Opinion by Dolores M. Bernal, NEWS JUNKIE POST
There is something to be said of Sarah Palin’s threat to sue reporters and bloggers who write about the reasons she may have unexpectedly stepped down as Governor of Alaska. And that something is: poor judgement. No public official in their right mind should ever even think of picking a fight with the press, unless, they’re asking for their careers to be over.
Just in case you may not know about what’s transpired since Palin’s press conference Friday, let me bring you up to date. Several bloggers and some mainstream media reporters wrote that Palin is resigning as Governor of Alaska because she may be facing a criminal investigation over materials used to build her home in Wasilla, Alaska and those used to build the Wasilla Sports Complex. Palin’s lawyer Thoman Van Flein issued a letter over the weekend to media and bloggers that were talking about this, and stated that the soon to be ex-Governor of Alaska “will not allow them to propagate defamatory material without answering to this in a court of law.”
You see, these allegations about Palin and the building materials were brought to light to folks in the mainland by Alaskan radio host and blogger, Shannyn Moore, and there was also an article about this by Max Blumenthal of the Daily Beast about the potential criminal investigation. Many other blogs picked up these reports and MSNBC and other mainstream folks did their job by reporting about it, even if they were just “rumors.”
Word of these reports got to Palin faster than a lighting and just as she is quick to leave her job, she is also quick at making threats to people without considering the facts and the consequences of what she is about to do.
If state legislators in Alaska have been the ones talking about this potential investigation, then what Moore, bloggers, and news reporters did was NOT at all a crime and they shouldn’t be subjected to threats and intimidation by Mr. Van Flein. Freedom of the Press is alive and well in America and our rights as journalists cannot be tramped upon by some defensive third class politician like Palin.
I challenge Moore, bloggers, and all other reporters to not be sheepish about standing up and reminding Palin that the press’ job is to report information because the public has a right to know what may be going on, especially after her sudden resignation. I mean, what did Palin expect? She walks out of her job with a terrible press conference where she used a ridiculous basketball analogy and where every other sentence just didn’t seem to make any sense. And now she wants to sue reporters over defamation? Come on, give me a break!
There is something terribly wrong about Palin’s view of the media if she thinks she can make us just shut up. No self-respecting reporter should feel like they need to retract anything they said this weekend. I’m not going to. Moore shouldn’t either. There was no defamation of character in any of this. If Palin feels like the press is ruining her “reputation,” she’s got it wrong. The only one ruining anything is her own self by her actions and the puzzling things that come out of her mouth.
She has beautiful teeth.
You are absolutely right! Sarah Palin is living in the past and obviously doesn’t understand the importance of blogging and new media. Her threats are empty and demonstrate serious ignorance and naivety about how information is shared in this day and age.
Didn’t Sarah Palin make reference to rumors about Obama? You know, the loony ones about him not being born American or being a closet muslim.
Can I be sued for calling her a hypocrite?
press freedom and right to speech is alive and well. and also our justice system. you say something that you can’t prove then you are going to court.
you forget that the investigators are still investigating. meaning they have not prove anything. if they have then it goes straight to the justice dept or grand jury.
Yes why should she feel threatened just because they HARD CORE LIBERAL ATTACK DOGS ATTACK her so? I mean WE WOULDN”T ALLOW them to do that against Obama or even Hillary or even any other person.I guess when you piss off the LIBERAL HATE GROUPS by daring to run against someone of their Choosing you are Opening yourself to Death Threats,Racist Attacks,BURNING DOWN of your CHURCH, Constant Libelous Statements,etc,etc.What’s wrong with that? WE ALL know you wouldn’t condone that on your worst enemy but since it is OK to be BIGOTS and HATE on anyone that is not POLITCALLY CORRECT in todays LIBERAL NAZI AMERIKA. Helena and matt and Sarah Please Take your HATE MONGERING and go kill some of your neighbors that offend you.You guys are narrow minded bigots that need a life!!! The Lady was not even running for any office Against your chosen one anymore yet you and the MEDIA still attack her. WHAT DOES THAT SAY ABOUT YOU?? I bet you guys are all part of MOVEon.org too? Yeah come on at least admit you belong to a HATE organization,your MEDIA buddies will like you even more.
