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Who's the Real Sarah Palin?
Radko Keleman, Zuma Press / Newscom
Instead of kicking him to the curb, Palin is publicly opening her home to Levi Johnston—so, Suzy Welch says, she's either deeper than we thought or a flat-out manipulator.
I found it hard not to cringe during Sarah Palin’s conversation with Oprah Monday. Not when she explained (or tried to explain) why she didn’t answer Katie Couric’s question about which books and magazines she read, or when she stonewalled on her presidential aspirations. No, I was cringing when Sarah Palin refused to take Oprah’s bait about the presumptive- son-in-law-turned-internationally renowned jerk known as Levi Johnston.
“You were pissed, right?” Oprah asked, referring to Johnston’s incessant blabber-mouthing to the media about the Palin family.
Sarah looked wistful and shook her head. “You know, Oprah, he’s a teenager, he doesn’t realize he’s being handled,” she said. A bit more pushing by Oprah produced comments like, “I want to focus on this most wonderful baby,” and, “Bristol is an awesome mom.”
Maybe Palin’s not ready to be president, but loving Levi—that’s a pretty big-hearted, righteous thing to do—if she was telling the truth.
From the couch, curled in a ball, I muttered, “Oh, puh-leeze, tell it like it is. You hate him. Be real.”
I was muttering from experience. When she was 18, my daughter had also tangled with a jerk. No baby came of it, thank God, but I knew all too well what it felt like to have a teenage boy wreak havoc in your home. “Kev” would text my daughter every fifteen minutes then forget to call for three days. He invited her to the prom then remembered, oops, he had actually already invited someone else. Of course, she still adored him. And he adored her back. Except when he didn’t and made her cry.
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But I remembered. I marched up to the computer and stared into Kev’s face.
“Hello…jerk,” I said.
“Mom!” my daughter cried, stricken. “She’s only joking, Kev.”
“I’m not joking, Kev,” I stated flatly. “You are a jerk. And it will be a great day when you’re away from Fia. She’s too good for you.”
“Uh, hi, Mrs. Welch,” the jerk muttered.
Later, when I told him of the incident, my husband raised his eyebrows in mild disapproval. “Very mature,” he observed. He had a point; what kind of grown-up tries to settle scores by with a dumb teenager on Skype?
Not Sarah Palin, that’s for sure.
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Paul Schrodt is a writer living in New York City. He has contributed to New York magazine, Radar, and Esquire.com.
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As vice chairman of Public Strategies and president of Maverick Media, Mark McKinnon has helped meet strategic challenges for candidates, corporations and causes, including George W. Bush, John McCain, Governor Ann Richards, Charlie Wilson, Lance Armstrong, and Bono. McKinnon is co-chair of Arts & Labs, a collaboration between technology and creative communities that have embraced today's rich Internet environment to deliver innovative and creative digital products to consumers.
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Suzy Welch is a noted commentator and business journalist, is the former editor of the Harvard Business Review, and has written extensively on management and leadership.
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Suzy Welch is a noted commentator and business journalist, is the former editor of the Harvard Business Review, and has written extensively on management and leadership.
sippewissett
On Oprah, Palin's eventual invitation to Levi to join them at Aunt Kate's house was the worst piece of blarney possible. She had already disavowed knowledge that Bristol was sexually active, then pointed out that Levi was into 'porn' and needed guidance because he's a teenager, etc. All obfuscation of Palin's hatred of a kid who's telling it like it is about her self-absorbtion, lack of parenting, and obsession with money and self-promotion.
Southpaw
Looking forward to Levi's book (arriving at my library).
puddlejump
You're nuts, I mean REALLY nuts. Almost totally out of touch with reality. She hates him? Oh please. Go to a shrink and get some help, or go out into the world and get the high powered job you don't have that is evidently making you gnash your teeth at her for having had without benefit of an Ivy league education.
mcsb12
Fabulous take on Palin. My vote is that it's all an act.
piktor
Agreed.
PigFarmer
Same here. She'd probably like to shoot him from a helicopter like she does wolves. Or maybe she's just showing us what compassionate conservatism is all about? Nah, she'd rather shoot him.
pricklypear
Love thy son-in-law.....it messes with with the sheeple's heads.
anna43
Skype takeover - hilarious. Thanks - fun article.
Who here thinks Palin is being sincere?
piktor
Not me.
pricklypear
....................said the sheeplet. BAAAA baaa.
Dragonfly2100
I believe she is competely sincere.
varmint
I talked with a few women here in there mid twenties who ask. What makes anyone so sure that Bristol is crying?
Also maybe Sarah knows the best way to keep Levi from talking to the press is to bring him back into the family. If she took your advise he might just give the media a gem every week for a year.
"Either she's the most sincere, decent, can-do, pure-blooded American ever to come out of the woods, or she's a flat-out pretender. A total fake. A manipulator of her own image and the nation's emotions." I think you're on to America here, I also think you know the answer.
stopper22
cynical view. is she that bright though?
pricklypear
.....baaaaa baaaaaaaaaa said the cynical sheepishly.
PigFarmer
Of course she's sincere. Just like she didn't want that 150K wardrobe. Those mean old McCain handlers forced her to buy those clothes. She probably didn't want any money for her book either. The publishing house probably aimed a gun at ther head so that she would take the money.
myrtle2
Well, really, this is the pot calling the kettle black. How short do you think the readership's memory is, Mrs. W.? You yourself are no paragon of truthfulness. Puh-leeze.
