Since I'm one of the few people who actually watched SNL before it was suddenly fashionable to do so again, of course I tuned in to this weekend's guest visit by the real Sarah Palin. I'm not sure exactly what I expected, considering the incredible lameness of the show lately, but even with those lowered expectations, Palin still managed to disappoint.
[Editor's Note: Crooks And Liars, I love ya'll for all the extra traffic you send here on occasion. Please do me a cool one and link to this post!!!]
I suppose I should see her two middling cue card butcherings sketches as some analogy of her overall performance as a running mate, but I'm too lazy to expound right now. I'm sure that GOP stans will try and make this sound better than it was, but truthfully, her performance was boring because the show is. Even though she had a few minutes of not-ready-for Primetime, poor Sarah didn't even realize that the joke is (as always) still on her.
[Editor's Note: I hate SNL's embeddable media player, but since they don't allow their content on YouTube, this is the best I can do. Sorry.]
NBC's Grand Hu$tle is obvious: they've somehow tapped into pro/anti-Palin sentiment and are milkin' that baby for all it's worth. The goal isn't making SNL "hip" again. Eddie Murphy couldn't even pull that off. The aim is the turn 30 Rock from the most slept-on comedy on TV to the best rated comedy on TV. Given the huge boost to Fey's Q-rating, I'd say they succeeded. But SNL still sucks. I wonder what percentage of last night's record 10.7 rating stuck around after the opening monologue.
Anyways, one little nugget that the real Tina Fey managed to sneak in was a dig at Palin's beguiling assertion the other day in The Greatest State Evar.
What parts of the United States love their country most?And here's the audio evidence.
It’s not clear if rankings exist, but North Carolina would apparently rate high in the estimation of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. John McCain’s running mate declared her appreciation for the Tar Heel State’s “Pro-America” bent Thursday night during a fundraiser in Greensboro.
“We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America,” Ms. Palin said, according to a pool report. “Being here with all of you hard-working very patriotic, um, very, um, pro-America areas of this great nation. This is where we find the kindness and the goodness and the courage of everyday Americans.”
Ms. Palin’s remarks drew applause for the 500-or-so at the fundraiser, which raised $800,000 for the Republican Party. But some outside North Carolina were left wondering, including a certain Democratic presidential campaign based in Chicago, Ill.
“Just asking,” said Senator Barack Obama’s spokesman Bill Burton in an e-mail to reporters. “What part of the country isn’t pro-America?”
Ms. Palin’s spokesman, Tracey Schmitt, clarified thus: “Governor Palin was reinforcing her message that the best of America can be seen all over the country and isn’t limited to any particular geographic region.”
I suppose as a Nawf Cack native, I should take this as a compliment, but I'm smart enough to know she ain't talkin' bout' me. I'm an Obama supporter, so I clearly can't be "Pro-America".
If you ask me, this is little more than an extension of the same sort of "you're a great American" sentiment I hear on Conservative shows like Sean Hannity and Co. Namely, you're "pro-American" if you happen to agree with me. If you don't, you're "paling around with unrepentant terrorists in a mean and bitter country".
The GOP seems hellbent on making this year's race one of class warfare. Haves vs have-nots. Wealth redistribution. "Small town American values" vs "elitism". JUCOs vs Ivy League. Of course they won't cop to this in a million years, but they seem to love bringing up Barack Obama's deplorable "cling to guns and religion" statement.
I said it then, and I'll say it now: Obama's statement was d.u.m.b. I completely understood the sentiment, but given the audience and the timing, it was a stoopid thing to say, and it has rightly haunted him in the months since.
That said, I'm wondering if this equally stoopid statement by Palin is even going to make it to Monday's news cycle.
Crazy Joe Biden tried to draw attention to it Friday, but given the continual victimization of Joe The Plumber (who is somehow approaching his 18th minute)[1] this somehow got lost in the shuffle. Palin came up with a half-assed "clarification", but I don't buy that nonsense for a second. The McCain campaign has used the same rhetoric to get audiences riled up, us vs them style, for weeks now, much like Hillary Clinton did in the Spring.
And besides, even trusty campaign surrogates are spittin' the same game.
So, this bleach blond strumpet apparently thinks my brother and his wife who live in Fairfax County and pay some of the highest taxes in the nation aren't "real Virginians". I didn't quite realize their votes wouldn't be counted because they're not "real Virginians". Maybe they should just move back to Maryland where they can be ignored like the rest of us.
Nancy Pfotenhauer, Go Sit Down. And take Palin with you.
Question: Do you think the McCain campaign is waging an "us vs them" style of identity politics? Did you think Obama's "cling to guns and religion" line was dumb or simply misunderstood?
Palin Visits a ‘Pro-America’ Kind of Town [NYTimes]
[1] I gotta get this off my chest. The "liberal media" did not "vet" Joe The Plumber. Joe was nothing more than a photo-op aftethought until John McCain gave him a half-dozen shout-outs during the debate. The next day, instead of going to work and minding his business, this asshat held press a dozen conferences in his driveway like he was Terrell Owens or something. He asked for every bit of scrutiny he is getting. He is no hero, and he damn sure ain't no victim. The bama ain't even a licensed plumber. But of course he's "Pro-American", and I'm sure the book deal and WifeTime™ movie are already in the works. What a friggin' country. See you on the McCain campaign stump, Joe!
