SARAH STRIKES

Posted at 9:03 a.m. ET

Remember Sarah Palin?  She was John McCain's vice presidential choice, and, according to the liberal script, was supposed to disappear after the election, return to Alaska, and never cast a shadow over the Age of Obama.  I mean, Charlie Gibson disapproved of her.  What more is there to say?

Well, there's plenty more to say.  Governor Palin is making it plain that she will not permit her family to be cannon fodder for the liberal press.  Her daughter, Bristol, just had her baby, and some journalists took the usual liberties with facts.  The governor strikes back:

Alaska has a new form of wildlife: Gov. Sarah Palin, who has turned into a mama tiger, or a grandmama tiger anyway, in defense of her young.

Mrs. Palin is engaging in an unusually personal attempt to protect her 18-year-old daughter Bristol from the inaccuracies of the press.

In three different accounts, journalists have described Miss Palin and/or her fiance Levi Johnston as "high-school dropouts."

Them there are fightin' words.

And she is fighting.  Republican establishment take note.

Mrs. Palin has personally contacted People magazine, the Associated Press and the Anchorage Daily News contesting Saturday's reports on the birth of Tripp Easton Mitchell Johnston, the unmarried couple's child and the governor's first grandchild.

The fightin' words:

"You need to know that both Levi and Bristol are working their butts off to parent and going to school and working at the same time. They are certainly not high-school dropouts," she said in a phone message to People, which promptly published the words on its Web site Wednesday.

And...

"Bristol begins her final semester of high school next week where she'll get her last credit needed to graduate," Mrs. Palin said. "Levi is continuing his online high school work in addition to working as an electrical apprentice."

"The road ahead for this young couple will not be easy, but nothing worthwhile is ever easy," Mrs. Palin said.

The media has covered itself with its usual glory:

The kerfuffle has since been covered by a gleeful, global press -- the content snarky at times. Rumors persisted on MSNBC, for example, that Miss Palin was to receive $300,000 from People for exclusive photos of her new son. The magazine's spokesman Larry Hackett said the rumors were untrue.

The press consistently underestimates Sarah Palin.  No, she did not always do well on the campaign trail, but she's a fast learner and a governor with a considerable following.  Don't count her out, especially if she leads Alaska successfully through the recession.

January 3, 2009.