I haven’t posted about the Twitter and blog war which broke out over a clip of Mike Tyson trash talking Sarah Palin in very explicit and violent sexual ways, although I did spotlight Dan Riehl’s post about it as Post of the Day.
The controversy is not that a convicted rapist would make such statements, but that The Daily Caller would run the clip with a bold traffic-grabbing headline and keep it there without so much as any commentary (which was not added until later).
I can’t say it was the worst trashing of Palin I’ve ever seen, but it definitely was the worst I’d ever seen at a supposedly conservative website and one which has a high profile. While the post quoted Tyson, it was pure traffic-baiting using sexual violence against Palin as the tease.
There is a huge difference between an article discussing despicable comments about conservative women, and quoting the language in the context of analysis, and what The Daily Caller did.
Dan Riehl drove the issue hard (including one post he has since taken down in which he used some parody to impugn what The Daily Caller had done). And then Greta Van Susteren got involved with a brutal take down of her “friend” Tucker Carlson, who runs The Daily Caller (bold lettering in original):
I really don’t understand my friend Tucker Carlson. He owns the website The Daily Caller and it currently has on its front page the most vile story — referring to a sex act with Governor Sarah Palin as a “womb shifter.” It is even the headline. Do you know what that means? Figure it out It is really vile. It is not just smut…this is violence against women.
Once Greta got involved, the controversy went mainstream, with a post at Politico and a long Memeorandum thread.
Carlson went on Greta’s show last night, and he didn’t do himself any favors:
Carlson tried to call it mere news reporting, but it was pure traffic baiting. Greta saw it for what it was, and Carlson just kept digging.
The damage to The Daily Caller is enormous. It now is the subject of widespread mockery, such as this “Hitler” video from Three Bears Later blog.
This is a disaster compounded by the folks at The Daily Caller digging while in a hole, and digging even harder when people called them out on it, and doubling down on the digging as it went viral.
Can The Daily Caller survive? Should it?
Depends on how much money its investors want to throw at it, because at this point it’s a pretty deep hole they’ve dug.
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Comments
Well, it was already pretty much failing, and this won’t help. The only thing that might save it is for it to become a sort of National Enquirer (before they became more credible than The New York Times, of course) cum bash-GOP w/faux conservative viewpoint. Lefties will love it.
The problem for Tucker and DC is that they willingly became the conduit for Tyson’s vile comments. They disseminated the comments of a convicted rapist and wife beater without critique or commentary (as stated).
It doesn’t help that Tucker used a certain acronym before about Mothers that he has since apologized for. For me, I was willing to forgive but I do not forget. It makes a pattern.
[…] […]
The sad thing is I know a lot of people at the DC. I interviewed Carlson before it started up & I have several good friends that work there.
The idea behind the DC was to create a conservative leaning blog that *actually investigates*. I love sites like Hotair, LI, etc etc… But it’s just commentary. LI doesn’t pay reporters to go out there & find sources & dig through papers & documents like a news agency. Very very few websites do, even the Andrew Breitbart sites & Drudge are by & large editorial & commentary pieces on what other news agencies have already reported.
The DC broke a number of big stories surrounding this WH & the scandals it has involved itself in. They dropped the ball big time on this, but should that wash away the good work they do in exposing stories the Old Guard media would prefer to ignore or spin in a liberal light?
I hope it survives & I hope Tucker & Co learn from this big mistake on their part. The conservative movement *needs* conservative journalist, not just conservative commentators who don’t have the time or resources to be journalists.
operationbartowski:
I understand what you are saying. What has been just as bothersome for me is the doubling-down and indignation displayed by DC writers over this matter. An early apology would be been much preferred, but Tucker is still displaying indignation.
Greta cut him some slack by saying the posting wasn’t an attack on Governor Palin. It clearly was, especially in view of Carlson’s descriptn of Palin as a MILF. He has been consistent in his efforts to demean her, and the Tyson header was just another attempt do that. Carlson obviously thinks that casting The Governor as a piece of ass is going to diminish her appeal in the nation’s eyes. All he’s done is reveal himself as another Larry Flynt, a purveyor of smut and violence against women which he’s trying to sell as commentary. Try applying Tyson’s filthy remarks to your wife, Tucker, and see how you like it.
