The American Spectator : The Spectacle Blog : One Last Note on Palin-Pappas

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It is ironic that the Palin team went to a Politico reporter to listen in on her berating Alex Pappas (yes, that IS what happened) when it was Pappas who blew the whistle on Politico for having long let an ideologically lefty reporter cover Palin. I just did a fairly exaustive Google search on Pappas' coverage of Palin and could not find a single instance of him ever saying or writing anything the slightest bit derogatory, or inaccurate, about her; indeed, Palin supporters have every reason to be thrilled with the unbiased, frequent, and decidedly non-antagonistic coverage that Pappas, rare among reporters, has provided Palin for the past couple of years. Palin would really show she is a class act if she called Pappas personally again to say she is sorry for the misunderstanding and sorry for hanging up on him while she was distracted by the throng of "real people" around her at the fair.

Pappas has been good-humored ("bemused" and "light," as I described it) about the whole thing. If she showed a little good will to match, she might actually engender some good will in return. She has been seriously mistreated by the establishment media for three solid years now; it would only make good political sense (if nothing else) for her to be friendly towards one of the few reporters who has been meticulously fair towards her.

View all comments (46) | Leave a comment

New England Patriot| 8.16.11 @ 7:14PM

Sounds reasonable, Now about your "Nice sweet photo" of Sarah Palin and the accompanied hit piece on her; Maybe you should "reach out" to her with some sort of an apology, Dontcha' think Quin?

New England Patriot| 8.16.11 @ 7:16PM

Here is the latest on this; any comment Quin, regarding this? http://conservatives4palin.com.....wrong.html

Dead Horse| 8.16.11 @ 7:37PM

Please...I'm begging you; please stop beating me!

simon templar| 8.16.11 @ 10:10PM

Now, that was not only funny as heck but pretty well sums it up!

simon templar| 8.16.11 @ 10:12PM

I am still LOL!

ejp| 8.16.11 @ 7:51PM

If this is your definition of "Fair" I'd hate to see what constitutes your definition of being biased.

LiveFreeOrDie| 8.17.11 @ 10:27AM

I finally realized the parallels between Quinn and Obama's infamous, "The police acted stupidly." Both were defending their friend, neither one had all the facts and both stubbornly refuse to take back anything they said nor apologize. So when is Quinn going to invite Palin and Pappas for a beer summit?

Teflon93| 8.17.11 @ 2:23PM

Palin drinks whiskey---straight up.

Brian72| 8.16.11 @ 7:54PM

Digging in your heels it seems.

I simply do not believe the account you have relayed, the way you have described it.

Others, who were there, dispute what you have said.

Nice photo, by the way.

Maybe Tina Brown can get you a gig at Newsweek.

They love these sorts of pictures of conservative women.

If anybody owes an apology, it's you.

This has been a silly, personal and petty attack.

I thought you were better than the very same sort of behavior you accuse others of, while writing about it 1,000 miles away.

I'll take the account of the people who were standing there at the time and saw and heard what actually took place.

Have a nice day, Quin.

ejp| 8.16.11 @ 7:55PM

And in the meantime, Quin, you would demonstrate you were a class act by admitting you went too far and that you engaged in your own version of a cheap shot against Palin that is as indistinguishable from something I would have seen from a left wing site.

ChuckTX| 8.16.11 @ 7:58PM

No Quin Hillyer, you were not there, so NO your "facts" are not correct.

Read these links to get the facts:

http://conservatives4palin.com.....wrong.html

http://theothermccain.com/2011.....=lisagraas

nolaredhead| 8.16.11 @ 11:15PM

The sea of pee is your source for FACTS??? Oh wow, thats messed up..

Teflon93| 8.16.11 @ 8:12PM

I'm going to surprise Quin by agreeing with him that an apology would be a classy move by Palin---not because she was wrong, not because she was a "diva", not because it is necessary, but because it would be a kind and classy thing to do. In particular, if she asked an aide to apologize to Pappas (as RSM and others reported), and the aide didn't (as Quin and Pappas claim), she should apologize for the aide and herself. Again, it's simply a classy thing to do.

