I have long brooded over the fact that Sarah Palin still grabs headlines over the most egregious comments. She wangs Michelle Obama for pushing for an end of obesity in the United States. She goes after Barbara Bush for being an elitist "blue-blood" for saying that Palin should stay in Alaska. She slams down moderate Republicans for agreeing to things like the stimulus legislation or the TARP program. She champions the Tea Party movement and supports such loopy candidates as Christine O'Donnell in Delaware and Sharron Angle in Nevada against her own party. She blames Katie Couric for her own interview inanities. She lambastes Senator Murkowski for daring to run against her handpicked candidate, Joe Miller, of Tea Party fame. She attacks Ben Bernacke for trying to reduce unemployment by expanding the money supply through actions by the Federal Reserve. She assails Obama for just about anything he does. But the trick she plays is to express her anger with a smile. Somehow this disguises the ugliness underneath. The trick has worn thin. Below the surface, she is a furious, even, at times, vicious individual, whose beatific expressions or fixed grins or "you betchas" can't disguise the nastiness and ignorance at work. But why does the media give her so much exposure? It bewilders me. Yet one curious result from the vast press coverage is that it has driven her unfavorable rating up to Paris Hilton levels among the American public. If she ever gains the Republican presidential nomination, she will bring ruin to the party. Maybe, after all, the free press is doing us a favor.
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