He was a conservative radio talk show host when David Foster Wallace profiled him in The Atlantic. Then he was a defender of the former Alaska governor. Now he may end up being her worst enemy.
Circa 2005, when John Ziegler was profiled in The Atlantic by David Foster Wallace, America met a Los Angeles area talk radio host with raw talent for the medium, a belief that "Katie Couric is a disgrace to journalists everywhere," and an unusually intense interest in the OJ Simpson murder case. In subsequent years, Ziegler reinvented himself as a documentary filmmaker, releasing titles such as Media Malpractice: How Obama Got Elected And Palin Was Targeted, and developing an unusually intense interest the former Alaska governor. He has acted in turn as a journalist interviewing her, a self-appointed spokesman defending her against critics, and even an informal adviser, insofar as the two would correspond and he'd offer his unsolicited suggestions.
Today in The Daily Caller, the onetime Palin champion comes to the same conclusion drawn by many of her former acolytes and longtime critics alike. "What she appears to be currently doing is almost certainly destructive to her cause and her country," Ziegler writes. "I've fought so hard for Sarah, I'm almost unemployable. But in spite of being approached by Sarah's husband Todd only a month ago and specifically discussing the possibility, I won't be working on any Palin presidential campaign... there is absolutely no way that she can be elected... There's also the fact that Sarah's entire operation is increasingly managed like a CIA field office; that she's adopted a bunker mentality; that she's trusting the wrong people, some of whom I know are simply exploiting her."