November 9, 2010 5:47 PM

In Sarah Palin's World, Comments are Closely Monitored

By
John Dickerson
Topics
Republicans ,
Economy


This post originally appeared on Slate.

Sarah Palin (Credit: AP)

Sarah Palin is fighting elites: the GOP establishment, know-it-alls like Karl Rove, the mainstream media, the Federal Reserve. What unites all fronts in this battle is her conviction that people who claim to know the truth, or what's best for you, do not. Palin doesn't let people tell her to be quiet, and you shouldn't, either.

It is a compelling message. It also requires the very thing Palin rails against--that is, silencing even small voices of dissent. I discovered just how small when I tried to take part in the conversation among Palin's fans on her Facebook page. Palin's brand management rivals, if not surpasses, that of marketing behemoths like Apple, Nike, or Coca-Cola, all of which are known for their control over the tiniest details of their products.

On Monday, Palin rebuked a reporter on her Facebook page. "Do Wall Street Journal reporters Read the Wall Street Journal?" she asked. The Journal reporter, Sudeep Reddy, had asserted that Palin had gotten her facts wrong in a recent speech when she said,"Everyone who ever goes out shopping for groceries knows that prices have risen significantly over the past year or so." Grocery prices, Reddy pointed out, "haven't risen all that significantly, in fact"--inflation is at 0.6 percent for the first nine months of 2010. Palin responded: "Really? That's odd, because just last Thursday, November 4, I read an article in Mr. Reddy's own Wall Street Journal titled "Food Sellers Grit Teeth, Raise Prices: Packagers and Supermarkets Pressured to Pass Along Rising Costs, Even as Consumers Pinch Pennies."

Palin ends her post with what is sometimes known as an end zone dance. "Now I realize I'm just a former governor and current housewife from Alaska, but even humble folks like me can read the newspaper. I'm surprised a prestigious reporter for the Wall Street Journal doesn't."

At least she called you prestigious, Mr. Reddy! Palin seemed to have his number. But then I read Reddy's critique and the story Palin says undermines it. The story Palin cites to support her claim doesn't do that. In her speech, Palin said that "prices have risen significantly over the past year or so." The Journal article says prices are only "beginning" to rise. The time period of "significant" increase Palin is talking about is referred to in the first sentence of the exculpatory article as "the tamest year of food pricing in nearly two decades."

I made this point in a few sentences and posted them on Palin's Facebook page in the space allotted for readers to participate in the conversations she starts. I wanted to see if any of the other participants would respond, as they sometimes do. They didn't--because within two minutes, my post had been deleted from the steady stream of acclaim from Palin fans congratulating her for tweaking the media and urging her to run for president. It's the first time I've been kicked out of a place of worship.

Whoever administers the page for Palin had deleted me so fast I didn't even have a copy of what I'd written. I posted another similar note:

I think Governor Palin and the author are talking about two different time periods. Governor Palin says "everyone who ever goes out shopping for groceries knows that prices have risen significantly over the past year or so." The article she cites, and quotes above, says that the "inflationary tide is //beginning.//" Also, Governor Palin uses the word "significantly" which can't apply to the first nine months of the year (since grocery prices increased at a record slow pace) and if it's just the last couple of months a term like "moderate" might have been more precise. Recent price increases have not been like the 6 percent increase of 2008.

There are a lot of interesting questions related to food prices. Do statistics really capture what people are feeling? How do price statistics take quantity changes into account? Is monetary policy really what's causing the prices to increase? What if it's foreign demand, as the article cited by Palin argues?

Once again, my attempt to kick off this conversation did not happen. My second post was also deleted.

I have written about how carefully Palin's staff combs her Facebook page for any offending or controversial statement. Under constant scrutiny and assault, Palin is wise to exert extra control over the communication she can control. Still, I didn't appreciate how tight the screen was or how little she trusts her readers. My experience suggests that any challenge to Palin, no matter how mild, is not allowed. These tight clubhouse rules are an echo of the ones Palin says are trying to stop the grass-roots movement she champions.

