I guess it's not like she has anything better to do until there is another political race; and no one else is going to pay her that kind of money. Rumor has it she needs it; she hasn't done any kind of job for a long time, other than living off of political campaign donations, if reports are true..
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No, I'm not writing about the Minnesota governor's election woes this time.
I'm writing about the tea pot tea party tempest around Bristol Palin and the reality television series, Dancing with the Stars that ended Tuesday night with Bristol Palin loosing to Jennifer Gray, star of the 1987 cult classic movie Dirty Dancing.
The movie Dirty Dancing is about dancing, but also about characters making good and bad decision to have sex as teen and twenty-something adults, which sets up an interesting contrast. Palin makes a living of sorts out of being a highly paid speaker for sexual abstinence and the perils of teen pregnancy, and mostly works in a dermatologist office while taking classes (like her mom) at a community college. Depending on who is paying her, Palin has made contradictory statements that abstinence is 'not realistic at all' when she was not being paid to speak on behalf of abstinence, consistent with the similar view expressed by Meghan McCain, the 26 year old daughter of John McCain.
Palin is 20 and a single mom in 2008; Gray is 50, and married and became a mom at 40 in 2001. Gray was seriously injured in a car accident with then-fiance Matthew Broderick in 1987, resulting in spinal damage and neck surgery to implant a titanium plate to stabilize her neck. As a result of a health check up to determine her fitness for the DWTS competition, she also underwent cancer surgery on her thyroid; and she has a torn knee tendon. There were serious health risks in the event of reinjuring her neck doing lifts and other more acrobatic maneuvers as part of the dance routines.
While Gray is a celebrity in her own right in addition to being the daughter of a famous actor, critics have argued that Bristol Palin is not a celebrity, but only known for being related to one, unless you count being an unwed mother during a political campaign where you don't really do anything, other than be pregnant, a performance event. Arguably the only reason anyone hires Bristol Palin to speak is not because she is such a source of wisdom in making life decisions - because she is not, she does not appear to have anything unusually inspirational to offer from her life that exceeds the life lessons of other women in similar situations - but because she is related to the half-term governor and failed vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, who turned failed political campaigns into a cult of personality. The Palin family brand seems to be one of minimal qualifications, and maximum exploitation of media attention. The tea party support of Bristol Palin to win despite being at best a mediocre dancer from the right seems to reflect their notions of minority domination of the rest of America, a microcosm of their demand to 'take back government' from majority representative government, reflecting a misplaced sense of privileged entitlement to enforce their preferences on the rest of us. If you disagree, they call you 'haters'.
According to the STrib coverage of the event,
Bristol said Tuesday that if she won, "it would be like giving a big middle finger to people who hate my mom and hate me."The problem is, we don't hate you Bristol; you misunderstand. We just don't think you are any better than mediocre - you, OR your mom, and we believe better than mediocre should win. But that is not hate, that is simply failing to award you the adoration those people shower on you for saying stupid and untruthful things (like death panels) which make them feel good about their views, mostly ignorant views. We don't believe you are entitled to win on the basis of your parents' name, nor is anyone else.
In contrast, Jennifer Gray was gracious, and didn't blame anyone else for her failures or successes. Despite her challenges - and she did her share of crying about them, which was annoying - Jennifer Gray danced wonderfully; she earned perfect scores from all three judges repeatedly.
Again, from the STrib,
"Sarah Palin supporters helped organize campaigns to keep her daughter on the show, like radio talk host Tammy Bruce's "Operation Bristol." Conservative blogger Kevin DuJan's Hillbuzz.org website also led a get-out-the-vote effort and wrote after Tuesday's results that Palin "drove the Left crazy for three months. Score!"Wrong again, bunky. The reality show about dancing was always about dancing, except for those few fanatic fools who tried to make the competition about politics. It's about the dancing stupid, to paraphrase a famous cliche. Politics has never really gone well with the dancing theme of the show; it didn't work well for Tom DeLay either. Apparently whoever books these celebs for DWTS has a thing for disgraced right wing politicians. But that doesn't mean the response is political; DeLay couldn't dance very well either. Credit goes to both DeLay and Palin for getting up and doing something different in front of an audience. But that is NOT the same thing as dancing well, just as it was about not dancing well when other contestants have not succeeded on the show, from genuine heroes like astronauts, to other failed celebrities by familial associations like Ashley Hamilton.
Some people felt that organizing people to vote more times, creating alternate email addresses to generate more voting opportunities was cheating. It wasn't cheating; it is allowed under the rules. And if it generates more enjoyment for fans of any candidate then that is sufficient justification for it to occur. The question is posed to ABC, does this way your rules operate really reflect the participation of the audience however. Or does it allow a motivated minority - ANY motivated minority - to skew the results in a way which will alienate your other viewers?
The claim that this wasn't really about the performance of Bristol Palin (again from the STrib):
Jason Gershman, a mathematician from Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., who studied some of the telephone voting patterns, said he believed Bristol Palin's support was largely political, given that it appeared she got more votes during the weeks that Sarah was in the studio audience.He said he sensed a backlash brewing against Palin by fans who thought the best dancer should win, and they coalesced around Grey, who kept winning perfect scores from the judges despite fighting through injury.Bristol Palin made statements that indicated she had an inflated view of her own dancing accomplishments, that she deserved to win because she worked hard. Everyone worked hard, those who made it to the finals, and those who did not. Apparently Bristol thinks that is extra, not what everyone get paid to do, along with doing something outside your 'comfort zone'. Arguably, Jennifer Gray overcame both age and illness and injuries to win, combining not only working every bit as hard, and motherhood, with talent and ability.
"If her name was Bristol Smith or Bristol Jones, she would not be on the show or she would not have gotten this far," he said. "She went from being a bad dancer to a mediocre dancer. But she was not the best dancer."
Jennifer Gray was far more gracious in her accomplishments, and in striving for excellence, than Bristol Palin OR her mother Sarah Palin, blaming others for their mediocrity and failure. And that is the distinction between striving for excellence, and winning, from whining and blaming others for mediocrity and losing.
In a funny sort of way, DWTS was unintentionally a microcosm of politics, a reflection of the reality of the political right versus everyone else. Because you either value accomplishment and ability; or you want to be flattered you are right by people who willsay what you wa to hear. They flatter and they appeal to emotions; but they can't do anything as well as the winners. THAT is the core difference between winning, and whining, between deserving to win, versus simply believing you are entitled to by believing your own press releases.
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