Palin's First Appearance as a Fox News Contributor Was an Infomercial for Herself

Alaska governor-turned-Facebook terror analyst Sarah Palin made her first appearance as a Fox News contributor last night on the O'Reilly Factor. The financial terms of Palin's agreement with Fox News have not been disclosed, but it's safe to assume that she isn't working for peanuts. With that in mind, it's worth pointing out that Palin spent much of her Fox News debut defending her own record and reputation, hawking the biography she pretended to write, and promoting the Tea Party convention at which she is being paid to speak (though she claimed that the money she makes from the event will go towards campaign donations). The rest of her "analysis" consisted of conservative bromides about the evils of government and tired attacks on the media. She was essentially paid by Fox News to put on an informercial for herself.

Here are just a few quotes from her appearance last night, retrieved from Nexis:

PALIN: They don't like the message. They don't like the common sense conservative solutions that I think I represent and I articulate as I explain what I believe are some solutions to the great challenges facing America. They don't like to hear it.

[...]

PALIN: Well, it's pretty made up, too. I -- I think that these reporters -- who were not in any part of what I was doing there as a V.P. candidate, I think I explained a lot of this in "Going Rogue," in my book.

[...]

PALIN: Yes, that surprised me. I hadn't seen the "60 Minutes" and I -- I had been warned, you know, don't -- don't watch. It's a bunch of B.S. from Schmidt (INAUDIBLE) and those guys...

[...]

PALIN: See the -- these reporters were not there. And I think that these are the political establishment reporters who love to gin up controversy and spin up gossip. The rest of America doesn't care about that kind of crap.

[...]

PALIN: They need to read my book, "Going Rogue," then.

[...]

PALIN: I think he's basing this on an anonymous source. So all that kind of gossipy anonymous accusations, I really don't pay it any mind, because, again, Bill, I know what's important. I know what the priorities are.

[...]

PALIN: But I am so thankful for this Tea Party movement, for people having a place for their voice to be heard. I can't wait to do this event. And there are a lot of Tea Party events.

[...]

PALIN: There will be other speakers, too, though. But I can't wait to get to hear from those who are so concerned about our economy and about our national security issues and share with them what I believe the solutions are.