All last week I really tried to ignore the latest “Sarah Palin Notice Me!” tour, but it was impossible because the media still acts as her enabler every time she pops up. I’m not going to get into the whole debate over the Letterman joke, that’s not what this is about. I just wish she would go away. Sadly though, that will probably never happen because then the day long cable news media would have to fill all that time with actual news. Instead they hope to get more ratings with less effort by portraying pols as pro wrestlers. Luckily for them, Sarah loves getting into the muck and she won’t shut up.
My point is that “has been” politicians and public figures know that too, and they find that one easy way to pull themselves out of the pit of obscurity they find themselves in is to pick a fake fight with popular comedians and talk show hosts in hopes of getting more attention. The only problem is they aren’t quite sharp enough to realize that they’re out of their league and that it will only backfire on them, not to mention shining a big ole’ spotlight on that lonely crater in which they’re currently residing. Sometimes they’ll try it over and over again (Sarah can you hear me?) with the same result. They just don’t get it. Maybe it’s the whole ego, living in a bubble thing. They just don’t see themselves the same way we normal folks do. They don’t realize that you can’t match wits and intellect if you’re unarmed.
Take Joe Scarborough for instance. Last week on his show “Morning Jackass” he tried to follow in Palin’s footsteps by taking on Jon Stewart in a similar fashion, which was really dumb considering a couple of his TV colleagues have tried this before and the results weren’t pretty. (Do the names Cramer and Carlson ring a bell?) It was also dumb because, well, he’s Jon Stewart.
Apparently Joe’s sense of self importance is so large that he thought things would turn out differently for him. Sadly, no. The best he could do was regress to elementary school tactics with short jokes and say Stewart was angry and had a “Napoleonic complex.” Even his blond sidekick and shoe model Mika Brzezinski dutifully jumped in right on cue and squealed “he’s so lit-tle!” (Her father must be so proud.) Shallow people with small minds resorting to short jokes. Why am I not surprised?
When these utterly clueless people try to ride the coattails of the popular in the hopes of getting attention, it provides new material for the late night guys and great entertainment for their fans. I suppose that’s good news.
But as much as I enjoy the results when they make fools of themselves, I really wish all the Sarah’s and the Joe’s would just go do something constructive if they want all that attention. Go do something worthwhile for the people in your state or your country that will actually help, THAT will get you all the popularity you want.
And don’t worry, Stewart and Letterman will do just fine without you.
