Sarah Palin STILL not getting a divorce (in case you don't believe it)
Much like Chevy Chase would regularly announce on Saturday Night Live that "General Francisco Franco is still dead," the rumors that Sarah Palin is getting a divorce are still false.
The media got all amped up again today when a little known blog claimed to have inside information that Alaska's most famous resident was splitting up with the former First Dude. News outlets feverishly jumped on the claim just like Captain Sig Hansen when he's got a pot full of crab (in the spirit of Alaska, we're trying to keep the metaphor local).
Ridiculous? It is. Palin is no longer the governor of Alaska and hasn't surfaced since her resignation. Her Twitter account has remained eerily silent. She's a ghost.
But knowing how news regarding Palin spreads like wildfire, Palin's spokesperson Meg Stapleton posted a statement on her Facebook page denying the allegation.
“Yet again, some so-called journalists have decided to make up a story. There is no truth to the recent “story” (and story is the correct term for this type of fiction) that the Palins are divorcing," Stapleton wrote. "The Palins remain married, committed to each other and their family, and have not purchased land in Montana (last week it was reported to be Long Island)."
But this statement wasn't good enough for one of our readers. Marge responded, "Hmmm, if you read the statement carefully, it doesn’t say they aren’t getting a divorce. It says they “remain married”. Yep, that would be right until a divorce is granted."
Well, the statement really does say they aren't getting a divorce. That's if you note the part where Stapleton says "there is no truth to the 'story' ... that the Palins are divorcing." And then there's the part where Stapleton says, "The Palins remain married, committed to each other..."
But outside of that...
Regardless, some of our readers are tired of the Palin news. "I say WHO CARES!! I am so tired of this woman and the “news” about her I could scream!!" wrote Poolgirl after our last blog post on the topic.
Actually Poolgirl seems to be in the minority. "Sarah Palin divorce" remains a top five search term on Google Trends after spending hours as the most searched item of the day.
And according to some in the media, the attention was Palin's fault (or her spokeswoman, anyway). Politico's Jonathan Martin says Stapleton is responsible for the attention.
"Palin effectively guaranteed coverage from the mainstream media that otherwise would not report claims attributed to unnamed sources on an anonymous blog," he writes.
And as far as we can tell, he appears to be correct. Once Stapleton's statement appeared, that's when the mainstream press started reporting on the issue. We jumped in, anyway, once Stapleton's Facebook entry was posted.
That's all part of the plan, according to the right-leaning "ConservativeComeback" website (which doesn't appear to have any official relationship with Palin or her spokesperson).
"Palin is one of the few conservative politicians that seems to understand the internet," the blog reads.
"If this had gone unanswered MSNBC would have a countdown clock Monday morning to the supposed date of Palin's divorce. By addressing this rumor it does guarantee msm coverage...ON PALIN'S TERMS," it says.
Just how far is this story going to go? We're guessing at least one of the Sunday shows bring it up tomorrow.
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We'll never put a countdown clock on our website announcing your divorce. Even if you aren't planning one. So follow us on Twitter!