I don’t have to agree with Whatever she says to know you guys Discriminated against her in a huge way,also I do not have to own a pet to know it’s wrong to kill kittens or have a baby to know if you throw one out of your car ,IT IS WRONG. YOU intolerant A**bags really need to get a life and STOP SPREADING SO MUCH HATE!!! How is your Iphones working guys? Drinking any Lattes lately? Judgemental Pri*ks. YEAH helena the court systems work only when the one sided courts count you as one of their OWN people. Ask the guy that was recently run over by the NFL player in Miami how Justice was served in that case?
HE is DEAD and the NFL Player bought off the FAMILY and JUDGE. Can you say 30 days for a crime that YOU or I would be in jail for years for? OK yeah the courts work great!!! NAIVE SOB.
Wow, Quixel. That was quite a rant. Did you rehearse that in front of a mirror?
Quixel is right tho, the media is still attacking Palin, and making stuff up. The liberals have been known to spread propaganda, but thats part of politics everyone does it. I just don’t understand how they can take someone like Palin who is definitely not a “third class Politician” and ruin her career after losing the election. I mean Hillary is still popular, probably cause she doesn’t have liberal hate groups trying to destroy her all the time.
i think quixel is funny. he spends his entire nerd rage complaining about people making defamous statements about judgement on mrs. palin and then all he does is return the same thing right back. if i put THINGS IN CALL CAPS i must BE IMPORTANT. its one of those things. and no, it isn’t hate mongering like you are saying it is, don’t call them out on “liberal” attacks when conservatives in the media have been doing it just as long and if not worse. don’t cry hypocrisy when it comes from the mouth of a hypocrite.
and hillary does have hate groups against her, they’re just not “liberal” hate groups. lets be real here, the republican base was salivating over hillary potentially beating obama so they could pull out all the stops against her. she has plenty of libelous and hate groups out there, but at the same time politicians realize that there will always be people who are strongly against them. its part of the polarizing effect of politics. you learn around it
LOL @Drumnwebguy
I just love it. All these little neo conservatives can dish it out but can’t take it. Poor little Palin. Sounds like a bunch of sore loosers and cry babies. What I read this past weekend is that there might be negative news coming out Palin and an investigation about building materials used for her home and som $13 million sports complex that were personal friends. It never said anything except that they were rumors or that their might be. I never saw anything that is was the end all truth.
It’s great though to see so many nut jobs’ pacifiers pop out of their bawling mouths, when someone picks on their nut job poster child, Palin. I just laugh and laugh and laugh. I understand why they like her because next to Bush she does look educated. Do you all do get that John McCain regretted like hell that he asked her to be his runningmate. She ruined his chances of getting elected. Right? He was very pissed off at her and what she did. I get that the people who think she would make a good President are Senior citizens with their viagra erections.
So Quixel, go on and rant. You are very good to laugh at and lets me know what sick really sounds like.
My how people change when the shoe is on the other foot. Do you people look at EVERYTHING through a political lens?
If I remember correctly, I recall tons of Obama supporters (and the man himself) complained loudly about rumors of his religion or his birth certificate, Did any of you tell him to just “suck it up”?
Palin’s opponents in Alaska have piled on one ethics charge after another on her (15 at last count) and the leftist blogosphere has gleefully reported them all. But since she has prevailed in court against every single one so far, don’t you think that just maybe a few of them were really politically motivated? And don’t you think that maybe her and her attorneys are a little weary of it? So maybe she wants a little payback. I don’t know.
So far Obama’s opponents haven’t dragged him into court on similar nonsense. But, rest assured, eventually they will. And when that happens, I have no doubt that most of you will condemn it with the same vigor that you probably showed cheering on the Palin ethics charges. Why? Since she’s a Republican, by default she doesn’t deserve a fair shake, right?
LOL< I wish that wench would hurry up and resign already. go crawl back under that rock from which you emerged!
RT
http://www.anonymize.tk
as a well educated euopean who has lived on both sides of the atlantic I just love palin. it’s the best politainment ever. nothing else offers agitated people, pron-parody, caricatures of fertile-ultra-feminity and illusionary misjudgements like this wanna-be politician.
the only bad thing is that palin is a very telling symptom about how the republican approach of divide and conquer by dumbing down parts of the country and keeping them impassioned by gays, guns and the bible has rendered large parts of america politically and socially disfunctional. you can’t run a modern society with these people. to unflexible, to superstitious, to crazed out by things that don’t really matter.
good luck with fixing that
Once again, showing that she is a imbecile. I for one am thrilled that she is not the VP of this country. God only knows what would happen if McCain kicked off mid-term and this moron was in charge of the couuntry.
