As if Sarah Palin hasn’t been torn apart enough by the media, try this one on for size: Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is the equivalent of Britney Spears.That’s right. Pop culture writer Jed Gottlieb compared the former GOP Vice Presidential candidate to pop icon Britney Spears saying both women are manufactured stars with “baby drama” and a “podunk back story.”
Gottlieb’s article “Boston sees just a piece of Britney Spears” appeared in the Boston Herald on March 17, just one day after Spears’ sold out concert at the TD Banknorth Garden Entertainment Arena in Boston. While the article largely described Spears’ lackluster performance on stage in her comeback tour, Gottlieb just couldn’t resist a swipe at Palin to get the article rolling.
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“Britney is not Madonna,” Gottlieb writes. “She just ain’t. Madonna is Hillary Clinton. She’s whip smart and survives, even thrives by adapting. And Lord knows she wants it more than anyone. Britney is Sarah Palin. Baby drama headlines. Podunk back story and a massive industry machine behind her. She’s a manufactured star aimed at the lowest common denominator.”
Sarah Palin was ripped to shreds by the media within days of her emergence on the national stage as former GOP presidential candidate John McCain’s running mate. The Culture and Media Institute documented and exposed the overwhelming negative coverage of Sarah Palin in a special report. The report found that during a two week period from September 29, 2008 to October 12, 2008, the network news shows ran a total of 37 negative stories, 30 neutral stories and only 2 positive stories. Not one network evening news show ran a positive story about Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.
The character assassination of Sarah Palin was so rampant, that Gottlieb’s assault on her character is just one more to add to the growing list of Palin-haters.
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Are we supposed to be
March 17, 2009 - 15:29 ET by bigtimerAre we supposed to be surprised somehow?
Just more of the same old, same old by the leftist msm, they aren't going to change their spots one iota.
Fear and loathing are their mantra...afterall, agenda is what matters for these empty, anger-filled people.
Keep writing this kind of stuff MSM
March 17, 2009 - 15:31 ET by Nortonalecand watch more and more papers shut down. The smartest people in the room still don't get it. They will soon be writing to themselves (on-line).
"It's such a fine line between stupid and clever."~David St. Hubbins
WOW
March 17, 2009 - 15:36 ET by jacktheripperthey must really need to sell papers....National Enquirer here we come
→ Bill Clinton = Liberace?
March 17, 2009 - 15:38 ET by Cool ArrowBoth were paid lip service by adoring fans.
I say the similarities are striking.
LYDSEXICS UNTIE!
Republians always fair game
March 17, 2009 - 15:42 ET by slickwillie2001You could say the same things about the elite-trash Kennedy family, but somehow that's taken as blasphemous by our PC-kommandants in the media.
WHO CARES?
March 17, 2009 - 16:06 ET by CTHas the NewsBusters staff all gone on vacation with this trivial BS?
Articles like this are
March 17, 2009 - 16:38 ET by Nortonalecthe reason NewsBusters exists.
"It's such a fine line between stupid and clever."~David St. Hubbins
CT
March 17, 2009 - 16:44 ET by NorthCoasterIt's not really a big deal but Sarah Palin=Brittany Spears?
The MSM thinks that all of America outside of the Major metropolitan cities, are rednecks from podunk. I'm not sure where you live, but I identify with Sarah Palin partly because of where I live. I know families who have similar stories to hers although not as stellar. I don't like the idea that we are denigrated as hayseed hicks just because we are outside of the decadent cities. Our interests are focused on family, friends, neighbors and their best interests.
CT
March 17, 2009 - 17:04 ET by joonbug50I have to agree with NorthCoaster. Sarah Palin stands for true conservative American values. There are many people in this country that can identify with that. And to compare her to Brittany Spears is bordering on ridiculous. It's not bad enough what the media has already done to Sarah, they have to keep on dumping. Where are the crise of sexism (vs. racism)???
In response to the replies to my post.
March 17, 2009 - 22:19 ET by CTWith regards to Gov. Sarah Palin I think she is terrific and her husband is a very lucky man. As to the subject NewsBusters Blog, who cares, this is tabloid. If I thought this was reason for NewsBusters I wouldn't waste the time. There are a lot more important issues and IMHO NewsBusters has been a little weak lately.
Since my original post there has been a few more substantial posts on this board.
Hey now, be fair. There
March 17, 2009 - 16:36 ET by berthugginsHey now, be fair. There are some similarities:
They are both women.
They are both republicans.
They're both loved for their bodies as well as their minds.
They both remind
March 17, 2009 - 17:44 ET by PeskyDaneThey both remind women-hating liberals of the girls with whom they never had a shot back in high school.
Women-hating liberals?
March 17, 2009 - 18:31 ET by berthugginsWomen-hating liberals? That's quite an oxymoron. If it weren't for liberals, the entire women's rights movement never would have happened.
Bert - Come sit in school
March 17, 2009 - 20:03 ET by PeskyDaneBert -
Come sit in school for a moment, child. An oxymoron are two seemingly opposite words that when combined, make perfect sense. For example: jumbo-shrimp, pretty-ugly, etc.
What you meant to say is that it is a contradiction in terms. This is of course wrong on several levels.
As far as your assertion, I can only presume that you have failed to rehab yourself from your public school education. Allow me to help.
First, let us pick apart certain terms that you use in ignorance. "Woman's rights movement." I'm presuming that you are referring to "Feminism," a sub-set of the Marxist political philosophy which has about as much to do with woman's rights as a reeducation camp in Qinghai.
