We regretfully return to one of my least favorite topics: Sarah Palin, what she says and what she stands for.  In this episode, we find Queen Sarah speaking to a business group in Long Island.  At one point in her talk, Sarah’s mysterial muse inspires her to make a joke about breast-feeding:

“It’s no wonder Michelle Obama is telling everybody you better breastfeed your baby–yeah, you better–because the price of milk is so high right now!”

Sigh.  Not only politically incorrect but factually wrong.  The chart below shows how the price of a gallon of milk has risen vs the general rate of inflation over the last ten years:

Since 2001, prices in general (CPI) have risen 26 percent, while milk has risen 18 percent.  Sarah can’t let the truth get in the way when a snarky remark can be made at the expense of those she opposes.

Why does she bother me so much, that I would take time to fact-check the price of milk?  It is not just her political stance (though that’s a good start).  She also triggers my distaste for celebrity, or more accurately, the legitimacy that our culture confers on celebrity.  It is beyond me why a celebrity’s fashion should be copied, why a celebrity’s opinions should have more value than others, why a celebrity’s life should matter to complete strangers.  One can argue that Sarah Palin is our first political celebrity, someone who is famous for being famous rather than for any real accomplishment.

Sarah embraces her celebrity, as she should.  It provides great cover for her incoherence.