Palin is not a typical politician and the atypical is always welcome.

Then perhaps Quin might consider apologizing to

Teflon93| 8.16.11 @ 8:13PM

Cut off the last part: "apologizing to Palin for blowing up over this and resorting to some pretty harsh characterization of her in the process."

It too would be a classy thing to do.

simon templar| 8.16.11 @ 10:15PM

Teflonman, you are a no flash in the pan! You are one of the good ones.

Teflon93| 8.17.11 @ 8:28AM

Thank you, Simon---I enjoy reading your posts as well and likewise.

New England Patriot| 8.16.11 @ 8:25PM

It appears we have a consensus here Quin, Do you need a mediator or can you handle this yourself? It would be the right thing to do and you will be rewarded by your readers respect for admitting the error of judgement commensurate with the sincerity of the apology tendered to Mrs. Palin.

simon templar| 8.16.11 @ 10:16PM

I second that, NEP!

Conservative Bob| 8.16.11 @ 8:31PM

He (Pappas) maybe 'bemused" but as we do not see him commenting only you, it is hard to know for certain. This however is your 3rd or 4th post on the issue and from that I would gather that your knickers are pretty twisted up.
How about we agree to make a note that you think Palin made a mistake and was really really mean to your friend... and maybe even hurt his feelings; and in exchange, after you get some grief counseling and maybe join an emotional support group for aging political commentators who over react when their protégés get their feelings hurt, maybe you would consider commenting on topics of interest to a wider audience in this uneventful blissful time we are living through. I am sure if you work on it you can come up with something.
In at least my particular instance you are wrong in characterizing those who responded to your posts as Palin fanatics. She is certainly a phenomenon and putting her name in the headline of an article either praising her or attacking her brings out an enormous and often impassioned response from detractors and supports. If you care to check you archives you will see I have commented on this several times in the past.
I am sorry but it is hard not to read your posts as anything other than an over sensitive whine.

simon templar| 8.16.11 @ 10:18PM

CB..such style and grace and wit..keep commenting! Ditto.

Carnifex| 8.16.11 @ 10:36PM

I call them prissycons.

Example: Brad Blakeman http://www.nationaljournal.com.....o-20110816

Oh, no! You peasants mustn't offend my leftist friends! I might not get that dinner party invitation I've been coveting!

Ron Butterfield| 8.16.11 @ 10:12PM

Don't know if I trust RSM's one source. He should call up the Politico reporter and ask how she got near Palin. Was she told to listen by one of Palin's aides?

Dr Tesla| 8.16.11 @ 10:30PM

I do think it's absurd that Palin would go snag a Politico reporter to listen to her berate this college kid. I don't think it happened like that.

But let's face it, this isn't a big deal. What if Palin went nuts on this kid, so what? Few people will ever hear about this story because it's irrelevant.

Dr Tesla| 8.16.11 @ 10:31PM

It does seem like it's always a good idea to have emore than 1 source. Journalists disagree.

Teflon93| 8.17.11 @ 8:34AM

This is a perfectly-crafted observation: when speaking of professional obligations, it's always good to exemplify one's own. Having one source, not following up with the subject for reaction, not sanity-checking the account (how does one have a private conversation as a public figure in a crowded state fair? how does one communicate over a phone at a crowded event without yelling? etc), writing the story first then filling in with cherrypicked facts later----these do not reflect journalistic standards. It undermines Quin's credibility, as does his prior antipathy toward Palin.

As noted elsewhere, I am firmly anti-Romney: I would not vote for the man were he the GOP nominee. I am the last person who could vouch for somebody being objective toward Romney because I am so resolutely against him. It would be like asking Churchill to say something nice about Hitler: can't do it; you'll need to get that commentary from Bootlegger Joe Kennedy.

ejp| 8.16.11 @ 10:41PM

Overall, Quin has succeeded in coming up with the most worthless and contemptible series of columns since the time TAS employed a guy from the Hudson Institute (whose name escapes me) who had the gall to accuse Paul Weyrich of being an anti-Semite because of a column he wrote at Easter one time and who then dug his heels in and repeated his idiotic assertions.

