On Wednesday night's edition of Showbiz Tonight on CNN Headline News, anchor A. J. Hammer churned up the hype about Sarah Palin making an estimated $12 million. To analyze this haul, Hammer brought on Cathy Areu, creator of Catalina magazine (for Latina women) and a contributor to The Washington Post Magazine, and Rachel Zalis of Life and Style Weekly. But it was Areu who suggested Palin was a dumb and classless redneck:
HAMMER: Hey, ladies, my jaw dropped when I found out that Sarah Palin made an estimated $12 million since she left her job as Alaska`s governor because that was less than a year ago. And at that time, a lot of people thought she was making a huge mistake by leaving that post. Cathy, do you think that she`s in danger of losing that down-home image, that relatable image that really endeared her to a lot of people?
CATHY AREU: Sarah Palin could do no wrong for so many people. I mean, she is a female Larry the Cable Guy minus the class and intelligence.
Yikes. No one seemed to burst out laughing or yelling. She simply continued:
So, she could do no wrong. She's a Wal-Mart mom that's made $12 million since July. I don`t think her fans will be disappointed at all to find out how much she's made. They think she deserves it.
Last year, NB's Noel Sheppard was amazed by an interview with CNN's Campbell Brown, in which Areu had a much different take over the controversy over someone she liked, Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, who was trying to retract her statements about a wise Latina making better judgments than a white man. This exchange caused jaws to drop;
CAMPBELL BROWN: Cathy, if she weren't sitting before this committee right now, and with so much at stake, would she really be backing off of that statement?
CATHY AREU: No. As a wise Latina, I can tell you, no, she's not backing down. And she probably would want to say, "Not only do I mean a wise Latina, I meant any Latina could make a better decision than a white man could."
BROWN: OK.
AREU: I'm just saying, I'm just saying. It's not just in her mind. She may not say it, but maybe she's thinking that.
