Sarah Palin: The human lightning rod

Consider this, small-town, mild-mannered, Homer reporter Michael Armstrong posted a smiling photograph of Palin on the HomerNews.com website Saturday along with three friendly paragraphs about her visit to his town. In return, he attracted some readers hinting he might be an evil, reality-distorting member of what Palin calls the "lamestream media.''

His crime? He wrote the following: "A small crowd gathered outside the Fish Pitchin' Kitchen after filming was done to get autographs and pose for pictures with Palin."

Under normal circumstances, that might seem innocent enough. But not in Palin world. Within hours after Armstrong's incredibly short story had been posted, the website for the small town (5,364 by best estimate) at the end of the highway on Alaska Kenai Peninsula showed some 250 comments beneath the story (as of Sunday morning, there were more than 350) debating the merits and demerits of Palin, and suggesting Armstrong might be another of those bad reporters engaged in trying to slant the news.

"Wonder if the writer of this article will state the number in that "small crowd,'' wrote "Sparsam.''

"Yes, I would like to know just how many was in that small crowd, as well,'' added Ardiva. "C'mon Homer- give!"

Let the blog-a-bate begin! Did the Homer News mischaracterize a mid-size crowd as a small crowd or worse? Does Armstrong have an agenda? Was he trying to disparage Palin?  What was the hidden meaning when he wrote "film crews were reticent when asked about what was going on"? What if the true story is that is was actually a big crowd that turned out in Homer, end-of-the-road Alaska, and the media covered it up and was just making things up?