So... What was the Big Deal?

It seems to me that the "problem" is that the strips are presenting long sections of what are purported to be text quoted from a book of non-fiction ... and therefore purport themselves to be non-fiction. That is, these aren't comics about Roland making up stuff about Palin, they're comics about Roland taking the purported truth about Palin and putting a positive spin on it.

Just guessing, I'd say that the strips that triggered this decision where the ones where she is described as being a potentially criminally negligent parent. In those, Palin is not just accused of being a bad politician or a shallow person ... she's accused of actions that could be seen as matters worthy of attention from Child Protective Services.

Now, that having been said, I don't think I'd have pulled the comics over that issue. (Which is also why I put quotations around "problem" above.) But I can certainly understand a gun-shy (or a pro-Palin) editor doing so.

The whole week was pulled right? maybe it's just because it was a week of palin bashing. maybe any one of them or spread out over a few weeks would have been ok.

personally I think she needs to be bashed by everyone until she just goes away. she never had any business in politics.

Since they are saying fairness standards, I wonder if it has to do with the concept that he will not be spending a week on each of the other republican candidates followed by a week for each democrat.

(I also have to wonder if "fairness standard" is just the best way to cover pulling the strips as a favor to Palins camp.)

Can't be fairness, Palin isn't running (yet).

Therefore, it isn't a contribution to any particular campaign.

So... *clueless*

Don't see the big deal either. Although it did make me less inclined to read the book in question. Since my desire was at 0 initially, that's quite an accomplishment.

Yeah, the odds of the Trib saying anything positive about Palin range from 0 to ridiculous, so calm yourselves on the "right wing media" paranoia.

If quoted sections suggest illegal activity, it's prime material for a libel suit, especially since Palin is NOT a politician anymore--you can accuse a politician of almost anything under the guise of political speech, but private citizens have a lesser standard to prove damage.

The liable suit makes a lot of sense, but I think stannex makes a good point too. As clever as the punchlines are, they follow after very large (by comic strip standards) quotes of text. In same cases, way more text than is needed for the punchline to be funny.

It started to feel like a creative ad campaign for the book to me.

I dunno! I just like to sit at home and meet woman from my home. Just like this guy did...AMAZING! This Geek taught me the ways of the force and I hooked a webcam up to my Remote Control Vehicle.....Now I meet all the Fine Woman like this Geek did...

http://www.suregeek.com/?p=37

If I rember right, back in 1980 when Reagan was running for president, Doonesbury was running a strip entitled something like "Voyage through Ronald Reagan's Brain." Some newspapers chose to run it on their editorial page, others refused to run it at all. Once the strip had run, things went back to normal till there was a flap over the contractual size of the strip as compared to others.