Not surprisingly, the audio of the Sarah Palin prank call is out. Here it is.
Most of the jokes are hard to get unless you speak French and are familiar with Canadian culture (here’s a guide), so you can’t totally blame Palin for not catching on quickly. If your aide (who is an idiot) puts you on the phone with Nicholas Sarkozy, you’ve got to be inclined to believe them, and asking someone who you’re told is the president of France, “are you fucking with me?” is a pretty bold move. All that said, she is a politician and you have to believe the tone of most conversations between politicians is a bit more collegial (you know like, “That Joe the Plumber shtick was brilliant!” not “I, Nicholas Sarkozy, President of France, am a big admirer of Joe the Plubmer.”)
The call though, makes me wonder if Palin speaks to her own family with talking points. For all the praise lavished on her political abilities, a good politician weaves talking points into a conversation while conveying a sense that they understand what they’re saying. As such, it’s not quite so obvious they’re regurgitating messaging. Sometimes I wonder not if Sarah Palin is a pitbull with lipstick, but rather a pitbull with media training.
