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Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Buh-bye!

It was not exactly a big-ticket news item, but my ears certainly perked up when I heard the news.

Sarah Palin's million-dollar contract with Fox News has not been renewed.

Or, to use a word from the Palin Lexicon: She has been refudiated.

That's a word she created on Twitter when she wrote, "Ground Zero Mosque supporters: doesn't it stab you in the heart, as it does ours throughout the heartland? Peaceful Muslims, pls refudiate."

She says she created the word that was named "Word of the Year" by the New Oxford American Dictionary when:
"I pressed an F instead of a P and people freaked out," said Sarah, pointing out that her blunder was the second-most-searched word on Google trends. "Make lemonade out of lemons," said Sarah.
Except, of course, that the 'F' and 'P' keys on a QWERTY keyboard are not near each other.

That never stopped Our Sarah. That kind of creativity can only come from Ms. Palin, when asked in a 2008 interview with Katie Couric, which newspapers or magazines she read, and her response was: "All of 'em, any of 'em that have been in front of me over all these years." 

She's also the undisputed Queen of Teh Stoopid, earning her crown when she wrote about Benghazi:
"Why the lies? Why the cover up? Why the dissembling about the cause of the murder of our ambassador on the anniversary of the worst terrorist attacks on American soil? We deserve answers to this. President Obama's shuck and jive shtick with these Benghazi lies must end."
Yup. She said that about the President of the United States. Who happens to be a Black man.

When she explained herself, however, she earned a jewel in her crown:
"I’ve been known to use the phrase most often when chastising my daughter Piper to stop procrastinating and do her homework. As she is part Yup’ik Eskimo, I’m not sure if this term would be deemed offensive when it’s directed at her or if it would be considered benign as in the case of Chris Matthews’ use of it in reference to Rachel Maddow," she wrote. "Just to be careful, from now on I’ll avoid using it with Piper, and I would appreciate it if the media refrained from using words and phrases like igloo, Eskimo Pie, and 'when hell freezes over,' as they might be considered offensive by my extended Alaska Native family."
Even Teh Stoopid has its own sort of brilliance, as amply demonstrated in this quote.

See, she was just talking to the Leader of the Free world the way she to her daughter.  Just stop procrastinating and do her homework. And, further demonstrating her firm grasp on that which is at least politically correct, she even asked the media to refrain from using words that might be offensive to her extended Alaska Native family. 

Like: Igloo. Eskimo Pie. And, 'when hell freezes over'.

Makes you wonder why Fox let her go, right?

I'm hoping that this means we'll be hearing less and less from Ms. Palin, and she will become a mere footnote on the pages of American History - in the chapter entitled, "When America Lost Its Mind."

I doubt it.

She'll become famous for once being famous.

Or, infamous.

I can't imagine her running for political office - at any level - ever again.  She would never take the chance of running and losing, and her chances of winning are pretty slim.

I think certain factions of what was once grand about the Grand Old Party have realized that she has seriously tarnished their "brand". My goodness, the Republicans have even capitulated on the Debt Ceiling and now, immigration. Of course, they've only done that because they know they need the Hispanic vote in order to win elections.

It's just politics.

To apply a word coined by George "Dubya" Bush, another leading intellectual of the GOP, don't "misunderestimate" Ms. Palin: she'll reappear somewhere.  The Political Theater needs her like, well, like an Eskimo needs an igloo.

Her leaving Fox News - or, Fox News leaving her - is just one more positive sign of the amazing victory won in the last Presidential Election. Yes, we won re-election of Barack H. Obama - an important achievement in an of itself - but we also won an ideological struggle that has had its grip on this country since the "game change" of 2008.

No need to get all "wee-wee'd up" - as Our Sarah likes to say.  She'll be fine. She's a Mama Grizzly. She can take care of herself and her young.

With apologies to Ms. Palin's extended Alaska Native family, she'll only disappear completely when hell freezes over.

