https://pjmedia.com/rogerkimball/2008/09/08/the-palin-portfolio-phase-two-damage-control-or-the-clash-of-civilizations-comes-home/feed/PJ Media is a leading news site covering culture, politics, faith, homeland security, and more. Our reporters and columnists provide original, in-depth analysis from a variety of perspectives.en-usWed, 10 Jun 2026 09:44:41 -0400<![CDATA[Hurricanes are not the only forces of nature causing damage these days. Gustav and Ike may have ripped the roofs off many buildings, but hurricane Sarah has devastated what was left of the mainstream media&#8217;s pretensions toward even-handedness. The curious thing about the Palin Payload is that (so far) the most conspicuous damage has been inflicted not directly by Governor Palin but, jujitsu-like, by the media&#8217;s efforts to destroy her. It&#8217;s been a spectacle of auto-immolation precipitated by the media&#8217;s confrontation with a phenomenon whose nature they misunderstood and whose power they gravely underestimated. That phenomenon may be personified by Sarah Palin. But really it is only incidentally related to the Governor of Alaska. At bottom, the phenomenon is synonymous with traditional middle American values. What we have witnessed is the not-so-silent majority recoiling in disdain and loathing from the media&#8217;s transparently partisan efforts to discredit someone about whom they knew exactly nothing except 1) she was John McCain&#8217;s pick for VP (why had&#8217;t they been informed?) and 2) she seemed unaccountably popular (they would fix that).]]>Mon, 08 Sep 2008 06:46:26 -0400<![CDATA[Roger Kimball]]>https://pjmedia.com/roger-kimball/2008/09/08/the-palin-portfolio-phase-two-damage-control-or-the-clash-of-civilizations-comes-home-n115164