are swirling fresh again with Palin’s resignation. I’m holding my breath for the other “Naughty Monkey” to drop. Another theory for the resignation is that the Palins would have to disclose the book deal as well as other financial details as governor.” [I put in a link, but I can't see how to preview my post to see if the link will work.]
It is also the job of a blogger to check other sources besides the politician’s attorney before posting something as fact. Unlike what you’ve done here, Shannyn knew of the rumors for months from various sources and didn’t mention them until after the resignation and then only as one of many possible theories about why Palin was resigning.
You’ve, in contrast, taken the words of Palin’s attorney representing a sitting governor and threatening her constituent, by name, for expressing her first amendment rights to free speech. Exactly the kind of action that has the bloggers here fighting so hard to show why they have problems with Palin. I know you don’t see it that way, but the facts are on my side.
What Shannyn has done is hardly spreading “destructive lies which they know to be lies.” Her reporting is far more informed and careful than yours in this post.
I’m writing this as an Alaskan blogger who knows Shannyn Moore and has talked to Sarah Palin on several occasions. I’ve even written positive posts about Palin – after she was chosen by McCain I gave her speeches much higher grades than Bidens.
But then things began to fall apart. Anyone who hadn’t fallen so in love with Palin they saw everything she said and did as perfect could see that she was in way over her head. That her speeches were just buzzwords linked together that had no real substantive meaning.
So I hope you correct your take on Shannyn Moore as you made the other correction and that you reassess your belief in the ‘maliciousness’ of the Alaska bloggers’ scrutiny of Palin. While it sometimes went beyond what I consider good taste, it was based on fact checking and analysis, NOT as you imply, some sort of factless frenzy to get her. It was her empty and/or incorrect statements they were attacking, not the woman herself.
Best of luck.
Well Steve, I am reporting the attorney’s notice, not the facts of the case. I have not looked into Ms. Moore enough to judge the validity of the complaint. So nothing to correct Steve.
If you haven’t checked on what Ms. Moore said, how can you conclude this is NOT an attack on free speech?
“Some have criticized this as an attack on free speech. I strongly disagree with this view. No one has the right to spread destructive lies which they know to be lies. This is not the same as suppression of political opinion.”
If you think this is NOT “an attack on free speech” because “no has the right to spread destructive lies” then you are implying (at a minimum) that you think that was what Shannyn Moore was doing.
I would argue that the attorney had to know that she said ‘rumors’ or that he is an incompetent attorney. If he knew and he was trying to intimidate her, then he was guilty of spreading destructive lies.
And if I’m right about that, then you are doing the same thing by accepting without checking and then using his words to reach and publish your conclusion.
But even if that’s true, you are protected by the First Amendment which doesn’t distinguish between telling lies and telling the truth. There are only very narrowly defined times when people’s free speech is circumscribed because of lies – mainly slander and defamation. Note that the link is international. Check the US section – we have the most freedom on this issue. It’s very hard to defame a public official in the US.
I’m sure you meant no specific harm, but I do think your conclusion was faulty. And while I would like people to check their facts before reaching conclusions, you have every right to to be wrong and to publicize it.
Steve, you really do have a problem with reading comprehension don’t you? If she is spreading known lies (once a rumor becomes proven a lie, then it is no longer an unknown lie). If it is not a lie, then she or no other blogger has to worry about it. If it is, then legal recourse is an option to stop it.
So it is NOT an attack on free speech….it is an attack on lies!
You acknowledged that you don’t know anything about what Shannyn Moore said. So how do know that she was spreading lies?
She said there were rumors. That was true. She said it once as a possible explanation for the resignation. She said this before the FBI said they weren’t investigating. And their statement doesn’t preclude that other agencies aren’t investigating.
She only repeated that she said rumors in response to the Palin attack that she said it was a fact.
So explain to me how this is lying.
Steve, you really are starting to bore me. The post is NOT about her, it is about the Palin’s going on the offensive against lies being spread about Palin in the media and internet.
If you have issues with Moore being singled out, take it up with the lawyers, not me.