You call this conservative journalism? Repeating an outrageous vile comment made by a felon is not journalism. I will never associate myself with any operation of Tucker Carlson again. I unsubscribed as soon as I saw this. No self respecting Father of 3 girls should have ever done this or made the Mother acronym. I call POS.
You would think that the DC people might realize that a large portion of their readers are female and we might be getting pretty tired of the men’s locker room mentality, whether it comes from the right, the left, or the middle.
Perhaps after posting that very vile Tyson rant on the site, the question should not be “Can the Daily Caller survive?” but “Should the Daily Caller survive?”
Eventhough DC has many fine writers, I have found that too many stories like this caused me to stop visiting months ago. I will find myself there due to links I follow but I do not linger, comment or read other stories. I even deleted teh iPhone app hoping that it might register with them. Obviously, it did not.
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I don’t get this one.
Tyson made the vile remarks. An FCC licensed radio station aired them.
But we want to tar and feather the news gathering organization for reporting about Tyson’s remarks that were broadcast over the public airwaves?
Really?
Why isn’t it news that a former world heavyweight boxing champion says misogynistic comments about a former Vice Presidential candidate and a potential future Presidential candidate?
Obviously, Tyson and the radio personalities need to publicly apologize to Governor Palin. If the FCC has the power to fine the radio station or temporarily suspend its license, then it should. The scandal, as far as I know, is that no apologies have been forthcoming and the FCC has not fined or penalized the radio station. It should not be a scandal that an internet based news organization reported on the event.
As far as I’m concerned, Tucker’s only error was not issuing a warning initially when the post went up (an introductory warning is there now) and using poor judgment in how the post was titled. I’m not sure if I would have included the actual audio recording of the interview, but now that there’s a warning about the nature of the remarks, I think that is fine, too, as it lends credibility to the underlying story.
I guess I’m on the wrong side of this one, but I think it’s news and deserved to be reported.
@NitWhit19 Tweeted: Just got return call frm Tony w/ KWWN-AM LasVegas. said the Tyson filth was never aired,they used 7sec delay. So why did DC print?
If the radio station never aired it, then that changes everything. The outrage directed toward The DC is justified. Thanks.
I had called the radio station too and left a message for the program director, Mitch. I rec’d a call back at 4:12 PM from the station manager, Tony. He left me a message that said the same, they had deleated. He said he was very unhappy about the dialogue also and was working to get the word out that it was not OK and it was not aired on their station as such. I thought that was pretty stand up. Too bad Tucker Carlson didn’t get that message and just get on it and correct it.
People shouldn’t forget this article at DC. They thought that Rebecca Mansour’s DM’s on Twitter were “newsworthy”. For those who don’t recognize the name, she works for Palin.
http://thedc.com/ijecYn
And don’t forget Carlson’s lame attempt at humor when he referred to Palin as the supreme commander of MILFistan.
Three strikes, and they’re out.
OMG -Jim Treacher will be over here making as ass of himself like he did in TheotherMc.
I have never read Dc so I have been just tracking down this argument by & by over coffee & blogs.
Greta took it & the underlying dysfunction mainstream. In 24 hours DC.
has slipped 300 places in traffic.
The MILF thing is just anti-human. It has the same hostility as SOB -whereby the mother is the target. In america it is a common curse but elsewhere the insult is so illogical & vile that you would be killed & no jury would convict . Whoa -try that in italy!
We get it that lots of men hate their mothers & lots of men are -shall we say – mommies boys. It is all very creepy . It is just another Madonna/whore complex. Is there a FILF or So(male term)? No I thought not.
But it is part of Sarah’s amazing powers that she can send people to oblivion. I believe she could take down Fox single handedly. Murdoch is slipping in his mental capacities -increasingly relying on Wendy Deng. Wendy is smart but she has not worked out Sarah.
(We are big experts on Rupe here).
Meanwhile TLC is premiering the 2 part ‘BIG HAIR ALASKA ‘ the Wasilia beauty salon that does Sarah’s famous up dos appropriately named The Beehive. Sarah’s style is a wonderful idiosyncratic mix of coiffured & messy.
I often think Sarah is Annie Oakley re incarnated. Her battles are identical.
