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Sarah Palin's Vanity Fair Profile Writer Admits Mistake

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The October issue of Vanity Fair's 10,000-plus word story on Sarah Palin paints a portrait of a high-tempered, power-hungry woman who has become increasingly isolated as her star rises.

The profile also contains a mistake.

Writer Michael Joseph Gross acknowledged to the Associated Press that he confused Palin's infant son, Trig, with another baby, who suffers from Down syndrome, at a rally in Independence, Mo. Politico first reported that Gross mistook a child who was the son of conservative activist Gina Loudon for Trig.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch's blog Political Fix reported that Loudon told Gross during the event that the child in the stroller was her son, Samuel. Loudon explained, "When I grabbed Samuel and walked past the stage, he said, 'Oh, are you the nanny?' And I said, 'No, I'm not the nanny; I'm the mother.' "

Gina Loudon said, "I told him that. And he ignored it. It's not even like he didn't fact check -- he just ignored facts."
Sarah Palin with son Trig
In a statement to the AP, Gross admitted that he was mistaken."Trig was with his mother the next day in Wichita, but the child in Independence was someone else, and I regret the error," he said.

Palin had strong words, using sexual metaphors, in discussing the Vanity Fair story last week.

"Those who are impotent and limp and gutless and they go on their anonymous -- sources that are anonymous -- and impotent, limp and gutless reporters take anonymous sources and cite them as being factual references," Palin said on Sean Hannity's radio program. "It just slays me because it's so absolutely clear what the state of yellow journalism is today that they would take these anonymous sources as fact."

Politics Daily last week highlighted the more damning parts of the profile, but did not focus on Gross' colorful beginning.
In the first page of the story, Gross paints a scene of Palin's youngest daughter, Piper, pushing a stroller holding a baby that Gross writes is Trig, behind the stage at the event in Independence, Mo.

Gross writes: "Backstage in the arena, a little girl in Mary Janes pushes her brother in a baby carriage, stopping a few yards shy of a heavy, 100-foot-long black curtain. The curtain splits the arena in two, shielding the children from an audience of 4,000 people clapping their hands in time to 'The Battle Hymn of the Republic.' The music accompanies a video 'Salute to Military Heroes' that plays above the stage where, in a few moments, the children's mother will appear.

"When the girl, Piper Palin, turns around, she sees her parents thronged by admirers, and the crowd rolling toward her and the baby, her brother Trig, born with Down syndrome in 2008. Sarah Palin and her husband, Todd, bend down and give a moment to the children; a woman, perhaps a nanny, whisks the boy away; and Todd hands Sarah her speech and walks her to the stage."

Palin's maternal nature takes a turn for the worse in the article as Gross talks with many anonymous sources from politicians to long-time Alaskan acquaintances. She has an air of entitlement "fueled by persistent feelings that she was under-appreciated." She has become accustomed to the glamorous life. She flies in private jets and drives a "gleaming new Escalade ESV with tinted windows."

Her children aren't even fans of their mother, according to Gross. A former campaign aide recalled the following for the writer,
"You're just putting on a show. You're so fake," one of the children said when Palin made a point of praying in front of other people. "This is not who you are. Why are you pretending to be something you're not?"

Palin did not talk to Gross for the Vanity Fair story.

Gross said last week on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," "The worst stuff isn't even in there."

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180 Comments

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mortman421

What can you believe in the press anymore? This is sad reporting and I will no longer believe the Vanity fair magazine.

September 15 2010 at 10:15 AM Report abuse +1 rate up rate down Reply
Liza

Looks like more people like Palin more than the media likes to admit.

