After the announcement that Sarah Palin is getting her own internet "TV" channel, the hashtag #PalinTVShows began trending on Twitter. I couldn't resist throwing in, 8 Simple Rules for Knocking Up My Teenage Daughter, Also Too. But seriously, the news that this political celebrity with the paper-thin depth of knowledge, is starting her own network isn't really a surprise is it?
I mean, she's become wealthy doing her "you betcha" schtick for tea bagger rubes. How much can an internet "channel" cost? She loves being on camera, and she loves to throw her Molotov Cocktail bon mots via social media. Now, she's just combining these things, and can run them on a loop. I can't imagine what would possess a person to subscribe. But you know she's going to sell memberships to media outfits like Media Matters and Think Progress, along with the organizations who agree with her like NewsBusters and World Nut Net Daily. But I have a feeling it's going to wear thin quickly.
[Excerpt]
Must See Tea-Vee: Are You Ready (To Pay) For The Sarah Palin Channel?
For those of you who have had enough of Sarah Palin pontificating for free on everything from sanctimonious piety to impeaching President Obama, your prayers have been answered. Now, rather than getting updates from her Facebook page or having to watch Fox News, you can subscribe to her Internet video service and pay $9.95 per month for all the word-salad gloriousness you used to have to suffer through free of charge. . .
Oh, I needed some levity! I'm not sure if this is brand spanking new, or an older Rocky Mountain Mike bit reposted, but it comes at a time when I needed something funny. Thanks, Mike!
Never ready to admit that one of their unlikely heroes has lost whatever luster he/she had, it looks like Sarah Palin's name is being floated on the right, for Senate. Hopefully, this is just the wishful thinking of some Alaska tea baggers. On the other hand, as difficult as it can be to tolerate Palin when she's in the spotlight, she's a comedic goldmine. Actually, I thought that vein had been completely tapped out, but that's because she has no real reason to be in the spotlight these days. To be fair, she ran her 15 minutes out to 4+ years. Now, she's only good for trolling Twitter with the occasional faux outrage bomb. But if she ran for Senate? Suddenly--even though her qualifications and abilities are very, very limited--she's relevant. Ugh.
Do I really have to get back in the habit of trying to translate her authentic frontier gibberish again? [Excerpt] Alaska Teabaggers Find Exciting Fresh New Face For U.S. Senate (It Is Sarah Palin) The Tea Party Leadership Fund — wait, what? teabaggers are still a thing? apparently, yes, all both of ‘em — has an AWESOME new plan to save ‘Merica from Harry Reid and the Dumbocrats, and it’s so simple, it can’t fail. It goes like this: 1) Make a website. 2) Use it to encourage other “Tea Party Americans” to draft Sarah Palin for Alaska’s Senate seat. 3) Capitalist gold-plated big gulp-sipping freedom unicorns for everyone! . . .
You know, everyone has to have a special talent, we've just long misjudged what Sarah Palin's is. Her political acumen rather sucks. Her extemporaneous responses are terrible. She's not particularly good at keeping her cool, or managing family scandals. But she is an excellent performer. We made a lot of fun of her mastery of the "pageant answer," the art of responding without exactly answering a question. And her word salad speeches are legendary. But this woman knows how to play to an audience, and more than that, to her specific audience.
In this "greatest hits" montage from Palin's CPAC performance, The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell really displays her abilities. Her jokes aren't particularly good, but her delivery is, and her knowledge that these jokes will thrill this crowd. It's really a special kind of talent (though I don't doubt she had help), to wring "humor" out of the tired subjects that right wing world likes to rage about. She even made Mayor Bloomberg's soda ban part of her double-barreled assault on liberals, even though Bloomberg isn't a liberal! Even her sips of soda were well timed. Don't get me wrong, I still think she's a clod and a simpleton, but she does have talent.
Where right-wing world went wrong in their lionization of Palin is in their misguided notion that what they see in her translates to a general audience. It doesn't. The "sly" reference to Obama's citizenship is only funny to this small slice of the electorate that actually believes there's something to that. The mean-spirited jabs are only comedy gold to the mean-spirited right.
It will be interested to see how much further Sister Sarah can drag out this peculiar and limited brand of celebrity.
I have an engagement this evening with some friends, so my usual blogging time is spoken for. I'm actually going to partake in some of the "culture"--such as it is--that Las Vegas has to offer. How 'bout that? I may return with a review of my experience, time permitting. But most likely, there will be little new on the blog until Tuesday night. In the mean time, please enjoy this oldie but goodie from Rocky Mountain Mike (of The Stephanie Miller Show). The timing is perfect, with Sarah Palin slinking out of the limelight after being dismissed* from FOX "News."
*Yes, I know that Sarah "quit." Which is very, very like her. But the scuttlebutt is that Roger Ailes offered her a pittance to stay, and that if she'd stuck around, that paltry amount would have leaked out. So, I think it's fair to say that she was ushered out the door.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not actually counting Sarah Palin out. She's proven herself to be many things, not the least of which is "good at self promotion." But could she be entering the Ann Coulter portion of her career, where she'll have to mud-sling, fire-bomb or poo-fling in order to get attention? I sure hope so.
[Excerpt]
Palin Family Leaves Empty Mall of America Book Signing Half Hour Early
IS THIS THE END OF SNOWBILLY GRIFTING? The jihadist conspiracy of elitist liberal shopping mall patrons struck with merciless force yesterday at Minnesota’s Mall of America: only 300 people showed up to attend the Sarah and Bristol Palin book signing of Bristol’s new memoir about her life as a drunk pregnant teenager. . .
