Oct. 8: Palin SNL?

AFTERNOON UPDATE (posted 4:45 p.m.:

> "No truth" to Sarah Palin appearing on SNL (this week) Seattle P-I

That means we all have to wait a little bit longer before the Republican vice presidential hopeful comes glasses-to-glasses with her late-night doppelganger Tina Fey. But who thinks Meyers is just yanking our chain?

Nevertheless, even if Palin does not pop up this week, she could drop by on one of the next two Thursday SNLs, especially since a cameo had already been discussed, according to Meyers.

> Palin's ascension shows GOP's lack of interest in governing (Jay Bookman, Atlanta Journal Constitution)

The foundations of Republican success on the campaign trail have been appeals to tribal politics - "they" aren't like "us" - and the easy answers of ideology. But once in power, tribal politics, fixed ideology and a disdain for the hard work of governance have proved disastrous.

This country needs a more effective Republican Party. The Democrats need a more effective Republican Party to protect them from their own excesses. But to become effective again, the Republicans have to change, and they show no sign of doing so. Quite the contrary.

And if Republicans designate Sarah Palin as the face of the party's future, as they seem eager to do, they will confirm the belief that they just aren't serious enough to trust with power.

> Palin on the campaign trail (Fox News)

8,000 boisterous supporters came to see both Sarah Palin and John McCain at Lehigh University and throughout Palin's remarks and introduction of her running mate the crowd chanted "NObama!" "Sarah!" and "Mac is Back!" But, as she neared the end of her remarks at least one member of the crowd got a little too rowdy and screamed, "You're a hottie!" Palin did not miss a beat and exclaimed, "Now what does that have to do with anything?"

> Conservative columnist David Brooks on Palin: "a cancer" (Washington Monthly)

"[Palin] represents a fatal cancer to the republican party. When I first started in journalism, I worked at the National Review for Bill Buckley. And Buckley famously said he'd rather be ruled by the first 2,000 names in the Boston phone book than by the Harvard faculty. But he didn't think those were the only two options. He thought it was important to have people on the conservative side who celebrated ideas, who celebrated learning. And his whole life was based on that, and that was also true for a lot of the other conservatives in the Reagan era. Reagan had an immense faith in the power of ideas. But there has been a counter, more populist tradition, which is not only to scorn liberal ideas but to scorn ideas entirely. And I'm afraid that Sarah Palin has those prejudices. I think President Bush has those prejudices."

Brooks added that Palin is "absolutely not" ready for national office.

Top of this morning's Newsreader follows:

Alaska's politicians are all over the national news today: Sen. Ted Stevens, Rep. Don Young and Gov. Sarah Palin. Newsreader will give two quick updates on Stevens' D.C. trial, a nod to Young's campaign, and coverage of Palin's stump style, getting critiqued from the left and the right. New stories touch on her charismatic role in popular culture (think Tina Fey and "Saturday Night Live" - will she really appear there?) and how she has navigated the minefield of faith and policy.

***

Colin Powell heads up witness list for Stevens defense. CNN.com reports this morning that former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell is at the top of the list of witnesses the defense will call when they begin their case.

However, the Associated Press reports that the case may not go that far. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan told lawyers not to look beyond today's afternoon hearing on the defense call to dismiss the case because prosecutors withheld evidence.

"There may not be a defense case," Sullivan said before leaving the courtroom for the day.

Back in Anchorage, KTUU reports that a band of Democrats are calling for the senator's removal from Congress.

One (ad) from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee says that Stevens once worked hard for Alaskans but that he's drifted away from that task.

"Senator Stevens has not been doing our public a service at all," Skye McRoberts said. "This is called greed not public service. At some point during his 40 years he decided to stop working for Alaska's best interests and start working for his own personal interests."

A comprehensive display of trial coverage can be found in the Anchorage Daily News' special Stevens section, including the taped phone calls between Stevens and Allen that jurors heard in the trial. The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and Associated Press also have trial stories.

***

Chuck Norris endorses Rep. Don Young over bailout "no" vote. The Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire blog points to Norris' column written Monday.

WSJ: A few facts: Chuck Norris can sneeze with his eyes open. Chuck Norris can kill two stones with one bird. And Chuck Norris has decided who should represent Alaska in Congress.

Norris: Despite the heartbreaking passing of this bill, thank God 161 representatives and 25 senators opposed it and weren't enticed by the pseudo-urgent Wall Street panic, their own re-election pressures, or the Senate's pork barrel schmoozing. For example, I commend Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, who voted "no" for the emergency economic bill, despite that the tax break for Alaskan fishermen was inserted to sway him to bite at the bailout. Rep. Young is correct when he writes to his constituents, "... [T]his bill is nothing more than a slippery slope to socialism."

***

Pit bull with lipstick now dubbed "McCain's mean girl." Sarah Palin's campaign role as political attack dog - linking Obama to terrorists - is drawing criticism from many corners, including conservative columnist Kathleen Parker in the Washington Post. Parker called her Palin the Impaler.

