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"Following the former Alaska governor's road show, the author delves into the surreal new world Palin now inhabits - a place of fear, anger, and illusion, which has swallowed up the engaging, small-town hockey mom and her family - and the sadness she has left in her wake."

(illustration: Edward Sorel)
(illustration: Edward Sorel)

 

Comments  

 
+34 # Guest 2010-09-02 09:55
She is the MOST UNCHRISTIAN CHRISTIAN, I have ever read about...
 
 
+31 # Guest 2010-09-02 10:20
shame on her for invoking teh word christian!Truly a wolf in sheeps clothing using the media to ge trich quick!
 
 
+27 # Guest 2010-09-02 16:05
Ask Yourself a Fundamental Question.

HOW CAN SHE DO THIS?

She can because of 30 successful years of Conservatives trying to destroy the very Government they call 'Big Government.' The very same Government built by the 'Greatest Generation' which built the middle class, saw America through always Increasing Standards of Living, Food Safety, Drug Safety, Social Security, Medicare, Affordable Education, etc.,,etc.

Conservatives sell us their 'LESS GOVERNMENT' as a panacea, as the Road to Liberty, Freedom, Prosperity. They sell it like snake oil.

What they have delivered is Less Government (of the People) through a LOT Less Regulation and Taxation (of the Corporate Wealthy Class). Obsessive deregulation has transferred wealth and power from 97% to 3%, It has also allowed a very few GLOBAL Corporations to own almost all Media Enterprises, a huge swath of which is CONservative and through which a person like Palin can easily and broadly bring her gloom to America.
 
 
+17 # Guest 2010-09-02 16:45
Sara Palin is by definition one of the biggest Ignoramus we have.
 
 
+25 # Guest 2010-09-02 17:02
Really superb investigative reporting with scant information from which to draw, blockaded by a secretive subject and her paid-off entourage. Despite its length, a gripping, "you-can't-stop" read.

Forget Christianity associated with this predatory opportunist. She certainly has.
 
 
+13 # Guest 2010-09-03 04:42
The Devil makes her do it! I saw a video on Real Time with Bill Maher of her having demons cast out by a clergyman in a church. Somehow this had no effect on her candidacy at all, which is strange considering that Thomas Eagleton had to withdraw because he had been treated for mental illness in the past. The accounts here of her temper and behavior at least explain why such treatment was performed. Hardly any Christians I know have had anything resembling an exorcism performed on them or needed it.
 
 
+15 # Guest 2010-09-02 17:10
Palin did marriage and child raising right out of college. It is BS that women can do it all - she didn't have nannies in those days. She does not strike me as a prepared, professional career women with the proper grounding, experience and education to be a Mayor, Governor, VP or God help us, a President. She seems to be a hold over from the 50's. Her appeal may be to racist old biddies stuck in the 50's, and who else? McCain - that schemer - got her up here on the National stage. She needs to exit stage right immediately, but who is holding the hook to make this happen? It could be other women candidates back there behind the curtain, who are preparing and readying for the 2012 debates. President Obama needs a female VP running with him, if Palin runs. Someone as smart as he is and is savvy to Palin's "Queen Bee" management style. She really does not like women. But another woman has to deliver the message to her.
 
 
+34 # Guest 2010-09-02 17:19
After reading this article I am reminded of a line from Auschwitz survivor Elie Wiesel; "It was not that one man was so evil but that millions had not the courage to be good." Palin isn't dangerous, the people who follow her, support her and unthinkingly embrace her insane positions are the danger. Their participation in DC Bund rally last weekend is dangerous to America. The people who vote against their own self interest, unable to analyze or research what she says are dangerous. Her minions are also guilty of promoting extremist and unamerican ideas are dangerous. The good people of Alaska have a choice when they enter the voting both, be they republican, democrat, independent. They can vote against Palin simply by refusing to support her senate candidate Joe Miller. You may have to cross party lines, you may not be happy with your choice but keep in mind you are voting against extremism and voting for American ideals. It's in your hands. If only the Germans of WWII had made the same choice.
 
 
+4 # Guest 2010-09-02 23:42
Can you supply a reference to the quote you attribute to Elie Wiesel? An internet search turns up nothing, and unlike a lot of people, I like to research quotes and other facts put forth by other people. Thanks!
 
