Kathy Griffin, Bashing Palin to Try and Stay Relevant

March 11th, 2011 11:29 PM

On Thursday, Erik Piepenburg of the New York Times promoted Kathy Griffin's new Broadway show by noting her response to Sarah Palin's demand to lay off her kids:

“Sarah Palin is a has-been candidate, a has-been governor and a has-been reality TV star, like Kate Gosselin,” Ms. Griffin said Monday over breakfast at the Cafe Edison, the theater district coffee shop. “Actually I’d prefer Kate Gosselin for president. I’ve met her. She’s nice.”

As if Griffin valued Nice. Unsurprisingly, Griffin wallows in baiting and battling conservatives and Christians to keep her relevant and at least on her "D-List," especially now that her Bravo show has ended:

“I’m thrilled,” Ms. Griffin said of Ms. Palin’s remarks. “Can we call it a shout out? For her to know my name is as thrilling as when Spielberg also issued a statement against me, and all I could think of was, ‘He knows my name!’ ”  

Of course, the Times can't quite proclaim that Griffin is a liberal or a leftist. They insist "the cracks will only endear her further to her fan base, mostly gay men and straight women who appreciate her persona as an outspoken, suffer-no-fools, pop culture gadfly."  

A suffer-no-fools gadfly? This is a pretty complimentary label for someone who mocks Sarah Palin's teenaged daughter Bristol as fat (and gets booed). The Times was also too kind to Griffin by explaining she offended in her Emmy victory speech...but gave readers no reminder of what the actual words were:  

This proudly self-promotional comedian also knows that telling off popular figures will help sell tickets to her shows. After all, she probably offended many viewers with her speech when she accepted an Emmy Award for her Bravo reality series, “Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List.” In response Bill Donohue, the president of the Catholic League, called her remarks “vulgar, in-your-face brand of hate speech.” 

The Times certainly could have found room for the actual rant: "A lot of people come up here and thank Jesus for this award," she declared. "I want you to know that no one had less to do with this award than Jesus. So, all I can say is, 'suck it, Jesus.' This award is my god now."

The promotional story ends with Griffin rooting for protesters outside or huffy audience members walking out: “I’m hoping there’s some stuffy Broadway fan that thinks it’s ‘The Lion King’ who walks in because there was inclement weather, and then storms out,” she said. “If it was up to me, I’d have the Tea Party as well as the Jesus people, really anyone, protesting out front.” 

Perhaps she could pay someone to protest and keep her relevant.