Happy to see your blog as it is just what I%u2019ve looking for and excited to read all the posts. I am look onward to another grand article from you.

Please provide me info on all the mistakes Biden said this week, and update me on Obama's teleprompter mistakes. I like to keep track of my government staffers.

Uncle Sam

What a chance to make hay... Sarah Palin left office "for the good of Alaska." More than likely! It seems that Alaska can only benefit by her resignation.

If she uses this time to gear up for a presidential or senatorial run, I would hope that people will remember she couldn't hack finishing out her gubernatorial term in office.

Do not make the mistake of electing her to a seat that has more responsibility and effect than she has just resigned - if she couldn't handle that job, why would she do better at a more demanding one??

Come on, people. Don't be swayed by her country charm. Lipstick or not, she is still a pit bull, with all the capabilities of a pit bull for handling politics: none.

Katy, what's wrong with you. That's literally just "Joe being Joe." Who's side are you on, anyway. You're supposed to hate Palin and love the Left.

Not a big fan of Palin, either, but I think Biden had more gaffes this week.

Ahem...

Holy Crap! This is "literally" the best example of poor PR I've come across in more than a decade.

I"m an active PR & Marketing practitioner who also does a little guest speaking at seminars and universities (mostly PR & Comms focus). I strongly recommend to any instructors out there to save this link as a great example illustrating bad PR.

Lovely link, Michael. I've bookmarked it to enjoy at leisure.

BTW, I'm not a Palin "hater", but she is an extraordinarily good bad example of political PR. As my son's rapier instructor said of his students, "Three are excellent, two are okay and the rest are useful as moving targets."

Thanks for the examples MaryanneJ. For more on "literally" abuse there is also a fun blog on the topic.

http://literally.barelyfitz.com/

Ah, new versus standard usage. And all on the head of if you are for or against Sarah Palin. Debate usage, not this poor unfortunate woman who was tossed into the spotlight so unforgivingly and just can't get over it.

If the world was literally her oyster, the irritating woman would have been coated in nacre for years already.

I'm astonished by the Sarah Palin fan club here, and terribly disheartened that PR professionals would fall for her shallow charms. An elected official has an obligation to serve the public in general, and it is well documented that Palin has neglected the public interest in order to serve her own, even as mayor of Wasilla.

That aside, Michael was, I believe, looking for some entertaining misuses of the word "literally."

My husband once spotted the sentence "she was literally exploding with excitement" in a review. And some commentator describe President Obama as "literally jumping through hoops" on an issue. I wish I could ascribe these more accurately for you, Michael, but alas, they are hearsay.

And Rick, the opposite of "literally" is "figuratively" or "metaphorically" and one should not use "literally" with a hackneyed metaphor, because it is ridiculous.

To restore your literary sense of fun, I recommend to you "Gertrude the Governess" by Stephen Leacock:
http://www.online-literature.com/stephen-leacock/nonsense-novels/5/

Bias against Palin? How is it bias to report what she does and to wonder what this possibly unprecedented action means? It's not like she's resigning the chairmanship of a tennis club or Friends of the Library group in order to run for office. It's not like she's announced that she will be become a minister of a church to serve a "higher power." In fact, the opposite: she's reneging on her responsibility to lead the state in order to...what? Work on issues of national security as an...um...former governor?

To the "anonymous" poster at 2:01 today (July 6):

Sarah Palin? For senator? For someone who professes to be "a huge Palin fan," you obviously don't know much if anything about Alaska politics. Effective July 3, 2009, Sarah Palin is now definitely unelectable in Alaska. Period. End of story.

I know that some dreams die hard. In time, your grief will subside. Sarah Palin may have excellent political instincts, but it is abundantly clear that, per the "Peter Principle," she has risen to the level of her incompetence.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Principle

Maripat: How about we trade Stapleton's "literally" for your "their's". We all need a break now and then.

The bias here against Palin is "literally" palpable. Not that she doesn't ask for it. Who does a press conference, resigning a governorship without explaining why/what's next? Palin.

It may sound odd to you, but I am a huge Palin fan, which means I accept her faults because I love her strengths. That said, she should not be considered a viable candidate for president next time around. On matters she can control, she shows an ability not very competent at controlling, such as venues for press events and media relations management. She uses terrible judgement, hiring B-class PR people. On matters she cannot control, (major mainstream media hatred at a personal and emotional level of her) she cannot win.

I dealy hope she takes a senate seat in Washington. That is where she'd be great and really perform a valuable service for her country. She stands for much of what is good and right in this country - family, faith, accountability, etc. She'd be a friend to small business and business, education, disability advocates, outdoorsmen, environmentalists, the energy industry and business, which would do more for the economy than five of Obama's stimulus (read patronage) bills. And she's not afraid to get in the face of those who view life as nothing more than a non-stop power play for the Left.

Go Sarah! (Just not to the White House)

There seems to have been an underlying current to show the stupidity of Mrs. Palin, and the stupidity of the people who surround her. I come from a small state where our populace is usually looked down upon by our 'smarter' neighbors. Some of the folks who live here are hard-working, humble and often not as well-spoken as others. They often are labeled as uneducated and therefore not worthy of being taken seriously. I think that has happened to Sarah Palin too and it seems to be a bias that you laid out in your article. As for the spokesman not knowing as much as she should that is Palin's fault. As for using the word literally...chock it up to laziness and falling into bad habits when under pressure.

Comment to Jessica - Your own bias is showing. "A little grace...given the circumstances." Really? What are the extenuating circumstances that warrant a little grace? The timing was all their's. If the spokesperson isn't prepared, she corners the boss for the quick talking points. That responsibility belongs to both of them. Palin is not a public relations practitioner, as we know from previous experience. Stapleton should have known better than to fly without a net.

Comment to Jessica - Your own bias is showing. "A little grace...given the circumstances." Really? What are the extenuating circumstances that warrant a little grace? The timing was all their's. If the spokesperson isn't prepared, she corners the boss for the quick talking points. That responsibility belongs to both of them. Palin is not a public relations practitioner, as we know from previous experience. Stapleton should have known better than to fly without a net.

For someone so quick to judge the language of others, I am quite surprised you didn't take a second look at the bias coming out of your own words. As PR professionals, we all know that a key rule is to be briefed and rehearsed before making a public statement; based on what you wrote, "The entire interview is worth watching to see a spokesperson who clearly wasn’t fully briefed—or briefed at all—by her boss before the big decision," it doesn't seem to me you are being quite fair, especially with someone who was unfortunately left in the dark at a very critical time. That is the fault of the "boss," not the spokesperson. On top of this, you take one word out of a multiple-minuteinterview and come down on her because of that (as wrong as it was, yes), it's unfortunate. A little grace would have been nice in this siuation given the circumstances.

The beloved president declares the Union to be composed of 57 states, and clearly he is a genius and the fount of all hope. No jokes about him at parties, please. The governor's spokesperson makes the sort of usage error that escapes notice among 99% of the population, and begad, it's an incredible knee-slapper. America - what a country!

Why do you consider this a misuse? Literally also means "in effect; very nearly; virtually." What are you you suggesting one should say instead of literally?