PrintAugust 2, 2009
Did Sarah Palin just 'Pwn' the media with divorce rumors?
This is highly speculative but you've probably heard by now that a couple of Alaska liberal bloggers "broke" the story about Sarah Palin's supposed impending divorce from her husband.
It sure sounded solid coming from Alaska Report News:
AlaskaReport has learned today that Todd Palin and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin are to divorce. Multiple sources in Wasilla and Anchorage (including a former Palin staffer) have confirmed the split.
A National Enquirer story exposing previous affairs on both sides led to a deterioration of their marriage and the stress from that led to Palin's resignation as governor of Alaska last week.
The Palins were noticeably not speaking to each other for most of last Sunday's resignation speech in Fairbanks. Sarah ditched Todd (MSNBC) right after the speech and left without him. Sarah removed her wedding ring a couple of weeks ago.
Sarah has recently purchased land in Montana and is considering moving the family there. Sarah Palin is originally from Idaho.
Very interesting. But not true, according to Stacy McCain and Dan Riehl who evidently talked directly to Palin or someone who was authorized to speak on her behalf:
"Divorce Todd? Have you seen Todd? I may be just a renegade hockey mom, but I'm not blind!"Yes, that is her OFFICIAL reponse, which I got via phone at 5:35 this afternoon. Take that to the bank.
-- SARAH PALIN
I might add that Alaska Report has a about as good a record as Gawker in breaking news - which is better than some MSM outlets but far from perfect. And Gryphen, who apparently started the whole divorce rumor, is even worse.
Nevertheless, once both those sites hit the internet with the story, the blog feeding frenzy on the left began, with a couple of MSM outlets joining in.
As someone who doesn't consider himself a journalist but who has been around newsrooms for many years, let me just say that if this had come across my desk, I would have smelled a set up. It's too pat, the pieces fit too nicely together (an "explanation" for why she resigned) not to raise alarms with real journalists. So I think there is at least the possibility, that either someone in the Palin camp with an ax to grind with the media - or, less likely, Palin herself - whispered a few words to a birdie they were sure would get the word to people who would publish it.
The definition of "pwn" is "1. An act of dominating an opponent, and 2. Great, ingenious; applied to methods and objects." If this was a set up by the Palin camp, it worked magnificently. Now, most of the lefty blogosphere has egg on their face while much of the MSM has been exposed as inveterate Palin haters.
Several Alaska bloggers hounded the former Alaskan governor with bogus ethics complaints while she was in office - Alaska Report being one of them. Could a little payback be at play here?
Stranger things have happened.
