David Weigel has had a rough few weeks. On June 25th, he resigned from his job at The Washington Post after private e-mails of him disparaging conservatives were leaked to the press. The ensuing scandal spawned hundreds of articles focusing on him, though, as he notes in an article for Esquire, hardly anyone bothered to call him.

After reflecting on the whole ordeal, Weigel (who now contributes for MSNBC) comes to a surprising epiphany: he sympathizes with Sarah Palin:

Over the first churning forty-eight hours of this whole mess, I resisted -- and then accepted -- a new sympathy for a politician I'd never pretended to admire much: Sarah Palin. A political celebrity who raises money and appears on TV needs the media in a way that a reporter doesn't. But damn if I didn't feel sorry for the way every utterance Palin ever makes is taffy-pulled and inspected for lies. During the trial of a boy who hacked into Palin's private e-mail account, I debunked a rumor while appearing on MSNBC -- where I am now a contributor -- that she had "perjured" herself on the stand. She hadn't. She'd spoken correctly, if clumsily, about some of her old e-mails. Like I said: screwed, and then a new sympathy... I can't imagine ever again writing about someone without manning up to get him or her to comment, or provide more context.

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at jhudson at theatlantic dot com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.
John Hudson