Vanity Fair's Sarah Palin Profiler: 'The Worst Stuff Isn't Even In There'

The author of the blistering Vanity Fair profile on Sarah Palin says he wanted to write a positive piece, but was shocked by what he learned as he researched his story.

"The worst stuff isn't even in there," Michael Joseph Gross said on "Morning Joe" Thursday. "I couldn't believe these stories either when I first heard them, and I started this story with a prejudice in her favor. I have a lot in common with this woman. I'm a small-town person, I'm a Christian, I think that a lot of her criticisms of the media actually have something to them. And I think she got a bum ride, but everybody close to her tells the same story."

In the profile, Gross paints Palin as an abusive, retaliatory figure with an extreme ability to lie.

"This is a person for whom there is no topic too small to lie about," he said. "She lies about everything."

Asked about Palin's political future, Gross said it depends on what the media lets her get away with.

"If we decide to let her keep lying and getting away with it, she's gonna still be around," he said. "But if we start returning to the standard that a politician has to talk with people, and a politician has to tell the truth, then she's outta here, because she can't stand up to that."

Gross added that he takes exception to criticisms that he wrote a "hit piece" against Palin.

"I started this with every good intention toward her," he said. "I was just shocked and appalled at every step at what I found. And I wrote this story sort of against my will. It wasn't what I wanted to write, it wasn't what I wanted to find. It was what was forced on me by the facts."

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Read the Vanity Fair profile here.

Comments

[lunchlady]

02:08 PM on 09/11/2010

I read the article- whew. I find it particular­ly remarkable that so many people aren't willing to risk her wrath and speak on the record.

[scampy123]

08:32 PM on 09/09/2010

Sarah Palin like Tony Blair just don't think that they are lying?

[jaschem1]

08:40 AM on 09/09/2010

New revelation­s on Bristols pregnancy today on Palinsgate today...

http://pal­ingates.bl­ogspot.com­/

[capitaldysfunction]

02:54 AM on 09/08/2010

The lie is an everyday tool of the Republican party. They make things up routinely.

But it doesn't matter. They will win big time in 2010.

The long suffering American people will keep trying to figure it all out but alas its obvious they will never succeed. The Jabba the Hut corporatis­ts will continue their reign.

[sistahfriend]

09:54 AM on 09/08/2010

They can't win if we organize and get to the polls.

[Adam Warrenchak]

07:17 PM on 09/07/2010

there will always be a select number of "special" people who adore figure heads like palin, and that blow$

[joemac1114]

07:03 PM on 09/07/2010

And this surprises anyone how?

[CityGardner]

06:56 PM on 09/07/2010

You know, there are so many great comments that I kept overlookin­g the title of this piece. "Vanity Fair's Sarah Palin Profiler: 'The Worst Stuff Isn't Even In There'"

Is that a great teaser, or what? Now I really want to see the "The Worst Stuff." Be great to have something to put on the shelf next to "The Right Stuff."

[BocaMom]

05:57 PM on 09/07/2010

Too funny. I love how Vanity Fair has become such a rag. After reading this story, you would think they're going after the National Enquirer's audience. Just more political B.S. for the election. O'well, one less magazine to buy.

[joemac1114]

07:04 PM on 09/07/2010

Wouldn't want anyone to criticize the grifter queen.

[Jim Hartman]

05:34 PM on 09/07/2010

Like the fact that Trig aint hers - its Bristol's 1st baby. What the heck happened to REAL investigat­ive reporting? I guess Richard Nixon would have been envious of this much protection from the truth.

[CityGardner]

07:01 PM on 09/07/2010

"Like the fact that Trig aint hers - its Bristol's 1st baby. "

You know, that is plausible, and if so, what a very... complex... family life those folks have. Many years ago my granddad used to kid about a song called "I'm My Own Grandpa." Looks like $arah may bring it back.

[Carolyn LeBeauf]

02:59 PM on 09/07/2010

Hey we all knew Palin was a liar and a fake. Why did you have to write a book to find that out. Are you a later bloomer or what?

[dmsdzinr]

07:31 AM on 09/07/2010

Palin is a TOTAL PHONY! But, hey, we already KNEW THAT!

[lunchlady]

02:10 PM on 09/11/2010

Yes, but a lot of people like phonies- they're called celebritie­s, and boy do they sell stuff and make money.

[jobiennj]

04:35 PM on 09/06/2010

Sarah for President! Imagine the fun. Imagine the debates! Imagine the disaster!!­! Only in my wildest dreams does this kind of fun come true.

[loeska]

01:19 AM on 09/07/2010

(in Norway) Yes, very funny - the US would become the laughing stock of the world.

[Jim Hartman]

05:38 PM on 09/07/2010

True - Imagine the twit actually debating Barack. I cant wait.

[cloudwatcher7]

04:02 PM on 09/06/2010

Oh, for cryin' out loud...I am delighted that the truth finally comes out, but when the article author says that "we" keep letting her get away with her lies and retaliator­y behavior, he's dead wrong. The best way to stop Sarah Palin is to STOP ALL COVERAGE of her NOW. The only reason she's still around is because the media keeps feeding her - whether it's negatively or positively­. Stop now.

[Bonsailady]

08:42 PM on 09/06/2010

You are sooooooo right about coverage..­.she'd fade into the woodwork..­.not without a fight but where is she tonite..."­Old Musclemout­h"?

[saucerfish]

09:38 PM on 09/06/2010

Just like when you ignore cancer it goes away. Great idea.

[Myra Kay Amonett]

02:20 PM on 09/06/2010

So what's new about politician­s lying about nearly everything they say? It is sad, but now that is the American way of getting elected. So quit complainin­g about Sarah Palin. Admit it, that's the way our society has become. I don't like it and I don't trust politician­s or the news media!!!!!

[Jim Hartman]

05:41 PM on 09/07/2010

Hey Myra: There is a big difference between Palin and the current bunch of politician­s. She is just plain STOOPID. She makes words up. She has lowered the bar so far that any fool can run.

[CityGardner]

07:14 PM on 09/07/2010

That's what the RNC wants the fools to think. But the nation already ran that particular experiment­. Having a fool in the Oval Office while an insane Veep runs the country - not a good idea.

[joemac1114]

07:07 PM on 09/07/2010

Lying is one thing, being just plain out of touch with reality is another. Sarah, couldn't figure out how to get out of a cul-de-sac­.

[CityGardner]

07:15 PM on 09/07/2010

Wait - I think you have the solution. We get her to go into a cul-de-sac­, tell her to go down 500 steps and then count to a hundred...

[Evol Syawla]

01:08 PM on 09/06/2010

Our best hope is that she runs for President in 2012 and takes Sharon Angle with her. That, is our best hope. We absolutely need all Democrats, Republican­s, Teabaggers and others, to encourage and push for her to run for President. That is our best hope. If she has Steele, Bachman, Lowden, Limbaugh, Hanity, Breitbart, O'Reily, Malkin, Savage and Alaskan Joe could be her right hand people, then come election day, sit bak have have drink and watch teh disaster unfolds! That will ensure that we can truly elect a fulhouse and Senate this time around with none of those fake Democrats. Thay are truly rats who have no intention of seeing the President succeed. This time we can do it without them. We can make history. Under no circumstan­ces should Republican­s be ever given control of anything again.