Wednesday, June 02, 2010

DAMMIT, STOP FEEDING HER VICTIMIZATION ADDICTION

From Politico:

NBC runs Palin statement day later

NBC's "Today" show on Wednesday read a statement from Sarah Palin intended for the previous day's broadcast after the former Alaska governor's complaint that the program ignored her rebuttal to a critical interview.

On Tuesday, the show broadcast an interview with journalist Joe McGinniss, covering his decision to move into the house next to the Palins while he researches a book on the family....

Palin was in contact with the “Today" show the day before McGinniss's appearance and provided a statement responding to the author before the interview....

During his interview on "Today," McGinniss accused Palin of using "Nazi" tactics to incite her supporters to go after him. But Palin's response to the interview initially was not aired.

Palin then took to her Facebook page to complain that the network "broke their promise" to run her statement....


That Facebook post is here, although you've probably either read it already or decided you'd rather have a root canal than read any of Palin's Facebook posts.

Maybe Palin's just lying about NBC's promise to read this statement during Tuesday's broadcast. But if anyone did make that promise and it was broken, that was a mistake, because this is precisely the kind of thing that nourishes the horrifying beast that is Sarah Palin's sense of herself. This is what makes her feel victimized -- or, to put it another way, this is what makes her feel alive. Or, to put it yet another way, this is what makes her a goddess to her disturbingly large and terrifying cult.

You know what else is not helpful? Accusing her of using Nazi tactics. Thanks a lot, Joe.

In fact, thanks a lot for practicing semi-stalker journalism. I know you're not really peeping in anyone's windows. I know you're well within the bounds of journalistic ethics. But you're still trying to needle her by moving in next to her. You're trying to get in her face figuratively if not literally, in a way that makes me think you're trying to hark back to '60s-style New Journalism, a sort of Hunter Thompson Lite, and good God, I can't think of anything more likely to make her whine in self-righteous faux-rage. And who the hell needs that?

I'm not saying any of this because I agree with her, or because I have even the slightest respect for her. I don't.

I'm saying this because she should be made to work as hard as possible to have the satisfying sense of victimization she craves (and her cult followers crave vicariously). She should have to stretch the truth to the breaking point. She should have to make stuff up.

I'm not saying go easy on her. I'm just saying don't do anything -- anything -- that a sane, reasonable person might regard as a legitimate cause for complaint on her part. Criticize her, but endeavor to make what you do seem perfectly fair. Or just ignore her and let us blogging bottom-feeders be the most important people who write about her (and if you stop, maybe we will, too, because maybe no one but her cult will pay attention to her).

The only thing worse than Palin is Palin aggrieved. Do what you can to spare us that.

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