...couldn’t this be grounds for 1) a plagiarism suit as well as 2) a defamation of character suit?
1 — given that it was stolen from a satire site,
and
2 — given that it was presented as true.
Not for defamation, but a suit for libel. As a public figure Palin would have to prove the statement was published knowing it to be false or with reckless disregard to its truth. I’d say that US Weekly was reckless in not properly vetting the story...I’d take the case for sure.
I think they do these things on purpose— throw it out there and hope the story sticks for chits and giggles.