Hell No!

This morning, I was completely aghast at a post from a blogger on the local on-line newspaper site regarding Sarah Palin's decision to remove herself from the media firing line. The blogger's opinion is that not only will Palin always be trailer trash, but her daughter is a slut (the blogger did not specify which daughter). There, but for the Grace of God, go all of us, victimized by someone with a personal axe to grind and absolutely no way to justify such vicious attacks on someone who is probably a total stranger to the blogger.

I've been the target of false accusations, including those made by a woman who swore that she saw me having sex at a club with a man not my husband the same day my family and I were out of town. The truth did not change her story, but it sure changed my life: I resigned from the organization and never looked back. I was the target of those who allowed their perception to become everyone else's reality, and no amount of truth can undo the damage caused by this kind of lie. I was the target of a student who fabricated a complex lie involving my ex-husband to deflect the consequences of her own actions onto me. My experience has been confined to a relatively small footprint, and I can only imagine how much more devastating it is to have this kind of attack on a national level, especially by people who have no remorse for their accusations and actions, including today's blogger.

The media has taught the public that their right to tell the story is more important than my right to have it kept private, and all too often their story originates in fiction, not fact. It used to be that the goal of journalism is to be the first with the facts, but now it's just be the first: if we get it wrong, sorry. Shit happens, right? As Palin pointed out in her speech last week, she's financially responsible for the costs of getting the truth separated from the fiction, both for herself and her office, and the costs are becoming prohibitive. Based on my experience, it's not just the dollars and the cents, but it's the erosion of the self that is a price too high to pay.

In the public domain of her life, Sarah Palin has done quite well, serving in local and state government, and offering her services at the federal level. I wonder what the blogger has done that can equal Palin's contributions to her fellow citizens -- other than being the first in line to throw stones, that is. I'm sure that Sarah Palin has much more to offer and will continue with public service as a vital component of her life, but as a private citizen, not as a public target. I am ashamed that so few public figures stepped up when Letterman made his crude comments about Sarah and her daughter, but it's always easier to accept that kind of reckless behavior when you aren't the target of it. Other public figures who have made similar irresponsible comments have lost their jobs as a result, but Letterman walked away with a no harm/no foul pass.

It's not about who Sarah Palin is and/or what she accomplishes with her life, it's what others say about her that ends up in the media and becomes the truth. Remember the office staffer who told the media that the Palins were passing their daughter's child off as their own child? The staffer told the media that there was no way Sarah Palin had been pregnant because she didn't gain any weight or look pregnant, proving that the staffer was right in her accusations. The story led the news for a couple of weeks because the public thrives on speculation, innuendo, and mean-spirited gossip. As in Letterman's case, the apology or retraction (if one is made) is never quite as effective as the original accusation, and far too many people, such as today's blogger, believe the accusation, rather than the evidence.

I admire Sarah Palin for doing what is best for herself, her marriage, and her family. Jon and Kate Gosselin could take lessons from the Palins and pull the plug on the media before it destroys not just the marriage, but the family. The viciousness of the media and the false sources that support it go far beyond what any public figure should have to accept. We all need to learn to Just Say Hell No!