It took nearly seven years, but at long last it's finally been heard -- praise for Sarah Palin on MSNBC.
Even better, one of the people praising Palin -- and there were three, count 'em, three libs on the Lean Leftward cable network today doing so -- suggested that flailing Democrat Hillary Clinton could do worse than to look toward Palin as a political model to emulate.
The gratifying twofer came on MSNBC's usually cringe-inducing Melissa Harris-Perry show during a panel discussion of authenticity or the lack thereof among politicians.
The program's namesake host cited Clinton's speech in China 20 years ago touting women's rights and said she was surprised that Clinton did not trumpet her gender more often during the 2008 campaign. It was here that Palin was invoked by Harris-Perry and two of her panelists, Daily Show co-creator/reputed comedian Lizz Winstead and former Ohio state senator Nina Turner --
HARRIS-PERRY: ... this had been her breakout moment.
GINA GLANTZ, BILL BRADLEY'S CAMPAIGN MANAGER IN 2000: That's true but we as women running for office were repeatedly told you better look strong, you better look more male-like in your ability to do the job, that being a woman was not an attribute that was going to take you into the presidency. I think that's changed in the last eight years. You know, I don't think it's ...
HARRIS-PERRY: Well, Sarah Palin was part of changing that, I mean, not because, again, this is that substance versus symbol piece. It's not like I am generally supportive of Sarah Palin's policies, but in terms of just being like, well, I'm just gonna run this real differently in my high heels and ...
TURNER: She owned who she ...
HARRIS-PERRY: She really did!
TURNER: She owned herself.
HARRIS-PERRY: And people responded to that, oh, well that looks ...WINSTEAD: Authentic.
HARRIS-PERRY: Even if, even if (crosstalk) ...
WINSTEAD: It was!
Minutes later Turner made a suggestion that must have stung the Palin haters who comprise MSNBC's core audience. It came after Harris-Perry played a clip of the Clintons' interview on 60 Minutes during the 1992 campaign to address "allegations" of Bill Clinton's infidelity, with Hillary snarkily alluding to Tammy Wynette's "Stand By Your Man" while she did exactly that --
HARRIS-PERRY: .... but I don't know, in part because we've seen that moment and this one ...
TURNER: But that's the moment we want to see! (snaps finger for emphasis). She should embrace and own who she is. She's not a touchy-kinda, feely-kinda woman and that should be OK, she needs to own it. And the contrast that you gave about Governor Palin (yes -- "Governor Palin") owning who she was, come hell or high water, she did. We, the secretary, should do the same thing.
Kudos to Harris-Perry, Winstead and Turner for daring utter such heresies in the sacred studios of American liberalism.
Adding to the segment's amusement value was the caption "I AM WOMAN" at the bottom of the screen throughout, the title of an anthemic Helen Reddy chart-topper from the early '70s. Alas, it's seldom heard these days because of an inconvenient lyric that the pro-abortion crowd simply can't abide -- "But I'm still an embryo, with a long long way to go ..."
The sort of thing Sarah Palin would say.
