Hatchet Piece on PalinI swear, you'd think she was the President the way the media can't resist kicking her at every opportunity. Todd Purdum
slants his article from the word go:
Despite her disastrous performance in the 2008 election, Sarah Palin is still the sexiest brand in Republican politics, with a lucrative book contract for her story.
If there was a disastrous performance, it was by the mainstream media in 2008, which is part of the reason they're in so much trouble these days financially.
The article is tendentious. The most unintentionally hilarious bit comes here:
More than once in my travels in Alaska, people brought up, without prompting, the question of Palin’s extravagant self-regard. Several told me, independently of one another, that they had consulted the definition of “narcissistic personality disorder” in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders—“a pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy”—and thought it fit her perfectly.
Yes, of course, lots of people have the Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorders lying around for convenient reference, and mention it commonly to traveling reporters. And how about a little pop psychology about the person who's actually the Vice President of the United States, and who's also a bully and an obnoxious jerk?
And then there's this:
What does it say about the nature of modern American politics that a public official who often seems proud of what she does not know is not only accepted but applauded? What does her prominence say about the importance of having (or lacking) a record of achievement in public life?
I dunno, what record of achievement in public life does President Obama have? Purdum's a hack writer and a liberal hired by Graydon Carter; for chrissakes his wife is Dee Dee Myers, former press secretary for Bill Clinton. In fact, since Bill came up, I'll let him have
the last word on Purdum:
"He's a really dishonest reporter," Clinton said during the tirade that followed, according to Fowler's report. "And I haven't read (the article). There's just five or six blatant lies in there. But he's a real slimy guy."
Reminded that Purdum is married to his former press secretary Dee Dee Myers, Clinton responded in part: "That's all right - he's still a scumbag." The former president added: "He's just a dishonest guy - can't help it."
Labels: Sarah Palin, Todd Purdum, Vanity Fair