Democrats and other critics distracted by her winks may have missed the message, but Palin's target audience heard it loud and clear. She is like the high-pitched whistle only dogs can hear. While Democrats heard non-answers, superfluous segues and cartoon words -- shout-out, I'll betcha, doggone, extra credit -- Republicans heard God, patriotism, courage, victory.

It's called code, and Republicans are fluent.

McCain may want to call off his pit bull before this war escalates.

This morning, Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden told the Associated Press that Palin "is injecting fear and loathing" into the campaign and called the tactic "mildly dangerous."

In Florida on Monday, Palin's remarks about Obama and Ayers elicited waves of booing from supporters. One person at a rally shouted "Kill him!" according to a Washington Post report. A sheriff who introduced Palin at a rally referred to the Democratic candidate as "Barack Hussein Obama."

"You know, the idea here that somehow these guys are once again injecting fear and loathing into this campaign is ... I think it's mildly dangerous. I mean, here you have out there these kinds of, you know, incitements out there - guy introducing Barack using his middle name as if it's some epitaph or something," Biden said, apparently confusing the words "epitaph" and "epithet."

The Wall Street Journal reported that Palin's popularity in her own state keeps sliding and interviewed pollster Ivan Moore on why.

Palin's positive rating dropped to 65% as of Monday from 68% on Sept. 22, according to a survey of likely Alaska voters by Anchorage pollster Ivan Moore. On Sept. 2, her positive rating was a stratospheric 82%, according to Moore's poll then. The governor's negative rating in Alaska, meanwhile, has shot up to 30% - the highest since she took office in 2005, according to Moore. On Sept. 2, it was just 13%.

Moore said a big reason Palin's popularity has taken a hit is that she has taken on partisan attacks against Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and his running mate, Joe Biden. Many Democratic Alaskans who once supported her have been turned off by the attacks, he said.

Other columns and stories noting the new Republican offensive, dominated by Palin:

> Politics of attack (Editorial, The New York Times)

Ms. Palin, in particular, revels in the attack. Her campaign rallies have become spectacles of anger and insult. "This is not a man who sees America as you see it and how I see America," Palin has taken to saying.

Her demagoguery has elicited some frightening, intolerable responses. A recent Washington Post report said that at a rally in Florida this week a man yelled "kill him!" as Ms. Palin delivered that line and others shouted epithets at an African-American member of a TV crew.

> Palin plays to conservative base in Florida rallies (The New York Times)

Ms. Palin was asked if she thought voters who are worried about the economy are turned off by the "attack politics" of bringing up Ayers on the trail.

"It is, though, about the economy about creating jobs and about resource development and energy independence here," Ms. Palin said. "It comes down to one ticket's proposal that can be trusted, and another ticket's proposal to deal with some of these issues and maybe questioning the truthfulness and the intention there. I think it's very relevant there."

> Mud pies for "That One" (Maureen Dowd, The New York Times)

Palin finally took questions on Tuesday from her traveling press corps on her campaign plane. Asked if she thought Sen. Obama was dishonest, McCain's Mean Girl meandered:

"I'm not saying he's dishonest, but in terms of judgment, in terms of being able to answer a question forthrightly, it has two different parts to this. The judgment and the truthfulness and just being able to answer very candidly a simple question about when did you know him, how did you know him, is there still - has there been an association continued since '02 or '05, I know I've read a couple different stories. I think it's relevant."

Of course she does.

Commentary continues to surface over Palin's experience and her governing habits in Alaska:

> Palin's kind of patriotism (Thomas Friedman, The New York Times)

And please also don't tell me she is an "energy expert." She is an energy expert exactly the same way the king of Saudi Arabia is an energy expert - by accident of residence. Palin happens to be governor of the Saudi Arabia of America - Alaska - and the only energy expertise she has is the same as the king of Saudi Arabia's. It's about how the windfall profits from the oil in their respective kingdoms should be divided between the oil companies and the people.

> Palin cautious in mixing faith, policies (Los Angeles Times)

Palin has repeatedly attended prayer sessions with Christian pastors and has quietly sought their guidance - but she is often mum on matters of faith in high-profile public forums.

"She's got a fine-tuned sense of how far to push," said John Stein, who was toppled as mayor of Wasilla by Palin after he guided her into her political career.

Stein said that Palin displayed only vague hints of her fundamentalist Assembly of God upbringing when he first backed her for a nonpartisan run for Wasilla City Council in the early 1990s. But in 1996, when Palin ousted Stein with the aid of pink-colored anti-abortion mailers and busloads of Christian grass-roots activists, she grew more overt about her plans, he said.

> Alaskan Blacks: Palin didn't reach out, blocked access to government jobs (Chicago Defender)

PHILADELPHIA - While many across America consider Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin some kind of phenomenon, many Blacks in Alaska see the governor of their state as a person not interested in the inclusive posture of her predecessors.

"Blacks don't have the levels of access to the governor and state commissioners as with past administrations," said attorney Rex Butler, an Alaska resident since 1983. "It seems the posture of [Palin's] administration with Blacks is: Don't need them-don't worry about them."

Eleanor Andrews, board chair of the Anchorage Urban League, said she is unaware of any programs or outreach to Alaska's Black community by Palin.

