Raging Palin

The GOP’s loudest critics of a “biased” and “elitist” media is again using that same media to further her own political goals and personal celebrity as well as a tool in her latest feud, a nasty fight with David Letterman. Palin is on another tour of the cable and broadcast airwaves to fire back at the late night comedian for some off-color jokes made at the expense of the Alaska governor and her daughter, an unwed mother with boyfriend troubles.

Gov. Palin used two interviews on Friday, including a high-profile chat with Matt Lauer on “Today,” to continue her angry response to obviously boneheaded jokes Letterman made on his Monday program.

During his opening monologue on CBS’ “Late Night” Monday, Letterman poked fun at Palin’s visit with her family to a New York Yankees game this past weekend. “There was one awkward moment during the seventh inning stretch,” Letterman said. “Her daughter was knocked up by Alex Rodriguez.”

Letterman also said the hardest part about the Palins’ trip to New York was “keeping [former New York Gov.] Eliot Spitzer away from her daughter.”

The conservative grass roots and Palin herself exploded, taking offense at Letterman’s apparent reference to Palin’s 14-year-old daughter Willow, who was at the game, rather than the intended target Bristol Palin, the Palin daughter who didn’t attend the game but who is the one with the baby .

Palin unleashed again in the “Today” interview.

“I don’t find it humorous,” Palin said Friday. Speaking by satellite from Texas, where she’s championing a $26 billion natural gas energy pipeline for her home state, Palin criticized “acceptance of a celebrity being able to get away with a disparaging comment that does erode a young girl’s self-esteem and does contribute to some of the problems we have in society.”

Letterman did give an apology of sorts later in the week when it became clear that it was Palin’s younger daughter, Willow, 14, who had come to town — not Willow’s older sister, Bristol, who has broken up with the father of her infant son. But Palin declined Letterman’s offer to appear on his show, saying “it would be wise to keep Willow away from” him.

On TODAY Friday, Lauer asked the governor if she had been implying that Willow would not be safe around the late-night comedian. “Take it however you want to take it,” Palin replied. “It was a comment that came from the heart.”

“Hey, it’s not in bad taste,” the governor added. “Maybe he couldn’t be trusted because Willow has had enough of these kinds of antics, and maybe she would want to react in a way that would take him off guard.”

On Friday Palin said that the attitude displayed in Letterman’s routine “does contribute to some acceptance of abuse of young women.” She called it “a sad commentary on where we are as a culture, as a society, to chuckle and laugh through [such] comments.”

Palin also gave an interview to CNN on Froday in which she continued to disparage Letterman and his apology, calling it “weak.”

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said Friday it was a “weak, convenient excuse” for talk show host David Lettermen to claim his controversial joke made earlier this week targeted Palin’s older daughter, and not 14-year-old Willow.

“My 14-year-old was there with me at the game. She was the only one there with me,” Palin said Friday in an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.

Where does the feud go from here? While it’s normally a figurative death sentence to get involved in a serious tit-for-tat with a comedian (see Jim Cramer vs. Jon Stewart), the Palin/Letterman tiff is obviously different. Insta-polls and general commentary show that American are generally siding with Palin on this, recoiling at Letterman’s attempt at humor even when understanding it wasn’t directed at a 14-year old girl.

Politically, this is just another wild side trip on Palin’s march to 2012. She still is seen as more of a celebrity figure than a political heavyweight - to her detriment - and continues to irritate major players in the Republican party and conservative leadership with her erratic behavior.

But could Palin soon be getting top-tier help in her quest for greater political glory and influence in the GOP?PB hears from more than a few GOP/conservative insiders that some in the governor’s camp have approached the almighty Newt Gingrich about a potential partnership and advice, and that one-on-one conversations may not be far off, with the plagiarism controversy apparently meaning little to Newt.

Instantly there are rumblings about an interchangeable Gingrich/Palin 2012 ticket, even if it means running independently.

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