New England Patriot| 8.16.11 @ 10:53PM

Quin? Quin? ? Are you there? How's Alex Pappas doing? Is he feeling better now? What does he have to say about this now? We'd love to hear! Just asking that's all.

simon templar| 8.16.11 @ 11:03PM

Hey, Quin...NEWS FLASH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BREAKING NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bachman wished Elvis a happy birthday when it was actually the anniversary of his death!
Oh, my lord..oh my gosh..the world is coming to an end. Apologies to the Elvis family must be made at once! Gee, maybe she should drop out of the race. In fact, I think resignation is in order. Start the presses, fire up those poison pens, get the guys in the photo department to get on the beat and get some nasty pictures. Contact the white house and concede the election and tell Obama that we are now willing to fall on our knees and worship him.

Teflon93| 8.17.11 @ 8:35AM

Which of the 57 states was Elvis buried in again?

And do they speak Austrian there?

WL| 8.16.11 @ 11:37PM

While us little people are prone to keep digging our hole deeper....

Outside of the Democrats in the last 2 years...Have I seen such a meltdown of this magnitude by a "JOURN-O-LIST" as Mr. Hillyer's last several posts...

I can see it now...when they are carrying him off to the asylum and putting on his straight jacket... he will be yelling how he is fair to Palin and she really did ditty up his fellow flunky.

Kyle Smith| 8.16.11 @ 11:37PM

I want Pappas to tell us verbatim what Sarah Palin said to him on the phone. C'mon spill it buddy. Let's hear how terribly ruthless she is. I think Pappas and Quin should file a class action lawsuit against her for assault. There's only one way to settle this; call Judge Wapner!

simon templar| 8.17.11 @ 1:10AM

Here is a real story, Quin, that you could write about regarding a key politician and a very poor choice of words that can actually have a real impact on us.

The risk that we're especially concerned over right now is the lone wolf terrorist, somebody with a single weapon being able to carry out wide-scale massacres of the sort that we saw in Norway recently," Obama said. "You know, when you've got one person who is deranged or driven by a hateful ideology, they can do a lot of damage, and it's a lot harder to trace those lone wolf operators."

AJsDaddie| 8.17.11 @ 1:18AM

" (yes, that IS what happened)"

Sez who, Quin? Certainly it couldn't have been Alex, since he wasn't there. So then who gave you this nugget that you are taking as undeniable fact? The Politico reporter in question? Is this what you journalist types call a "reliable source"? Since we have someone with a real name who is publicly denying that story, isn't that person a better source than your unnamed one?

This journalisting is awfully complicated, and we out here in flyover country are just dyin' to know how you figure this stuff out.

Teflon93| 8.17.11 @ 8:37AM

Another journalist is always deemed to be the most reliable source you can have by journalists.

It's the same with all organized crime.

Southern_Comment| 8.17.11 @ 8:20AM

New England Patriot - there was a great line in that link. It was said by Palin and AMSPEC in regards to this 'article' needs to read it:
"You need to be clear, otherwise people really lose faith in the state of journalists today"

bluecollarbytes| 8.17.11 @ 8:41AM

While Palin would need to be 'vetted' through examination of her words and actions should she run for the presidency, I sense a growing desperation by some on the right to take her out now.

Palin supporters can be every bit as insistent though, as those lined up against her. And they have good reason to hold their ground given that the current talk is more about more of the same- compromise with the looney left....cause 'if we don't we're holding them hostage' to hopes for a sustainable govt/citizen relationship...getting out of the way of a self-reviving economy.

Removing Obama from office is not good enough.

Teflon93| 8.17.11 @ 9:44AM

Exactly.

This is a battle between conservatives---who only elect GOP candidates in order to DO something---and RINOs, who elect GOP candidates in order to BE something.

