By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

The New York Times on Sunday weighs in with a front-page piece pummeling Sarah Palin's governing style.

The headline says, "As governor and mayor, Palin hired friends and hit critics." Now that's not exactly news. What politician routinely hires critics and hits friends -- and survives?

In the article, Palin comes across as a control freak, who doesn't want the public to know through e-mail records what's going on in her administration.

Shades of Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt, who's also waging a fight over what was and wasn't public record in his e-mails.

The Times quotes a number of supporters of Palin's as well. They generally say she's a strong supporter of cutting waste and shaking up government-as-usual.

But the majority of the article quotes people who attack Palin and her husband, Todd.

Not surprisingly, Palin and her husband refused to be interviewed by The Times.

That's unfortunate. It would have been good for a person seeking the vice presidency of the United States to have explained and defended herself with the nation's leading newspaper.

But being secretive, as you might have noticed by now, is part of the Palin style.

And why not? It still seems to be working.