Whatever it is, it is not Sarah Palin's fault. Whether it's the emotional damage her daughter

[struggle4progress]

suffered as a result of her pregnancy becoming national news, the wardrobe she and her family were given during last year's presidential campaign, her slamming her own campaign over its decision to pull out of Michigan or anything else, someone else is to blame.

That, at least, is the message Palin hit repeatedly during her interview with Oprah Winfrey, broadcast Monday afternoon -- from what we know of it so far, it's a frequent theme in her memoir, "Going Rogue," as well.

Often, these excuses stretched the bounds of the former Alaska governor's credibility. When, for example, Winfrey pressed Palin about her daughter Bristol's pregnancy and the way it was handled during the presidential campaign, Palin tried to portray herself as having no role whatsoever in Bristol's being "devastated" when the news broke. It wasn't Palin's decision to accept the Republican vice-presidential nomination that made the pregnancy a national story -- it was "the haters," "the critics," who just wanted to delve into her personal life. If she was naïve, well, it's just that she was "naïve to think that the media would leave my kids alone." Also, the McCain campaign was at fault for an overly "giddy" statement about Bristol being pregnant -- Palin herself wouldn't have glamorized it so much. (Presumably the McCain campaign also forced her to bring Bristol and then-boyfriend Levi Johnston to the Republican National Convention.)

And the new wardrobe? Well, that was the McCain campaign's fault, of course -- and the media's, for a "double standard," covering her clothing and no one else's. (No one else has been shown to be getting personal clothing paid for out of campaign funds, but never you mind.) ...

Monday, Nov 16, 2009 14:25 PST
War Room
Palin faces off with Oprah, sort of
The former governor gets her big hostile interview out of the way, and without having to face tough questions
By Alex Koppelman
http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2009/11/16/palin_oprah/