What also strikes me also about this story is that ESPN doesn’t have a problem with their hosts laughing at this lurid degredation of Palin by Mike Tyson, as well as a Tweet by Kenny Mayne back in June, saying he almost rammed a car with a Palin bumper sticker. But mock Obama’s serial golfing, as Paul Azinger did, ESPN will come down on you.
You do realize, Professor, that you are still linking to the DC in your ‘Blogs I Read’ section the link to Jim Treacher takes you directly to the Daily Caller home page.
If you’re really that upset about this, why not pull the link?
“Can The Daily Caller survive?”
Who cares?
Anybody who does something like this is not conservative – and not decent either.
Would he have posted the video if Tyson had said the same thing about Michelle Obama?
Pigs is pigs.
You called it as it is.
Who cares if DC survives? I actually dropped that site off of my bookmarks some time ago. I have considered Carlson an inside the beltway conservative for awhile now. His type are a dime a dozen.
I am sure Carlson’s cheap shot at Sarah Palin, using Tyson’s voice, was well received on the Georgetown cocktail circuit.
As for Tyson. He is an over the hill, punch drunk thug. Why would anyone quote him on anything unless there were a specific agenda?
I commend Todd Palin’s restraint. If I were in his shoes I would be tempted to paint a bulls eye on a few different people; and I am not talking about the imaginary bulls eyes that got so many knickers wadded up last year.
I don’t know about the DC, but why is Greta “kissing up” to convicted rapist Tyson? He bites ears off and rapes women … what does he have to contribute to a national dialogue on anything?
On that point Tucker may be right … Greta seemed to be kissing up to pump her ratings … why give an ignorant Tyson any play … except to turn real news into a soap opera ratings game? Does ear biter Tyson have any relevance in saving our nation from tyranny?
greta? .. anybody? … anybody? …
That is a spectacularly lame attempt at tu quoque.
Are you saying that Tyson is media veboten? That no one should ever attempt to speak to the man, or give voice to anything he may say?
Or, are you saying that there was something specific Tyson said in his interview with Van Susteren, something offensive that she should have chosen not to straight report?
Maybe like something purely gratuitous, grossly offensive, and clearly intended as a hit job.
Because only if you are willing to make either of those arguments, and make it stick, do you have a relevant point.
Otherwise you are just trying to blow smoke.
And failing.
Badly.
Someone can talk to Tyson … but why would a political commentator want to interview him? Greta interviews congressmen, but why interview a rapist/wild man?
I don’t even know what Tucker said, and am not defending or excoriating him. I’m just complaining about Greta giving Tyson a stage. It seems merely to turn her show into soap opera style commentary. I fast forwarded through all her coverage of the child killer Mom as well … but I guess soap operas can get good ratings.
Hard interviews of people that matter are my preference.
DIdn’t even see the exchange, and frankly have rarely seen the Daily Caller. The ‘Hitler’ parody however had me laughing out loud in my office (staff’s gone, so it’s OK).
Anyone that would broadcast/webcast/print any such thing deserves to wind up on the dustpile of journalistic history. Right next to the NYT, bumming quarters from strangers and wandering into rush hour traffic with a squeegee and a dirty rag—-wait, but NYT IS a dirty rag, so that’s kinda redundant. Sorry.
Be careful, Professor. According to the DC boys you’re now a Kool-aid drinking cultist!
This is not a unique event for the Daily Caller, Tucker Carlson (or Jeff Poor.) Tucker himself has made a vulgar reference to Palin, and The Daily Caller has published & amplified literally scores of vile sexual remarks re Palin, not as part of any news story, but as pure, unadorned link-bait, appealing to the sort of human filth who find sexual violence against woman funny. That whole operation should be shut down; starved of links and eyeballs. Better people working there, such as the pathetically deluded Treacher (who was once funny & even intelligent) can find work elsewhere.
What’s worrisome about about all of the libelous commentary about Palin from 2008 to the present is that no Republicans will stand up for her. Recall the Blood Libel episode?? The silence from the GOP was deafening!! Only Beck, Hannity, Levin, Limbaugh and a few others stood up for her. There is no one on ABC, CBS, CNN, or NBC who will even take a contrary view when derogatory comments are made about Palin. I want Palin to run simply to hear the neo-comm(unist)s have their fits!
Remember that sneer on Obama’s face in the third debate when McCain ALMOST pointed out those whore and c__t t-shirts the Democrats had made to reference Palin??