True woman's rights got their biggest boost with the founding of this republic. Try reading a book or two. Better yet, move out of mom's house and start earning your own living. You'll do more for woman's rights with that simple act than anything Freidan or Steinem did with their entire worthless lives.
Ah yes, the NB-posters'
March 18, 2009 - 09:29 ET by JasonCAh yes, the NB-posters' stand-by 1-2 combo against someone with whom they disagree:
1. "Your explanation is wrong and simplistic. Please read and accept as true my equally simplistic rebuttal."
2. "You must live in your mom's basement because I disagree with your characterization of [hot-button issue]."
"The terms 'right wing' and 'left wing' were created for baby boomers
who had just given up religion and were looking for a new gang to join.
Calling yourself Democrat or Republican is for p*****s."
~JasonC
March 18, 2009 - 09:41 ET by choselife3xBerthuggins is guttermouth. Check the Times thread from yesterday.
Hope and Change=
Despair and Socialism
I didn't see yesterday's
March 18, 2009 - 09:42 ET by JasonCI didn't see yesterday's thread. But he wasn't being disrespectful here, and that's what I was replying to.
"The terms 'right wing' and 'left wing' were created for baby boomers
who had just given up religion and were looking for a new gang to join.
Calling yourself Democrat or Republican is for p*****s."
Give me a break. He's
March 18, 2009 - 10:27 ET by bretzysdudeGive me a break. He's being disrespectful just for showing up. That's what a troll does.
~JasonC
March 18, 2009 - 10:32 ET by choselife3xFun reading.
Hope and Change= Despair and Socialism
Yikes. That thread was
March 18, 2009 - 10:41 ET by JasonCYikes. That thread was physically painful to read. I had no idea that was Bert's style, his posts on the present thread were more or less sane.
But I stand by my characterization of Pesky's remarks; the old "move out of your mom's basement" zinger really needs to be put out to pasture. Not to mention that his rebuttal Re: Feminism is just as biased and one-sided and demagogic as the initial comment.
"The terms 'right wing' and 'left wing' were created for baby boomers
who had just given up religion and were looking for a new gang to join.
Calling yourself Democrat or Republican is for p*****s."
~Balboa said it best
March 18, 2009 - 10:46 ET by choselife3x"But does that mean the right should emulate the left?"
"move out of your mom's basement"
Forget the pasture, just shoot it and give it to the glue factory.
Hope and Change= Despair and Socialism
Man, I wish I had nothing
March 18, 2009 - 11:29 ET by berthugginsMan, I wish I had nothing else to do but dig up old posts just to prove a point. Fortunately everyone on this site whose read 3x's posts knows just how disrespectful she can be. But alas, I am a grown up and will only engage 3x when I am attacked from now on. Which should be about 5 minutes after I post.
Just remember who attacked who first. (hint: it wasn't me)
~guttermouth lies again
March 18, 2009 - 11:38 ET by choselife3xSo what were you doing?
You wanted my attention, you got it.
Hope and Change= Despair and Socialism
Good link. That's
March 18, 2009 - 12:19 ET by berthugginsGood link. That's precisely what I was referring to.
3x - "We've got two new trolls, you've rejoined us in the nick of time!"
bert - "You have no idea, sweetheart."
3x - "I was referring to the active flamers, but thanks for coming out"
That's the exchange. Now where's the first insult?
~Guttermouth
March 18, 2009 - 14:39 ET by choselife3xAre you naturally that stupid, or do you work at it?
Hope and Change= Despair and Socialism
It took you 2 hours to come
March 18, 2009 - 14:56 ET by berthugginsIt took you 2 hours to come up with a non-response? How do you put it on this site? Oh yeah...
Game
Set
Match
You lose.
~guttermouth snivelled
March 18, 2009 - 15:08 ET by choselife3x"You have no idea, sweetheart."
Hope and Change= Despair and Socialism
What?
March 18, 2009 - 10:45 ET by SpikerFrom what I understand, Gov. Palin worked several jobs to earn her college education. Is this her "podunk" back story?
Of course, to the elitist Gottlieb writing the story for the Herald, it is. Anybody who isn't floated through a Boston university on Mommy and Daddy's dime must be "podunk". People like Gov. Palin, who are conservative, pro-life, and married to the same man for several years are just backwoods trash, apparently.
I am so glad I moved far away from Boston.
To play devil's advocate,
March 18, 2009 - 13:11 ET by JasonCTo play devil's advocate, I'm not sure it's unreasonable to suggest that Gottlieb's point is not that Britney and Palin are actually similar, but that they are conceptualized and consumed in similar new-celebrityish ways by the media and consumer, respectively.
But I haven't read the whole article, so maybe not.
Come on now, Boston is great.
"The terms 'right wing' and 'left wing' were created for baby boomers
who had just given up religion and were looking for a new gang to join.
Calling yourself Democrat or Republican is for p*****s."
Just so you all know...
March 18, 2009 - 14:47 ET by Erin BrownI am the Erin Brown who wrote the article. I don't appreciate commenters lumping me in with the great analysts that do phenomenal work here. I am a culture writer, a guest on NB, and therefore my articles will cover more "tabloid" type news and the bias that exists within the culture.
If you think that news about Britney Spears and or Sarah Palin is "trivial BS" than you can just skip right on over my post. Go ahead, I dare you. But don't discredit the entire Newsbusters team as being weak because you don't care to read MY stuff. If you don't care to read about an accomplished former Vice Presidential Candidate being compared with a woman who, for all intents and purposes, is basically a train wreck, then don't read it. Ok? Get over it.
And to my supporters? Thank you :)