There is another possible explanation for my exile: Maybe any post from me, no matter what the content, is automatically deleted. It wasn't personal, in other words, nor was it related to the content. It was just a matter of a stray Facebook setting. I tried an even more anodyne post to test this theory, writing: "shrinking product sizes are so irritating."

That post did survive, thankfully. I'm very proud. I believe it is the basis for a platform around which the nation can rally. At least until it's deleted.

More From Slate:

How's the economy doing? Depends on which party you belong to.
The Supreme Court should strike down an old citizenship law that discriminates against fathers.
How many terrorism tips does the government get every day?

John Dickerson is a CBS News political analyst. He is also Slate's chief political correspondent and author of On Her Trail. You can also follow him on Twitter here.


Add a Comment See all 44 Comments
by texasborndemo November 10, 2010 12:42 PM EST
for anyone that has common sense,grocery prices escalated when Bush was in office.All the high prices for fuel that kept the trucks running resulted in massive inceases on freight charges so the drivers could make a check,anytime fuel escalates you can bet something else will escalate,blame it on weather conditions also,if poor crops were the results,yes your grapes,apples,coffee,etc will rise.This has been going on for yrs,the price for diesel is not cheap now but better than 2 yrs ago,also pay raises for grocery workers,light bills will affect your grocery increase,so thinking someone has to have a degree in realization is beyond me,Palin you're way behind times and you have no common sense.
Reply to this comment
by chevyhotrod November 10, 2010 1:30 PM EST
Oh, it's all Bush's fault again? Who wants to drill and create our own evergy again so we are not beholden to OPEC and price fixing?
by JV1970 November 10, 2010 7:48 PM EST
Bush hasn't been in office for two years. It's time to stop playing the blame Bush game!
by hamsterattack November 10, 2010 12:37 PM EST
i've finally decided that her majesty should be free to say whatever she wants, do whateever she wants, ride in a helicopter and shoot whatever animal she wants, just as long as she never has real power over real people ever again.
Reply to this comment
by bassinapple November 10, 2010 12:25 PM EST
So CBS is sending liberal bloggers to disrupt her Facebook. Sounds like something the Hufffington Post would do. I am so glad her people caught this cowardly act. For those of us that visit the grocery store, we know Gov. Palin is right. Prices are going up. For CBS to nit-pick different "time periods" as an excuse to say Palin is wrong seems to be a waste of time.
Reply to this comment
by JV1970 November 10, 2010 8:03 PM EST
They are wasting their time as far as I'm concerned! When the cost of living and my finances are concerned I only pay attention to what my grocery tickets tell me and my tickets for such things as soap, laundry detergent, toilet paper, clothing, shoes, etc. They tell me that those things are constantly going up and I see the amount of money in my checking account going down every month because my income isn't going up with the constant rise in prices. The word of their experts means nothing to me because I know what I see in my own situation.
by wfw3536 November 10, 2010 11:26 AM EST
It is such a joke these liberal folks just can't seem to stay away from Palin. They are so desperate for a story they will print just about anything about her. This morning they were on her for bringing cookies to a school. The liberal media should actual look for some hard news like how many jobs Obama will be getting back from India. Oh, that actually might require them to do some work.
Reply to this comment
by chevyhotrod November 10, 2010 10:26 AM EST
by sjc_1 November 10, 2010 4:29 AM EST
Sarah Palin: No Comment
Good, maybe she will shut up for a while.
She has NO economics degree but has the gall to tell people that have advanced degrees what to do. Amazing.


I no, isn't crazy. Also, I don't recall any of these so call economic professors anywhere warning us of the financial meltdown we had. These people are just so smart, aren't they?

