"I Ain't 'People'" Edition

"'People'? I ain't 'people.' I am a - 'a shimmering, glowing star in the cinema firmament.' Says so.. Right there."

"If we bring a little joy into your humdrum lives, it makes us feel as though our hard work
ain't been in vain for nothin'. Bless you all."

--Lina Lamont, Singin' in the Rain

>Wardrobe Malfunction

[Ring-ring....ring-ring...ring-ring] "Hello, Moose-shooting' Sarah here... why hello Senator McCain...yes, yes...Really?....My stars, I don't know what the heck to say...it's all so sudden... well, yes, I'd love to come running with you... but ... well, you know, I just don't have a thing to wear..."

Poor Sarah Palin. Just a plain old Walmart-shopping, hockey mom thrust suddenly onto the national stage. Are we being too hard on her? I mean look at the picture, folks, clearly this woman needed $150,000 worth of help. FAST. And she knew just where to go for it. According to report from the Federal Election Commission, here's what was charged for September (Astute readers of the Rant may recall that September 10 marked the era of the "Lipstick on a Pig"-gate. Is it possible that a lot of this shopping was merely retail therapy for a wounded governor?):

• 

  $75,062.63 spent at Neiman Marcus on Sept. 10.
• $41,850.72 to Saks Fifth Avenue in New York on Sept. 10.
• $5,102.71 to Bloomingdale's in New York on Sept. 10.
• $789.72 to Barney's New York on Sept. 10.
• $7,575.02 to Saks Fifth Avenue in St. Louis on Sept. 10.
• Charges of $4,396.94 and $512.92 at Macy's in Minneapolis on Sept. 10.
• $4,537.85 to Macy's in Minneapolis on Sept. 22.
• $349.50 to Lord & Taylor in New York on Sept. 25.
• $4,902.08 to Atelier New York, a men's clothing boutique, on Sept. 10.
• Two separate charges of $98 to Pacifier, a high-end baby store in Minneapolis, on Sept. 10 and Sept. 25.
• $98.50 to Steinlauf & Stoller, a sewing supply store, in New York on Sept. 25.
• $133 to the Gap in Minneapolis on Sept. 25.

Did you catch the charges for Atelier and at Pacifier? The RNC is not only outfitting Palin, but also her husband apparently and also her baby.

The NY Times goes on to note: "The money for the clothing came out of the budget of the Republican National Committee's co-ordinated campaign fund, not the McCain campaign, an important legal distinction, said Kenneth Gross, a campaign finance expert at Skadden Arps in Washington. Had the money come from the McCain campaign, it would be a conversion of campaign funds into personal use, which is prohibited. The same rule does not apply to money from party committees."

But, the NY Times says in another of three articles devoted to this topic: "Republicans expressed consternation publicly and privately that the shopping sprees on her behalf, which were first reported by Politico, would compromise Ms. Palin's standing as Senator McCain's chief emissary to working-class voters whose salvos at the so-called cultural elite often delight audiences at Republican rallies." Oh... y'think?

"My first reaction when I heard about this was, 'Honey, I could have dressed you for a lot less than that,' " said Cindi Leive, the editor in chief of Glamour magazine, which asked readers on Wednesday to vote in an online poll whether the expenses were too high; 72 percent said they were. "In general, she looks terrific," Ms. Leive said, "but if you asked me to figure out where the $150,000 went, I'm not sure I could tell you."

The British also aren't sure that $150,000 bought her fashion sense: "Red has emerged as a key colour, worn at upbeat moments in such guises as a red leather jacket with a clinging short black skirt, and a tight red suit with a ribbon under the bust. In the days around October 10, however, when the Troopergate scandal resurfaced to tarnish Ms Palin's image, she was photographed in much more serious outfits, each a tailored ensemble in sombre, sensible black and grey. Mrs Palin has had a few fashion howlers, such as her foray into peach satin on August 30, a fussy and unflattering white tie-fronted jacket on October 6, and a hideous shiny brown jacket on October 15. She has also several times repeated the fashion faux pas of teaming white tops with black skirts, making her look like a waitress."