A “bad penny” does not necessarily mean a counterfeit or damaged penny. As an idiom, it means an unpleasant, disreputable, or otherwise unwanted person who repeatedly appears at inopportune times to disrupt periods of normalcy and cause distress. The intermittent, and all too brief, periods of respite the American public enjoy was brutally disturbed again during the government shutdown when America’s bad penny, Sarah Palin, crawled out of the swamp to join Ted Cruz to rail against President Obama for her male counterpart’s crowning achievement as de facto House Republican leader. Although Palin attracts attention from her Neanderthal devotees clamoring to eat her bovine excrement disguised as political commentary and invites ridicule due to her predictably unintelligible rants, it is the main stream media’s fault the nation is plagued with Palin’s recurring appearances on the national stage.
It is not that the media loves Sarah Palin; they certainly comprehend that every second she is on air, or the subject of a report, semi-intelligent Americans’ blood pressure elevates and they mourn the decline of intelligent political discourse in America. However, corporate media know that giving Palin a forum is another opportunity to take shots at President Obama by surrogate and ramp up opposition from a certain class of American that may have abandoned Fox News for a more “fair and balanced” view of national politics only to discover that maybe Palin really is a victim of the media. Martin Bashir fell into the media Palin-trap last week when he lashed out at her filthy reference to the national debt as slavery.
Was Bashir’s righteous indignation toward the Alaskan Neanderthal’s vile analogy comparing the nation’s debt to slavery justified? Of course it was. He certainly expressed the sentiment of tens-of-millions of Americans repulsed at Palin’s deliberate attempt to garner media attention to continue attacking President Obama because she received a wealth of media time for using what she admitted was “politically incorrect” (read racist) rhetoric. However, all Bashir accomplished was elevating Palin’s victim status among her acolytes and gave her a larger forum to rail against her media accomplices with faux outrage because she revels in additional air-time to advance her toxic brand of stupidity. It is not like Bashir was surprised at Palin’s obvious racial callousness and he knew his job was secure if he followed corporate media procedure and expressed remorse for pointing out Palin’s racial insensitivity.
It is inconceivable that Palin’s slavery reference was not calculated and probable it is a practice she endorses based on her staunch advocacy and devotion to the Old Testament’s approval of keeping other human beings as expendable property. Old Testament god directed his chosen people to exterminate his enemies’ slaves without remorse and threatened Israelites with death if they hesitated to annihilate his enemies and their slaves as retribution for not worshipping him, but that is another story. The point is that Palin’s despicable and flippant reference to the national debt as slavery was a calculated move to garner media attention as a victim, as well as sell her latest anti-Obama screed based on a non-existent war on the baby Jesus fable and its relationship to big business’s great commercial holiday season.
Palin knew her comments would spark outrage if corporate media got wind of her slavery comments because she said, “And this isn’t racist, so try it and try it anyway” as she waved off stage and then proceeded to compare the national debt to slavery. Palin was speaking to about 750 supporters at an event held by the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition event, and if it had been left there she would have impressed her devotees in attendance and little else. But she knew some corporate media outlet would take her to task and run with the story and besides playing the victim, she booked appearances on other corporate media outlets and garnered a world of attention to sell books and continue running her mouth about the President, the Affordable Care Act, and still more slavery. All the while the “bad penny” kept herself in the news and corporate media increased their audience share because Palin’s victim outrage sells and corporate conservative media will never pass up a chance to put an avowed Obama hater in front of a camera; especially if they assail the Affordable Care Act.
America is plagued with real issues affecting real people that is lost every time corporate media gives the Neanderthal Palin air time and a forum to spread her particular brand of right-wing evangelical drivel. It is true that John McCain first unleashed the brainless Palin on the nation in 2008 and the people suffered through months of unintelligible Palin-speak until she was sent back to Alaska to torture her constituents. It has been over five years and the media just cannot help themselves from resurrecting another round of Palin to besmirch the intelligence of the American people at regular intervals and it is getting old.
Right now, 47.8 million Americans, working families, seniors, children, and Veterans are going hungry and instead of addressing hunger in America or giving air time to politicians with real solutions, corporate media is pandering to Sarah Palin’s media addiction to sell books, promote television shows, and rail against social programs. Millions of Americans are out of work or toiling at part-time minimum-wage jobs and wondering how they will feed their families or pay rent next week, and Martin Bashir had to apologize to Sarah Palin for expressing outrage that, although justified, started a vicious cycle of more Sarah Palin media appearances. Should someone defecate in Neanderthal Palin’s mouth as Bashir suggested? As appealing as that prospect is to some Americans, she needs to be ignored by corporate mainstream media. However, there is an entertainment industry saying that any publicity is good publicity, and every time Palin opens her mouth to criticize President Obama, the Pope, or social programs some corporate-owned news outlet is obliged to give her a forum and it is damn high time they let Palin go back to the swamp, give the people a rest, and stop using the Alaskan Neanderthal as their anti-Obama propaganda machine.
Born in the South, raised in the Mid-West and California for a well-rounded view of America; it doesn't look good.
Former minister, lifelong musician, Mahayana Zen-Buddhist.
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