Sarah Palin: Is She Worth $100,000 a Speech?

Are we a sucker nation or not? Americans worship their entertainment
and freak stars, and are willing to pay big bucks just to see them
perform live. A ticket to see Elton John in Vegas, Madonna at
Hollywood Bowl or a new Broadway show can cost $1,500 or more. Those
involve legitimate star performers.  
However, the so-called reality TV shows are getting into to the act by
paying thousands of bucks to freak celebrities like the OctoMom and
NFL jocks to clomp around on "Dancing With The Stars". Incredibly, the
most freakish showiz star of today can command $100,000 a performance,
and her talent is limited to grinning and shouting prepared scripts in
an irritating squeak of a voice.
Sarah Palin, like her or not, can attribute her only claim to fame to
her single-handedly causing the defeat of John McCain when he ran for
President in 2008. Ahead or at least even in all the polls against
Barack Obama, McCain or his handlers made the incredibly stupid
mistake of choosing the then-unknown Sarah Palin as his Vice
Presidential candidate. She then began running around the country
making inane speeches, and John McCain's chances were toast.
Ever since losing the election for McCain, Palin has taken that 15
totally undeserved minutes of fame and parlayed it into an enormously
lucrative career. She's never out of the TV news, her speeches are
always controversial and that's what is bringing in the bucks. If you
want to book her for a political rally, campus speech or other shrill
occasion and can sell tickets for $500, she's available. For the right
money of up to $100,000 and extras, she'll be there to stir up the
adoring crowd.
Some college students recently found a discarded Palin speech contract for
one of her upcoming performances in the trash. In addition to the big
upfront bucks, the contract demanded Palin get first-class commercial
flights to and from Alaska for her and her entourage. She also must
have a hotel suite and two single rooms in a deluxe hotel, with meals
and all-inclusive services provided. 
This isn't unusual for top-rank professional speakers, but it can add
another $4,000 or more to her fee. Many of her appearances are at
public colleges and universities, and they must charge up to $500 per
ticket for attendees, or else taxpayers pay Palin's fees. This fills
her audience with wealthy political devotees, rather than with college
students on limited budgets.
In the old days of flea circuses and vaudeville, freak shows were very
popular. If your body was distorted, you grew hair all over you, or if
you killed your parents with an ax, you could make big bucks from the
suckers. For 25 cents, they'd come to the tent or theater just to
gawk. Now they're willing to pay much more, because Sarah Palin has
brought the freak show to a new, lucrative level.