In “How to Write an Anti-Palin Hit Piece,” I quoted a source who described the cheap-and-easy method by which reporters get those “anonymous sources” to provide them with fodder for their stories.
That’s so unfair, isn’t it, Michael? You have a conversation with someone, then they tell their side of the story in a way that makes you look bad, and . . . well, it just feels kind of wrong, doesn’t it?
Michael Gross not only not only made a flaming ass out of himself, but he also totally humiliated the liberal mainstream media. He managed to bring every caricature of an elitist, egotistical, out of touch, liberal journalist to life. And the worst part was that he was incredibly sloppy with many of the facts — which in turn, discredits his entire piece. Credible leftist/progressive journalists and columnists can’t flee from his disaster of a column fast enough — and I don’t blame them.
One point: It wasn’t a “column,” it was a 10,000-word feature article. And as someone who knows a thing or two about the publishing industry, let me point out that 10,000 words is a very good head-start on a book. If Gross isn’t already under contract for an anti-Palin book, this article certainly looks like it was intended as a pitch for such a book.
As I said before, every liberal journalist with any influence or ambition is either now writing an anti-Palin book or is trying to hustle a deal for an anti-Palin book. The fact that Sarah Palin isn’t cooperating with writers like Gross (i.e., she’s not helping him get paid to trash her) indicates that she’s not quite as stupid as he thinks she is.
Here’s some hard-to-watch video of Michael Gross on Hardball with Chris Matthews:
It’s hard to watch, I say, because even Chris Matthews seems embarrassed to have this idiot on his show.
The catch with anonymous sources has always been the lack of accountability. They face no repercussion for outright lies.
Well, not exactly. A source who burns a reporter by giving him “outright lies” has forfeited any claim to protection. But I’d like to make an important distinction here: To rely on anonymous sources in doing straight political reporting — e.g., the campaign manager giving you factual information he doesn’t want attributed to him by name — is different than relying on anonymous sources in doing the kind of “gotcha” stuff Gross did with the Palins.
A good source never burns a reporter, and a good reporter never burns a source — which is apparently what Gross did, as Trinko writes:
Gross hasn’t admitted that he was wrong to say Ivy Frye, Kristan Cole, and Meghan Stapleton were on “bad terms” or had “deteriorated” relationships with Palin. He hasn’t responded directly to Shannyn Moore, who says she was misrepresented in the article.
One of my sources particularly emphasized that Gross was wrong about Frye and Stapleton being on the outs with Palin (Cole’s name didn’t come up in our conversation, but I assume she’s still OK with Palin). All candidates and politicians shuffle their staffs from time to time, and contradictory rumors about behind-the-scenes maneuverings among staffers are commonplace.
Someone like Gross looking to do a takedown on Palin would obviously want to talk to any disgruntled ex-staffer, and he seems to have accepted second-hand gossip about Palin associates who were merely rumored to be disgruntled.
Some things are predictable — i.e., that the Palin-haters would decide it was a good time to recycle the old SPLC/LGF attacks on me in order to exploit my interview with Todd Palin for a guilt-by-association smear. When Rachel Maddow tried the same trick last fall — based on my friend Lynn Vincent’s collaboration with Sarah Palin on Going Rogue — I made a few points in my response:
I don’t have to explain myself or prove a negative. . . .
There is no obligation for me to speak a word in my own defense.
Bad Faith – The accusation that conservatives are motivated by bad faith (mala fides) is essential to the Left’s attacks. Stigmatizing and marginalizing conservatives is much easier than debating them. Cogent arguments about policy become unnecessary to advancing the Left’s political agenda if they can dismiss its opponents as racist, sexist, homophobic, etc.
The Ransom Note Method – By carefully selecting “evidence” of bad faith, the Left is able to present a distorted image of its conservative targets. Out-of-context quotes and controversial biographical data are cherry-picked and re-assembled (in the manner of a kidnapper assembling a ransom note) to present the target in the most damning possible light. This method is particularly effective against conservative talk-radio personalities who engage in polemic battle with leftists. This is why Media Matters devotes such enormous resources to monitoring talk radio in hopes of grabbing a 40-second “gotcha” sound-bite.
The ‘Links and Ties’ Method – More than simple guilt-by-association, the Links-and-Ties Method involves presenting a chain of incidental connections to suggest a sympathy of views that does not actually exist. To wit: Target A once spoke at Event B which was sponsored by Group C, co-founded by Person D who once made controversial statement E. By this method, it is implied that Target A actually endorses Statement E.
