Oh, About That Latest Palin Smear: 'It Was Just Guilt by Innuendo, Nothing Else'

Of course, these days all you need is innuendo and poof, you're guilty. Especially if your name is Palin. So last week the National Enquirer ran with a "story" they received via an anonymous e-mailer.

SARAH PALIN's husband TODD is caught up in a sleazy sex scandal, The ENQUIRER has learned!

Political bloggers are digging into incredible claims that the "First Dude" - father of the couple's five children - cheated on his wife with a female massage therapist who was busted for prostitution!

The scandal not only has the potential to sabotage Palin's possible 2012 White House bid, but also threatens to destroy her marriage, sources say.

While the story heats up on the internet, The ENQUIRER has uncovered official documents confirming the woman's arrest.

We have also uncovered documents that show the woman - identified by bloggers as Shailey Tripp - contributed free massages to an anonymous person working for Sarah's campaign for governor of Alaska.

While representatives for Todd Palin vehemently deny he cheated on his wife, allegations of his extramarital affair surfaced on Jan. 4 when an anonymous tipster sent out messages to news outlets making the allegation using the e-mail address thepalinmorals@hotmail.com.

So someone with a hotmail account is now all the evidence they need to run with it. And naturally, the leftist media was off to the races.

Since the first hours of this breaking story ignited a firestorm of controversy key mainstream media The New York Daily News, Vanity Fair magazine, Yahoo News, The Huffington Post and Forbes Magazine, among others, have cited The ENQUIRER's bombshell investigation into the Palin cheating scandal.

In fact, Forbes suggested that "in the Palin-built political arena of 2011, Todd Palin’s affair might be just the ticket Sarah needs to be the first single mother in the Oval Office."

Oopsy.

Looks like the First Dude is off the hook.

The Anchorage Police Department blasted the National Enquirer’s recent report that Todd Palin is embroiled in a sex scandal involving an extramarital affair with a massage therapist who belonged to a prostitution ring.

"It was just guilt by innuendo, nothing else," Lt. Dave Parker told the Daily News on Wednesday. "There’s not one scintilla of evidence that Todd Palin had anything to do with this."

At least the NYDN has followed up on this and reported the truth. That doesn't get them off the hook for running with it in the first place, but they specialize in daily Palin trashing, so it was just too much to resist.

Curious how the NYDN and most other media avoided the Enquirer story about John Edwards and his love child for at least a year, and that at least had some evidence to back it up. Like photos of Edwards with his child.

It's worth noting I can't locate any retractions or apologies from Vanity Fair magazine, Yahoo News, The Huffington Post and Forbes Magazine. What a surprise. Their work is done, I guess. Now their wild-eyed readers can just regurgitate the original story without knowing the truth.

This, ladies and gentleman, is your mainstream media.

From the original Forbes link:

Without the physical evidence, these allegations are nothing more than rumors–and a serious annoyance for Sarah Palin and her family–until they turn out to be true. Sexual scandals are never positive press for candidates and politicians. If this is true, will Palin crawl back to Alaska with her tail between her legs? Will we have seen the last of the clan in Washington?

One can hope.

But I’d venture a guess that the opposite would happen. While I promise to follow the unfolding drama of Todd Palin’s extra-marital affairs and report back, I’ll also make this prediction: should the rumors prove true, and Todd’s affair with Shailey Tripp become public, rather than lose political ground, I’d say Sarah will gain it. Her Grizzly supporters have stood behind her through much worse offenses than marrying a local yokel.

Oddly enough, Casserly has yet to "report" back.