Michael Joseph Gross, the author of the recent Vanity Fair hit piece on Sarah Palin, does not seem to be able to tell the truth. In a new attempt to “shoot the messenger” (me) rather than admit that his story is concocted, he tries to turn the tables and call my credibility into question. The problem–there are witnesses and logistical impossibilities that expose further problems with his story. He says:

I could not have spoken to her in Independence, because I was not allowed backstage on the floor of the arena, where Loudon was; that was a restricted space, and, as far as I am aware, all reporters were barred from the area.

Quoting from the first words of his article:

Backstage in the arena, a little girl in Mary Janes pushes her brother in a baby carriage, stopping a few yards shy of a heavy, 100-foot-long black curtain. The curtain splits the arena in two, shielding the children from an audience of 4,000 people clapping their hands in time to “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” The music accompanies a video “Salute to Military Heroes” that plays above the stage where, in a few moments, the children’s mother will appear.

When the girl, Piper Palin, turns around, she sees her parents thronged by admirers, and the crowd rolling toward her and the baby, her brother Trig, born with Down syndrome in 2008. Sarah Palin and her husband, Todd, bend down and give a moment to the children; a woman, perhaps a nanny, [this is the part he already admitted was an "error" after we exposed it on Big Journalism] whisks the boy away; and Todd hands Sarah her speech and walks her to the stage. He pokes the air with one finger. She mimes the gesture, whips around, strides on four-inch heels to stage center, and turns it on.

His next statement in his defense: (more…)

Michael Joseph Gross has now admitted that he made an “error” in regard to his slimy hit piece in Vanity Fair that he wrote about Sarah Palin.  He falsely reported that Sarah somehow disregarded her child at an event, when he knew the child was mine, and I took him from the Governor who was holding him right up until she was walking on stage.

He did not apologize to Sarah Palin, to me, or to either of our children, for the record.  He also has not retracted the other 99 lies in the piece.  At least not yet.

He accuses Sarah Palin of creating fictitious PACs to “hide” money she is supposedly collecting from all of these groups.   He speaks specifically in his piece about the “Take America Back” rally where the Governor, and I spoke, among others.

Not that Mr. Gross would know a pang of patriotism if he ran into a flagpole, but it appears a tutorial might be in order.  Since the MSM lies, distorts, and twists everything that happens in this country, and has for too long now, patriots rose up to re-claim what belongs to us.  Like 60% of the country, I am a patriot.  That means I (and my 100 million closest friends) love this country and you would have to pry my gun out of my cold, dead hands to take it from me. (more…)

Many have pointed out the ways in which Michael Joseph Grosss’ piece on Palin seems both unfair and under sourced. I won’t rehash all of that. I’ll just comment on the one section that stood out to me:

The term “prayer warrior” describes a person who offers a specific kind of supplication: asking God to direct an unseen battle between forces of light and darkness—literal angels and demons—that some Christians believe is occurring all around us…

Whenever I heard Palin speak on the road, her remarks were scored with code phrases expressing solidarity with fundamentalist Christians. Her talk of leading with “a servant’s heart” is a dog whistle for the born-again. Her dig at health-care reform as an expression of Democratic ambitions to “build a Utopia” in the United States is practically a trumpet call (because the Kingdom of God is not of this earth, and perfection can be achieved only in the life to come). But it is Palin’s persistent encouragement of the prayer warriors that most clearly reveals her worldview: she is good, her opponents are evil, and the war is on.

Having read this dismissive account of Palin’s faith, it surprised me to see Mr. Gross on television claiming he has a lot in common with Palin, including Christianity. It reminds me of that old car commercial “This is not your father’s Oldsmobile.” Well, Michael Gross is not your father’s Christian. In fact he’s apparently a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary which is a long way from the faith of most evangelicals. (more…)

***Updated

Remember Vanity Fair (you know–the stale, old magazine that no one buys unless they are on the cover or they are wishing they were, like Joy Behar)?  The recent hit piece on Sarah Palin by Michael Joseph Gross reveals that they must be as desperate as the rest of the MSM for sales/ratings, because they have lost all credibility, if they ever had any.

Reading his tripe was excruciating.  Some 90% of the hard accusations are attributed to anonymous “sources.”   This is billed as a profile piece, not exactly Watergate.  You have to do better than attributing everything to an anonymous “Deep Throat.”

I have read a lot of MSM slime over the years, but never, ever have I felt subjected to a more jealous, petty, sophomoric, disturbed piece of ragslime than I do after reading this latest on Sarah Palin.   Gross left nothing alone.  He attacked her beauty, intelligence, marriage, parents, friends, family, children, ability, sincerity, honesty, faith, state, husband, home, shoes, speeches, pastor, book, job, cooking, hunting skills, supporters, church, weight, undergarments… the list goes on.  I honestly cannot think of anything about her that he did not attack.

Sarah Palin doesn’t need me, or anyone else to defend her.  She is strong, self assured, and she has heard all of this unoriginal slime before now. The only thing new in his story is the new depth of utter disregard for professionalism in journalism. Here is an excerpt:

“When …Piper Palin turns around, she sees her parents thronged by admirers, and the crowd rolling toward her and the baby, her brother Trig, born with Down syndrome in 2008.  Sarah Palin and her husband, Todd, bend down and give a moment to the children; a woman, perhaps a nanny, whisks the boy away; and Todd hands Sarah her speech and walks her to the stage.”

Unfortunately for Mr. Gross, it happens that I shared the stage with Sarah Palin at that event.  I announced my BUYcott of Arizona that day, and I remember it well. (more…)

The mighty Sarah Palin, not in any political office but who somehow nonetheless rules the world from her Facebook page, clearly terrifies this pathetic little man, Michael Joseph Gross, who was all over the media today to promote his largely unsourced hatchet job on Sarah Palin.

Yes, that’s right: Sarah is so terrifying that no one would speak of her on the record, which is why Gross had to, um, quote unidentified sources about her martial relations, her shopping habits, and other such things crucial to our understanding of her as a politician.

Even on the left, the reviews have been terrible. The Washington Post blogged:

(more…)