Are all of the rabid rightists going to apologize to us rabid leftists when the other shoe drops and we find out the real reason that she cut and run?
Nice ‘article’. I see you demand others stick to facts, but bloggers can ‘report’ rumors? I get it, someone who is popular resigns and bloggers see a chance to make something up and get popular. Wait, that is exactly how the Main Stream Media lost all respect. I guess some people will do anything for a little of the spotlight (politician, Media, Bolggers).
I am only excluded from the list because this post is largely anon.
Okay, perhaps I can make some sense of things. Why do any of you care about what the press has to say? Why do any of you keep labeling each other as Liberals and Conservatives? Why the hell am I even writing this? You guys are defending someone who doesn’t know you exist or ever will. The fact of the matter is that we spend so much time listening/watching political opinionists who spend their waking hours talking about anything that crosses their path. For everyone that hangs off of every word that they hear from political commentators, I have one thing to say to you, everything that people “speculate” about are basically unsubstantiated claims until the court of law looks at the facts and comes to a decision. That’s how it has been from the beginning and that’s how it is going to be from now on; albeit it’s not a perfect system, it still works. We just have to make sure that we, citizens, keep systems in check, especially if there is overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Like John Adams said, “Facts are stubborn things.” Now I’m not saying that what is being churned out of the rumor mill is fact or fabricated rhetoric, just keep an open mind.
You know on second thought, it is good that you guys argue back and forth because it shows that we still have freedoms in this country, which should be our primary concern. Screw PIGs (Private Interest Groups) that are political parties, because you know for damn sure that they aren’t public groups, no matter how hard you argue your points. Lets just focus on facts, speculate little, and try not to get to the point of violent actions in lieu of civil debates. Name calling never really solves anything. And that goes for everybody. Remember, first and foremost we are human, that’s who we should be for, not against. Well, I hope some people attack this post because it will show that our voices still remain unchained.
The funny thing is that a lot of what has been said about Sarah Palin has been said by her own party and the McCain camp. What other explanation did she offer other than “My family and I think it’s best for the state of Alaska…” Really?
Only in recent years has there been a push by the media and private citizens to move information (right or wrong) into the public eyes. It’s the times we live in, it’s the technology and freedoms we have invented that make this possible.
Liberal Media?!?!? Please, how liberal are Beck, Savage, Hanity, Rush and the like. Oh but what they say is the truth right? If this had been any other democrat governor, he or she would have been labeled a “quitter” and “traitor” to the people of their state. And that label would have been CORRECT, as it is with Sarah Palin.
To Sarah Palin,
You were voted in by the trust and good faith of the people of Alaska. You took the oath and office to lead the people of your state regardless of circumstance. You broke that oath and decided that your best interests and that of your family were greater than the office you held. The role of a leader is to put the welfare of the people you serve before your own. If Alaska had thought that it was in their best interest that you step down I think they would have said so.
palin’s getting worked over right now and it’s beautiful.
one-by-one, every republican leader is toppling. it’s like a domino rally.
you guy’s don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of winning 2012!! bwahaha.
I TALK IN CAPS TO IGNITE EMOTIONS! I’M CORRECT. YOU’RE ALL CRAZY.
All I have to say is thank you McCain.
There is something a little off about Palin. Everything she does or said since she was the VP candidate made me scratch my head.
How on earth did she get elected Governor of Alaska. If McCain got elected, I frightens me to know that she would have been one step away from the Presidency.
I do not wnat Sarah Palin to represent me in national office. I don’t think she is qualified either educationally or experientially But I have been astounded by the reaction of much of the press to her–the first thought that comes to mind is that someone is very threatened by her and wants to destroy her reputation in the national mind. I wonder why?
Sorry Folks – my ‘does not equal’ symbol didn’t translate well when I posted… It was supposed to say Reps (Does not equal) Nazi and Bush (Does not equal) Nazi
BWAHAHAHAHA
On July 26th, Palin will also have the freedom to say what she wants without being constrained by her government position.
Poor Shannyn Moore is shocked to learn that freedom of speech is a two-way street and that her rumor mongering may have unintended consequences. Palin might win a suit for libel or she might not. But Moore will start having some of those big legal bills. Moore whines that she’s being treated like “an Enemy of the State” and even worse, on the 4th of July. Drama queen, maybe?