 
+11 # Guest 2010-09-03 08:25
Yes, it was a speech he gave at a holocaust rememberance honoring people who helped. The line always stayed with me along with the interview (this was a filmed) with a big, rough, tough soldier who started the interview quite strong and ended in tears when he talked about liberating a camp. The film also includes interviews with a Polish resistance fighter who traveled to the US to speak to Roosevelt. I have the film packed away somewhere, retired teacher, and can't for life of me remember the title. It was a one hour film. I came across it at an inservice provided by a local Jewish cultural center for the teachers in my district. The line in the film was haunting. If the title comes back, I'll post it. If you are looking for the film you might try a Jewish cultural center in your area.
 
 
0 # Guest 2010-09-03 11:30
metcalf, thank you for the insightful comparison to 1930s Germany. I too am interested in the source of your excellent quotation.

The German people felt trampled upon, and so do many Americans today. I can hardly blame rural independents for supporting the Tea Party when mainstream Democrats and Republicans have ignored them for so long. The modern Democratic Party doesn't give a damn about the rural poor, the self-employed, farmers, gun owners, and others who might have been receptive to a progressive populist movement. Instead, they have left it to the capitalist-aristocrats of the far right to capture those sentiments.

See you in Weimar.
 
 
+28 # Guest 2010-09-02 18:02
Palin will be a more folksy version of Bush with a good hair and makeup. Aren't there other more bright, more sophisticated women candidates in the Republican diaspora?

Can't you Palinites see that cute and folksy is not a prerequisite to being an effective President? How about experience and intelligence? Or are you just going to rely on the people around her to create The Palin Mystique, like they did with Bush?

I certainly do not want an impulsive, crude, rude, power hungry "beauty" as my leader. I see no balance in this woman: all artifice, no substance here to be a world leader.
 
 
-9 # Guest 2010-09-03 09:00
Yes, Barry, but she's the secretary of state.
 
 
+7 # Guest 2010-09-02 18:07
I love to hear the sound of Sarah Palin fans screeching psychotically -- like air rushing out of a punctured dirigible.

Sarah, tell me it isn't so. Are you pretending to evil when in reality you are good?

How dishonest, how hypocritical!

;-)
 
 
+5 # Guest 2010-09-02 19:16
I love to hear the sound of Sarah Palin fans screeching psychotically -- like air rushing out of a wounded dirigible.

Sarah, tell me it isn't so. Are you pretending to evil when in reality you are good?

How dishonest, hypocritical
 
 
+14 # Guest 2010-09-02 19:46
I sometimes think that the reason Bush just waited and stared in the Florida schoolroom on 911 was that he was waiting for orders from his handlers. Same same, Sarah is playing the empty front and we have not yet seen what Rumsfeld or what Cheney is going to provide her policy and direction.
 
 
-29 # Guest 2010-09-02 20:10
To Michael Gross and his admiring assassins of historic courage and character:
Be aware that history is always repeating itself. The only difference is the faces and places. Those with such wretched petty minds who cheered to see Joan of Arc smolder for her soul inspired courage and leadership are all of the same vermin who again attack our own homegrown most beloved patriot and courageous leader of this century. None other than Sarah of Alaska. I bestow all honor, love and gratitude to this brave messenger of freedom. Again a Woman has come forth as The Timely Emancipator to our most cherished core values. Let us not become again. . . those Fools of France.
 
 
+16 # Guest 2010-09-02 22:15
Sarah Palin is afflicted with Vanity Most Unfair. Her popularity is a measure of Americans' obsession with celebrity -- substance be damned. We don't need general intellect, comprehensive knowledge, or analytical savoir faire -- those qualities are elitist. To make just one comparison, on the same political side -- Sarah isn't fit to empty Condoleeza Rice's waste basket.
 
 
+1 # Guest 2010-09-05 00:49
"Sarah isn't fit to empty Condoleeza Rice's waste basket."
I agree, she probably would miss the dumpster.
 
 
+14 # Guest 2010-09-02 23:40
I always new there was something spooky about this woman. I couldn't really figure out if she is a dumb as she comes off, or what really was her game. If she is as nasty and conniving as reported here, we don't have anything to worry about. People like that inevitably take themselves down in some kind of scandal. Her turn is coming up. Divine providence ???
 
