Sarah Palin is no victim of the media

From the Star-Ledger Editorial Page: Sarah Palin is no victim of the media
We’ve come to expect Sarah Palin to be amusing in her public presentation, whether by accident or design. So when she said Gov. Chris Christie got his “panties in a wad” over Mitt Romney’s trouncing by Newt Gingrich Saturday in the South Carolina primary, it was good for a chuckle.

Palin hasn’t endorsed any of the Republican candidates yet, but said she would’ve voted for Gingrich in the South Carolina primary, at least to extend the race. Christie is in Romney’s corner. So perhaps the former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate was having a little fun, grabbing the spotlight by calling out Christie for “a rookie mistake” after he correctly called Gingrich “an embarrassment” to the Republican Party.

But Palin took it further. The media goad you, she warned Christie. They want you to say things “to boost ratings and make it more of a reality show-type scenario.”

And with those words, Palin tumbles into the land of shameless hypocrisy. Palin has done more than most politicians to blur the line between politics and entertainment.

She walked out of her job as Alaska governor after her failed run for VP and cashed in with speeches and books. She was hired as a contributor on Fox News because “she was hot and got ratings,” according to Fox News president Roger Ailes. And who could forget “Sarah Palin’s Alaska,” her very own “reality” show?

Her bus tour last year, a family vacation viewed as an exploratory step toward a 2012 presidential run, looked more like an effort to polish her brand.

Palin is no more a victim of the media than Gingrich is. And like him, she has been adept at exploiting her political celebrity to fatten her own wallet.