Let's just say a polite but meaninful "Buh-bye" to Ms. Palin and wish her well.

And, breathe a sigh of relief.

That sound you just heard is this country, getting back on track.

9 comments:

Ann said...

I agree with her about Eskimo pie and igloo -- the words are offensive. The rest of her remark - oh my.

Sextant said...

I don't know, a bad penny has a way of turning up again. Remember Nixon promised us in 1962 that we would not have him to kick around any more.

Look what happened.

Sarah can go back to watching the Alaskan borders for stray Russians, but poor Tina Fey is going to have to hire a writer.

The dangerous thing is that Fox might replace her with someone intelligent. Perhaps they can get Rush on board. It is time that some one straighten the slut and whore situation in America.

Of course I haven't recovered from Rick Santorum dropping out of the primary...I was so looking forward to having President Santorum providing us moral guidance for proper American copulation during Sunday evening fire side chats.

"My fellow Americans, this evening I shall explain why the missionary position is the position of Patriots. From George and Martha to George and Laura and of course Karen and myself, the male superior missionary position has been the choice of American Presidents and it should be your position as well. It has faithfully served as the bedrock of proper American marital congress since the creation of our Republic. It is the position intended for all Americans by the Founding Fathers..."

http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/rick-santorum-lets-talk-about-sex/

One of the dangers of American political discourse is that we transmit this stuff to communication satellites in space. I fear that an altruistic, benign, technically advanced alien race may intercept these transcripts and decide to kindly put us out of our misery.

Elizabeth Kaeton said...

Ann - Wait. Wait. Wait. An igloo is a noun. It is an ice house ingeniously designed and built by people who live in the Alaskan tundra. An Eskimo Pie is an ice cream sandwich. Far as I know "Eskimo" is a descriptive - not derogatory term. Iglo and Eskimo Pie are real things. Unless these words are used to describe the homes of ALL Alaskans or ALL the food they eat - which would be offensive - I don't think the words, in themselves, are offensive.

On the other hand, I can think of no situation in which the words, "shuck and jive" would not be offensive.

I would never use "iglo" or "Eskimo Pie" in any way other than their original intent. When (and if) I hear Alaskan Natives say that these words are offensive, I will stop using them.

Otherwise, it's a little like that cartoon of a woman walking her little black dog, encountering a white dog barking at her black dog and she yells at the white dog, "Racist!"

Elizabeth Kaeton said...

Sexton - I fear what our great grandchildren will think of us when they read about this stuff.

I will not miss Ms. Palin. At. All.

Matthew said...

The word "eskimo" is hotly debated in Inuit and Yupik cultures and sort of like queer among lbgt, there is not much agreement about it, or consensus that it is offensive (certainly igloo is not offensive to anyone). Some don't like the fact that the word Eskimo is not very accurate descriptively of the residents of that region and fails to highlight distinctions the people themselves understand -- its too generic. The only hard and fast rule is to never refer to an Aleut as an Eskimo, and never refer to the first peoples of the southeast Alaska panhandle coast, and coast of British columbia, known as the Tlingit as Eskimos.

Elizabeth Kaeton said...

Thanks so much for that explanation, Matthew. I get it. Anyone who is LGBT or a straight ally can call me "Queer", but not anyone else.

I also correct people who use the term "Down's Syndrome" or (gasp!) "Mongoloid" with, "Oh, you mean Trisomy-21, right?"

Good thing I never much liked "Eskimo Pies".

MarkBrunson said...

I live in Southwest Georgia, so we have Moon Pies, and ice-cream sammiches, and Klondike Bars.

Igloos, amazingly, rarely enter our conversation when sober, though we have heard legends of a sort of white stuff that falls from the sky - nonsense, of course.

Elizabeth Kaeton said...

Mark - I not only believe in snow. I have seen it.

Unknown said...

I will not miss Ms. Sarah (I can see Russia from my backyard) Palin at all!