Shannyn Moore: Sarah Palin’s Not-So-Grand Inquisitor
John on July 7, 2009 at 9:40 am
Shannyn Moore is an Alaska radio host who has become the left’s go-to gal for Palin-bashing. She’s been on all the MSNBC shows, plus Air America for her expert insight on Sarah Palin going back at least nine months. She’s also one of the bloggers who pushed Trig Trutherism, which tells you something about her standards in general.
Last week, Shannyn broke the Palin resignation story on Huff Post and she immediately began getting calls from major media. Since Friday she’s done radio and TV interviews. She was on Olbmermann again today (I don’t watch Keith so I can’t say for sure). In short, this was a big break for her.
As she has been making the rounds, Shannyn has been saying confidently that Palin’s resignation was in advance of a coming “iceberg” of a scandal. Despite a complete lack of details, she blogged about the coming scandal. She talked about the coming scandal on her radio show. She tweeted about the coming scandal repeatedly. And she assured all those media outlets that the coming scandal was a done deal. For instance, here’s an AP story from Sunday repeating Shannyn’s accusations that the scandal was a “fact.” [Note: the story quotes Palin's lawyer saying Shannyn Moore claimed this was fact. Having personally read Shannyn's blog and Twitter feed Friday and Saturday, this is indeed what Moore was doing]
That’s when Palin’s lawyer issued a press release letting Shannyn know she would be sued if this rumor-mongering didn’t stop. Shannyn reacted by throwing a “press conference” outside Palin’s office. Here’s video of that landmark event:
Notice that Shannyn now claims it was only “rumors…rumors” she was discussing and adds “eventually, maybe, we’ll all find out why she resigned.” Uh…right. Eventually we will. Pretty much everyone, including me, was saying that last week. No one really knows why Palin resigned, but eventually we’ll find out.
But here’s the thing…that’s not what you were saying last week, Shannyn. What you were saying was facts, facts. So what happened to the iceberg you assured everyone was coming? And don’t try to weasel on me here. You were quoted by the AP about this, it’s not conjecture on my part. You were on fire with certainty Friday. By Sunday it’s just rumors.
Having rewritten history to make herself into the victim, Shannyn then plays the first amendment card. Now, I don’t mean to make light of the first amendment. As a blogger, I live on it. And I believe the record I have hear shows I’ve supported it without exception, even for people whose views I don’t much like. Yes, even for Shannyn Moore. My problem isn’t the Constitution, it’s that Shannyn Moore is a flaming hypocrite.
Here’s Shannyn’s blog. I’ve left two comments there in the last two days. I don’t remember the exact words but it was basically something like this:
Hey what happened to that big scandal you assured us was coming? Suddenly it’s just rumors? I thought you said it was a fact.
Maybe Truthout is hiring.
So, you know, a bit snarky but nothing beyond the pale of civilized discourse. I hit the send button and both my comments appeared with a blurb that said “Your comment is pending approval.”
But guess what! They never got approved. And I’m not alone. Several other commenters who tried to leave critical remarks had their comments disappear as well. All that remains are the glowing well-wishes of her new fans. Stuff like this:
I think I am in love.
And this:
Shannyn, you are truely a Real American Hero!
The best part is the title of the post: Shannyn Moore will not be muzzled. The muzzler won’t be muzzled! But sorry, the grand inquisitor does not take questions.
To sum up: Shannyn Moore, new left wing hero and defender of the first amendment when it comes to criticizing Sarah Palin, won’t allow even mild criticism of herself to appear on her own blog.
I see a real disconnect there, but maybe it’s just me. But, hey, what do you think? Feel free to leave a comment below letting me and other readers know. No registration required.
See how that works, Shannyn?
Addendum: Here are the tweets Shannyn issued on July 3rd. This one at 12:47PM:
The Iceberg is about to be revealed or she would still be there.
And this at 2:28PM:
listened to the speech again – damage control. Oh, this is going to get messy. Scandal coming in 3 -2-…
Finally this one, also at 2:28PM:
yes, I know the nature of the scandal. Timing, baby, timing.
Notice that while those first two are speculative the last one isn’t. She’s saying she has knowledge about the scandal, only she isn’t ready to share it yet. Quite a change from that claim to what she says in her press conference, i.e. all she was doing was recycling rumors.
Category: Blogs & New Media, Politics |
Roger Simon today, on POLITICO:
July 7, 2009 @ 12:10 pm“The Sins of Sarah Palin”
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/24606.html
According to Ann Coulter, another ethics complaint was filed yesterday.
July 7, 2009 @ 12:23 pmHey! I tried to post a comment defending Shannyn Moore, but it got removed by the moderator! :-)
July 7, 2009 @ 12:31 pmYou know, it must be hard for conservative Christians to see the glorious vision of a Conservative Christian America fall apart piece by piece before your eyes.