 
+21 # Guest 2010-09-03 00:01
No good mother would use her children as stage props. The baby just served as an accessory, And I wonder how Bristol felt at being paraded on stage. I was sorry for her. There is no way I would EVER have done that to my daughter.
She shamelassly used her children and then she whined and cried faul when somebody criticezed her or commented on Bristol.

She is nothing but a greedy fake opportunist, and I can't for the life of me understand how so many fall for her.
 
 
+6 # Guest 2010-09-03 11:41
The most unforgivable things about this female thug are:

Not getting a tutor for the children on the campaign trail.

The hate crimes spiking a bloody trail everywhere she goes.

The rest is a demented form of politics.
 
 
-9 # Guest 2010-09-03 02:40
I'm not a Palin fan, although a shag would be nice, but in this article, there is a bit too much "a reliable source" or "a close associate" or "someone who knows her well." Bit of squeaky journalism.
 
 
+6 # Guest 2010-09-03 22:05
Quoting
I'm not a Palin fan, although a shag would be nice, but in this article, there is a bit too much "a reliable source" or "a close associate" or "someone who knows her well." Bit of squeaky journalism.


I hear ya' Joe, but in this article, this speaks to Palin's reputation for vengeance. I think it's clear that people who have been close to her would likely be very, very reluctant to reveal themselves. I don't think this or any journalist could have done better under the circumstances without lying to their sources, which would discourage future revelation as this author already mentioned.
 
 
+3 # Guest 2010-09-05 00:57
If Gross had been able to talk to people freely, it would have been a different article, maybe worse. If she runs for anything, God forbid, she had better want to talk to the media and allow people the freedom of speech that she says is so important, I guess only for her and FOX VIEWS.

I wonder what she looks like without a girdle, I didn't know you could still buy one.
 
 
+7 # Guest 2010-09-03 03:52
Unstable frustrated pageant queen wannabe now on a grander and more durable stage. If she hasn't seen All The King's Men, she should. Wilhelmina Stark should not depend on all her doormats to perfectly lie flat. She has the power to ruin, perhaps, but there are other and more final powers available to the disgruntled as we see all too often, almost daily, today.

In any case, I don't want someone whose half she doesn't really mean might include pushing the button anywhere near that button.
 
 
+14 # Brenda 2010-09-03 06:37
Why is Palin getting away with it?

I guess there's a lot more people than we think, who'll drink the "Kool-Aid" that she's handing out. Perhaps she should move her show to Texas, where there's a whole lot more folks like that. But enough jesting.

She's just another dunce of a pawn, much like George W. was a dunce of a pawn. They'll run her with a Republican Big Daddy Warbucks, who will make all the important decisions (or should I say dictate the "stern instructions") for her to publically approve , just like Cheney did for Bush. They are probably hoping that all the duped radical right Christians and the female voters will run to the polls and elect her. This was the Republican scheme that they pulled off in the 1999 elections.

As far as I'm concerned, the Republican king pins remind me of J. R. Ewing in the Dallas TV Series. What ever they say or do, no matter how illegal, unconstitutiona l, or unethical it is, their ends justifies their means.
 
 
+14 # Guest 2010-09-03 06:43
Palin's not the problem. It's the people who fall for her 'populist' blather. They do not care if she's lying, she makes it okay for them to feel meaner and greedier and nastier to anyone who does not agree with them. These are the ones who are taking us down along with the opinionaters who work for Murdoch and friends.
 
 
-9 # Guest 2010-09-03 08:15
I am a democrat but I can tell you that vermin like Palin and other right wing republican filthy creatures are going to keep coming because of the horrible Obama government (to whom I voted and now regret) and the spineless democratic congress.
 
 
-19 # Guest 2010-09-03 09:57
This is a terrific expose of Palintology. He failed to mention, however, that there are public figures who travel in even more expensive style than Sarah, and at public expense. One is, of course, Nancy Pelosi. The other - I cannot mention her, because it would expose me as a racist, sexist bigot. She never uses her children as props either, does she?
 
 
+9 # Guest 2010-09-03 10:49
Just remember that John McCain is the one to blame for this woman being where she is today.John McCain has proven time and time again that he will do anything to remain in power.He is a glaring example of why we need term limits on congressmen and senators.Term limits will be the undoing of lobbyists and the BPs of the world. It's time!
 
