COMBATIVE SARAH - AT 9:37 A.M. ET:  I'm so glad that Sarah Palin is fighting back, rather than staying as a punching bag for her fashionable critics.  Fox News is reporting the extraordinary response of the Associated Press to her book.  Is this a great moment in journalism, or what?

When the former Republican vice presidential candidate and former Alaska governor wrote her autobiography, the AP found a copy before its release date and assigned 11 people to fact check all 432 pages.

The AP claims Palin misstated her record with regard to travel expenses and taxpayer-funded bailouts, using statements widely reported elsewhere. But it also speculated into Palin's motives for writing "Going Rogue: An American Life," stating as fact that the book "has all the characteristics of a pre-campaign manifesto."

Palin quickly hit back on a Facebook post titled "Really? Still Making Things Up?"

"Imagine that," the post read. "11 AP reporters dedicating time and resources to tearing up the book, instead of using the time and resources to 'fact check' what's going on with Sheik Mohammed's trial, Pelosi's health care takeover costs, Hasan's associations, etc. Amazing."

But that would be so culturally insensitive.

Reviewing books and holding public figures accountable is at the core of good journalism, but the treatment Palin's book received appears to be something new for the AP. The organization did not review for accuracy recent books by the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, then-Sen. Joe Biden, either book by Barack Obama released before he was president or autobiographies by Bill or Hillary Clinton.

And some books are ignored completely, like Douglas Feith's excellent "War and Decision," about the runup to the Iraq War. 

Of course, the press also ignored the official North Vietnamese history of the Vietnam War, which tended to confirm the American government's version of events, rather than the accepted press narrative.  That's why it was ignored.

November 18, 2009