September 15 2010 at 10:03 AM Report abuse +1 rate up rate down Reply
MAGNOLIAANGLS52

I very seldom if ever read Vanity Fair and I am not sure what all the fuss is about ..... The writer mistook another child being pushed in a carriage by Piper Palin. My response is so what? I heard Ms. Palin speak for the first time when she debated Joe Biden and I wondered then what was MCcain thinking?Ma, Palin calls any slight to her yellow journalisimwherether it be thr truth or not. All I have ever heard from her is hate and prejudical statements.I have never forgotton a line spoken by Dixie Carter on her show Designing Women.She and a very much younger lady were discussing her boyfriend and the word compost was used. I think it is approiate here. 'Where I come from we use compost and no matter What kind of pretty package you put it in it is still just compost. Now that is not exact but in many ways I think it expresses speeches made by Sarah Palin. I know ao; will not show this comment because it is off the subject orfalls under the heading of a personal attack. But I don't see what her political ambitions have to do with this article? As for personal arttack well it is a very fine line between liking her and disliking her either you do or you don't and in this case I don't

September 15 2010 at 12:16 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
basketx

Josieclaps, Mr. Gross, if he ever was, is no longer a credible journalist. The real journalist does not claim not to remember asking a question of a person and receiving her factual answer, nor does he/she hide behind feeble excuses like having access only to the public areas plus the press area near but not in backstage, during the speeches. He claims to have spoken with "many anonymous sources from politicians to long-time Alaskan acquaintances." And, get this, "The worst stuff isn't even in there." (presumably, the Vanity fair story) Thus, he mentions he has worse "stuff" from (again) anonymous sources. Credibility? Why isn't Mrs. Palin grateful, he could publish the "worst stuff." And Vanity Fair's editors swallowed all this. Wow. Now, exactly how are mainstream media like Vanity Fair better than the blogosphere?

September 14 2010 at 11:49 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
republic1969

Will this reporter EVER to a piece on Obama?

September 14 2010 at 7:39 PM Report abuse +7 rate up rate down Reply
basketx

Michael Joseph Gross, his 15 minutes of fame. Now that this Gross has been recognized by all as one who can get things published, and who is willing to jump to unwarranted conclusions and to accept slanderous assertions (or make them up, himself) for publication while protecting their scurrilous sources with anonymity, we can expect him to receive and present for publication a much greater volume of anonymous allegations. Surely, Mr. Gross (or his mentor) must have been a contributing member of that interesting club of the famous names of D.C. journalism, the Journolist.

September 14 2010 at 6:53 PM Report abuse +5 rate up rate down Reply
ijohnsonsplanet

I can't, in good faith read comments like "Sarah Palin is dumb", when most of you have several punctuation, spelling, and grammar errors pulsating from your rants.

September 14 2010 at 12:08 PM Report abuse +4 rate up rate down Reply
jdac18

Pile on the Palin kids seems to be the medias next move to discredit Sarah Palin and the right minded people of America. Come on folks, stick to the politics of people in the political eye.

September 12 2010 at 1:15 PM Report abuse +9 rate up rate down Reply
tara77anadell

Okay. So this guy is mad that she drives a Cadillac or that her children don't always think she's the greatest person in their world? So far this 'story' only looks like a bitter man writing about an average upper middle-class American family. He could almost be writing about my parents... from vehicle choice, to presumed attitude, to the way I felt about them when I was a stupid kid. We should definitely, though, heed the warnings of anonymous people and silly children when deciding the future of our nation. :P

September 12 2010 at 10:43 AM Report abuse +8 rate up rate down Reply
ashvinrj

Sarah Palin is not fit to be president. If we elect her, we deserve the disastrous consequence that will inevitably follow. She may get bored with the job after a few months anyway, and decide to quit. And then where would we be?

September 11 2010 at 9:16 PM Report abuse -15 rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to ashvinrj's comment
basketx

Sarah Palin has actual accomplishments as a State's Governor and those are qualifications far above those of an inexperienced, untried Senator out of nowhere with a year in office, a smooth demeanor, and more college degrees, who looks more and more like one of V. Lenin's "useful idiots," eagerly pursuing the goals propounded by his teachers like Lewis, Ayers, and Alinsky, these goals the goals of Marx and Lenin, without regard to the evidence and results for the American people.

September 14 2010 at 7:08 PM Report abuse +10 rate up rate down Reply

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