Sarah Palin claims this photoshopped image of her cuddling an Alaskan media enabler--a fundraising thermometer for investigating her corrupt administration--is an outrageous attack on her Downs Syndrome son, whom she was cuddling in the original.
Are you stupid enough to believe her?
During the Palin/Letterman kerfuffle, the smartest thing written or said came from Alaskan blogger Shannyn Moore, whose diary "Top 10 Reasons Sarah Palin's 'Outrage' is Misplaced and A Little Late..." received far too little notice, even though it was picked up by Huffington Post. As Moore wittily revealed, there was, unfortunately, absolutely nothing new or unique about Letterman's joke, it's just that Palin had run out of more appealing options:
10) Last September, a skit on Saturday Night Live suggested incest in the Palin family. "What about the husband?" asked a mock Times reporter. "You know he's doing those daughters. I mean, come on. It's Alaska!" No outrage. Sarah Palin appeared on the show one month later in late October.
No poutrage over this earlier photoshop with David Letterman.
Alaska's top anonymous blogger, AKMuckraker. aka "Mudflats", had her identity exposed by an abusive elected official, State Representative Mike Doogan, who apparently took offense at a critical diary, and then spent several months trying to discover who she was.
The fact that an elected public official feels entitled to violate a private individuals privacy like this is a clear indication of his manifest unfitness for office, and it is to be hoped that his constituents will fire him at the earliest opportunity. Since I've been writing and thinking about narcissistic personality disorder today, I can't help but see him in this light. Here's the diagnostics, to keep in mind as you read more about him and this violation.
According to the DSM-IV, the disorder begins by early adulthood and is indicated by the subject exhibiting at least five of the following:
1. An exaggerated sense of self-importance
2. Preoccupation with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love
3. Believes he is "special" and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions)
4. Requires excessive admiration
5. Has a sense of entitlement
6. Selfishly takes advantage of others to achieve his own ends
7. Lacks empathy
8. Is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him
9. Shows arrogant, haughty, patronizing, or contemptuous behaviors or attitudes
Her own account is here. Phil Munger of Progressive Alaska gives his account here (including an email exchange with Doogan). And Shannyn Moore speaks out here.
In her post, Mudflats goes all the way back to the beginning of her blog, sharing what it was like, so you can understand her POV. I recommend you read the whole diary. But here's where it gets serious:
