Celebrities like Palin make even less sense than a good comedian

Back in 1992, when I was working in Southern California as a baseball writer, I covered a charitable event in Pasadena called "Baseball Relief."

It was the era of Comic Relief, and the idea behind it was to raise money for indigent ballplayers. Performers went on stage and did their thing; then they came backstage and spoke with the few reporters who were covering it. I don't remember who all the performers were, but I did meet Sharon Stone up close and personal, and comedy was provided by Garrett Morris of "Saturday Night Live," Rita Rudner and Elayne Boosler.

Elayne Boosler

I was excited at the opportunity to talk to both Rudner and Boosler, who were two of my favorite comedians at the time. Rudner was a huge disappointment. When I tried to interview her, she stayed in character and sort of blew me off. But Boosler was great.

She was funny and human, a great combination.

In her most popular period -- the late '80s -- she said some hilarious things, one of which turned out to be totally prescient about the way out culture has gone.

She was talking about Donna Rice, whose claim to fame was having an affair with Sen. Gary Hart while he was running for president.

"I don't think you should be allowed to be famous just for taking your clothes off or having sex with someone famous. I think if you want to be famous, you should actually have to do something."

By that standard, Paris Hilton and the entire Kardashian family would still be living in obscurity.

Of course, things have gotten much worse than they were 25 years ago. Joe the Plumber and others like him don't fit into any of the categories, good or bad. These days almost anyone can be famous as long as they are ruthlessly self-promoting. There are so many TV channels now seeking cheap programming that as long as you've got a gimmick, you can have a show.

Snowbilly

Then of course there's the Queen of All Media, aka Sarah Palin.

At one point, she actually did something. She was elected governor of Alaska and was John McCain's running mate in the 2008 election. But ever since they lost that election, Palin has been all about the Benjamins. When it comes to publicity, she's the female Donald Trump.

I'm not sure Palin could have been this successful in an era other than this one. Fifty years ago, she would have been laughed at. These days they laugh, but she cashes their checks.

It's hard to believe Palin would ever run for office again. She seems to be satisfied with being the poster girl for the disaffected far right. She has compared the growing federal debt to charttel slavery, and when the new pope started saying the church should be more concerned about the poor, she accused him of being a liberal.

When the heat got a little too much on that last one, she did apologize.

You betcha she did.

It amazes me that some people actually do take her seriously. Me, I think she makes a lot less sense than Elayne Boosler.