Sarah Palin And Turkeygate

I realize this is old news at this point, but I wanted to weigh in on the current Palin-Mediaflap-of-the-Week.

This clip of Sarah Palin answering interview questions at a turkey farm while a farmhand administers Last Rites to a few of the turkeys is pure comedic genius. It recalls the best scenes of the “Naked Gun” and “Airplane” movies, where the main character is engaged in the foreground while chaos ensues in the background.

Pure gold, baby.

That having been said, Palin’s handlers should have been fired on the spot. And those in the conservative media who are quick to dismiss or even celebrate this latest episode as a testament to Palin’s populist, folksy charm are missing the larger point – good politicians and good leaders make good choices – they don’t put themselves in these situations. And while the Right will attempt to rationalize her behavior, in the end she solidifies the backwoods rube image liberals created for her during the campaign with sound bites like this.

Republicans and conservatives alike were correct to call Obama’s judgment into question during the campaign – so why shouldn’t holding Palin to the same standard be any different?