Sarah Palin is Petarded

Sarah Palin is the political equivalent of bonbons. She is also like the STD herpes: the gift that keeps on giving. She has put her foot in her mouth so many times she probably has a gotten treatment for hoof and mouth disease.

Most recent case of her special brand of leaping before looking was when she decided to courageously take on "Fox Hollywood's" animated "The Family Guy" when they had a character who had Down Syndrome, just like her youngest son, Trig.

While Trig was never brought up, nor was the character a send up of the mentally disabled, nor were there any jokes made at the expense of the mentally disabled, the character did say that her mother was "the former governor of Alaska." Therefore, this was made out to be, in true Palin fashion, an attack against Trig, and therefore she felt "another kick in the gut."

Palin would rant on Fox News, and she had her teenage daughter, Bristol, write a piece on Palin's Facebook page. This was around February 16.

That's when Sarah Palin got, as they say in some quarters, "Pwned."

Apparently, Sarah went off half-cocked, again [see: "paling around with domestic terrorists"], not knowing who she was talking about, as the voice actress, Andrea Fay Friedman, was born with Down Syndrome. That information was released around February 18, just enough time for Sarah to make the rounds to her job on Fox News to whine about Fox Hollywood.

Ms. Friedman told the former governor that she needs to get a sense of humor, and that the bit was not an attack on Trig, but rather a matter of "sarcasm."

While only a sometime purveyor of The Family Guy, at that moment I discovered an entire new respect for the show's creator and key voice actor, Seth McFarlane. He laid a perfectly baited trap and waited till he saw the whites of the molars in the back of Palin's always flapping mouth.

Notice there has been a good bit of silence from Caribou Barbie since then. That's the sound of failure.

Now, for the record, Ms. Friedman did make the following dig against Sarah: "My mother did not carry me around under her arm like a loaf of French bread the way former Governor Palin carries her son Trig around looking for sympathy and votes."

Ouch.

But this brings me to my second point: Sarah Palin has set herself up as the defender of the mentally disabled, but all she seems to do is exploit the mentally disabled, and by extension, her son Trig.

Now, Palin has also set herself up as a hunter and firearm enthusiast, but I never really believed it. I have been dubious about her claims as a hunter - a google search of photos reveal only two photos, and it is not clear whether the ex-gov actually shot the animal in question, or just posed next to it. After all, what politician worth any salt misses a photo-op?

Also, a similar google photo search reveals only 3 photos of Sarah Palin holding any sort of firearm: a posed one with a trap shotgun, opened, and over her shoulder; another of her reloading a trap gun at a range; and another with her using what appears to be an M-4 on some sort of electronic shooting range, the only photo [and there is a video on youtube] where she is holding a firearm in a "ready" position. And she doesn't look particularly comfortable with it. Not an experienced marksman.

Added to this is that her former future son in law, Levi Johnston, said she was not a hunter nor did she know how to handle weapons. While he, as a source for anything Palin related, might be questionable, of all things to blow her spot up about, why this one, unless it is true? He is not the sharpest tool in the shed, but such a dagger goes to the heart of Palin's self made credentials.

So, when I read in the news today Palin would be the keynote speaker at the annual national meeting of the National Rifle Association in Charlotte, North Carolina, I couldn't help but think that she was using the NRA the same way she uses Trig.

While I am sure Palin loves her son, she also has no difficulty exploiting him, using him and his disability as a sword and shield for her own shortcomings. But she has little interest promoting the interests of others like Trig, evidenced by her behavior, most recently in this Family Guy flap.

Similarly, I doubt she is a hunter, much less a true shooting enthusiast. But she can lay some good digs on Obama, like how is is working now to ban all guns, at the NRA meeting.

The NRA, incidentally, treats gun owners the same way Palin publicly treats Trig: as a sword and shield, but never really standing up for their interests. They love to drum up drama and fear, as drama and fear equal dollars into their coffers, and in the pockets of perennial Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre. They, and he, would rather lose fights to make money than stand up for responsible and beneficial gun ownership. More business than civil liberties group.

So perhaps this is a match made in heaven, but I doubt it. Palin is going to a friendly environment, going to bash the president for things he has not done, nor will ever do, and they will love her for it.

And pay her a pretty penny, I am sure. Well, maybe they are all petards, and they deserve each other.