The Republicans need to hammer Obama relentlessly, no quarter.
Obama is not making mistakes, he is deliberately driving this country into an economic abyss. I want Republicans to say it over and over and over again. It needs to be the first thing out of their mouths every time a microphone gets pushed into their faces. No quarter!!
You know who else stood up for her? Ed Koch and Desowitz.
Hi, everybody. I won’t take the insults personally, as disappointing as that might be to some of you.
Quick point of clarification: The Daily Caller ran a news story about an event that happened in real life. The words printed inside quotation marks were uttered by people outside the Daily Caller. I know it’s confusing, but it’s easy to pick up on once you get used to it. Some would say it’s patently ridiculous to accuse a news outlet of being responsible for the words and actions it’s covering, but what do they know?
Oh, and Dan Riehl’s “parody” involved accusing Jeff Poor of being a pedophile. I’m not sure why he took down the post, since it was so hilarious.
Hope that helps. Have a great night!
P.S. Three Beers Later, not Bears.
Y’know Jim, it’s a mark of maturity to be able to say “I see your point, I (we) were wrong and I (we) apologize”. No fuss, no muss, move along, nothing to see here. Romney on Romneycare and how he’s perceived over it on the right is instructive here. Instead, you spent yesterday responding to every single post over at Stacy McCain’s blog, now you’re over here, and every time you post you simply give the issue legs. Sheesh. Man up, will ya? This constant defensive cringe you guys are in is unbecoming and destructive. It’s not a question of taking your lumps, y’all are getting lumps in spades, now it a question of how many and how serious your lumps will be. So far your answer has been “Thank you sir, may I have another?”
Exactly. Obtuse.
“You must be obtuse, or you’d agree with me.”
It’s also a mark of maturity to accept that people can disagree on an issue without being driven by nefarious motives. Another mark of maturity is being able to state your opinion without saying, “Why don’t you just see it my way and shut up already?”
Perhaps if you actually admitted that the piece – as it originally appeared – was poorly written, and (unintentionally) offensive you might have a leg to stand on. The evidence for this being Tucker’s lame attempts at amending the post only after being called out on it, and his bogus attempts to spin the timeline of those events.
But you haven’t even done that. You’ve hewed to the party line that the story – the original story – was straight up new and nothing more. You have adamantly refused to address, much less concede the patently obvious defects, even after Carlson sought to minimize them. It has been nothing but spin, deflection, and passive aggressive denials from you.
And just so we are clear, I don’t question your motives. Your motives are crystal clear, if not remotely lilly white.
I guess I’m not allowed disagree with you.
Treacher and the rest of them sound like teenage boys instead of men. Until they stop acting defensive and take responsibility for what they have done, they should stop getting on blogs because they just continue to look like fools. Grow up!
Well, that’s one way to look at it.
Jim I do not even know who you are but I predicted your visit 6 hours ago. LOL I am on the other side of the world !
I gotta go get a glass of champagne to celebrate my Prophetic skills .
Congratulations and well done.
1) It wasn’t newsworthy
2) It was gratuitous smut
3) It was misogynistic to the extreme
4) It was a veiled attack on Governor Palin
5) It damaged everyone involved
Jim, do you normally strike a sanctimonious tone in your writing? If so, then I am glad I am not very familiar with you. Life is too short.
Moreover, the Daily Caller article in question was in essence lending its credibility and web site to a convicted rapist and wife beater. The Daily Caller simply put up unchecked comments by Mike Tyson sans critique sans criticism. In so doing, they lowered whatever credibility it has to the decency standards of Mike Tyson and put up an inflammatory title to draw attention to their lack of decency.
Now, as Tucker and his assorted writers put up a defense of indignation, why on earth would any self-respecting writer even attempt to justify it?
Jim, do you normally strike a sanctimonious tone in your writing?
Only when I’m returning it in kind.
Jim,
Hope you still come back and read this. Although at first I defended you on twitter for being attacked while all this had nothing to do with you, only your boss and colleagues, your defense of the indefensible has caused me to change my mind.
Let’s pretend the DC was simply reporting the story to call attention to the vileness of Tyson and lack of rebuke of, say, the New York Times. How can you explain a different article which was on the DC last week which repeated all of McGinniss’s crap as though they are factual? Huh?