This morning, when I started the DVR to watch the Sunday morning political showathon, I noticed that Meet the Press wasn't in the queue. Yep, pre-empted by tennis or something. Face the Nation is always bumped, because it is on at the same time as two other shows, and This Week is always on later (sometimes much later) in our region. So all that was there was FOX "News" Sunday with Chris Wallace.
Sigh. Okay, make the coffee, go have a constitutional, and then brave the vaguely creepy Wallace. And who pops up first? Sarah freakin' Palin. I thought when her bus tour to nowhere petered out that we might get a respite from mama grisly. But there she was. Looking very TV-ready, with fluffed up hair, glossy lips, an elaborate--yet tasteful--crucifix necklace, deep tan, and commanding--yet feminine--white top. Clearly, the people who do up the FOX "News" babes got a crack at her. [Continued below]
Anyway, though Palin always manages to talk in endless stream of consciousness word salad sentences, she managed to mostly be succinct this morning. Wallace asked her several policy questions that Palin has no background in, and she hit the softballs back with slightly less folksiness than usual. She managed to get through the interview without tripping on her tongue, or making a major gaffe. And her cultish fans will be thrilled about that. They will also no doubt ignore that Palin was appearing on a program produced by her employer. That she could have been coached, prompted or scripted remains not only possible, but likely.
Anyway, what we learned from the mavericky rogue, included:
- She didn't screw up the Paul Revere story, she was just giving us the less famous part of the story (why, I have no idea)*.
- She's ponderin' the run for president, and turnin' over rocks, but she hasn't decided yet, doggone it!
- Her bus tour wasn't a family vacation or a publicity tour, it was a history tour!
- She's really sorry she stepped all over Mitt Romney's toes (or ran them over) when he announced his run. Don't get your magic underwear all in a twist there, Mittens!
*Incidentally, everyone who is trying to spin Palin's rambling Revere story as accurate (including the person who posted the above video at YouTube): you're full of it. Palin's delivery was abysmal, and her "facts" sounded like they went through a food processor. She burped up "bells" and "guns" and "warned the British." If she were giving an oral report in a history class (or even if this were a pageant answer), I seriously doubt she'd have made the grade. So give it up. She's a twit.
Hey, I love Arianna Huffington, I love poking fun of Caribou Barbie, so how could I not post this? Especially with the hilarious picture. Similar pictures of George W. Bush have the opposite effect on me, making my eye twitch and causing random muscles to spasm. But as long as Sarah Palin never attains any real position of power, I hope to be merely amused. I do think that Huffington may be giving Palin a little too much credit in the article, but it's still a good read.
[Excerpt]
Sarah Palin, "Mama Grizzlies," Carl Jung, and the Power of Archetypes
. . .We are awash in crises right now -- crises that require smart and creative policy fixes. So why is somebody who so rarely deals in policy fixes so popular? It's because Palin's message operates on a level deeper than policy statements about the economy or financial reform or health care or the war in Afghanistan.
To really understand her appeal, we need less policy analysis and more psychology. Specifically, we need to hear from that under-appreciated political pundit Carl Jung. . .
I don't usually care one whit what Martha Stewart thinks about anything. But perhaps I should. This is one of the most articulate, honest, spot-on assessments I've seen of Sarah Palin.
You know, it's funny. When America first met Levi Johnston, Sarah Palin's almost future son-in-law, Democrats rolled their eyes. Republicans made excuses for why this didn't wreck the "abstinence only" plans, and Palin's standing as a "family values" advocate. Now that Johnston is removed from the Palin family, Republicans have stopped making excuses for him, and now make excuses for why he's irrelevant and is no reflection on Caribou Barbie.
Democrats, mean time, are still rolling their eyes. But we're also clapping our hands! Because the entertainment value is priceless.
Many on the right have complained (even whined) that left-wing bloggers like me have made a sport out of attacking Sarah Palin. Have we? You betcha! But now that Caribou Barbie is no longer Governor of Alaska, it remains to be seen whether or not she'll continue to have any relevance. So, unless and until she does something newsworthy (or snark-worthy), I'll probably not have much more to say about her.
But the article excerpted below is a great deal of fun. It parses Palin's "word salad" statements, and fashions them into verse. Is it possible that there is more to Palin's manner of speech than meets the ear? Probably not. After all you could easily blend a beauty pageant answer of--say, that Teen Miss South Carolina contestant--into any of Palin's statements, and not notice a difference. But it's a hoot to read this theory anyway.
I just couldn't resist a post about a new nickname for Alaska GILF, Sarah Palin. And I don't care if she's irritated, I will not apologize!
[Excerpt]
Close McCain friend allegedly called Palin 'Little Shop of Horrors'
It's well known that there were tensions between Arizona Sen. John McCain and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin last year during their presidential run, but a new article in Vanity Fair magazine sheds light on just how serious the rift between the two camps was. . .
Tweeting? Twitting? Twatting? Not sure, haven't really figured out the Twitters yet. But if you want to see what goes on in Caribou Barbie's brain space, have at it!
How nice it is to write "Governor" rather than "Vice-Presidential Candidate" in front of Sarh Palin's name. And now that she's North! To Alaska!, Palin seems to be devolving into a punch line. But she's feisty, I'll give her that!