Telescoping and Telepathy – The actions, statements and associations of a conservative target acquire a trans-temporal permanence in the smear attacks of the Left. Once a target is associated (however incidentally) with controversy, this association can be repeated endlessly as evidence of bad faith, no matter how many years intervene. Furthermore, if the target is associated in Year X with a respectable person or organization that becomes controversial in Year X+5, that association can be cited in Year X+10 as evidence against the target – even if the target had no involvement in the cause of controversy. Finally, all evidence of bad faith accumulated by these methods is presented as indicative of the target’s deepest and unwavering personal convictions, as if the accuser were possessed of telepathic mind-reading abilities.
Deny, Denounce, Repudiate – The key to these attack methods is the presumption of the target’s guilt. The accuser, having carefully selected the evidence to be discussed in the manner of a prosecutor making an indictment, demands that the target deny the accusation, denounce the bad-faith views involved, and repudiate the persons and organizations to whom he has been connected by the links-and-ties method. As anyone who has been targeted by such attacks can attest, it’s rather like being accused in one of Stalin’s infamous Moscow “show trials.”
What is at the root of this game is the accuser’s moral authority to act as Grand Inquisitor. The accuser arrogates to himself the unquestionable righteousness to judge the accused, who is then expected to attempt to prove his innocence.
If you play that game, you’re accepting the accuser’s authority.
The idiocy of the accusation that I am a “white supremacist” ought to be obvious: What, exactly, does “white supremacist” mean in 2010? Have I ever advocated any such policy? Do I hatefully derogate non-whites or espouse some bizarre theory of racial superiority?
I do not, and never have.
Remember that it is not sufficient proof of such a serious charge to say that, over the course of a long career, I have occasionally made ill-considered statements or that I have associated with people whose reputations may be even worse than my own. In the first instance, I’ve written many thousands of words which my accusers never bother to cite — e.g., my 2008 feature about Lt. Col. Allen West or my April profile of Vernon Parker — and in the second instance, a journalist necessarily makes a wide range of acquaintances.
I don’t like being told what to think or what to say, and I don’t make a habit of letting other people decide who I can be friends with. Some of my conservative friends can’t understand why I’m friends with that horrible reprobate Dave Weigel, for example, while my liberal friends — and I do have some of those — are shocked that I’m friends with that nasty Dan Riehl fellow. (I may even be part of Dan’s “ilk“!)
Having many friends who can vouch for my bona fides — people of good reputation who know me personally and never once had cause to think of me as a racist hatemonger — I expect that many voices will defend me from the likes of Phil Munger, an instigator of this latest attack.
Hate is against my religion. If I am commanded to pray for my enemies, why then should I hate entire races of people whom I’ve never met and who have done me no harm?
If I do not hate, neither will I fear. There are important stories I need to be covering, and I’ve got better things to do than to seek vengeance on a bunch of pissant “progressives” whose only claim to fame is their vicious obsession with the Palins. I’m past caring what such people think of me, but if I am called on to fight in defense of the good name of the Palins, I’m prepared again to invoke the war oath of Clan Cameron:
Within hours of her death, [Rachel] Corrie was transformed from human being to sacred symbol, an icon revered by the “Blame Israel First” crowd. She was subsequently glorified in a cantata composed by a University of Alaska professor (who has since become a notorious anti-Palin blogger) and in a play that ran for 48 performances on Broadway.
Exploited to advance the anti-Israel cause, this symbolic Rachel Corrie functions in death as the real Rachel Corrie functioned in life, scapegoating Jews and acting as a human shield for terrorists.
WASILLA, Alaska — I’m about to make the mad dash back to Anchorage, then will be making my way homeward for a couple days of rest before trying to explain to Mrs. Other McCain why I need to go to Delaware.
But I thought I might share another point about those “impotent, limp and gutless” reporters: It’s not really hard to do what they do. A pro-Palin friend e-mailed me:
The root of the VF-style hit pieces can be found with a handful of Alaska characters. A journalist on assignment to write a hit piece will ring up Shannyn Moore, and she’ll put this person in touch with a slate of people who have an obvious axe to grind . . . or just a tenuous connection to Sarah Palin. We can always tell who the “anonymous” sources are.
Exactly: “The Real, Hidden Scary TRUTH About Sarah Palin” is a color-by-numbers exercise that has been done to death by now. Every liberal journalist on the planet either already has a deal for that kind of book or is trying to hustle a deal for that kind of book, sort of the way 2006-07 was the era of right-wingers hustling The Great Anti-Hillary Book.
Some people in the journalism racket really need to re-consider their career strategies. Being a dime-a-dozen cliché-peddler just isn’t very smart in the long term.
