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Author Joe McGinnis was on NBC’s Today show this morning in an attempt to bat back some of the wild accusations that Sarah Palin has been posting on her Facebook page about him. McGinniss shot back at Palin by comparing her to the Nazis, “And that’s the same kind of tactic and I’m not calling her a Nazi, but that’s the same kind of tactic that the Nazi troopers used in Germany in the ’30s.”

Here is the video of McGinnis on the Today show:

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McGinniss dealt with Palin’s attacks on him as a stalker, and her Facebook post’s implication that he has an eye on her young daughter, “No, Matt and I’ll tell you exactly why and I’ll tell you how all this came about. I moved here and didn’t tell anybody outside my family that I was moving here. I wanted to tell the Palins directly, personally, face to face, and then hopefully work out with them some accommodation of where we could all live peacefully, if not with great friendship over the course of the next three months or so until Labor Day. Sarah hysterically puts up this Facebook page with all sorts of ugly innuendo, which, which frankly, you know it’s revolting, the things that she has caused people to say about me. She has created all the publicity. I didn’t expect any publicity at all. I wish she hadn’t said a word.

When asked by Matt Lauer if he wishes he would have rented a different house, McGinniss answered, “No. You know what actually what I’ve learned from that, Matt. And what you just recited, it’s very informative. And I think it’s probably a lesson for the American people of the power Palin has to incite hatred and her willingness and readiness to do it. She has pushed a button and unleashed the Hounds of Hell, and now that they’re out there slavering and barking and growling. And that’s the same kind of tactic and I’m not calling her a Nazi, but that’s the same kind of tactic that the Nazi troopers used in Germany in the ’30s. And I don’t think there is any place for it in America.”

This afternoon Palin took to her Facebook page again, and continued to use her children as human shields, “The interview itself was quite an eye-opener. I’m not sure what “ugly innuendo” was in my Facebook post or why it is so controversial to suggest that the presence of a hostile “journalist” writing a hostile book about me is an imposition on my children who simply want to enjoy their summer outside. When I say or write “leave my kids alone,” it means simply that: let my kids have a fun summer without having a “journalist” 15 ft from their play area.”

She also used her kids as cover for her hate tactics, “How that equates me with the Nazis is quite beyond me. If receiving nasty emails and even death threats is the standard by which we judge “inciting hatred,” then the left in this country has been “inciting hatred” on my family for almost two years now. We don’t complain about this or call people “Nazis” because we value freedom of speech enough to believe that even ignorant and hateful people have a right to it. It’s a shame that a self-proclaimed “journalist” doesn’t understand this.”

McGinniss’s comparison of her tactics to the tactics used by the Nazis is appropriate. Sarah Palin’s power rests with her ability to manipulate and divide. Palin manipulates by playing the all American Mom, and then she tries to use her position as a mother as a battering ram against her enemies. Mind you, all Joe McGinniss did was move next door, and the last time I checked the Constitution protects our ability to reside where we please. If Joe McGinniss really presents a threat to Palin, then why hasn’t she notified law enforcement, or gotten a restraining order? The truth is that McGinniss has not done anything wrong.

As long as he doesn’t bother the Palins, he is well within his rights to live next door to them. Palin has used every instrument in her tool box of hate to try to scare McGinniss off of writing his book. I still can’t help but wonder why Palin is so afraid of McGinniss and his book, and make no mistake about it, this drama that she has created has everything to do with the book and nothing to do with the man himself. For her entire political career, Palin’s star has been fueled by hate. She is the anti-Obama, who was hoping to divide America and ride those divisions to the White House in 2012.

The McGinniss incident, instead of helping Palin, could end up hurting her. Many in the national media who had given her a free pass are now getting their first glimpse of the real Sarah Palin. She has fallen from charismatic political newcomer to hysterically paranoid cult leader in record time. Not only does this spat with McGinniss hurt her credibility for 2012, but by not being able to keep her mouth shut, Palin has ensured that Joe McGinniss with have a national bestseller. Once again, Palin’s own defective character proves to be her own worst enemy.