Saturday, April 03, 2010

Palin's "Real American Stories" Number Three on Cable News

Sarah Palin's debut as a TV show host did moderately well. As all Fox shows do, she killed the competition and also came in third in the Fox line up. Not bad for a rookie premiere. Drudge reports:

FOXNEWS O'REILLY 2,981,000
FOXNEWS HANNITY 2,256,000
FOXNEWS PALIN 2,073,000
FOXNEWS BECK 2,014,000
FOXNEWS BAIER 1,877,000
FOXNEWS SHEP 1,658,000
MSNBC OLBERMANN 989,000
MSNBC MADDOW 950,000
CNN KING 839,000
CNN COOPER 820,000
CNNHN BEHAR 641,000

More numbers analysis here.

Snarky Washington Post reviewer, Hank Stuever, found stories about an American war hero, a man who has made it possible for poor kids to go to college, a boy with cerebral palsy overcoming painful obstacles and a young woman rushing into flames to save a truck driver ho-hum.
I dunno, but hush: The mother of the dead Marine is talking about the day a naval destroyer was named after her son. The millionaire is about to give away millions to send underprivileged minority kids to college for free. The loyal service dog is going to help the sweet little boy walk again. A woman is about the save a man from a burning tanker truck. Toby Keith is singing about patriotic veterans. Flags are billowing. A piano is playing.

Not moved? Well, what's wrong with you, sicko? You can almost imagine Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow popping lefty corn and gathering 'neath the flat screen to excitedly parse over "Real American Stories" and savor it -- would it be merely terrible or simply godawful?

Neither, and what a letdown.
I wonder what Stuever's review of Kennedy's Profiles in Courage would have been? I mean what's interesting or inspiring about people doing politically courageous things? We get that all the time, right?

Or how about Abraham Lincoln saying stuff about American heroes at Gettysburg? Stuever had a soul-mate at the Chicago Times back in 1863 who wrote:
"The cheek of every American must tingle with shame as he reads the silly, flat and dishwatery utterances of the man who has to be pointed out to intelligent foreigners as the President of the United States."
Heroism isn't a big thing to Stuever. Poor guy.

2 comments:

OregonGuy said...

Finished the book yesterday. Gave it to a friend to read.

I heartily recommend that those interested in understanding the phenomenon that is Sarah Palin take the time to read her book, "Going Rogue." You will, of course, be forced away from the two-dimensional representation of the woman that seems to be the view of the chattering class. She is an amazing woman.

But, if you'd rather keep your snark clean, why bother, eh?
.

T. D. said...

What's interesting, OG, is that she not only does some things excellently, but lots of other things well.

She and Obama are in a league of their own in drawing crowds and whipping up political excitement. That's an excellence.

Then she also writes a bestseller that ties with the only other monster political bestseller--Bill Clinton's autobiography. Also an excellence.

Then she does reasonably well as a rookie stand up comic on the Tonight Show.

Then she does reasonably well as a political commentator.

Then she does reasonably well in hosting a TV special.

I hear she also hunts, fishes and runs a business--along with having been one of the few governors in the nation who actually but substantial money in state savings during the good years of the second Bush term.

She's a runner. Can play a good game of basketball. And on and on . . . .

Palin is an amazing person as well as an amazing politician.