Sarah Palin's Mind Game

In today's post, 'Sarah Palin: Media scrutiny next year? “I just have to be prepared for it and overcome it.” UPDATE//: Ivan Moore in Anchorage Press says “absolutely yes, Sarah will run”,' Joe McGinniss wrote of what Palin said on Sean Hannity's show, and here is a quote from McGinniss' post:

... I realize that the Wasilla Assembly of God taught Sarah that Sigmund Freud was Sigmund Fraud, and that she’s believed it ever since, but that doesn’t immunize her from what the rest of us might call a Freudian slip. Speaking of Gingrich’s recent stumble out of the gate, Hannity asked her, in regard to 2012, “Is there going to be a different standard?” Meaning: will candidates be held accountable for their words? Sarah said:

There’s gotta be the preparation on all the candidates’ parts for those gotchas. That’s what the lamestream media is known for nowadays is the gotcha, trip-up questions, and I just have to be prepared for it and overcome it. (emphasis added.)

Why would someone who did not intend to seek the Republican nomination say “I”?

If she weren’t planning to run–notwithstanding how she makes everything about herself–wouldn’t she have said “they?”

Dr. Fraud, where are you now that we need you? ...

To his credit, McGinniss doesn't seem to know what to make of it, but several commenters expressed what may be an expectation bias with comments that essentially said, "I knew it! She's going to run."

This is the problem: People can't believe that Palin is a liar, an unreliable narrator or speaks "word salad" and at the same time believe what she says, unless they're willing to embrace inconsistent ideas. Think about that!

Her statement may have been a failure to completely express a conditional or subjunctive statement, like, "If I run, I just have to be prepared for it ["gotcha, trip-up questions"] or "If I were running, I would have to be prepared for it." How can we know without asking a follow-up question?

The Leak of Frank Bailey's Book

We hope that Frank Bailey's book, tentatively titled "Blind Allegiance to Sarah Palin: A Memoir of Our Tumultuous Years," will be published. The book is very much an Alaskan story, albeit with national implications should Palin choose to run for national office, so it's important that it be published. There is some doubt, now, however, that it will ever be published.

Ken Morris has posted "Say it Ain’t So, Joe! Co-Author of Leaked Palin Book Speaks Out" at Mudflats. The post includes a letter sent to Joe McGinniss, author of Rogue: Searching for the Real Sarah Palin, which is scheduled to be published on September 20, 2011. The letter accuses McGinniss of two things: 1) Infringing the authors' copyright and 2) Impairing the manuscript's marketability by disseminating it.

We posted an excerpt of the original of Alaska Dispatch's current story about the leak, as well as links to articles where recipients of the manuscript had commented on or quoted from the manuscript. Our only quote from the manuscript, which was attributed to Sarah Palin in the manuscript, was taken from Alaska Dispatch's initial story about the leak. We have reconsidered our use of the quote after reviewing Alaska Dispatch's response to a legal firm representing the manuscript's co-authors. Our quote of the remark attributed to Sarah Palin and our excerpt from Alaska Dispatch's original article have been removed.

Update: There is quite an amusing post -- a laugh-out-loud post -- at the blog of 'a German attorney who will identify himself only as “Patrick.”' He claims to have received a cease and desist letter and treats it very cavalierly, for an attorney. They claim to have removed some things that they claim were obtained from other news outlets, but they have retained quotes from the manuscript's e-mails; e-mails they apparently thought might support their opinions about Trig Palin's birth, but may not. I write "they," because although the response appears to be signed by "Kathleen," the response is preceeded by "Therefore, we inevitably have to give a reply." I seem to recall, from Shakespeare, "'tis but the breath of an unfeed lawyer," and something else -- not from Shakespeare -- something about a fool and a client ... oh, yes, "A man who is his own lawyer has a fool for a client."

Update: Wonkette has a humorous treatment of the leak, too, at "Leaked Book SHOCKER: Sarah Palin Is Terrible."

Update: A voice from the back seat asks, "Are we there yet?" If you'd like to read about another angle to the manuscript leak story, palingates has posted "Frank Bailey and Sarah Palin's e-mails." If you'd like something different, about a breakthrough in another Palin story, see Malia Litman's "The Anchorage Police Admit Misstatements!" If you're fed-up with all things Palin, you may be able to find something else to read by scrolling down the sidebar, on the left.

Sarah Palin's Next-door Neighbor Is Controlling Her

Sarah Palin appeared on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace and was asked how her summer was going with writer Joe McGinniss living next-door. She said, "We just avoid certain angles in the house and we avoid the front yard and we're doing a lot of things out and about around Alaska to have our summer fun and our outdoor recreation. Like Todd says, some people just need to get a life and bless his heart he needs to get a life."

Was Sarah referring to her husband, Todd, or to Joe McGinniss when she said that Todd said, "some people just need to get a life," and then said, "bless his heart he needs to get a life?" Does "his" and "he" refer to Todd Palin or to Joe McGinniss? Both? The Washington Post is running a story, "Palin: Next-door author changes way family lives," which says, "Sarah Palin says the best-selling author who moved into the house next door to her family while writing a book about her needs to get a life." Does that make it any clearer? Fox News makes its interpretation very clear, however, stating, "Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said her family's had to change its behavior ever since a writer working on a book about her moved in next door. She said writer Joe McGinniss needs to 'get a life.'"

A Politico story, "Palin blames media for unfavorable rating," has additional damning notes of Sarah's TeaVee appearance:

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin blames her upside-down approval rating among independents on one of her favorite foils: the media.

Palin, who serves as a paid commentator for Fox News, said on "Fox News Sunday" that "if I believed everything I read or heard in the media, I wouldn't like me either." [me?]

Fox host Chris Wallace cited recent polling numbers from Quinnipiac University that showed 50 percent of independents viewed the former vice presidential GOP nominee in an unfavorable light. Just a third said they viewed her favorably.

"I've never committed to running for president for one and I know that polls are fickle so we won't even talk about the approval rating or the favorability," she responded.

"As for the unfavorable, you know, I don't blame people for not really knowing what it is, in some instances, what I stand for or what my record is," she continued. [We weren't going to talk about it?]

Asked about how her summer was proceeding with journalist Joe McGinniss living next to her, Palin acknowledged his presence has altered her family's behavior.

Later, I'll look for a video/transcript of Palin's TeaVee appearance.