Bristol Palin a Pawn in Grisly Mama's Media Game

Sarah Palin isn't like President Truman

About a month ago, Howard Stern said, "Bristol Palin is the first contestant in the history of Dancing with the Stars to get fatter as the show goes on. It's almost impossible to get fatter. She must be eating everything in sight." Last night, Kathy Griffin said of Bristol Palin, "She's the only contestant in the history of the show to actually gain weight. She's like the white Precious. She's like the white Precious."

In 1950, when a Washington Post music critic said that President Truman's daughter, Margaret, couldn't sing, Harry Truman lit into him, writing in a letter: "I have never met you, but if I do you'll need a new nose and plenty of beefsteak and perhaps a supporter below."

Where has Sarah Palin been? Why hasn't she come to Bristol's defense? Sarah just sits there and lets Kathy Griffin and Howard Stern say that Bristol is fat and getting fatter!?

"Give 'em Hell, Harry!" wouldn't have put up with it.

'Sarah Palin's Alaska' is not like Ronald Reagan's 'Death Valley Days' and 'GE Theater'

Sarah Palin likes to insinuate that she is like Ronald Reagan, and her fans like to compare her with Reagan. Well, what about the TV shows? Reagan hosted "General Electric Theater" and "Death Valley Days;" Sarah Palin is the host of "Sarah Palin's Alaska." How are these shows different?

Ronald Reagan became the host of "General Electric Theater" in 1953. The show made the already well-known Reagan, who had appeared in many films as a "second lead" throughout his career, wealthy, due to his part ownership of the show. After eight years as host, Reagan estimated he had visited 135 GE research and manufacturing facilities, and met over a quarter-million people. During that time he would also speak at other forums such as Rotary clubs and Moose lodges, presenting views on economic progress that in form and content were often similar to what he said in introductions, segues and closing comments on the show as a spokesman for GE. Reagan, who would later be known as "The Great Communicator" due to his oratorical prowess, often credited these engagements as helping him develop his public speaking abilities. [emphasis added]

Got that? Reagan did "introductions, segues and closing comments" for the show. He was the emcee, not the star of the show. He was off-camera and off-mic most of the time. The show was about the play, not about Ronald Reagan. Not only that, but Reagan credits his experience with improving his public speaking abilities. Did he say, "geez" and "flippin'" on the show, like Sarah Palin does on her show? No way! How would that have improved his public speaking abilities? Did Reagan use the program to showcase his family and lifestyle? Again, No!

And what about "Death Valley Days," which Reagan hosted from 1965 until he entered politics? He was the show's host and did much the same as he did on "General Electric Theater."

Try to see an episode of all three shows: "General Electric Theater," "Death Valley Days," and "Sarah Palin's Alaska," then explain how Sarah Palin is like Ronald Reagan.

Perhaps the reason for the ratings collapse of Palin's show is that the show should have been more about Alaska than about Sarah Palin.

Note: The second paragraph's description of Reagan's experience on "General Electric Theater" is taken from Wikipedia, here. Wikipedia's description of "Death Valley Days" can be read here. The post's photo comes from Wikipedia's entry for "General Electric Theater."

Palin Family Circus News - Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Sarah Palin may be trying to insinuate that she reads newspapers. The NY Times reported:

... In a post on her Facebook page Monday, Ms. Palin threw a sarcasm-laced jab at a Wall Street Journal writer who had criticized a statement she made about the rising price of groceries. The writer had accused her of “inflation hyperbole” on the Journal’s website. ...

... [S]he noted the irony that perhaps the Wall Street Journal writer criticizing her had not, in fact, read the Wall Street Journal.

“Now I realize I’m just a former governor and current housewife from Alaska, but even humble folks like me can read the newspaper,” she wrote on Facebook. “The newspaper. I’m surprised a prestigious reporter for the Wall Street Journal doesn’t.”

But it's very likely that Palin still isn't reading newspapers. Another article from the NY Times, which was written with the assistance of Palin's spokesperson Meg Stapleton, last February, noted:

She [Palin] reads daily e-mail briefings on domestic and foreign policy from a small group of advisers who remained loyal after her tumultuous vice presidential campaign in 2008.

The Wall Street Journal's account of Palin's dust-up with the paper is here.

Today, The WSJ's MarketBeat column continued the paper's interest in Palin with "Sarah Palin: Monetary Policy Wonk." The article ended, after noting how Palin is abusing the truth about what Ronald Reagan said about inflation, "If you’re gung-ho on the prospect of Madame President Palin, that’s great. Just be careful about taking investment advice from her."

Now, Gawker has confirmed what we already know: "Sarah Palin Still Can't Read or Understand a Newspaper."

