In yet another rambling speech delivered in the heart of California's Silicon Valley yesterday--one in which she not-so-coincidentally never mentioned a single California Republican candidate by name only three weeks before Election Day--Alaska's former half-governor and the GOP's excuse for professional wrestling, Sarah Palin, took a cheap shot at First Lady Michelle Obama.
Following a gratuitous reference to Pat Tillman--the former football star from San Jose who had been slain by friendly fire in Afghanistan and whose killing was covered up by military officials and the Bush Administration (no mention of any of that by Palin, of course)--Palin stuck out her chin in that peculiar pose of hers and in her high-pitched whine mocked remarks made by Michelle Obama at a Wisconsin rally during the 2008 campaign:
You know, when I hear people say, or had said during the campaign that they've never been proud of America, haven't they met anybody in uniform yet?
I get tears in my eyes when I see that young man, that young woman, walking through the airport in uniform ...you too... so proud to be American.
Not only was it a nasty elbow at the First Lady, but Palin's remarks were thoroughly insensitive to the memory of Tillman and to his parents, who have been strongly critical of the U.S. military in the aftermath of his death.
The remainder of Palin's 40-minute speech before an adoring, albeit less-than capacity audience at the San Jose Center for Performing Arts, was equally long on hyperbole and short on substance. Palin spent far more time talking about Dancing with the Stars than she did about foreign policy. Her digs were mostly directed at Democratic Party leaders (Palin continues to call it the "Democrat Party"), the "lamestream media" and President Obama--with whom she has been singularly obsessed since her failed vice-presidential bid in 2008 and who she blames for political attacks against her in Alaska.
John McCain's wife, Cindy McCain--she of the drug habit and silver spoon wedged in her mouth--also voiced criticism of Michelle Obama's comments during the campaign.
For her part, Michelle Obama downplayed the controversy during the election by noting that she was referencing the "record number" of young voters participating in the political process in the 2008 campaign:
For the first time in my lifetime, I am seeing people rolling up their sleeves in way that I haven't seen and really trying to figure this out, and that's the source of pride I was talking about.
Palin, who is clearly positioning herself for a run at the presidency in 2012, will be attending a "victory rally" tomorrow in Anaheim, California, sponsored by The Republican National Committee--at which none of California's major Republican candidates, including gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman or U.S. Senate hopeful Carly Fiorina (who Palin has endorsed), will be in attendance.
Palin is viewed as toxic waste in California. A recent Field Poll indicated that more than half (53 percent) of California voters "would be less likely to vote for a candidate endorsed by Palin." In respect to critical independent voters in California who often decide the outcome of an election, "69 percent have an unfavorable impression of Palin, with 25 percent seeing her positively."
Award-winning writer and filmmaker Geoffrey Dunn's book The Lies of Sarah Palin: The Untold Story Behind Her Relentless Quest for Power will be published by St. Martin's Press. Thanks to Patrick at Palingates for the video.