Reefdancer
Phooooo-neeee. through and through. How I know? My mother in law in just like her. She'll "love" you but there are strings attached: it's her way or the highway,
carouzer
I agree--it is her way or the highway, but someone wiser in the fine art of politics and pr advised dear Sarah to take the high road. And let's face it, given all the things little Levi the Weasel has said about Palin and her family, it isn't hard to find a higher road than his.
If I were Little Levi, I wouldn't show up to Thanksgiving dinner. He might wind up being the target of Sarah's carving knife.
Matt572
And she's probably looking for a new advisor after her current one had a coronary when she actually listened...
pricklypear
Mother-in-law...my mother-in-law.
ThinkAgain
He'd be wise to take her up on that Thanksgiving invite. Even her haters will have a hard time convincing anyone they actually believe his insider lies if he has no contact with the family.
hdc77494
Ms Welsh shows how controlling she is, and classless I might add, by interjecting herself into her daughter's relationship. I'm sure Ms Palin would like to say much about Levi, but she recognizes that her grandson will eventually see every remark ever made about his dad. When you do the right thing for the child, you sometimes have to set your own feelings aside. I'm raising two children I adopted through child protective services. Though there are many things I could say about their parents, any negative thing I say would be a poor reflection on the children themselves. Palin is looking past today and ensuring Tripp knows his dad, and that Levi is a part of his life. She could be petty, but what purpose would it serve? Hopefully Levi tires of his 15 minutes and matures into a decent dad.
stopper22
you wouldn't try to defend your child from what you see as bad? really?
LauraNo
If she was so worried about the grandchild and what he will hear in future, she wouldn't have said the things she already has, and has been criticized for. She suddenly saw the light on how to be a grandmother? Yea, right.
IKIDYOUNOT
Apparently there is someone else not telling the truth here. You hate Palin but can't or won't say that outright. Trust me, your dislike of Sarah Palin leaps from the page and you might want to think about the meaning of hypocrisy at your Thanksgiving table.
stopper22
she actually said it that she doesn't like Palin
sophia5
Who's the Real Sarah Palin?
" she's either deeper than we thought or a flat-out manipulator "
Is Ms. Welch kidding ?
Is it true Ms. Welch was forced to resign from the Harvard Business Review after admitting to an affair with the then-married Jack Welch ?
It's always amusing when someone with a questionable
moral compass . . . preaches and questions another person's sincerity.
So . . . is Ms. Welch deeper than we think, or a flat out manipulator . . . a Gold Digger ?
Who's the "Real" Suzy Welch ?
piktor
You write a poisonous comment, sophia5. It does not need a reply. Your comment points back at you and the picture is not pretty.
MissAmerica
>It's always amusing when someone with a questionable
moral compass . . . preaches and questions another person's sincerity.<
Sophia5, I can't agree with you more.
sophia5
piktor -
Some might question the sincerity of woman who had an affair,
then is so bold to question if another person is a " flat-out manipulator ? "
Some might call that hypocrisy.
AlanD2
This kind of trollish attack is typical of sophia5, piktor.
Best to ignore her.
puddlejump
You know, its really true that Palin's basic decency, moral compass and the fact that she has gone as far as she has based on those and hard work and honesty really upsets those who have taken the 'road commonly traveled' which leads through the valley of the adulterous affair with the boss, the planned parenthood clinic for an abortion, and many other such places. Of course everyone can make a mistake, and I am sure Mrs Palin would be the first to say that and graciously not look down her nose at you for yours or hold yours against you or insist she is perfect. But then she has far more class than the people who write these types of hit pieces
dcbooknurse
Welch hits the reason that Sarah makes us liberals so crazy. Everything rings a bit false. Everything seems to be done for effect. She seems more like someone trying to be folksy and genuine instead of someone who is really is folksy and genuine. It's not that she's the only politician who does it, but that she will do it while condemning others for acting the same way.
As for Levi, I agree that if he did show up for Thanksgiving all hell would break loose, but it is smart of her to take the high road and refuse to indulge in bashing. I don't fault her for that.
LauraNo
Except she's already done quite a bit of it. Please don't let her rewrite history. Can't get the high road once you've driven yourself off it, without enablers.
AlanD2
Republicans and conservatives seem to be big into rewriting history, LauraNo. Check out Dick Cheney, for example.
Why should Sarah be any different?
This comment has been removed by The Daily Beast's editors.
tripsydaily
Admitting you would embarrass your adult daughter and meddle in her relationship while pretending to be a doting loving mother (particularly blaming the Skype incident on immaturity instead of plain out selfishness) completely invalidates your ability to ponder the altruistic nature of others. Your both fakes.
piktor
Did you read the complete story by Ms. Welch?
piktor
I also cringed. Palin is a sociopathic liar.
stopper22
for all the dumb things Palin has and will likely continue to say, she may actually believe everything she says and be completely genuine in that way.
unfortunately, that is even scarier than if she is lying and knows it
piktor
Of course she believes what she chooses to believe and then says. You know she is a sociopath by her modulation of her beliefs to suit the ocassion.
She is manipulative to have a sense of control and desguise her amazing ignorance, pretend she has no ulterior goals and gain the upper hand with her charm. She is a cold, ignorant hunter. You only have to watch her expressionless eyes.
gnorrigh
i don't think this woman is capable of telling the truth unless it reflects positively on her. the little trick of accusing any who don't reflect the "right" way of thinking is to interject the word "hate." why do you hate america? why do you hate the american troops that are...? now it's you hate palin? maybe it works, sometimes, but i'm sick and tired of it. it has become so trite and overused.
Dragonfly2100
Suzy Welch's Resume:
Suzy Welch
I married a skeleton otherwise I would be waiting tables.
Availability: 2 weeks
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