We even have Noble Prize winning economist that tell us our government should be spending more and more money, not less. But if we look at history of other nations that have collapsed their currency, what did they do before it collapsed? They monetized their debt, bought their own bonds and printed massive amounts of currency, just like we are doing. Funny, these so called experts have never created any jobs or ran a business in their entire lives and they want to tell us what to do. Theory does not match real world practice and accountability. You want theory, learn it in a classroom with people that have never done it themselves. You want reality, go into the real world and create product, sell it and make a profit.
Reply to this comment
by jwind1 November 10, 2010 9:00 AM EST
joule...i am with ya...i see a story about Palin...I dont read the story because I really dont care....but I read the posts from the pathetic libs who obsess about her....it is actually sad
Reply to this comment
by dinkydog1 November 10, 2010 9:16 AM EST
Your right it's sad, so why don't you go away?
by jwind1 November 10, 2010 9:20 AM EST
I rest my case
by jwind1 November 10, 2010 8:53 AM EST
chevyhotrod........skyk is the king of projection
Reply to this comment
by chevyhotrod November 10, 2010 9:36 AM EST
Yes, I know. I have been pointing that out for awhile now. This person has some serious issues and is very racist. They must of had a childhood experience that still haunts them to this day and projects that onto everyone else. This person could use some professional help.
by chevyhotrod November 10, 2010 8:35 AM EST
by skyk1 November 10, 2010 7:57 AM EST
tafhdyd, I think she just makes it up as she goes along and when someone, like this Journalist, raises the obvious FACT that she is wrong, they are attacking her or being Un-American. It's a mental condition I believe.

by skyk1 November 10, 2010 7:56 AM EST
element51, LOL I know, I live in the South and these Red Necks are so scared they will buy into anything that gives them hope. She feeds the mentality that THEY and THEY alone are "American's". Those who do not agree with them or who want to move the nation forward aren't. Simple minds follow simple minds, that's how Jim Crow came to be.



This is a complete joke, when someone does not believe in socialism, redistribution of wealth or trickle up economic you are a racist redneck, klansman's (Republiklan) from the south according to skyk.

The projection is just so obvious and skyk also claims if you do not believe in their policies you are uneducated. Well skyk, take some basic psychology classes.

"are so scared they will buy into anything that gives them hope"

Sound familiar? Hope and Change, Change we can believe in. President Obama was all about "Hope" and feed upon the uneducated that was craving "Hope" and when the nation finally began to wake up and began voting Democrats out of office at an historical pace.

For those that don't believe what our government is telling you because you can see for yourself at the grocrey store

Reddy pointed out, "haven't risen all that significantly, in fact"--inflation is at 0.6 percent for the first nine months of 2010.

Where did his 0.6 percent come from? Educate yourself and do not rely on liberal reporters for your information that has been given to them from some governmental department controlled by people that what you to believe something other than reality.
Reply to this comment
by sjc_1 November 10, 2010 4:29 AM EST
Sarah Palin: No Comment
Good, maybe she will shut up for a while.
She has NO economics degree but has the gall to tell people that have advanced degrees what to do. Amazing.
Reply to this comment
by JV1970 November 10, 2010 7:32 AM EST
I can tell what's amazing! It's amazing that you take the word of your "people with advanced degrees" over what you see on your grocery ticket! Apparently you don't do much shopping do you?
by JV1970 November 10, 2010 12:40 PM EST
skyk1 When the price of milk goes up, it usually goes up nationwide. It's the same with a loaf of bread! I pay attention to my bottom line and my checking account, not your so-called "educated" people! The lack of money in my checking account tells me that the price of food is constantly going up no matter what your experts say!
by element51 November 10, 2010 3:17 AM EST
As long as there is a deep south Palin will have an audience. She is worshiped in that part of the country because anything she says is automatically taken as absolute truth. It's not that difficult to lead people who are uneducated with a nice touch of racism mixed in. Take that and add a big helping of religion and you have the perfect environment for Palin to grow in.
Reply to this comment
by JV1970 November 10, 2010 7:38 AM EST
According to the last election she has more followers in the mid-west than in the south! Incidentally some of the best universities in the country happen to be in the south! I hardly think that we're as uneducated as you think! You just think so because we're conservative and religious and don't agree with you!
by Dont_Tread_on_me November 10, 2010 9:27 AM EST
Consider yourself "Teabagged"
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