Back on July 1, 2013, one of the front page contributors at RedState posted a piece taking issue with something Sarah Palin had said. He used for the “featured image” an image that was salacious and fake. I would not mention this except both Governor Palin and her daughter Bristol have now pointed it out as a bit of hypocrisy on my part related to the Megyn Kelly and Donald Trump situation.

It happened in 2013. I wish I had known from the Palin camp before now that this was a lingering issue. I’ve tried to always defend the Palin family as they have been subject to so much unfair abuse. In fact, the day after that piece appeared, I penned a response defending Governor Palin. I had the picture in question taken down as well.

You can see the piece that caused the controversy here. You can see my defense of Governor Palin here. I posted it the very next day.

Certainly Governor Palin and Bristol Palin can wonder why I was not more responsive and demanding of an immediate pull down. As Leon Wolf noted in this defense of me, it took some time. Truth be told, though I’m “editor” of the site, the front page contributors will tell you that doesn’t mean jack when it comes to them. We’re a team of equals.

But the picture was a scam and it was inappropriate and I should have acted immediately. So I’ve been kicking myself to figure out why I did not act sooner.

Unfortunately, going back into my calendar, I know why I was slow to respond. I was in the hospital on July 1, 2013, with my wife. I had to rush her to the emergency room that day and was out of pocket that day and the next, though even while attending to my wife made sure to mount a defense of Governor Palin.¹ I was the only paid employee at RedState at the time and one of the only Palin supporters on the front page of RedState by 2013. The contributors were telling me the picture was real, I was in the hospital, and I went with trusting the guys I’m surrounded with every day and who I’d empowered to decide these things while I was tied up.

I am sorry the Palin family has held on to this for so long. I certainly meant no offense and tried to respond as quickly as I could to it, but was limited at the time due to my own family circumstances.

I certainly do not fault them. They have come under attacks from all sides and I can only imagine they must have, then and now, had concerns about who were fully with them and who are just using them and who hate them.

I mounted Operation Leper after the 2008 defeat to drive from politics those from the McCain campaign who engaged in character assassination on Sarah Palin. A few years ago, Nichole Wallace credited me with turning her into an author because of Operation Leper.

I have not always agreed with Governor Palin, but have always tried to defend her and her family, including when the creepy author moved next door and the CNN anchor found an assault on Bristol Palin to be comedy and including the day after that questionable post went up when I was trying to get Christy back on her feet.

I really am sorry that they did not know the reason it took so long to respond and I am really am sorry that hurt feelings have lingered on for more than two years. I understand, given what the Palin family has gone through, and am sorry there are those who want to continue to drag them through the mud. I have certainly never wanted that for them. They are good people. I wish I had known about this before now so I could have told them why it took so long.

^{1. As regular readers know, Christy and I have had more than our fair share of visits to hospitals in our fifteen years of marriage. This was just another one related to a terrible, multi-day migraine. I filled in for Herman Cain that morning, got off air, and spent the rest of the day in the hospital until I could find someone to deal with the kids.↩}