There is another challenger to sure-thing Republican nominee Sarah Palin. The NY Daily News reported:

Former [New York] Gov. George Pataki hinted at a possible presidential run on Monday, noting his mayoral credentials were a lot more impressive than potential rival Sarah Palin's.

Pataki joked that Palin's former job as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, was nothing compared with his one-time job as mayor of Peekskill in Westchester County.

"It was a challenging job, mayor of Peekskill, let me assure you," Pataki said during an interview on ABC News' "Top Line."

"Twice the size of Wasilla."

Pataki also managed to complete his governorship without resigning.

Bristol Palin's False Steps considers Bristol's longevity on Dancing With the Stars. Last night, Bristol made a move that judge Bruno Tonioli called “the Pencil Sharpener.”

Updated November 10: Bristol not only survived another week, she has made it to the DWTS semi-finals! CBS Predictions isn't giving her much chance of success, however:

Despite receiving the lowest scores after Monday night's performance, Bristol Palin and her dance partner Mark Ballas have made it to the semi-finals of "Dancing with the Stars." Former football star Kurt Warner was sent home on Tuesday.

Bristol's continued success in not getting voted off the "DWTS" island is due in part to fans of her mother, Sarah Palin.

She certainly hasn't wowed the judges, typically receiving among the lowest scores from the judges throughout the competition. The judges try to be kind and offer some compliments, but it is faint praise. "It's so important getting those heels and toes right. And by and large, Bristol always does that," judge Len Goodman told Bristol on Monday night's show.

Odds are that Bristol will not win. Even if she won the phone-in vote, the judges would have a major issue giving her the trophy versus Jennifer Grey or Brandy, both of whom outshine the 20-year-old teen advocate by a wide margin on the dance floor. Whatever the outcome, Bristol challenged herself on a national stage, made some good money and provided another outlet for the Palin media machine. ...

Don't you worry, Bristol. Enjoy laughing on your way to the bank.

Wendy Kaminer on Ghostwriters

Wendy Kaminer is a lawyer and writer. Recently, she wrote, in Ghostwriters, Speechwriters, and the State of Our Union,

... [F]reshman Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown is "writing a book," and I suppose that's an accurate statement if "writing a book" means hiring someone to write a book for you. As Brown's spokeswoman says, he "will work with a collaborator," indicating that like most celebrity athletes, pop stars, and politicians, he will be the "author" of a book (a memoir, no less) that someone else has written.

But the degradation of authorship, hardly a new phenomenon, does seem a most appropriate one today. When political inexperience and ignorance are practically qualifications for office, why should literary experience or talent be required of authors? People who can't or won't govern are elected to high office, so why shouldn't people who can't write win lucrative contracts to author books? ...

... [C]andidates for offices that require extensive knowledge, intelligence, reason, fairness, and nuanced judgment often boast of their ordinariness (at least you can't accuse them of false advertising). Scott Brown posed with his truck; Sarah Palin introduced herself as a "hockey mom[.]" ...

Ordinariness is supposed to signal the candidate's authenticity, but authenticity, in politics or publishing, is carefully constructed by agents, consultants, and other marketers--with the full cooperation of voters and consumers. (Voting, as many have observed, has devolved into consuming.) The construction process is surprisingly and disturbingly transparent. ...

... It's no secret that Lynn Vincent ghostwrote Sarah Palin's book, but her critics and detractors alike have treated Palin as both author and writer anyway. "She writes with sensitivity and affection," the Wall Street Journal's Melanie Kirkpatrick opines. (Actually she writes with Lynn Vincent.) ...

... Politics matters. Celebrating Ronald Reagan for what we knew to be Peggy Noonan's eloquence mattered. Political consultants openly fashion "stories" and "narratives" about candidates, as if they were fictional characters engaged in metaphoric quests. And we oblige them by reacting less like citizens than members of an audience, willingly suspending our disbelief.

Many leaders have used speech writers and ghost writers, but every thoughtful, intelligent one has the capacity to write for himself or herself, simply because they are able to think for themselves. We do need to know what and how candidates think before we vote for them, because they're going to be making decisions on our behalf, if they're elected. We shouldn't have empty vessels making decisions that will affect our lives and the lives of others. Perhaps we should give more weight to what candidates say during in-depth interviews, press conferences, and substantive debates, as well as what they wrote before trying-out for the big leagues.

Continuing with Wendy Kaminer's observation that voting has devolved into consuming, we might all be better off if the schools taught children to think critically about advertising. It could begin with taking apart toy and food ads, so they would grow up understanding how they're influenced by advertising and be able to see through it, appreciating it as entertainment that is sometimes done well, sometimes poorly, rather than the truth.


Here's Wendy Kaminer's website.


There are several blog posts concerned with the false narrative constructed by Sarah Palin. You can find them on the sidebar, by scrolling down to the Mythbusting Sarah Palin section.