Even the New York Times has slammed the book and pronounced it as contradictory and obviously untrue. How do you justify the DC’s actions on this one?
Here’s the link: http://dailycaller.com/2011/09/14/report-palin-book-alleges-fetish-for-black-men-extra-marital-affair-and-cocaine-use/
Do you know what the word “alleges” means?
So does the usage of the word “alleged” now permit one to put out every type of false slander against any individual, even when it stems from a known liar or lunatic, without a condemnation or explanation simply because the attacks were prefaced with this one word?
as a by the way, this is what Webster’s online dictionary has to say:
al·leged adj \ə-ˈlejd, -ˈle-jəd\
1: asserted to be true or to exist
2: questionably true or of a specified kind : supposed, so-called
3: accused but not proven or convicted
Read definition number one again: “asserted to be true”
“alleged” has become an overused word which is used as a safety net so one is protected from potential lawsuits in the slight chance that the facts are discredited. The typical story is loaded with the word even when discussing facts since it agrees with the first definition. Who doesn’t remember e/o referring to the alleged killer at Fort Hood was allegedly a Muslim…
The DC has used the word “alleged” in describing the individual who killed dozens in Norwegia and not because there were any doubts whether he committed the act for he admitted as much.
http://dailycaller.com/2011/07/23/police-alleged-norwegian-mass-murderer-faces-just-21-years-in-prison/
Don’t you understand how wrong it is to state false facts with only the word “alleged” hinting it’s far from true when so many have become accustomed for “alleged” to mean “not 100% verified” and “almost definitely” as in your description of the Norwegian killer?
Why couldn’t the other side of the picture be presented? Did the DC want people to walk away under the mistaken impression that the “alleged” story is more likely true than not? Why else did the DC refuse to report it in a manner similar to The New York Times?
Why have you given more credibility to an outright liar than The New York Times? What a disgrace of a site! You’ve truly become a competitor with the Huffington Post for your reports are of an equally low quality.
We didn’t publish the book. Apparently you want no coverage of the book whatsoever. On a political news site.
So noted.
Treacher, do you ever stop deflecting?
You and other DC writers are not misogynistic. I have no reason to think that the DC is anti-Palin. I don’t question your motives, which are probably better than mine. Of course, Carlson and Poor believed that the Tyson quotes were newsworthy. I never want anyone to shut up, unless I’m trying to watch a college football game.
Just admit it: Poor’s article on Tyson, as it was originally posted, reflected poor editorial judgment.
I disagree, Glenn. I understand that you don’t like that.
“Apparently you want no coverage of the book whatsoever”
Boy! You either didn’t read my comment or have difficulty with reading comprehension.
How about reporting both sides of the story, and not ignoring that which doesn’t match the meme you’re trying to spread?
Is a reporter supposed to just repeat what other say/write or do some research?
It was one story. If we did 10 follow-up stories on it and never gave an opposing view, then you’d have a point. But it was one story.
BREAKING: Palin within 5 points of Obama !!!
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/09/20/v-fullstory/2417008/poll-finds-obama-losing-ground.html
[…] good to see another adult perspective on the recent Daily Caller debacle. There have been plenty of them. However, too many on the Right got trapped into seeing this […]
A mentally disturbed, psychopathic, convicted rapist, piece of filth made vile, violent and sexual remarks about Palin and it becomes “news”?
The only reason to report that bit of nastiness is to drive traffic to the DC. It’s not newsworthy even in the context of horrific misogynistic comments made about Palin in the last 3 and a half years. What’s next? Are they going to seek an interview with Charles Manson to see how he feels about Sarah?
Touche. Sand doggie, Did you know that Sarah’s mother was a schoolgirl friend of Sharon Tate.
Will the circle be broken? Will Bernadette Dorn (Mrs Ayres) ever recant her statement about how cool it was that the murderers stuck a fork in their victims stomachs & ate lunch?
There is a Dory Previn song I seem to recall that fits this. I shall go to my vinyls.
There has been a trend of virulent invective against conservative women, the sort of thing that would be considered hate speech if it was flung at liberal women. This is just one example of the double standard. If you don’t think that’s newsworthy, okay. Personally, I do.
