Palin Is Way Out of Line on Author Witchhunt

Sarah Palin's diatribe on Facebook against her new neighbor in Alaska—author Joe McGinniss, who's writing a book about her—is astonishing, writes David Weigel at his Right Now blog in the Washington Post. "Can somebody explain to me how this isn't a despicable thing for Palin to do?" It's "incredibly irresponsible" for politicians to "sic their fans on journalists they don't like," he says, noting that Glenn Beck is already on the case.

"This is really the ultimate example of the way Palin manipulates the press and inverts the relationship between reporters and politicians, turning the former into 'stalkers,' and the latter—as long as they're Republicans or members of her family—into saints whom no one can criticize," writes Weigel. "No one in the media should reward Palin for this irresponsible and pathetic bullying." (More Joe McGinniss stories.)