Another Christian ideologue-celebrity bites the dust. It’s like all of your heroes are either dropping out of sight, dying, getting indighted or getting busted for gay sex crimes.
Don’t worry; I’m sure this is just a set-back. You guys have the intergenerational indoctrination machine that all other ideologies would kill for. Personally, I’d say you will be back on your feet as a political juggernaut in a mere 5-10 years.
In the mean time, we liberals get the stage. Hooray! The pendulum has swung back toward progress, freedom and justice.
Oh, sorry, I meant to say “Socialism, Oppressive taxation and the destruction of the American family” My bad.
July 7, 2009 @ 1:46 pm“Don’t worry; I’m sure this is just a set-back. You guys have the intergenerational indoctrination machine that all other ideologies would kill for. Personally, I’d say you will be back on your feet as a political juggernaut in a mere 5-10 years.
In the mean time, we liberals get the stage. Hooray! The pendulum has swung back toward progress, freedom and justice. ”
Good thing it’ll swing back the other way in 5-10 years, then.
July 7, 2009 @ 3:07 pmProgress = massive expansion of federal budget deficits
Freedom = massive expansion of federal regulation over the healthcare, energy, and financial sectors
Justice = massive redistribution of income via job-killing taxation of the “rich” and upper middle class (coming 2010)
This is nothing to celebrate and the electorate is going to punish those responsible sooner than you think.
July 7, 2009 @ 4:07 pmMs. Moore has now discovered that all those false ethics charges that were protected from “retribution” by Alaskan law are now not applicable to slanderous charges tossed at a private citizen.
July 7, 2009 @ 4:59 pmi.e. The Palins can soon sue sue her for lying.
Due to the law, all that needed to be done to bring ethics charges was fill a form out and send it in by mail.
True or False, the State was required to investigate, and the subject was going to have to drop a few dollars to defend themselves. False charges were just investigated, then dismissed with no repercussions brought against the person who made the specious claim, other than cost of Postage.
As usual, you’re barking up the wrong tree. First off, no one here has ever argued for a “Christian America.” I’m not even sure what that means, so it would be hard to say I have a vision of it. Second, Sarah Palin is a politician not a priest. Her resignation doesn’t affect my spiritual beliefs, not do I think it affects anyone’s. Third, it’s easy never to be a hypocrite. Just don’t have any values beyond being true to yourself. As Woody Allen says “Whatever Works.” I think life is a bit more nuanced than that.
July 7, 2009 @ 5:03 pmI just can’t wait for the new morning talk show that’ll be starring the Former Alaska governor…
http://thebruceblog.wordpress.com/2009/07/07/the-david-letterman-sarah-palin-talk-show/
July 8, 2009 @ 5:12 pmJohn – You report above, that Shannyn Moore reported as “fact” the questions about an “iceberg” scandal…
…along with a link to that AP story. I clicked on it, read it, but found no reference to “Shannyn’s accusations that the scandal was a ‘fact’” other than a quote from Palin’s attorney Thomas Van Flein who said she had done so (Van Flein also offered no evidence for that in his actual letter, other than simply making the claim, as if it was “fact”, that Moore had made the claim as “fact”)
Given that I came to this article, via another one of yours lambasting the MSM and the blogosphere for deceptive and/or inaccurate reporting on Palin, including your criticism of ABC having mislead viewers by purportedly editing the Gibson interview with her deceptively, haven’t you done that exact same thing above?
Apologies in advance if I’ve missed something in the AP story (please feel free to correct me there). But, beyond that, it seems your story is completely inaccurate and misleading and merits immediate correction, no?
July 13, 2009 @ 11:05 amBrad,
You are correct that the AP story is reporting on the press release from Palin’s lawyer. I will note that above to make it perfectly clear.
However, I followed Shannyn’s blog and Twitter feed all weekend. She definitely indicated that the big Palin scandal was a done deal, that it was only a matter of time until the whole story of ethical lapses that led to her resignation came out (though of course she never said what it was).
I also know that she was talking to numerous press outlets over the weekend. Though I was not privy to those conversations, I have no doubt she told them the same story she was offering her readers publicly, i.e. the big Palin scandal was just around the corner.
In short, I think Palin’s attorney was exactly right about what Shannyn Moore was doing. Then, by Sunday at her press conference, she completely backed off that and said she was just talking about “rumors” that she was hearing. No facts. No done deal. Just rumors.
There was nothing inaccurate, much less deceptive, about what I said. Nice try though.