> Why elite women hate Palin (Ann Marlow, Forbes.com)

It's as though Palin were an average girl from their boarding school class--or, frankly, from the public school down the road--who unexpectedly won a big prize. "Why not me?" is the subtext, and it's one I've never heard from men talking about male politicians. Many New Yorkers hate George Bush, for instance, and say similar things about his and Palin's lack of intellectual capability and curiosity about the wider world. But they don't view him as a personal rival.

People who become writers and intellectuals and artists tend not to want power that badly or pursue it that obsessively, which is what makes us interesting and fun--and makes few of us household names. Success at the Palin level in politics or business takes a level of blinkered self-confidence that comes mainly to (a very few) men. A lot of the people with this quality are annoying to be around. Maybe they aren't very happy with themselves. But it's not a surprise that a vice presidential nominee should be one of them.

The lesson of Sarah Palin for privileged women is to try harder. And that may be the toughest one to hear.

***

Alaska justices hear Troopergate arguments today. CNN.com advances today's session where the ‘Truth Squad' vs. the Legislative investigation argue their case.

Palin's Republican allies have asked the court to shut down the legislators' probe, and the justices are scheduled to hear arguments on the issue Wednesday. In a brief filed Tuesday afternoon, lawmakers allege the shutdown request is meant entirely "to avoid a negative impact on the fortunes of one political party."

"Completing the investigation and the resulting report in October serves no other purpose than the illegitimate one of trying to deliver an 'October surprise' that will affect the outcome of the national presidential election," the lawyers for Palin's allies wrote.

But the probe's leaders say the record shows Republicans in the Legislature have supported every step the probe has taken.

"What it shows is Alaska's legislators acting with thoughtfulness, collegiality and respect for each other as well as due attention to the rules of their coequal institution," their brief states.

> Expecting a report (Fairbanks Daily News-Miner)

The case turns on Section 7 of the Alaska Constitution, which states in full: "No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law. The right of all persons to fair and just treatment in the course of legislative and executive investigations shall not be infringed."

According to Gordon Harrison, our state's resident constitutional scholar, the second sentence of Section 7 is unique to Alaska's founding document.

"The convention delegates wanted the principle of due process extended explicitly to legislative proceedings," Harrison wrote in his citizen's guide to the state constitution. "This was done in reaction to the blustering anti-communist investigations of Sen. Joseph McCarthy in the mid-1950s that violated basic principles of fair treatment which are well-established in judicial proceedings."

> Let's get ready to rumble (ABC News)

The judges are set to hear oral arguments Wednesday on behalf of several GOP state lawmakers who, with the help of a conservative Texas-based legal foundation, are appealing to stop the investigation. A lower judge dismissed their suit last week.

The judges are expected to make their ruling by Thursday.

***

Sarah Palin will spoof Tina Fey. Or not. Newsday tries to run the rumors down, but their report is inconclusive, thanks to the way SNL answered the question.

In an interview yesterday, "Weekend Update" anchor and "SNL" head writer, Seth Meyers, said: "Of those specific rumors, there's no truth. We do have an open-door policy, but there's nothing specific yet, but our window of opportunity is before the election. We'd love to have [Sen. John] McCain and [Sen. Barack] Obama on again, too. Our doors are always open."

The rumor is Palin would spoof Fey with a re-do of her American Express commercial on one of the upcoming special Thursday night Weekend Update segments. Newsday's account of why it must happen is fun to read, if not factual. Palin even says she'd love to do it, speaking to the Wall Street Journal.

-On whether she would appear on Saturday Night Live with Tina Fey: "I would love to. I would love to. I love her. She's a hoot and she's so talented and it would be fun to either imitate her or keep on giving her more material and keep her in business."

Democratic VP candidate Sen. Joe Biden, who was also spoofed by SNL's Jude Sudeikis, told CBS News he's enjoyed the send-ups.

"Those guys are killer," said Biden, and said he turned on the show recently and swore it was actually Palin, not Tina Fey, who was in one of the sketches.

"They are dead on, man," said Biden, chuckling between sips of coffee.

But the best story today about Palin's and Fey's amazing symbiotic humor connection is ABC News' story, "Tina Fey leads pack of Palin impersonators." Besides a link to a Palin fake Facebook page on Taco.com, (where Palin adds Katie Couric as a friend then bans her three hours later) includes these comments on her Wall:

Putin writes: Sup gurl?Thanks for adding me, yo. I seen how you be starin at me from across the water

McCain: Hey! You're a woman, right> Are you busy for the next four years?

You can find links to all the Palin lookalike videos here, and read what a culture professor thinks about what the massive imitation means.

There's more fake Sarah Palins than fake Elvises," said Bob Thompson, a professor of pop culture at Syracuse University in New York.

What Fey and some of these other impersonators have done so well is to highlight the very things the mainstream media have been reticent to point out about Palin, according to Thompson.

"Tina Fey's impressions got out there and became delivery systems for the original sources she was making fun of," Thompson said, referring to the Charles Gibson and Katie Couric interviews.

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