Shocking New Video Calls Palin's Qualifications into Question

It's a tawdry scenario that has become one of the more depressing clichés of our modern media era: an attractive but naive young woman, eager to succeed in show business, falls into the hands of a Svengali who convinces her to perform unnatural acts on videotape with vague promises that it will advance her career. The video, long forgotten, resurfaces when the young woman, now older, wiser, and more respectable, comes into the public eye and is passed around via the Internet, not only among perverts and teenaged boys, but among the general public, as well.

No, I'm not talking about the Verne Troyer sex tape. I'm speaking of another disturbing bit of footage, one that has almost as much potential to damage our collective psyche, which began circulating among political insiders earlier this week. The video in question (which can be seen at below) shows a young Sarah Palin, then Sarah Heath, reading a sportscast during her brief stint as a local broadcaster at KTUU in Anchorage back in 1988.

In the video, Palin displays the basic facility with TelePrompTer reading that served her well in her speech at the Republican convention. Unfortunately, her rudimentary newsreading ability -- along with her eye-catching Valerie Bertinelli hairdo -- makes it very difficult to evaluate what Palin actually knows or doesn't know about sports. A segment on the Iditarod dogsled race seems competent enough, as one might expect from an Alaskan newscast, but a round-up of baseball scores is shakier, with Palin repeating faux-spontaneous lines that seem to have been written for her. Alaska, of course, lacks a professional baseball franchise, which could account for Palin's hesitancy in dealing with a phenomenon confined to the lower 48. An unscripted back-and-forth with the anchorman at the close is confusing and superficial, foreshadowing Governor Palin's encounter with Charlie Gibson twenty years later.

I will leave it to the professional sports reporting critics to examine this incriminating tape in greater detail. But for those who have viewed the rise of Sarah Palin with some alarm, it does offer some context. The past, as Shakespeare tells us, is prologue and we can hear an echo of the current state of things in this antique video. Back then, Palin was appointed to a role traditionally given to a man based not on her ability and qualifications but on her appearance and novelty value. It was a publicity stunt. And although the ploy succeeded for a time and she was warmly received at first by the nightly news audience, her allure soon faded. In a few months, she was quietly replaced and forced to fall back on her second choice career: becoming vice-president of the United States.

Comments

[TallGrrl]

Holy crap...she's absolutely AWFUL.
The only difference between that and the performance Thursday night was that she had weeks of REHEARSAL for the "debate".
Jesus wept.

[freethinker52]

Hellll looow Willl ber, what happened to the Palin video from youtube? I tried to play it and it said it was no longer available? Didn't she like her make-up that day? She does belong on TV. She might even get an offer from SNL, if she hasn't already. Maybe after November you will see her on TV peddling those glasses she wears in some info-mercial 3 AM in the morning.

[hellinahandbasket415]

Nah, she'll go back to Alayaska and vamp up her efforts on the seccession scene.
Infiltration is the name of the game!
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/10/10/palin_chryson/index.html

[VladMeltzer]

As an American , Assembly of God Visting Worshipper, as Registered Republican I am absolutely embarrased by Presidential & Vice Presidential Selection of Republican Party. Both of them are absolutely clueless on every issue. I am 49 y.o. & being studied economics & politics from my early age libving in the Former Soviet Union until the age of 32.

I would ask McCain campaign to surrender imddeiately & stop wasting money & give it to struggling hard-working people of America.

[Foucek]

Hers another link to her days as a sportscaster...
http://video.aol.com/video/vp-sarah-palin-as-sportscaster/2218396?icid=100214839x1209693515x1200581378

[fredlonsdale]

She looked a little cross-eyed. Maybe it was just the video quality.

[LisaJeanM]

Oh my gosh she's terrible.

So, she's out of her depth as a sportscaster but maybe she can be the leader of the free world ?

Horrifying.

[Steven G. Brant - Huffpost Blogger]

At 9:30am NYC time.... This video is no longer available. That's too bad.

[OkieIntellectual]

Probably removed by Republican Campaign decree.

[BrickSykes]

No doubt! The separate link above works, though. Yes, not even mediocre IMHO...

Brick

[BaltimoreSteve]

Has Sarah Palin ever been to New York?
Has she ever been to a major league baseball game?
How many states had she visited before being a Governor?

[girlonthestreet]

she really is pretty. what we need is a pretty vp!! issues smissues! (;

[lechatnoir]

Come on, she's not that bad. Nothing newsworthy here. Complete non-story, she's got enough on her plate already don't you think?

[CitizenBri]

There certainly is value to this video. It helps to point out that, for whatever reason, these Republicans & Conservatives cannot speak. I have listened to George W. mangle the English language for nearly eight years now. Then comes along McGeritol, who demands about as much attention with his presentation and speaking skills as a stone in my driveway. While Paladin (look that one up), oh I meant that mavericky barracuda girl Palin can at least read from a teleprompter she has the accent and command of the language similiar to that of Mr. Ed. You all remember Mr. Ed don't you? He hung around barnyards and spoke only to some farmishly dressed white guy. As I remember it he did not speak to anyone else either; probably was afraid they would ask inconvienient questions that TV horses, by nature, don't have the answers to. Oh well I guess they'll slowly test the waters with her ability to mimick the party line by having fair and balanced Fox reporters ask her such important questions as "How did you feel when McGeritol asked you to be his VP running mate" Thats soooo important to know so we can make an informed decision. Don't you all think????

[sposton]

There is absolutely nothing worth watching of any relevance in this video. Waste of time.

[Whinger]

A pointless boring history lesson, so she reads from a tele prompter, who doesn't ?

Nobody want's to humiliate Sarah Palin but want to establish what her views are on the economy, health and other relevant issues today!

[ohiodem250]

If we're going to have a former sportscaster as a VP candidate...why not Keith Olbermann! Long live the Keith!

[LeftRight]

We already had a former sportscaster as president. raygun used to be on the radio in his hometown of IL. When a guy who interviewed him later in life passed away, we got to hear the interview again. raygun was talking about how he was working on the radio, broadcasting a cubs game using a teletype. Suddenly the teletype gave out and he made up the rest of the inning.

[RoseBlue]

I love the exchange at the end. Anchor: what will happen in the big playoff tomorrow between Syracuse and Pitt? Palin's idiotic answer: Well, they will play anyways. Anchor: Don't go overboard there, Sarah.

[NoSillyName]

Didn't we see this already?

I'm sure some dunderhead will produce a biopic of Palin and her rise to the forefront. A lot of fodder for drama, for sure.

[gurukalehuru]

Her and Ronald Reagan. I would have no objection to voting for a sportscaster for president, or even a small town mayor, if they agreed with my positions and weren't a total nutcase.
We have plenty else on Palin. This is a non-starter.