It’s a mistake, I’m afraid. It’s not that I lack confidence in Governor Palin; I don’t. But I think it’s almost always a mistake to visit an enemy’s home turf without a clear understanding that you are among enemies.
The Saturday Night Live people are Democrats. That’s all there is to it, and they will never give Sarah Palin, or any other Republican, a fair shake. Palin is, of course, more than a match for them in a fair fight. But for a fight to be fair, it must first be acknowledged that it’s a fight. That won’t happen tonight, and it will be almost a miracle if Palin gains from the exposure.
I’m old enough to remember when President Gerald Ford appeared on Saturday Night Live. That night, he was ridiculed as a klutz, in keeping with the image he had among liberals. It was grotesquely unfair: Ford, an all-America football player at Michigan, was undoubtedly the most athletic President of modern times. But reality won’t intrude when your enemy is the editor.
News accounts indicated that the next morning, a shell-shocked Ford summoned his aides and asked who it was who thought it would be a good idea for him to appear on the television show that had been ridiculing him non-stop since he became President. I’m afraid a similar fate awaits Governor Palin.
UPDATE: It could have been worse, mostly because Governor Palin kept her participation to a minimum. If, like me, you didn’t stay up late enough to see Palin’s second appearance on the show, here it is:
FURTHER UPDATE: The Associated Press’s account, by partisan Democrat Glen Johnson, takes evident pleasure in the show’s ridicule of Governor Palin, but rather weirdly appears to take seriously the conceit that Palin was supposed to perform the Alaska rap but changed her mind at the last moment because it was “too hardcore.” Lighten up, Glen.
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