Comments on: Associated Press scans Sarah Palin’s book

By: Caramoan

Caramoan — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 12:22:30 +0000

There are critics of Sarah Palin but in my opinion she is also a very good politician and she also did some good projects in Alaska.
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By: Kate

Kate — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:20:59 +0000

Wrong, wrong, wrong, Mike. There was never any proto-death panel clause to remove, because at the time Palin made her death-panel comment, there was no bill yet!

Keep drinking the Kool-aid though.

BTW, the mark of a political genius is to get the opposition to do what you want. Much as I personally loathe him, I have to hand it to GWB for that.

Palin a genius of any stripe? Heh. Here, have more Kool-Aid.

By: Dan E. Bloom

Dan E. Bloom — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 02:30:57 +0000

Good story, Chris. Two AP reporters split the US$500 prize for getting ahold of the book first using their gumshoe tactics. One was national entertainment writer Hillel Italie, a very nice person. He covers the publishing business for years. He knew what he was doing. Getting a scoop on an embargoed book release. But if AP violated copyright law, they should be prosecuted, you are right.

By: Mike Perry

Mike Perry — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 02:28:39 +0000

Under copyright law, AP’s behavior was worse that that. It used these scans to serve commercial purposes, meaning to make themselves money. That’s one of the negative factors in determining fair use. That puts AP in worse shape legally than pirates who simply steal for their own enjoyment.

By the way, AP has a mere two people providing the public with an ‘analysis’ of the 4000+ pages of intolerably dense legalese in the health legislation pending before Congress. In contrast, at various times they had 11 reporters ‘fact checking’ Palin’s 413 page, easy-to-read biography, all to no avail.

I finished her book just last night and came away with the realization that, with memories stretching back to the late Eisenhower years, I’ve never encountered someone with more political savvy. The AP’s obsession with trying to find errors in the book, however minor, illustrates that. One mark of political genius is an ability to drive opponents batty.

For a broader illustration, try to imagine any other time when the losing VP candidate has managed to attract so much attention. She did a Facebook post on death panels. Those who knew nothing (i.e. the NY Times) shrilly denounced her remarks as inaccurate. About a week later, the clause in the legislation that established proto-death panels was quietly removed.

I highly recommend her book. Rarely do you find someone in politics with the guts and good sense of Sarah Palin.

By: Kate

Kate — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:56:54 +0000

The AP’s too cheap to buy copies for staffers who need one, or let those staffers buy their own copy and reimburse them?

So the AP is different from your average Internet ‘pirate’ in what way?