Sarah Palin Isn't Funny Anymore

I have a habit that's bringing me down. Immediately after the Biden-Palin debate, as I did after the Obama-McCain, I turned on Fox News. I like to get their 'Fair and Balanced' take on things -- and I'm rarely disappointed. As interesting as Rachel Maddow would have been or as pundit-y as CNN's 'Best Political Team' is, I know that Rupert's news channel will uncover the hidden meaning of things. Fox, like a large calcified portion of the country, is dead set on Sarah Palin becoming the next vice president with her first dude John McCain by her side. Or, more importantly, they're not going to let good judgment get in the way of retaining conservative power, in whatever distorted form that takes.

Fox represents and speaks to a slice of America that is typically red and definitely bitter. They aren't concerned about facts or -- in Palin's case -- even foibles. They care about winning. While my friends and I bemoan and mock the MILFish governor's Tina Fey impersonation, Fox News -- or 'Fox Noise,' as Olbermann puts it -- viewers see their future VP in F-me pumps. They love Palin's folksy inflections, and her Mr. Smith Goes to Washington meets Dave fairytale rise to the national stage. To them, Thursday night was vindication from -- and inoculation against -- the evildoers in the mainstream media (read: especially places like the Huffington Post) and Urban Outfitters everywhere.

I won't completely cave in and call these folks 'Joe Six Pack', the Republican code words for white, working class, but it's clear that those 'regular folks' -- and strange bedfellows in the form of Karl Rove clones -- are elated after tonight's debate. They don't see it the way we do, and why should they? Our smug metropolitan elitist attitudes and socialist leaning 'hope' mongering needs a little cutting down to size. The right's rejoicing around their new queen is the expected analog to the left's very public disdain for her. Our side sat like kids in a Saturday matinée, holding their breath in anticipation of her taking a cringe-worthy fall face first in the only vice presidential debate. The other side sat with chewed down nails, ecstatic as she defied the prognosticators and insult-hurtling lefties.

It was comical watching Palin crib from what seemed like a tiny hidden teleprompter tucked into her podium -- or as Chris Matthews called it, she looked like she was in a spelling bee. But this didn't matter to the red states. Her lack of command over any nuanced facts was irrelevant, so long as she strung sentences together in some form of policy haiku. Palin was clearly reading prepared text and we were treated to a nationally broadcast recital of everything she learned over the past five weeks (or five days). There were times when her facial expressions were pure animatronics, as she spit out answers that would have had Couric or Gibson falling out of her chairs. Palin fans will say that she had it in her all along and that without that pesky 'news filter' she's fine. They couldn't be more proud than they are now, their citizen peacock's plumage finally on full display. It's so clear there were two debates going on last night and two countries tuning in and reacting.

On CNN and MSNBC, the smart folks claim that independent voters (Come on, is anybody really 'independent' these days?) are following the so-called conventional wisdom and writing Palin off as the hand puppet she is. But the fact that both Democrats and Republicans are claiming -- and more importantly, believing -- their side won the debate, shows that the fissures are still there and maybe even expanding. Or maybe I'm just watching too much Fox News.

Supposedly, this is a change year. We're to believe that old ideologies are being dissolved and flushed away in the country's arterial stream. And I thought -- or rather a certain candidate helped me 'believe' -- that red and blue fences were being mended. In many ways, I don't think this election is any different from past ones. It's going to come down to numbers, swing states, voter access and money. The defiant mass clinging to a super-unqualified down home candidate lady isn't exactly dispelling my fears either. Truth -- or even truthiness--seems to have little to do with things.

After Thursday night, this sad comedy is wearing thin. I wonder what Tina Fey will do this Saturday on SNL? After Palin's buoyant debate performance, I'm not sure this can even be funny anymore.

This was originally published on my blog.

Read more reactions to the Biden-Palin Vice Presidential debate from HuffPost bloggers

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Comments

[ATruthBeKnown]

Bush with lipstick. As my Dad use to say two (in this case maybe more) brick short of a wheelbarrow load. The one thing I will give her, she is the master of circular logic. It hurts to try an understand what she means. I'll bet this is something she made up and was not scripted.

Sad that the Republicans put this person up to represent them.

Release the Hounds !!!!!!!

[munki]

You are right... It is NOT FUNNY anymore...
If you think how did it happen in the first place...
Do we have the right process?

Perhaps Joe Six Pack one day be President of the U.S.?
What a Scary thought...

[ATruthBeKnown]

Heads up we got one in office today....Think about it.....That's what got us jammed up. Now they want to sell us another pig in a poke (no pun intended).

Release the Hounds !!!!!!

[zedthewizard]

she's funny, only now the work is a bit harder.

sketch 1 -- debate. palin answers are not related to questions.
sketch 2 -- debate. palin winks and uses folksy sayings ad infitum.
sketch 3 -- interview. palin cites her reading list including the economist -- really, you think she reads the economist; then physics journals, engineering journals, etc. finsih with john birch society rag she has in the picture on her desk.

took me 30 seconds, imagine what a pro could do.

[Whinger]

There you go and baby here am I
Well you left me here so I could sit and cry
Golly gee what have you done to me
Well I guess you're not funny anymore!

[clevelandchick]

What I found extremely telling about Palin:

She went on her riff about how she was a mother and only she understood the kitchen table issues then Biden quite poignantly countered with his story of becoming a single-father in such a horrible manner, worrying about losing his boys and how he had sat alone at his kitchen table struggling with fear just like many of us......she didn't even acknowledge it. She stared at him with her pursed lips and went on to the next question.

The whole nation, regardless of party affiliation, gulped at that moment and felt empathy toward Biden. But not THE Hockey Mom? She could have said: "I'm sorry for your loss Joe, I didn't mean to imply you didn't understand". I might have actually gained some respect for her if she did that. But she didn't and it just showed me the Alaskan Governor is as cold as the state she hails from.