July 13, 2009 @ 11:57 amJust a follow up…
Brad (#10 above) is the owner of Brad Blog. As you can see here, he’s been on the “iceberg scandal” watch from day one. In fact he credits Shannyn Moore with being “one of our sources.” I guess that explains his interest in defending her here.
Like Shannyn, Brad is disappointed that the MSM won’t spend more time investigating his latest Palin conspiracy theory, despite his own admission that “we don’t know whether there is a federal investigation or not at this time.” (same link as above) So, in Brad’s mind, a complete absence of evidence and an outright denial by people in a position to know is not enough reason to drop the issue.
I’m guessing he’s not sure who Trig’s mom is either.
July 13, 2009 @ 12:20 pmHey John -
I’ll make you a deal. I won’t tell you what you think, if you don’t tell me what I think. Deal? Given that you, like me, criticize media for their failings, and their disingenuous “reporting” of “facts” (as in your article complainting about the ABC Gibson/Palin interview that brought me to this piece), perhaps you wouldn’t mind sticking to the facts of what I’ve reported and/or believe (as I have expressed them). I will do the same for you.
To that end, you actually reported above:
AP did *not*, in fact, report any such thing. Your note, now added above, expressing that you *believe* she did so, does not mitigate the fact that you were wrong about AP having accused her of having reported it as “a ‘fact’”.
They did not do so. You should correct your article. It’s disappointing to see that you are unwilling to do so. I would think you’d demand similar from an MSM outlet who got the story wrong. If so, I’m not sure why you would not do so yourself.
You further go on to add in your original piece above:
…And that seems to be what you’re saying in your “Note” now added to the piece. You *believe* she reported it as “facts, facts”. And you make the same assertion in your response to my comment above:
Since you mentioned you followed her blogs and Twitter feed all weekend, I’d think that you (much less Palin’s attorney), would certainly be able to offer evidence to your claim. It’s a very serious one.
Unless “I have no doubt…” now suffices for actual evidence. If so, isn’t a bit hypocritical to condemn Moore for what, you suggest, is the same type of un-evidenced assertion??
Okay. I suspect anyone who reads your original article, and your comment in reply to mine can decide for themselves. I’d like to think on second chance, you’d cop to where you got it wrong, add a CORRECTION as appropriate, and move on, rather than hang on to something that you were very clearly inaccurate on (that’s the more benign explanation, since I don’t know if you meant to deceptive, though your response here, and unwillingness to cop to the error, certainly suggests the latter rather than the former as of now.)
July 13, 2009 @ 4:29 pmThere are so many un-truths…but one I will address. I am not a Trig-truther by any stretch. I have continually knocked down the bizarre rumors of maternity questions since they were called in to my radio show THE WEEK OF TRIG’S BIRTH- before most of you knew Palin’s name. I thought they were crap then, and now. You obviously want to smear crazy where crazy isn’t…so, you are off on that fact, Jack, and that is just the start. If you’re taking your talking points from Van Flein, maybe you could get a cook book from Dahmer…
July 24, 2009 @ 2:53 amBrad,
Yes, the AP reported that the press release said that Shannyn Moore was claiming as fact that a scandal was about to emerge. They did not quote Shannyn directly as claiming it was a fact. My apologies to the AP for the error.
Nevertheless, Shannyn was reporting it as fact about to break on her own Twitter feed, so the substance of the press release is accurate in that regard.
I understand you guys are eager to back off of this now that your speculation about a “done deal” iceberg scandal has proven to be bunk. But since we’re discussing corrections, have you issued a correction on your blog to the serious charges you and Shannyn spread about Sarah Palin? Please post a link, I’d like to see where you retracted that in light of the fact that it hasn’t proven to be true.
July 25, 2009 @ 12:00 amShannyn,
It’s good to hear that your level of Palin Derangement Syndrome doesn’t extend to Trig-trutherism. Let the record reflect that you are not a disciple of Andrew Sullivan. Let it also reflect that this is the sort of thing you do approve of with regard to Palin’s infant son. That’s actually tame compared to this thread which you directed your readers to. Safe to say your standards aren’t that high.
But now that you’ve come by I hope my readers will notice that you didn’t try to dispute the part of my post about you being a flaming hypocrite, which is sort of weird since that was really the whole point of my post. In case anyone missed it here’s my conclusion above verbatim:
So did you miss that part or did you just not have anything to say about it? You do see the disconnect between what you said at your press conference about the first amendment and how you actually run your own little piece of the internet, right?
July 25, 2009 @ 12:27 amShannyn Moore, new left wing hero and defender of the first amendment when it comes to criticizing Sarah Palin, won’t allow even mild criticism of herself to appear on her own blog.
Interesting how this thread went dark right at that point, I think.
And I was just popping popcorn for it. Damn.
August 3, 2009 @ 11:13 pm