It is not enough to win the election. Indeed, winning the election with an Obama Lite statist candidate would be worse in many ways than if Obama wins and is held to account for the stupidity of his policies: at least that will discredit liberalism and innoculate America against statism. Elect a Romney and what you get is a greater perception that both parties are the same.

This was borne out in the continuing resolution and then the debt ceiling debate. Tammy Faye Boehner and the other RINOs running the GOP took an easy victory---simply refuse to pass the debt ceiling and offer a balanced budget in the House, whereupon the Democrats have to choose between shutting down the government, acceding to large in-year spending cuts, or entitlement reform in exchange for a short-term debt ceiling increase---and instead came up with a 7% YOY increase in spending as far as the eye can see, $2.7 T more for Obama to spend as he sees fit, and a Supercommittee that will gut Defense unless taxes are raised thru the roof.

Sorry, but there's nothing conservative about any of it. And we got downgraded anyway!

No, we need conservatives to take the party back or ride the Tea Party to victory.

There is no middle ground.

AJsDaddie| 8.17.11 @ 6:17PM

Ugh. I listened to Michael Medved today only because I happened to flip and heard Christine O'Donnell's voice. Medved was insisting that Chris agree with him that her beating Mike Castle was a bad thing for the country, because at least we would have had a "Republican" in the senate. She argued eloquently that we didn't need another liberal Republican like Arlen Specter, and that just her candidacy was probably enough to have forced Castle to vote against Obamacare (she held a town hall the day of the vote and asked the attendees to tell him to vote against the bill, even though to that point he had still not made up his mind).

Anyway, she was direct, rattled off fact after fact about Castle's record, and all Medved could do was keep cutting her off, repeating over and over that she hurt America. If anybody wants to know the definition of beltway Republican, Medved is it.

New England Patriot| 8.17.11 @ 8:55AM

The "problem" with sarah Palin is the same "problem" with the freshmen "Tea Party" GOP Congress. ANd that "problem is this. I paraphrase from those opposed to them; " The problem with the tea Party Congress is the cannot be bought with promises of pork! They don't care if the get re-elected! They won't compromise!" This is the Problem they have with Sarah Palin. She cannot be bought off and they know that she will not compromise the future of Americans for political expediency. She must be stopped to maintain the "Business as usual" way of governing. Clear as day folks.

Oldefarte| 8.17.11 @ 10:04AM

In the SAME CHURCH, DIFFERENT PEW catagory.......once again, IT'S THE DEMOCRATS, STUPIDS!!!!!!!:

Oldefarte| 8.17.11 @ 10:09AM

PS: The above didn't come through; simply copy and paste the linkage onto your search engine to observe the video of MSNBC's Shultz berating Perry and then having to apologize for same!!!!

ltw| 8.17.11 @ 11:07AM

Found the original headline at fox nation, I believe. Linked at buzzbox from mediamatters, no less.

http://www.buzzbox.com/news/20.....Id=4723837

Headline: Palin: 'Could I support somebody like Mitt Romney? Yeah!'

And the daily caller tweet that Pappas retweeted

https://twitter.com/#!/DailyCaller/status/102087074320097280

Sarah Palin tells TheDC's @alexpappasdc in Iowa: "Could I support somebody like Mitt Romney? Yeah!" http://t.co/to2XBwt
12 Aug via web
Retweeted by AlexPappasDC and 10 others

Teflon93| 8.17.11 @ 2:21PM

Well, that's just terribly inconvenient for Quin....

ltw| 8.17.11 @ 11:13AM

http://s3.mediamatters.org/sta.....romney.png

Link at buzzbox doesn't seem to work, try this link.

An Afternoon Walk| 8.17.11 @ 1:46PM

Who is the Politico reporter? Politico has regularly printed lies and anti-Palin screeds with no retractions or apologies. A Politico reporter is the last person Sarah Palin would trust or "invite" over for any reason. We already have the name and testimony of someone else who was actually there who is defending Sarah Palin. Why is the Politco reporter remaining anonymous?

And good will on your part? After publishing this cheap shot story and headline. Yeah right. Her aide called him once and you want her to call "again" and grovel. No thanks.