Monday, April 29, 2013

Palin Nerd Prom

Palin Nerd Prom, The Tweet of the Weekend comes from Sarah Palin, who had this to say about the White House Correspondents Dinner:

“That #WHCD was pathetic. The rest of America was out there working our asses off, while these DC assclowns throw themselves a #nerdprom.”

Whoa! There was immediate speculation Palin had been tippling the Pinot, or perhaps her Twitter account had been hacked. Since when does the former governor of Alaska and erstwhile candidate for veep talk like a trash-talking poker player at the Borgata circa 2009?

Also, at what job is Palin working her ass off? She has a job?

I know. Since quitting as governor of Alaska, Palin has earned millions putting her name on books, opining on TV, starring in a “reality” TV show, giving speeches, etc., etc. And of course she’s a mom.

But a job? I don’t think she has a job. Does she have a job?

Palin continued her criticism of the WHCD on Facebook, writing, “Yuk it up media and pols. While America is buried in taxes and a fight for our rights, the permanent political class in DC dresses up and has a prom to make fun of themselves. No need for that, we get the real joke.”

Says the person that has been a member of the mainstream media or a pol since the early 1990s.

Palin herself was a hit on the White House Correspondents Dinner party circuit way back in, oh wait, it was just two years ago, attending events hosted by Vanity Fair and MSNBC, among others. (Palin sent her daughter Bristol to the actual dinner. In 2009, then-Gov. Palin was scheduled to attend the WHCD, but she canceled when a flood hit Alaska and sent her husband Todd to represent her.)

We do not know if it was Palin or one of her staffers who actually wrote the “assclown” Tweet. I’d like to believe Palin herself often talks like that behind the scenes, e.g., “Bristol, your new boyfriend is such an ass­clown I’m starting to miss Levi!”

As for the whole “How can you make jokes when America has problems?” argument: Meh. There was much scolding of this sort on Twitter during the week of the Boston bombings.

If you dared say something like, “Have a great day, everyone!”, you’d see responses like, “In case you haven’t heard, there’s a TRAGEDY IN BOSTON!” or, “Hey idiot, get over yourself and pay attention to the news.”

Of course, if we take that mindset to its logical end, how can anyone of us ever enjoy a laugh when literally hundreds of millions of children worldwide don’t have access to clean water? If we spent every waking moment absorbing and respecting the harsh realities of the world, we’d all be so paralyzed with sadness we couldn’t get out of bed in the morning.

Weapons
of mass distraction

Palin’s laughable hypocrisy aside, I share her disdain for what the White House Correspondents Dinner has become.

It’s become the D.C. version of the Friars’ Roast, with a late-night talk show host competing with the president to see whose team of writers can come up with better jokes. (Granted, the bar is lower for POTUS, but on Saturday night, President Obama clearly outperformed Conan O’Brien, who rattled off mostly lame jokes you could see coming down Connecticut Avenue.)

Even more off-putting is the competition among news organizations to see who can land the biggest celebrity as a table guest.

As Tom Brokaw so aptly pointed out last week, when Lindsay Lohan becomes a star attraction at your annual event, the joke’s on you. (Also, reporters lining up to get their picture taken with some actress or reality star is just cringe-inducing.)

The prevailing hashtag and media label for the White House Correspondents Dinner is “Nerd Prom.” But when you’ve got John Legend, Sofia Vergara, Kevin Spacey, that “Gangnam Style” guy, Amy Poehler, Claire Danes, Kerry Washington, Gerard Butler, broken-legged Louisville hoopster Kevin Ware, Katy Perry and Hayden Panettiere working the red carpet at your event, that ain’t no Nerd Prom — that’s an event that’s going to be covered by “Extra,” “E!” and “Entertainment Tonight.”

It would take a mighty act of professionalism and perspective for the organizers of the WHCD to realize how shameless and tone-deaf they look, and to announce they’re scaling back the event next time around.

I think we have a better chance of seeing Sarah Palin getting a “No Assclowns!” tattoo before that will happen.

Palin Nerd Prom Rating: 4.5 Diposkan Oleh: SEO Tool Blogs

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