How Sarah Palin deals with the media's obsession with her family

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In an exclusive interview with USA Weekend Magazine at her home in Wasilla, Alaska, Sarah Palin talked about how she and her family deal with being under the media's microscope:

Palin said she tells the kids not to Google their names or read blogs “that are so often very, very negative and untruthful.

“I tell them, you know it’s going to ruin your day, so why do it?”

Media incursions, invited and uninvited, are a real and present fact of life for the Palins, even at their remote lakeside home, 45 miles from Anchorage. An iron gate that Palin’s husband, Todd, is installing on their wooded driveway, and “No Trespassing” signs provide only token insulation.

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Paparazzi have actually driven by on the frozen lake ice to catch a peek inside the house, Todd Palin said.

Palin recounted, incredulously, two especially unwelcome visitors who showed up at her front door with a camera rolling: comedian Kathy Griffin and Levi Johnston, the very estranged father of Tripp, the 28-month-old son of Palin’s teenage daughter. Bristol.

“Then we find out that (Griffin’s) agent is the brother of Obama’s chief of staff, you know, connecting the dots,” Palin added by way of explanation. Fortunately, Palin says, no one was home. (Griffin left a note).

Then, of course, there’s cyberspace. “We hear and see and feel constantly that scrutiny and that spotlight,” Palin says. “Via every kid’s text message, every time the computer is on, so often when the TV is on, there’ll be something about the Palins flashing to us.”

Despite all this Gov. Palin says that it’s all been worth it, citing the occasions her children have had to travel across the lower 48 "and meet some amazing, wonderful people.” She explains that she and Todd are convinced that "at the end of the day things do work out for good." That optimistic outlook is based on their shared faith, "believing God has a purpose and a destiny for everyone."

- JP