Sarah Palin Slams Joe McGinniss for Comparing Her Tactics to Nazis
The ongoing feud between Sarah Palin and her new neighbor - journalist and author Joe McGinniss - does not appear to be going away anytime soon.
This morning, in an interview with NBC, McGinniss characterized Palin's recent comments about him as "ugly innuendo" and "revolting." He also compared her verbal and written attacks to tactics used during Nazi Germany.
"What I've learned... is very informative and I think is probably a lesson for the American people of the power Palin has to incite hated and her willingness and readiness to do it," McGinniss said. "She has pushed a button and unleashed the hounds of hell... And that's the same kind of tactic, and I'm not calling her a Nazi, but that's the same kind of tactic that the Nazi troopers used in Germany in the 30s. And I don't think there is any place for it in America."
As she often does, Palin took to her Facebook page to go right back after McGinniss.
"I'm not sure what 'ugly innuendo' was in my Facebook post or why it is so controversial to suggest that the presence of a hostile 'journalist' writing a hostile book about me is an imposition on my children who simply want to enjoy their summer outside," she wrote. "When I say or write 'leave my kids alone,' it means simply that: let my kids have a fun summer without having a 'journalist' 15 ft from their play area."
"How that equates me with the Nazis is quite beyond me," she writes. "If receiving nasty emails and even death threats is the standard by which we judge 'inciting hatred,' then the left in this country has been 'inciting hatred' on my family for almost two years now. We don't complain about this or call people 'Nazis' because we value freedom of speech enough to believe that even ignorant and hateful people have a right to it. It's a shame that a self-proclaimed 'journalist' doesn't understand this."
Palin also took issue with NBC News over the interview and corresponding piece on the "Today" show. The former governor claims that NBC promised to run a statement from her and her husband, Todd, as a "full screen graphic during their interview with McGinniss."
But NBC did not run the statement on air this morning (part of it does appear on a text version of the story on their website).
Palin said NBC gave them a "lame excuse" when she e-mailed with them about it this morning.
"So, the 'journalist's' sensational claims about us being Nazis went unchallenged," she added.
Here are the full statements from Sarah and Todd Palin that she posted in the Facebook note:
In closing her note today, Palin took one last parting shot at the media, another one of her favorite targets. In fact, her title for the note was "Is It Any Wonder Why We Call Them 'Lame'?""McGinniss has followed us for some time now, from showing up on our doorstep last winter, bidding over $60,000 for a military charity auction dinner with me, writing the hit pieces, attending at least one Outside book event, etc. He has a right to pursue his subject, I suppose, and certainly has a right to live wherever he wants, but my family also has a right to expect privacy, and hopefully to enjoy peace this summer. Good fences do make for good neighbors. The fence is now up, and I hope that we can enjoy peace. The media sensationalizes the recent McGinniss' tactic so the public will tune in to whatever the latest episode is, always with ratings in mind, and that's unfortunate." - Sarah Palin
"What's also unfortunate is journalists' tactics like this, because it keeps good people from wanting to get involved in public service." - Todd Palin
While she said press freedom was "integral to our democracy," she slammed the "integrity" of the current media landscape. She then praised what she is able to do via her Facebook notes - attract a lot of attention bypassing traditional media channels.
"A corrupt, deceptive, and manipulative media can ruin the lives of good people, disrupt families, destroy reputations, and ultimately hurt our country," she wrote. "Thank goodness for social networking sites like this and new media sites which have allowed us to get around the 'lamestream' media and present the facts."
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