Impersonation

There is no such person as Gov. Sarah Palin. “Sarah Palin” is just a Tina Fey character.

Apropos Sarah Palin’s latest outburst of speaking in tongues, someone commented that Palin is making Tina Fey’s job too easy. But that, I think, misses the deeper scandal.

I flatly refuse to believe that anyone could do as perfect an impression of anyone else as Tina Fey does of Sarah Palin. And now we see Sarah Palin doing a completely brilliant Tina Fey routine, impromptu.

There’s only one reasonable conclusion to draw from these facts. There is no actual person named Sarah Palin. “Sarah Palin” is just a Tina Fey character, just as the Telephone Lady was a Lily Tomlin character.

Ask yourself: have you ever seen Sarah Palin and Tina Fey on stage together?

I rest my case.

Now in some ways this is bad news: either John McCain was duped the impersonation, or he’s in on the plot. Neither speaks well for his qualifications to be President.

On the other hand, think about it: if the alternative were Sarah Palin, wouldn’t you feel safer with Tina Fey as President?

Author: Mark Kleiman

Professor of Public Policy at the NYU Marron Institute for Urban Management and editor of the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis. Teaches about the methods of policy analysis about drug abuse control and crime control policy, working out the implications of two principles: that swift and certain sanctions don't have to be severe to be effective, and that well-designed threats usually don't have to be carried out. Books: Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know (with Jonathan Caulkins and Angela Hawken) When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment (Princeton, 2009; named one of the "books of the year" by The Economist Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results (Basic, 1993) Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control (Greenwood, 1989) UCLA Homepage Curriculum Vitae Contact: Markarkleiman-at-gmail.com