[Wigelah]

She already said that only she understood the kitchen table issues, so in her mind, there was nothing he could add and she was reading her notes and planning what she was going to say next. She wasn't listening to him. If he would have said one of the "hot button" words she might have started to listen, but he didn't....so she didn't.
She's out of her league.

[justobserve]

I noticed that also and found she is really a cold, calculated and manipulative chick who shamelessly used her gender to push her to the mass cheaply. PALIN-McCAIN, THE MAVERICKS: impulsive and reckless judgment, contradictory and questionable actions. DO WE NEED MAVERICKS AS OUR PRESIDENT and VP IN THIS TROUBLE TIME?

[jchflorida]

In 6 months watching a replay of Sarah will be like watching a Mod Squad rerun . Alot of viewers will be scratching their heads wondering how they could have possibly thought this was good at one time.

[Plank]

You're definitely watching too much Faux News.

[zoetrope]

Ditto Mika

[jusion]

Barack Obama's two years of experience as one of 100 in the Senate before running for President makes him young and fresh and exciting, the right man at the right time to be leader of the free world.
Sarah Palin's two years of statewide executive experience before running for Vice President makes her dangerously unfit to succeed into the Presidency in the unlikely event she would be called upon to do so.
For his decades of experience in public life, John McCain is part of the problem in Washington, and did we mention... too old?
For his decades of experience in public life, Joe Biden is the wise old hand, the man with the gravitas to succeed into the Presidency.
Both the Democratic and the Repubican tickets have members who are mirror images of the other. And yet the double standard couldn't be more obvious. What makes this different is that the media can't arbitrarily decide that a quality possessed by the Democratic ticket is simply more relevant. Both sides possess many of the same qualities in equal measure. For McCain-Palin, either experience or inexperience is a liability, no matter how you cut it. And for Obama-Biden, both inexperience and experience are huge plusses... at the same time.
Liberal hypocrisy, elitism on full display.

[clevelandchick]

Obama has been in the Senate four years. He was in state goverment for 12 years. That's a total of 16 years in public service. Palin has less than 10 years experience representing 1/10th the population Obama has represented. Obama has gotten 20 million votes in his lifetime, Palin has gotten less than 10,000. Obama went to Harvard and was the first black president of their celebrated Law Review. Palin had to attend five different state colleges before she could earn a bachelors in Journalism....yet she can't name one newspaper she reads. And she can't pronounce nuclear just like somebody else we all know.

John McCain dropped his 'maverick' mantle 8 years ago and has been a Bush poodle ever since. His age is a factor because his running mate is wildly unqualified and her ignorance is glaring. Palin had a whole week to practice her talking points while Biden was busy campaigning and she still came off with the depth of pudding skin.

If being an elitist means that I want a highly intelligent president with excellent judgement supported by a vastly experienced highly intelligent vice-president with excellent judgement leading my nation over two fake mavericks with half the intelligence and twice the belligeren­ce....I'll proudly wear that label proudly.

[USALover]

Thank you! You are awesome for even acknowledging someone so ill informed this late in the political process / race.

Thank you!

[addicted2you]

thank you so much. thank you. reading responses from people like you give me hope that we can win this.

[ltva]

Obama is intelligent he has a law degree and experience. Palin became governor when the people in the state of Alaska would have elected a cow due to the corruption. Her 'folksy' show is good for a small state where you don't have to deal with real issues; being VP to a 72 year old man requires just a bit more than what she has to offer. She came across like a 1st year political science major during the debate. The folksy stuff works at rallies where the base of republicians need a laugh but she looked quite foolish last night on national television. I felt sorry for her after the Couric interview fiasco; but now that she didn't put 'country first' and step down; however, since she insists on continueing this charade I have no sympathy for her.

[MikaS]

Palin was never funny.

[SlinkyTWF]

I disagree. Michael Palin is one of the funniest men alive.

[PhDiva]

She wasn't cribbing from a tiny teleprompter; she was cribbing from crib notes. People in the all said she was shuffling through them like mad throughout the debate.

[dagdavid]

Really failed to see the point of this posting. Seriously. Are you happy? Are you angry? Of course there are deep fissures in this country. I am not sad that reds and blues are so different. I am thrilled that my friends and some of my neighbors are thinking, caring, liberals who don't hunt wolves from helicopters and think men should make decisions for women. I am proud that my kids are growing up to believe in hope not fear.

There can be no bipartisanship in a country of red and blue states and, quite frankly, why should there be? I don't want to cave to the right's ideologies any more than they want to cave to mine. If we had a third party, a party of not independent's, but a split of the Republican party between the hard right neo-cons and the moderates, then we could do away with the greatest divisions and marginalize the far right.

Sarah Palin is not funny. Neo-cons are not funny. Blurring the lines between church and state is not funny. Republicans are not funny.

[RREGAL]

Raymond - I could not agree more. I too turn to Fox News to see what the majority of americans are being fed. I was surprised to see that in their online survey Biden won the debate 55% Biden 45% Palin.

I think the country is getting over the shock of the smack they felt with the selection of Palin and are coming to their senses.

I look forward to your next article

[CaptainStormfield]

Your right of course. Palin is doing her job. Only the mind of Karl Rove could come up with a sex symbol for Rapture Ready folks.
I think your article and Adel Stans are the best on Palin so far.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adele-stan/the-palin-chronicles-wedg_b_131362.html?show_comment_id=16372448#comment_16372448

Stan is very astute in pointing out the crack in their fort. We just have to hammer on it.

[situationcritical]

Come on Raymond, you don't focus on the negative if you really want to move toward the positive.

There - I freed you from having to watch Fox News.