Joan Walsh: In speech, vengeful Palin trashed Stanislaus students as "dumpster divers"

[Amerigo Vespucci]

?

Former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin gestures during her speech at a fundraising dinner at California State University, Stanislaus in Turlock, Calif., Friday, June 25, 2010. Palin's speech has generated intense scrutiny since the nonprofit foundation holding the event first announced her visit in March. University officials have refused to divulge the terms of her contract or her speaking fee. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Journalists trash Palin speech
Saturday, Jun 26, 2010 13:27 ET

By Joan Walsh

http://www.salon.com/news/politics/sarah_palin/index.html?story=/opinion/walsh/politics/2010/06/26/journalists_trash_palin_speech

I know she's going to make herself a martyr over this – and among her followers, it will probably work – but Sarah Palin got remarkably candid reviews of her Friday night speech in Turlock, Calif., when an open mic picked up reporters savaging the former Alaska governor's performance. I just checked Palin's Facebook page and Twitter feed, and she hasn't started trying to drum up sympathy by trashing the Lamestream Media yet, but she almost certainly will. (So far the Lamestream Media hasn't covered the open mic kerfuffle; I found the story on The Political Carnival.)

Palin's entire appearance was controversial. Raising money for California State University-Stanislaus, she reportedly charged a $75,000 speaker's fee and asked for another $18,000 or so in expenses, including first class plane travel for her entourage and luxury accommodations. Although CSU is a public university, its leaders didn't disclose Palin's demands -- saying a private foundation was raising the funds, and was thus exempt from public disclosure laws – and we only know about them because intrepid student journalists found the contract in a dumpster.

In her speech Friday night, the vengeful Palin trashed the students as "dumpster divers" with her trademark meanness: "Students who spent their valuable, precious time diving through dumpsters before this event in order to silence someone ... what a wasted resource," she told the crowd. "A suggestion for those Dumpster divers: Instead of trying to tell people to sit down and shut up ... spend some time telling people like our president to finally stand up." CSU student journalists were barred from the speech.

But the journalists who got to attend Palin's speech were no more impressed than her student critics. The reviews begin as soon as Palin says her final "God bless America."

[SpiralHawk]

1. Just take your truckload of public college welfare money and go home, Pale Horse

you and your fellow Republicon welfare queens can stay busy counting up the public money you have grabbed, and twittering harshly about the jobless, hungry people lined up for a loaves of bread.

Freaking Republicon Pharisees.

[RedRoses323]

24. Agree

:kick:

[TexasObserver]

2. Revealing her avarice = silencing someone

Her inability to understand things that are alike and things that are not is probably the reason she flunked out of many weak colleges.

[patrice]

5. Indeed! Silence??? Money IS Speech and she's getting boatloads of it. Frakking wow.

[TexasObserver]

7. The chutzpah it takes to stand up there, take $90k, and claim to be silenced!

[patrice]

10. Profoundly . . . Dangerously! Stupid.

[Webster Green]

3. It's a sad day in CA when that clueless grifter speaks at a State University

:wtf:

[Mz Pip]

4. A fool and his money

are easily parted. It cost $500 to listen to her drivel. What a waste.

[patrice]

6. Oh man! That photo is crying out for captions!! nt

[pinboy3niner]

8. "I wanted them out to here, but Tawd said that would be a speed-drag on the snow machine."

Like that? :evilgrin:

[patrice]

11. How do they say ? . . . . . . Bbbwwwaaaaaa Hhhaaa haa haaaaa!!

:rofl:

[Turbineguy]

9. Caption:

"With the fees from this speech I'll get them this big!"

[patrice]

13. How about: "Lookee here, boys & girls . . . Now remember, no sex outside of marriage, (Wink!)"

[Rex]

14. That really is dying for a caption!

"I wanted grapefruits but Tawwd wanted oranges."

[Kadie]

15. Protest picture from the Modesto Bee...

Modesto Bee - DEBBIE NODA/dnoda@ modbee.com Norma Ovrahim of Turlock, with sign "Sarah You're Busted", with other in front of the campus, June 25, 2010 at CSU, Stanislaus.

[Rex]

12. What a bunch of stupid fucks, amazing they can run a school system!

Palin is toxic! She should go work for BP...OH I AM SORRY...that's B O P! Forgive me corporate masters!!!

[foxfeet]

16. "Dumpster diving" is what Todd does when they have sex.

I'm sorry. I fear I'll never be free of that image now.

[EFerrari]

17. Vampira better watch out. Palin is tresspassing on her turf.

[pinboy3niner]

22. LOL!--You GOTTA see what I found on their student newspaper's website:

It COULD be coincidence, but after Palin's visit, who knows?:evilgrin:

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

18. I want to know how a state university bars its own student journalists from attending

Prior restraint? Punishment for revealing the truth?

By the way, it has long been known that anything put out in the trash is public domain. There have been lawsuits over this.

[pinboy3niner]

21. THAT is an excellent question

I haven't seen any explanation for the ban. It wouldn't qualify as prior restraint (which applies only to government action), but it certainly seems like a discriminatory action to take against the university's own student journalists. Curious that there was no mention of it at the student newspaper's online site.

The event was sponsored by an independent, supporting foundation--which raises the question, why would a foundation be allowed to ban student press from an ON-CAMPUS event?

I e-mailed the editor of the student newspaper, The Signal, for more information. This may be nothing--the press reports may be inaccurate--but, like you, I'd like to find out what the story is here.

Long, long ago, I did a stint as editor-in-chief of a HS newspaper, and I would have been outraged if I was banned from covering a campus event.

(ETA: I also e-mailed Joan Walsh at Salon for an explanation, as she didn't include it in her story--and she's usually better than that.)

[girl gone mad]

19. Was she heading to an audition for 'The Addams Family'..

straight after the speech?

[HipChick]

20. Outside her vapid followers, this women is unelectable..

[spanone]

23. i would leave any institution of learning that hired her to speak

she has nothing to say to anyone