Oprah Winfrey Going Rogue With Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin is Going Rogue in a big way.

The former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee is kicking off a whirlwind publicity tour today with an interview on the Oprah Winfrey Show. Surprised? Don't be. Despite the magnanimous talk show host's very public diss of Palin last year, the two have apparently teamed up to sell some books and raise some ratings.

Palin can't be blamed for seizing the opportunity to appear on Winfrey's wildly popular TV show, nor for allowing her book to be included as an official "Oprah's Book Club" selection. Such a stamp of approval will ensure the memoir flies off the shelves for years to come. As it is, Going Rogue: An American Life became a New York Times best seller more than a month before its scheduled release to book stores tomorrow.

It makes sense from Winfrey's standpoint, as well. After all, like her or not, Palin is a well-recognized celebrity who is sure to boost ratings by giving the show a whole new audience of conservatives (at least for one day). Despite her liberal background, Winfrey will undoubtedly be an easier interview for Palin than Katie Couric, who was clearly out for Palin's blood.

On the other hand, Palin is much more refined than she was a year ago, as well. There can be no doubt that Palin's small-town persona was as much a detriment to her candidacy for vice president as it was a boost to her candidacy for governor. She was -- and continues to be -- a lightning rod for the Left, and an icon for the Right.

Not surprisingly, there is already a contingent of the liberal media that has seized advance copies of her book and claims to have "fact-checked" it. The problem with these "fact checks," however, is the inherently flawed nature of the "facts" they're supposedly checking. Palin points out -- and rightfully so -- that not a single one of these fact checkers have approached her with their incongruities or so-called contradictions. Instead, they've released e-mails from McCain staffers who continue to place complete blame for the Arizona Senator's loss last year squarely on Palin.

While Palin undoubtedly bears a portion of the blame, these same staffers fail to report that the advisers they're "defending" in rebutting Palin's version of events in her book are the same ones who met with Palin prior to her selection by McCain and who had supposedly vetted her and her credentials. McCain himself has said he was willing to take a chance on Palin, but only after careful consultation with his team.

So far, the "proof" Palin's opponents have offered up is slim at best, and if it contradicts anything it is these staffers' direct claims that they aren't interested in re-hashing the past. Much of the material included in the book, according to excerpts and other credible reports, isn't revelatory. Yet, McCain's staffers continue to "defend" themselves by turning to liberal media outlets such as Huffington Post with their out-of-context e-mails and comments. That they would air their differences with Palin on the most hostile of liberal web sites is one fact that is incontrovertible.

It is also a fact that speaks volumes about their motivations ... both now and in 2008.

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