A while back, when making fun of Sarah Palin was still cool (I mean cooler, it's not like we're going to stop doing it!), a little drama broke out within the news media. Carl Cameron of FOX "News" reported that a John McCain-Sarah Palin campaign advisor had leaked to him tons of information about how stupid Sarah Palin is. Stuff like not knowing that Africa is a continent, or what countries are in North America.
It was a vindication for people who'd been saying that she was basically "Miss Teen South Carolina" in hockey-mom clothes. Anyway, there were denials, and non-denials about the story. Palin herself gave a (what else?) rambling non-answer excuse that didn't convince me.
Then, a twist. MSNBC's David Shuster reported that they'd uncovered the source of the unnamed advisor, somebody named Martin Eisenstadt. Shortly after this, he retracted the story. End of issue, right? Not exactly. Shuster was lambasted by bloggers, his image everywhere, painting him as a fool and a sucker. Here on my blog, I scratched my head aloud, and wondered why Cameron wasn't taking any heat. Well, it was because I didn't read thoroughly enough to see what the blogs were laughing about.
The story goes that Martin Eisenstadt is a phony; a fraud. And Cameron's original story was not sourced by Eisenstadt, but somebody else. So apparently, Sarah Palin is ignorant for reals y'all, and Shuster (and others) were "punk'd" by hoaxsters. I still don't get why this attracted so much attention though. It would have been a better "gotcha" if the whole story had been a fake.
No less than conservative "FOX Fan" blogger Johnny Dollar came to my site, to rub my nose in it the fact that I'd gotten the story wrong. And hey, I am the first to admit I am capable of making a mistake. I'm a one-man show, running this blog between a real job and a real life. My only fact-checkers are my limited base of readers. So, anyway, here is the real story behind the story, to make up for the fact that I didn't get it at first.
I've got to wonder though, is the "conventional wisdom" on the Africa and North America ignorance by Palin now considered to be entirely a hoax? Is this falsely attributed leak now like the "Memogate" Bush AWOL-ness from 2004? Part of the story turns out to be false, so the CW throws the baby out with the bathwater? I'm betting, yes.
[Excerpt]
Filmmakers Behind Fake McCain Adviser Discuss Tricking The Media (VIDEO)
Dan Mirvish and Eitan Gorlin appeared on CNN's Reliable Sources to discuss how they tricked the media by creating a fake McCain adviser named Martin Eisenstadt. The duo were able to fool such reputable news organizations as The New York Times, The New Republic, and, most famously, MSNBC, whose anchor David Schuster reported live on air that Martin Eisenstadt had been identified. . .
Watch the video at: Huffington Post
It was a vindication for people who'd been saying that she was basically "Miss Teen South Carolina" in hockey-mom clothes. Anyway, there were denials, and non-denials about the story. Palin herself gave a (what else?) rambling non-answer excuse that didn't convince me.
Then, a twist. MSNBC's David Shuster reported that they'd uncovered the source of the unnamed advisor, somebody named Martin Eisenstadt. Shortly after this, he retracted the story. End of issue, right? Not exactly. Shuster was lambasted by bloggers, his image everywhere, painting him as a fool and a sucker. Here on my blog, I scratched my head aloud, and wondered why Cameron wasn't taking any heat. Well, it was because I didn't read thoroughly enough to see what the blogs were laughing about.
The story goes that Martin Eisenstadt is a phony; a fraud. And Cameron's original story was not sourced by Eisenstadt, but somebody else. So apparently, Sarah Palin is ignorant for reals y'all, and Shuster (and others) were "punk'd" by hoaxsters. I still don't get why this attracted so much attention though. It would have been a better "gotcha" if the whole story had been a fake.
No less than conservative "FOX Fan" blogger Johnny Dollar came to my site, to rub my nose in it the fact that I'd gotten the story wrong. And hey, I am the first to admit I am capable of making a mistake. I'm a one-man show, running this blog between a real job and a real life. My only fact-checkers are my limited base of readers. So, anyway, here is the real story behind the story, to make up for the fact that I didn't get it at first.
I've got to wonder though, is the "conventional wisdom" on the Africa and North America ignorance by Palin now considered to be entirely a hoax? Is this falsely attributed leak now like the "Memogate" Bush AWOL-ness from 2004? Part of the story turns out to be false, so the CW throws the baby out with the bathwater? I'm betting, yes.
[Excerpt]
Filmmakers Behind Fake McCain Adviser Discuss Tricking The Media (VIDEO)
Dan Mirvish and Eitan Gorlin appeared on CNN's Reliable Sources to discuss how they tricked the media by creating a fake McCain adviser named Martin Eisenstadt. The duo were able to fool such reputable news organizations as The New York Times, The New Republic, and, most famously, MSNBC, whose anchor David Schuster reported live on air that Martin Eisenstadt had been identified. . .
Watch the video at: Huffington Post
