Dancing becomes a war of political ideologies (LIBERAL COLUMNIST GETS BENT ABOUT BRISTOL PALIN)
Will a Bristol Palin victory mean the death of ObamaCare? Will liberals in Congress finally be forced to pass tough immigration laws?
Or more importantly, will ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” have to alter the scoring system for its dancing competition?
Bristol Palin, the daughter of former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, is a finalist on “Dancing with the Stars.” Her success may have something to do with her mother’s fanatical political following.
Most objective viewers would admit, based on performance alone, she should have been eliminated a couple of weeks ago. The show’s judges have consistently scored her lower than the competition in recent weeks.
Yet, miraculously, she has survived due to a deluge of support from the viewing audience.
During a recent interview, I heard Bristol say she believes viewers are voting for her because she has worked hard, improved each week and the average person identifies with her.
I supported actor George Hamilton for all of those reasons a few seasons back.
But when Bristol said she didn’t believe her support had anything to do with her mother’s political activism, I laughed.
Even more outrageous, however, is the notion that Bristol’s success or failure on the show would in any way be indicative of the success or failure of the conservative movement in this country.
Yet there are obviously people who believe that an early exit by Bristol would somehow have been a humiliation for her mother and the cause she represents.
Maybe the politicization of this goofy TV show was inevitable from the moment Bristol Palin was selected. I mean, even by the standards of “Dancing With the Stars,” her celebrity status seemed unusually opaque.
She had never been a singer, musician, actress or the star of a reality show. She had never played football, basketball or won an Olympic competition.
For the most part, all previous contestants had qualified under some sort of vague celebrity criteria. Bristol’s claim to fame, by contrast, was that she was the daughter of a failed vice presidential candidate.
TV producers care about one only thing - ratings. And the producers of “Dancing” had to think Bristol would attract viewers, both liberals who would hate her and conservatives who would love her.
My guess is they never imagined that her support would grow so large that it would threaten the very credibility of the show itself.
For some reason, it appears a large segment of society believes that Bristol’s failure would be Sarah’s failure. That if the daughter were sent home in disgrace, the presidential ambitions of her mother would suffer.
Then again, there are those who would say anyone who fails to see Bristol’s attraction to the masses is politically biased.
Here’s what Rush Limbaugh had to say recently on his show: “Do you realize how miserable the American left is over Bristol Palin making the finals of Dancing with the Stars? They’re miserable because, well, stop and think about it. … Half of the reason that you make the finals on this show is because the public votes.
“Now Bristol Palin and her partner have gotten the lowest scores every week of any of the contestants, and yet they are in the finals. And the reason they’re in the finals is ’cause America is voting for Bristol Palin, and the left is miserable.
“… The reason they’re upset is because they have done their best to make this Palin family persona non grata. They’re tried to trash it, besmirch it, impugn it, and the American public is now en masse voting for Bristol Palin.”
So this is much bigger than any samba or waltz. It has nothing to do with the proper extension of the arms or maintaining the correct frame.
This is a battle for the very soul of America.
Maybe Rush is right.
According to the Wisconsin State Journal, a 66-year-old man became so enraged watching Bristol Palin on “Dancing with the Stars” that he took out a shotgun and blasted his TV set.
Actually, I felt like doing that myself when Jennifer Grey, the actress who once starred in “Dirty Dancing,” evoked the memory of the late actor Patrick Swayze in an attempt to gain support from viewers. She also is a finalist on DWTS.
By the way, how do we know this is really the same Jennifer Grey? She doesn’t have the same nose. Has anyone seen her birth certificate?
Blatant appeals to voters on the basis of race, sexual orientation, age and even motherhood are common on the show. Come to think of it, there are a lot of similarities to a political campaign.
I’m just surprised that Rod Blagojevich hasn’t made an appearance. Maybe next spring.
At one point I felt sorry for Bristol, thinking she was being used by her mom, the producers and her own supporters.
But she really is a celebrity now. Just like Paris Hilton.
pkadner@southtownstar.com;
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Why Bristol was even on the show in the first place is a question mark, but how she even got this far is incredible! Brandi never should have been voted off! Kyle Massey “DESERVES” to win and Bristol and Jennifer KNOW IT!!