McCain's Defeat? All Sarah Palin's fault

In a weird echo of the Bwandgate story, mysterious sources in the McCain camp are now blaming McCain's defeat by Obama on Sarah Palin, claiming she "didn't know Africa was a continent". In a report on Fox News, reporter Carl Cameron said that he'd been told of a catalogue of malaprops and gaps in her 'knowledgeability' (not the most eloquent of phrases, under the circumstances) which they're only revealing now, having lost out on the White House.

Now, I'm probably the last person to stick up for a woman who wanted rape victims to pay for their own police investigation, but this is all bit disheartening, no? And it's not a million miles from the fall-out from Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross' fortnight of ignominy. Here's the Fox report:

Hmn, these 'sources'. They're not exactly Mr Loyal McHonourable Trousers, are they?

As for the wild parallel - I suppose it's that after the dismissal of Brand, suspension of Ross and resignation of Radio 2 Controller, Lesley Douglas, what followed in the red tops was a series of pieces which then sought to turn the spotlight on Georgina Baillie and her dance troupe, the Satanic Sluts. Under the headline 'Satanic Sluts get cool reception at Swansea club' the Mirror found time to talk to A Bloke about how rubbish the girls were (and if one blerk says they were rubbish, it is news, and therefore fact, readers), with The Daily Mail following suit on a similar theme.

The thing is, even if the Satanic Sluts are an abomination (and they probably are), what in the world has it got to do with the story? So similarly - can you really blame Sarah Palin for McCain's defeat? Is it beyond the realms of possibility that McCain lost out because a) craggy as Yoda is he and b) people just responded to the outlook and personality of Obama? It's a bit like saying Barack won because he's hot. Although he is quite hot as it happens.

Oh dear, readers, one is as bad as them.

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