Except that’s not the story you reported. *shakes head* You guys are really a piece of work. In all of your frenzied spin across the conservative blog-o-sphere, have you had even 10% of replies agreeing with you? *I* haven’t seen it, but here y’all persist, merrily whacking away at the DC brand with crowbars. You’re doing yourself damage. Stop it.
Yes, that is the story we reported. And I appreciate your exhortation to shut up, but I don’t think I’ll comply.
Mr Treacher, by all means don’t shut up.
How else will the DC boys write all those ‘polarizing’ news stories if you’re not head-lining vile and nasty misogynism gratuiously employed by trash mouth psychopaths.
You can be proud to know The Club of Journolistic Circle-Jerkers continues gaining members left, right and center.
I agree. I think Treacher should keep talking and we should all pay attention.
Whether it was his incessant whining and conspiracy theorizing about being injured in his pedestrian accident, or his embarrassing twittering about losing internet service during a snow storm, Treacher has demonstrated he’s anything but a grown man. At least as that term is understood in places outside the metrosexual universe where Tucker Carlson is considered manly.
“Ha ha, you got hit by a car.”
[…] disgusting display — on the radio. And a supposedly sound Conservative blogsite gets in deep water over its inappropriate manner in publicizing […]
I watch DC for the news and it certainly gives me that. I find out things there and no where else. The trick is to never read anything criminals or perverts say about anything. I only read and commented on 50-Cent’s comment the other day that he has not chosen a presidential candiate for the laughs. I never read about what any celebrity says on DC. I am definitely a Palin fan but, really, you should understand that you will be offended to the max by ANYTHING Mike Tyson says. This is all his theme song and it really got attention, didn’t it? If I had my way, nothing like this comment, by him or anyone else, would ever be published or repeated. Palin should sue and nevermind public figures cannot sue. This one would have grounds and would maybe shut up some of these trash mouth psychopaths.
Well, judging from this board, Jim Treacher was successful in reaching his goal: drawing attention to himself and not the subject matter at hand.
Cheap and transparent, Jim, hope you are patting yourself on the back.
If you don’t want to talk about the topic, okay.
Thanks. The only two liberals that can be trusted.
Sorry, misplaced comment with an earlier response to my earlier posting. I’ll go take a nap until my head clears.
Thanks for your blog Professor Jacobson.
Didn’t Mr. Treacher claim that he doesn’t take insults personally?
Could you be more specific?
I think you just handled that for me.
Oh. Well, have a nice day.
“The controversy is not that a convicted rapist would make such statements, but that The Daily Caller would run the clip with a bold traffic-grabbing headline and keep it there without so much as any commentary (which was not added until later).”
If the DC were an out and proud card-carrying Leftist site there would be no controversy, really. So the controversy in question is begged to be more about the DC’s stated purpose for existing. Editorial caveats and ombudsmen are just window-dressing after the fact.
If the DC exists for itself, first and foremost, then I don’t see why anyone thinks they have a dog in the fight.
If it purports to be big-C Conservative then it would seem they have abetted the enemies of that camp.
If it purports to exist for journalistic excellence, pure and above partisan influence, well. . . it’s open season on interpretation.
The only scenario that makes sense is to consider that the DC Caller exists for its own amusement. I say, God bless them and those that have the money to support such free men acting like a prep school newspaper club. It keeps them from panty raids and traumatizing the school mascot.
It hasn’t cost me a thing, and hasn’t hurt anyone but themselves.
This is, I think, one of the times where the prudishness of social conservatives (as opposed to political conservatives) rears its ugly head.
I’ve read the transcript, and I’ve followed some of the heated rhetoric about this, and I think Treacher pretty much has the right of it. Tyson said some terrible things about Palin, and if the comments had been made about anyone else, there would have been a storm of outrage. But it’s about Palin, so that’s ok.
DC reports the remarks, and that makes them the bad guy. WTF? What would have been more appropriate? Silence? Ignore the issue? Paraphrase the comments?
How do you explain the impact of Tyson’s words, if all you report is “Mikey said something really nasty, but we won’t repeat it?” I my first reaction would be “well, what exactly did he say?” If you can’t or won’t discuss specifics, you allow the slimeballs to win. What do they get away with next time?
Still very struck by the professor’s phrasing: “it was pure traffic-baiting using sexual violence against Palin as the tease.”