 
-2 # Guest 2010-09-03 12:03
I do not believe that SP is qualified to be President. At the same time, though I believe Barack Obama is qualified, I don't believe that he has comported himself in the way he promised to during his campaign. I believe that whoever becomes President is subject to certain political forces that limit his ability to govern progressively. As a result, it probably matters little who is president. Even someone like a Palin could probably fudge her way through, like Bush did.
 
 
+13 # Guest 2010-09-03 15:51
Palin's fall will be more precipitous than her rise.
I was reminded as I read the piece of Jim and Tammy Fay Baker, husband and wife snake oil purveyors in the hey day of religious TV money grubbers in the 80's. (They operated with the tacit acknowledgment from the Reagan administration that if they delivered the bible banger vote to Republicans, they need not fear the IRS looking too closely at the finances.) I think the same kind of gullible people who gladly wrote them checks are the same kind of people in love with Palin. It's the same us verses them, good verses evil that appeals to unsophisticated people looking for simple answers in a bewildering world. Once again, the Republicans are catering to this bloc of voters with more or less the same propaganda.
 
 
+7 # Guest 2010-09-04 05:52
The rise of Sarah Palin is a symptom of a nation in decline and this decline is being enabled by millions of Americans who are so lazy-minded that they don't bother to get the facts. They vote against their own interests time after time, and when someone has the gall to tell them the truth, they attack the messenger! We free-thinkers are still worn out from the Bush years, and now have to endure right-wing nuts like Palin. I think we are in serious burn-out. The Republicans, the corporate media, and their mega-corporate owners, are the biggest threat that the American people have ever faced, and if we allow them to regain power in Washington, we will suffer horrendous consequences.
 
 
+1 # Guest 2010-09-04 10:08
The term Palin has become just another new name for "stupid"

And stupidity is what her flocks desire the most in their wish for politics.

Yes, indeed, America has been degrade to "Palinists" the stupid!
 
 
0 # Guest 2010-09-05 08:42
Good investigative reporting. There is nothing here that speaks to accusations by some that Mr. Gross profiling of Sarah Palin bears resemblance to misogyny. Sarah Palin knows exactly what she is doing but it is unfair and even unpatriotic for her to bring along so many innocent, hard working, decent and trusting Americans to imbue the bowel of her megalomania. I suppose the Previous administration's thorough brainwashing of Americans has made it easy for Sarah Palin to pick up the Pavlovian cycle where Karl Rove left off. She's a phenomenon because she is the first woman and public figure to have it both ways, if she squeals at anything written or said about her by a male, we immediately run to her side and decry "foul sexism". But then, she takes the podium and desecrates whomever and whatever policy she pleases. America needs to get over her.
 
 
+2 # Guest 2010-09-05 09:50
Sara Palin is no Hera, thank you Mr. Gross for being unafraid to unravel the Sarah Palin myth.
 
 
+1 # Guest 2010-09-05 14:30
Did Todd or Sarah Palin volunteer and serve in the U.S. military? If not, why not? If they are so fanatically pro-military, why didn't they join and serve our nation? Seems like they instead join the long line of super patriots afraid to serve, like Dick Cheney, Newt Gingrich, and the current clutch of radio and TV hate mongers who wave the flag yet cowered when considering joining the military to defend it. I have accidentally stepped in animal excrement that I hold in higher esteem.
 
 
-5 # Guest 2010-09-06 11:25
I see the "Apology" article was profanely adorned with this smiling prick up against a very beautiful yet fierce woman portrayed in all ugliness . . by another yellow publisher.

I really wonder how so many liberated Vanity Fair women readers feel about such inappropriate liberties.
How can you all endure, being socialists, in a world of cowardly misogynists on and behind your backs.
 
 
+1 # Guest 2010-09-06 12:43
Like all self-serving phonies, in time, Palin will self destruct! She is already running out of people to use and abuse. What she did with her then pregnant daughter was a disgrace. This women's ego and pretense is dangerous. One thing's for sure her rise to fame said a great deal about how shallow and or ill informed some American's are. The powers to be knew it was the year of the women and minorities. They played their card via Carl ROVE, the media, corporate America and so far are proving their point! Some American's are easily led by a pretty face, a song and dance story, a charismatic player and so, there you have it.. For those who believe in the anti-Christ have you ever thought that it may be a women? HUM!
 

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