Spudnuts - WTF?

As many of you may know, Sarah Palin recently had a chat with Greta Van Susteren and critiqued President Obama's State of the Union address. Palin's appearance on Van Susteren's show was a big hit at The Washington Post. From Alexandra Petri's "WTF Moments with Palin on the 'Race to Space,' Sputnik, and Spudnut:"

Dear Sarah Palin,

Based on your comments to Greta van Susteren on Fox News last night about the State of the Union address, I think there has been a slight misunderstanding. Or, possibly, several large misunderstandings.

I liked your coinage of "WTF moments" from President Obama's phrase, "winning the future."

I also enjoyed your analysis that:

That was another one of those WTF moments, when he so often repeated this Sputnik moment that he would aspire Americans to celebrate. And he needs to remember that what happened back then with the former communist USSR and their victory in that race to space, yes, they won, but they also incurred so much debt at the time that it resulted in the inevitable collapse of the Soviet Union.

It's not that I agree with the sentiments you are expressing, but I like the way you say it. It's like a tonal poem. It sounds like the classic Beatles song "Dig a Pony," with people aspiring other people to celebrate things in a strange, contorted syntax. ...

Stephen Stromberg's "Sarah Palin's weird 'Sputnik' story" is another take.

But the prize may belong to Ann Telnaes for her animated cartoon, "Sarah Palin explains the history of Soviet Space program." It has audio, too, from Palin's chat with Van Susteren. The cartoon doesn't seem to be embeddable, so you'll have to click the link to see and hear it. It's worthwhile; perhaps Telnaes' cartoon is the future of political cartoons.

At any rate, it's apparent that Palin is getting more presidential by the day, no?

A Fox Video and a transcript of Palin's conversation with Van Susteren is here.

Don't Be Taken For A Ride

This video is an excerpt of an interview that Greta Van Susteren conducted with Sarah Palin. Greta tells us that we're riding on the Going Rogue tour bus. But is the bus really moving?



Watch. Something is wrong. The video's frames are moving around. No, it's not about the cuts between Greta and Sarah; it's not about the cuts to out-of-the-bus scenes that were spliced-in after the interview occurred; it's about how the frame moves while the camera is pointed at either Greta or Sarah. My first thought was that that must be a very bumpy road, but, no, that wasn't the explanation. There is side-to-side as well as up-and-down motion. Then it hit me: the bus wasn't moving; the camera was being wobbled aboard a stopped bus! Why? For the sake of cinéma-vérité. To create the impression that we're not just on the bus, but that the bus is moving.

A longer on-the-bus video, in which Greta starts by telling us, "Now you are taking a ride on Governor Palin's book tour bus as it rumbles across the country. We hopped on the bus with Governor Palin after a book signing at Ft. Bragg," can be found in Gryphen's Sarah Palin in her own words with Greta Van Susteren post. In the longer video, you can watch the wobble for about nine minutes as Sarah Palin tries to explain why she resigned the governorship of Alaska. Warning: watching that could make you nauseous. We have watched the whole thing and can assure you that the frames are wobbly whenever a camera is pointed at either Sarah or Greta as they converse.

What do you think? Are we imagining this? Are we "makin' stuff up?" If you think we're imagining this or making stuff up, please explain why you think the bus was actually moving.

Was the bus moving, Sarah Palin? Were you "rumbling across the country" during that interview?

Inteview With Sarah Palin is a transcript of the interview aboard the bus.