Brian Balthazar

On the December 26 Saturday Today, as NBC anchor Amy Robach brought up Sarah Palin during a segment on people who made the news in 2009, Robach sounded as if she might have had a wish that Palin disappear from public view as she asked if Palin would "ever just go away?" Robach: "And, Brian, another big political story, the rise and fall of Sarah Palin, and yet she continues to grab headlines. Her new book came out. Will she ever just go away? Do you think she's going to be a big force this next year?"

Comedian Brian Balthazar seemed to want Palin to remain in public to be fodder for jokes as he contended that "when she opens her mouth, people pay attention. And, in fact, when she opens her mouth, often she doesn't stop, so it, there's so much to work with with Sarah. She's not going away."

Robach, possibly hinting that she also sees Palin as either a good source for humor or for the news industry which she is a part of, followed up by posing a question to NBC contributor Toure. Robach: "And, Toure, do we really want her to go away? Probably not." 

Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of the December 26 Saturday Today show on NBC: 

No matter how obscure the corner of our culture it might be covering, the MSM often manages to inject its politics. And so it was on this morning's "Today," on what had been shaping up to be a harmless feature on ventriloquists.

NBC's Brian Balthazar narrated the segment, which focused on a ventriloquists' convention in Kentucky. At one point, this dialogue between a ventriloquist and his dummy, Dexter, was rolled.

DEXTER THE DUMMY: I'm thinking about running for president.

VENTRILOQUIST AL STEVENS: President? Who in their right mind would vote for a dummy for president?