MSNBC Correspondent Accosts 17-year Old Girl at Grand Rapids Book Signing; UPDATED: O'Donnell has Geography Issues Too

At Governor Palin's book signing event in Grand Rapids, Norah O'Donnell of MSNBC attempts to bully a 17-year old girl who was waiting in line to have her book signed:



This is bizzare on so many levels. First, Norah O'Donnell is the chief Washington correspondent for MSNBC. I know being the chief anything at MSNBC is akin to being the scout team leader on a high school football squad, but badgering a 17-year old girl is beneath even an MSNBC reporter (or so I thought). I guess O'Donnell was not confident enough in her abilities to pick on someone her own age. I can see why. Jackie Seal, the 17-year old girl, got the better of her and demonstrated a far greater knowledge of the constitution than Ms. O'Donnell.

As luck would have it, young Miss Seal has her own blog and she decided to post on Wednesday evening's experience with the tedious Ms. O'Donnell. Here, in her own words, Miss Seal describes the events which ultimately resulted in her encounter with MSNBC's peculiar chief Washington correspondent:

My dad and I arrived at the Barnes and Noble at 11 pmTuesday evening. There were 2 tents in front of us; we were probably number 15 or so in line. It was a chilly evening but I enjoyed some good conversation from several Palin fans. We talked about Obama, Palin and just some other stuff. We sat outside in the cold, bundled up until 5:30 am. At that time they ushered us inside where we had to sit outside the B&N entrance until 7am. We received our bracelets at 7am and were told if we’d like to be guaranteed to see Palin we should remain in line all day. So I did. I was not about to lose a chance at seeing Sarah Palin after sitting in line out in the freezing cold for hours. So I sat, and sat… I read some of her book and then the media circus began. I spotted Norah O’Donnell and Andrea Mitchell right off the bat and couldn’t believe they were there.. I mean I thought they hated Sarah Palin. I thought Sarah Palin had no impact, she was a nobody yet they send their 2 big guns to cover her book tour..but I digress.

[...]

I was first approached by a New York Times writer who wrote what my shirt said and then asked me a couple questions. She asked me what it was I liked about Sarah Palin. I said, “As a young female she is someone I can look up to, before her the only prominent female in politics I had known about was Hilary Clinton, whom I respect don’t get me wrong, I respect her but when you don’t agree with someone it’s hard to really look up to them. I like how Sarah Palin will speak her mind, regardless of what the media will say about it.”

[...]

I then see Norah O’Donnell approach a man all decked out in Palin garb. She asked him a few questions (camera not rolling) then said she’d like to have a woman in the shot. She asked a woman who refused then pointed at me and said “Hey talk to her” So I walked over. I knew I was walking into hot water with MSNBC- thought I was prepared….Seconds later I met her… One of the many faces of liberal media bias. She asked me my name and then before going on air asked me why I liked Sarah Palin, I repeated what I told the NYT reporter. Norah didn’t seem to like that much.

So what did she do? I mean she couldn’t ask me that question on television, heaven forbid her not have a biting response.. I noticed her look down at my shirt then, she turned around blackberry in hand spoke to a man, thumbs tapping the blackberry (I don’t remember if she called or not, she may have. But she was on her blackberry), then jotted down a quick note. Little did I know that note would be used against me. She told us she’d be walking up to us. You know like she just stumbled upon us. The shot began… I kept telling myself answer her question well, don’t freak out. Well, I thought she’d ask me the same question. She asked the man beside me (who by the way is NOT my dad) the same question she had before we went on air. Myself on the other hand, not the same story. She had me read my shirt and then proceeded to ask me “Did you know Sarah Palin supported the bailout” to be 100% honest I was like, are you kidding me? She is trying to use my shirt against me. I was so shocked by the craftiness she had that I was truly stumped. I asked her where she got her fact and she read her little note. Then she asked me what I liked about Sarah, and I talked about the Constitution.

The fact that O'Donnell found it necessary to deceive a teenager in order to make herself look smart is truly pathetic. Unfortunately for O'Donnell, it didn't quite work out like she planned. The fact that Seal more than held her own in the encounter is remarkable. After the cartoonish ambush by O'Donnell, Miss Seal thought of a few more things she could have said:

Immediately after the interview I said to my dad “Oh man, I have so many great responses now about my shirt” I could have said, well my shirt doesn’t say anything about Sarah Palin supporting the bailout or “Hey Norah, have you read the book? She talks about how during her debate prep she was handed a list of note cards that had questions and ‘non-answers’” Of course they told Sarah Palin to support everything McCain did. Call me crazy but it would have looked pretty bad had Sarah Palin been against something John McCain was against while they were running together. Norah also claims I told her I voted (on her twitter). That is not true. She never asked my age or if I voted. I’m 17. I couldn’t have voted…and I don’t live in an ACORN district so I didn’t have a chance to even register illegally. Making that statement by Norah completely false.

The ACORN line is priceless. Miss Seal finished her post with the following:

In one day I met a role model, and met the liberal media and their crafty schemes. I fell prey to liberal bias, but I’d like to think I did an okay job. We always want do-overs, and I can assure you if I had a do-over with Miss O’Donnell you’d see a much more prepared (well rested) and ready to go at it side of this 17 year old. But unlike Norah I didnt have my note cards with me. I was forced to think on the spot and answer a gotcha question. Her goal was clear, make this teenager look like an uneducated Palin supporting buffoon. To liberals, and the 5 people who watch MSNBC she succeeded. To conservatives, she was the only buffoon during that interview.

I think it's fair to say that she did more than just an "okay job". Read Seal's entire post here. It looks like we have another aspiring barracuda on the horizon, this time in western Michigan.

Update by Doug: In addition to constitutional issues, my guess is that Jackie Seal could give Ms. O'Donnell a few lessons on geography as well.