Rumor is that the Palins are out of town and hope of an interview seems doomed to disappointment. Then my cell phone rings. “This is Todd Palin,” says the man on the phone. We chat briefly about the recent GOP primary victory of Joe Miller. I explain that I’ve driven 50 miles from Anchorage to Wasilla just to get a sense of the town where Sarah began her political career as a city council member and mayor. Todd then tells me that although his wife is out town, he’s still in Wasilla and …
Half an hour later, I drive down an unpaved road past a large Miller-for-Senate campaign sign and turn into a driveway marked with multiple “No Trespassing” signs, past which no wise person would go uninvited. Here, nestled among birch trees on the shore of scenic Lake Lucille, is the home of the woman whom liberals love most to hate — and Todd, the man who got the nickname “First Dude” during his wife’s term as Alaska’s governor.
Todd opens the front door and his youngest son, two-year-old Trig, scampers across the living room to greet the guest with a “high five.” Rambunctiously energetic, Trig is the focus of his father’s attention — Todd bounces the toddler on his knee, reads him a book, and fixes him a bottle . . .
Please read the whole thing. The First Dude is nothing short of pure awesome. It’s past midnight here in Wasilla and I’m too tired right now to explain how all this happened. I’ll get some sleep and update in the morning.
The big question. Is Todd Palin or Trig now a member of the Axis of Fedora?
Alas, no, the First Dude turned down the opportunity to wear the fedora. However, he did offer to take a couple of photos of me, for example:
Those “impotent, limp and gutless” reporters couldn’t handle Todd’s Iron Dog racer. At one point during our conversation, we were talking about the Iron Dog (specifically the absurd “ethics” charge based on Sarah wearing a coat with a sponsor’s logo) and I asked, “Is that the kind of sport that you kind of age out of?” Todd grinned and said, “You trying to tell me something?”
Faux pas? Well, I explained that snow machine racing struck me as similar to motocross racing, where the average champion is in his early 20s. Todd said he has routinely competed against riders half his age.
It’s still only 6:40 a.m. here in Alaska. Seems like there was something I’ve forgotten to say.
Hmmm. Obviously, I need more sleep. Maybe I’ll think of it in an update later.
And be careful, Dave Weigel — you wouldn’t want to be “limp, impotent and gutless.”
Sometimes the best stories are the ones you can’t report. Sometimes if you’ll just talk to people — put down the notebook, turn off the recorder — instead of interviewing them, you can get a much better idea of who they really are.
Something else: Try to have some regard for the humanity of your sources. It’s worth noting that, at least at this point, the Palins are private citizens and are not obligated to speak to the press at all. So if Todd Palin is kind enough to invite me out to the house — when he could just as easily have spent those two hours doing something he enjoyed — should I repay his hospitality by playing “gotcha”?
C’mon, Dave: Remember how you felt when all that JouroList stuff was hitting the fan? That’s how the Palins have felt every single day for the past two years.
WASILLA, Alaska — Just a quick note. I’ve got an appointment in a few minutes and have to run. Earlier today, I Tweeted the results of a poll:
EXCLUSIVE: MURKOWSKI 37% (IF LIBERTARIAN), MILLER 31%, MCADAMS 19%
But I got that news while I was at a Taco Bell in Eagle River and couldn’t blog it at the time. Now Alaska Dispatch has the story:
A new poll has U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski beating Joe Miller by six percent if she runs on the Libertarian ticket. . . . The poll that shows Murkowski winning a three-way race between herself, Miller, and Democrat Scott McAdams was paid for by Andrew Halcro and four other Republicans. It cost $5,400 and was conducted by Dittman Research and Communication.
In a hypothetical three-way race, Dittman’s poll gives Murkowski 37 percent, Miller 31 percent and McAdams 19 percent, with 13 percent undecided. The poll questioned only 383 people and Halcro is an outspoken Murkowski supporter, so critics looking to dismiss the poll have plenty of ammunition. But it does add fuel to that burning question: Is Murkowski really done?
Yeah, she’s done, but it gives the LP Senate candidate an excuse to keep yammering about the “people’s bailout,” whatever that is. Never mind. Here’s a few photos of the local sights:
For a town with an official population of 5,468, Wasilla is a bustling community. It’s by no means the backward rural outpost you might imagine. I’m filing this post from a coffee shop that serves organic fair-trade coffee from Columbia, Guatamala, Peru and Bolivia. They’ve got Ethiopian coffee, too, but evidently the “organic fair-trade” craze hasn’t taken hold among East African coffee-growers yet.
You may ask where I’m going next . . .
This isn’t just any old Joe Miller for Senate sign. Look close, and you’ll notice a driveway to the left side of the photo and maybe a “no trespassing” sign or two. I turned the truck around and didn’t dare approach uninvited, as it is my understanding that Joe McGinniss’s neighbor excels in marksmanship. But you’d never guess who just called me, so I’m logging out now . . .
UPDATE: In case you haven’t yet guessed who called me, two words: First Dude.
By the time you read this, I’ll be on my way to Wasilla. Pray for me, and please remember the five most important words in the English language: Hit the freaking tip jar!
If she can’t gin up enough phony absentee ballots to overturn Miller’s 1,668-vote margin of victory in Tuesday’s GOP primary, she’s on her way to being an ex-Senator, and so now Lisa the Loser is on the attack:
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) pushed back against her Republican opponent Joe Miller on Friday, calling him “paranoid” for suggesting that she is conspiring with her legal team to steal victory in Tuesday’s primary.
Miller holds a narrow lead over the incumbent Murkowski, who has vowed not to concede until all 20,000 absentee ballots have been counted . . . “To suggest that the NRSC has sent an attorney to Alaska to skew results is paranoid,” Murkowski said.
OK, to start with, it was originally estimated that there were 8,000 absentee ballots to be counted. Now suddenly we are told it’s 20,000? But never mind that. If Murkowski is so doggone confident of victory, why did she demand that the NRSC send its general counsel to Alaska? She’s sitting on more than $1 million in leftover campaign cash. Can’t she pay for her own lawyers?
Now let’s address Murkowski’s accusation that Miller is “paranoid.” This afternoon, I spoke by phone to a Miller campaign volunteer who lives near Fairbanks and who described the harassment he’s received from Murkowski supporters.
“I’m getting tons of crank calls — you wouldn’t believe it,” said the volunteer, who explained that some anti-Miller activists had targeted him due to his online work for the campaign. Murkowski supporters in his community, however, had learned of his pro-Miller stance directly.
“I’ve lost a lot of [Republican] friends who turned out to be closet liberals . . . RINOs,” he said, describing one friend’s reaction as “Oh my God, you’re a f***ing bagger” — i.e., a “teabagger,” the Left’s preferred epithet for Tea Party activists.
As to the Team Joe strategy for the absentee ballot count, the volunteer said, “I leave that to the legal eagles,” noting that Miller is a lawyer (J.D., Yale Law) and that campaign manager Robert Campbell is also a lawyer.
Republican challenger Joe Miller holds a narrow lead over incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski in Alaska’s GOP Senate race, which remains too close to call with more 23,000 absentee, questioned and early ballots not yet counted.
State elections workers will begin to count absentee ballots Tuesday. Division of Elections officials estimated 16,000 absentee ballots were sent out before the election. Ballots mailed from within the United States must arrive by Sept. 3 to be valid. Ballots mailed internationally must arrive before Sept. 8.
The ballots to be counted include almost 9,000 questioned ballots flagged by Division of Elections officials because the voter’s intent might not be clear. Another 663 votes were cast during the “early voting” process on Election Day and await counting.
OK, so the count won’t be officially finished until at least a week from Wednesday, with lots of opportunity for shenanigans. I gotta be there.
In cities and towns across our country, you’ll find monuments to brave Americans wearing the uniforms of wars from long ago, and look down at their inscriptions, you’ll see that they were so often dedicated by mothers. In distant lands across the globe, you’ll find silent fields of white markers with the names of Americans who never came home, but who showed their dedication to their country by where they died.
We honor those who served something greater than self and made the ultimate sacrifice, as well as those who served and did come home forever changed by the battlefield. Though this rally is about “restoring honor,” for these men and women honor was never lost! If you look for the virtues that have sustained our country, you will find them in those who wear the uniform, who take the oath, who pay the price for our freedom. . . .
Smitty and I arrived right when the rally started and couldn’t crowd our way up more than halfway up along the Reflecting Pool. Those press credentials I printed out myself could only get so far.
Doggone it, guys, if I could have been there — $678!— we would have been chilling backstage with Glenn and Sarah.
Obviously, I need to start teaching seminars on how to b.s. your way past security: First, always wear a sports coat and a shirt with a collar.
Forget about comfort. If you’ve got an official full-access credential, you can dress like a fat tourist on vacation, but otherwise, it’s important to look like a legitimate member of the working press. And nothing says “legit” like a sports coat and button-down oxford.
Remember: There is no law against impersonating a journalist.
